HDD with burnt-out SATA power pins - can I replace the PCB?

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patrowles

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Mar 18, 2014
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While fitting a new graphics card, I carelessly caused a short which fried the power pins on an internal Toshiba DT01ACA300 3 TB hard drive (i.e. there was a very brief fizzing noise, a small puff of smoke, and that 'electrical' smell). It's got (had?) most of my back-up data on it, so I'm keen to salvage it if possible without shelling out a small fortune to a data recovery company.

I've noticed that the PCB to which the SATA connecting block is attached comes away cleanly if the 6 Torx screws are removed, so I'm wondering whether it is a simple matter of replacing the PCB.

Ever the optimist, I've already ordered one from China for less than £20, but a friend with some relevant knowledge said that he'd tried something similar once, and that a mismatch in the firmware meant that his drive was once again functioning and recognised but resulted in a prompt for formatting as a new drive rather than availability of the pre-existing data.

I'm also wondering whether there is any significance to the serial no. on the PCB itself - it has a small sticker with a 2D bar code and the serial no. printed beneath. I've found the same model HDD on eBay being sold cheaply 'for spares or repair', and the seller has been kind enough to send me the serial no., which matches mine much more closely than the one on in the web site image for the Chinese PCB I've ordered. Does it uniquely identify the individual PCB, or a batch of them? Will the eBay one (assuming it's serviceable) be more likely to 'match' my HDD?

Any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Shaun o

Shaun o

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Oct 7, 2007
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Your friend is right.
In order to get the drive working it must have the same bios firmware version installed on the board.

The manufacture cycle year/month/date.
Is a better way to obtain the correct bios and firmware version. Where as the serial can often relate to a revision in the printed circuit board used, and a change in the circuit paths ect.


As he said it will result in wanting to format the drive if it differs.
what you should be looking at though is the manufacture date of the drive and the month and day it was made. And get a board off a drive with the same dates./ month/days as close as you can.



That is usually located on the face of the HD.
If your a few weeks between what your drive states and the E-bay sellers drive then there is a good chance it holds the same bios firmware.

Obviously you have to make sure that the capacity of the drive is also the same.
With the back bridge circuit board used.
Because the firmware is based on the capacity of the drive.

Even then there is a question of if the drive platter motor also when up in smoke as much as the control circuit board of the drive.

I guess you wont know till you have connected a new board though.

Then you are in the realm of sending it to a recovery expert to retrieve the platters.

 
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patrowles

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Mar 18, 2014
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Hi Shaun & Someone Somewhere,

Many thanks for your prompt and helpful replies. I've looked again at the eBay drive; I'd already established that it was the same drive by capacity and model number, and the date on the upper label is MAY 2013, the same as mine.

There are some other parameters printed on the upper label of the one for sale which aren't quite as clear, but based on what I can see on mine, I'm thinking I might not need to clarify them with the seller. One is LBA: 5,860,533,168 sectors, which I'm assuming is a function of the drive's capacity. The other is CHS: 16383/16/63, and I'm pretty sure the eBay one says the same.

Someone Somewhere - I was intrigued by what you said about "grab a soldering iron and bridge the fuses". I've been known to repair the odd guitar cable jack plug, but would be wary of going near a HDD with a soldering iron (I wouldn't know where to begin looking for the fuses) - any chance you could elaborate, please?
 
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patrowles

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Mar 18, 2014
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Thanks for your feedback, fzabkar. I took a look at the linked page, and although I cannot identify the supply rail I'm assuming that you mean a detailed photo of the PCB when removed from the drive. Please see below: -

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2VTtTgRsVg9dGE0UU5xYU1KTTQ/edit?usp=sharing

I am hoping the pic is viewable; it's hosted on my Google Drive as "shared", but while I can view it, a colleague cannot. Please let me know if it can't be viewed (or if there is another way to add photos to forum posts).

 
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fzabkar

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Sep 22, 2010
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Sorry, I can't see your photo(s). :-(

I seem to have no problems with postimg.org or similar sounding image hosting sites. Perhaps you could give them a try. They also provide direct URLs rather than the Javascript infested interface that Google uses.
 
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patrowles2

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Mar 21, 2014
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Thanks for the continued interest. I've created a Postimage account, and here are three pics (top and bottom of the HDD, although possibly not relevant, and the PCB itself): -







I secured the 'matching' HDD on eBay last night, and am hopeful that when it arrives I can simply switch the PCBs and restore my drive and its data. I'd appreciate knowing about any other options available in case that doesn't work. Thanks again.
 
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Wilykat

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Jan 15, 2012
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From what I can tell, it seems only the connector got fried. It looks like a couple of ground pins and couple of 5v pins were the one that took the brunt of the damage so at best only the controller board is damaged but not the motors on the hard drive.
 
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fzabkar

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Sep 22, 2010
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I would measure the following components:

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/DT01ACA300_TVS.jpg

I suspect that the 5V TVS diode is shorted and its associated fuse (?) is probably open.

The drive is a rebadged Hitachi. Therefore I don't hold out too much hope for the preamp on the headstack. :-(

In any case a board swap necessitates a firmware transfer. This will involve transfering the 8-pin chip at about 11 o'clock to the SDRAM. This chip contains unique, drive specific information. Some PCB suppliers include such a transfer in their price.

If you have a multimeter and soldering iron, then there is a chance that you may be able to repair your board, or at least determine the extent and nature of the damage.
 
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nh3

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Jun 10, 2014
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Even if you are using the same model replacement board, you will either need to transfer the firmware or move the ROM chip to the new board. I just had a PCB issue with my mom's laptop. I could tell, after taking the whole thing apart, that she had spilled wine on it. Of course, she vehemently denies it. I found a great company that fixed my issue. I sent them the old board. They transferred the firmware to a new board and shipped it back...simple as that. I received the new one yesterday, connected it to the hard drive, plugged it in and there was all of her data! It's all backed up now just in case she decides to enjoy a glass while playing Freecell again. I don't usually write reviews for anything, but these guys were awesome! Professional, efficient and very helpful!Removed

You're skirting very close to spam on that one, especially as a new user - SS
 
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