[plug] Dead hdd

[Bernd Felsche]

On Friday 14 May 2004 09:34, Garry wrote:
> N K wrote:

> > does anyone no how to recover from a dead hdd, where the motor does
> > not spin up...need some of the data back...

> Be very sure that it's not a power problem.. Check the voltages at the
> plug etc... Lest when you pull the drive apart you will feel a
> goose..8^)==

You can probably check the voltages at the back of the connector
with the power plugged in. Non-mating pins can be a problem.

Get a long-handled, heavy screwdriver and tap the side of the drive
with the handle as you power up. That may overcome the stiction in the
motor bearing and the motor may start spinning.

Backup the contents immediately once it spins up. So prepare to be
able to backup before you do that.

> If not power: I suspect you need an identical drive, and swap the the
> motor/electrnics over. Doing this yourself is a drama as you will break
> the seal and introduce dust etc... Sounds to me like a job for a pro.
> Doing it yourself means killing a second drive, unless you can buy parts
> for the dead drive, which will prolly be more expensive...

I've done a swap once on what would now be considered a low-density
HDD... 140MB (IIRC) Seagate. Swapped the platters with an unused but
working drive with identical model number. Goodfun wrangling the
heads into place. A clean office environment was good enough; and
lint-free cotton gloves as used in photo labs. I was holding my
breath anyway so didn't need a mask.

Backup the contents immediately once it spins up. So prepare to be
able to backup before you do that.

-- 
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