Burnt/Smoked Hard Disk Drive

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shakirmole

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Dec 10, 2012
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My hard drive showed some smoke and is not being detected anymore.

I believe the PCB is no good especially with the photo as below.

e8s9.jpg


What is the simplest solution I can do to at the least, recover my data from this HDD?
 
Solution
F
Yes, use a wire link. Those are just inductors that filter the noise on the supply. Most drives don't have them, while others have zero-ohm resistors.

In addition to bypassing these inductors, you need to remove the shorted 5V TVS diode at the opposite corner of the board.

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

... and ...

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST3500418AS_5V_inductors.jpg
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST3500418AS_EEPROM_5V_TVS.jpg

Make sure that you locate the source of the problem. The damage is the result of an overvoltage on the +5V supply, so your PSU should be suspect.

BTW, there are many success stories at Seagate's forum from complete novices.

If you would prefer to replace the...
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Skeefers

Skeefers

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Aug 7, 2013
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I've never seen a drive in this state where data was able to be recovered by anyone other than a professional data recovery firm. There are a quite a few out there, but they aren't cheap and you'll have to ship the drive off to them in order for them to perform the recovery.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Mar 16, 2013
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Buy an identical one. Identical as in firmware version, etc.
Swap the circuit board.
This may or may not work.

Or

Send it somewhere to have the data retrieved.
this may be expensive.

or (the best option)
Recover your data from your weekly or nightly backup, and take a hammer to that drive.
 
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getochkn

getochkn

Polypheme
Jul 2, 2006
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Doesn't look that bad, few caps that are toasted that could be replaced and traces fixed. Bet the caps aren't even that needed.

http://www.hddzone.com/

Look there for a replacement board, plug it in, recover your data. The board needs a repair or replacement but I would say the data is still probably there.
 
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shakirmole

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Dec 10, 2012
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Thing is I live in Tanzania, Africa. As far as I know, there aren't any professional recovery firm nor anyone who sells such parts.

Also buying from external sources requires some 'payment methods' which is not so commonly available here.

I heard you can create a wire link to bypass the burn't parts (resistors?)
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Doubtful. Those components are there for a reason.
I'd first try that procedure on a different drive with non-critical data. It may make things worse.
 
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fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
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Yes, use a wire link. Those are just inductors that filter the noise on the supply. Most drives don't have them, while others have zero-ohm resistors.

In addition to bypassing these inductors, you need to remove the shorted 5V TVS diode at the opposite corner of the board.

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

... and ...

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST3500418AS_5V_inductors.jpg
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST3500418AS_EEPROM_5V_TVS.jpg

Make sure that you locate the source of the problem. The damage is the result of an overvoltage on the +5V supply, so your PSU should be suspect.

BTW, there are many success stories at Seagate's forum from complete novices.

If you would prefer to replace the board, then you will need to transfer the serial EEPROM from patient to donor. This chip stores unique, drive specific information. Some PCB suppliers (eg onepcbsolution.com and hdd-parts.com) provide a firmware transfer service for free.

Best of luck.
 
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