HDD's die in pairs?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
I got an old ASROCK 770 extreme3 motherboard and figured id set up a little gaming PC.
No i know it wont be awesome and the 560TI card i had leftover isnt top of the line anymore, but id still like it to run.

I got the card cause the machine was belived dead, due to faulty voltage setting on the PSU back panel. (set to 110v and plugged into 220v). I reset the cmos and rigged a brand new 850W chieftech PSU to run it all.

Everything worked, save for windows 8.1 wich had to die violently and be replaced with win7.
I used a scrounged 500gb caviar green HDD and a completely unused 1tb barracuda.

Anyways after a week or so the whole thing wouldnt boot. Fans would spin up for a sec then shut back down. I took it all apart and cleaned the MB completely (smelled of tar and nicotine and felt a little sticky). Then worked step by step till i got it back up, had to plug in a ps2 keyboard and a new HDD (160G WD laptop one i had spare) But i finally got it booting again, and set the bios to accept USB keyboard etc.

But neither of the old HDD's (wich are actually pretty new) will spin or detect in bios etc.
The caviar gets pretty hot on its PCB when left plugged in.
The barracuda just wont do a thing.

I would like to save both HDD's but im really mainly concerned with the barracuda, cause i know its used for like 50 hrs tops. The caviar.. well id like my skyrim savegame back but honestly i dont trust green things.
 
Solution
F
If you intend to attempt a data recovery on your WD drive, you will need to retain the PCB. That's because you will need to transfer the 8-pin chip at U12, if it exists, from patient to donor. This chip stores unique, drive specific "adaptive" data.

As for the cause of the overvoltage, a shorted TVS diode would confirm that the fault was external to the drive, namely the computer's PSU. According to your damage report, you should find that the Caviar's D63 diode tests short circuit and resistor R67 would be open circuit.

The Seagate drive appears to have a shorted 12V TVS diode ("closed both ways"), so that would point to an overvoltage on the 12V supply whereas you say that the WD was hit with an overvoltage on the 5V input. I would...
Sort by date Sort by votes
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
Itried both HDD's on an external disk reader thingie. Also seems unlikely that a new hdd runs perfectly off the MB but old ones wont even spin. Tried both types of SATA ports on the board and all 6 plugs, new drive runs everywhere. Old ones dont detect.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
9,298
700
36,390
The symptoms are consistent with a shorted load on the PSU. I would examine the drives for shorted TVS diodes. Also, be aware that the pinouts of modular PSU cables are not standardised, so if you use your old cables with your new PSU, then there is a high likelihood that you will impress 12V on the HDD's 5V input, thereby killing it. I would advise you to confirm the voltages at your SATA power connectors.

http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
Used the cables supplied with the PSU and even skimmed some of the psu maual.
Also it ran for a good five days or so before belly up.

Possibly during the disassembly/retesting i may have tried to put the black SATA power cables in the red PCIe supply holes on the PSU but i dont recall them fitting, also the PC wouldnt run at the time, so prolly it wasnt powered up.

Both HDD's were on same SATA power cable when the machine went dead.

Will check the diodes on the caviar (considered expendable) tomorrow.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
Well the WD looks excactely like the 5V overvoltage pic in your link, PCB goes in goldscrap box and i guess ill have to restart skyrim. Again actually, just set the machine up with all the skyrim expansions to see it running before its supposed to become a testbed for overclocking (i dont really know anything about overclocking yet).

The WD PCB was hot to the touch when left plugged in and i dont have any history for the drive. Other than it was OS HDD for a comp i scrapped and worked when i put it in there. Also its "green" so i should have gone with my gut feeling and left it out.

Only power related thing i recall doing to the comp (other than plugging in that new PCU) was move a jumper for some USB power. But i cant say for sure if something shorted the loose SATA power connector on the line and sent back 12v somewhere.
Or possibly a short in the WD could have sent overvoltage elsewhere? The WD PCB could look a little dirty on close inspection.

Looking into possibly returning the Seagate drive to store and hope for a warrenty replacement. But i will see what i can do about measuring the diode first.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
As pr this picture http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/ST2000DM001_TVS.jpg
The 12v is closed both ways and the 5v is open both ways. All the zero ohm resistors looks good.

Seems there was definately a 5v overpower but possibly a 12v aswell. Nothing in the house or weather report would indicate a powersurge. Also it seems unlikely that a brand new reasonably good PSU would be the cause (chieftech 850W semimodular).
Whats left then?
Faulty grounding on cabinet etc?
One drive shorting out killing the other via the power cable?
some motherboard error i never heard of?

Soon as i see some decent guesses for the cause, ill set this thread as solved.

Excellent info btw, thanks Fzabkar. Took a little googeling to find all your pics etc, but its solid info at an understandable level.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

fzabkar

Judicious
Sep 22, 2010
9,298
700
36,390
If you intend to attempt a data recovery on your WD drive, you will need to retain the PCB. That's because you will need to transfer the 8-pin chip at U12, if it exists, from patient to donor. This chip stores unique, drive specific "adaptive" data.

As for the cause of the overvoltage, a shorted TVS diode would confirm that the fault was external to the drive, namely the computer's PSU. According to your damage report, you should find that the Caviar's D63 diode tests short circuit and resistor R67 would be open circuit.

The Seagate drive appears to have a shorted 12V TVS diode ("closed both ways"), so that would point to an overvoltage on the 12V supply whereas you say that the WD was hit with an overvoltage on the 5V input. I would retest D64, D63, R64, and R67 just to be certain. In any case I wouldn't trust your new Chieftech PSU. I can't see how anything else could be responsible for the damage.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
S

SortNVF

Reputable
Mar 3, 2015
131
1
4,710
The PSU claims to be overvoltage protected etc.
However as i went over all my connections and the fan setup in the old thermaltake cabinet, it occured to me that all the fans have open molex plugs and the two disks left one SATA power plug open. Its possible that one or more plugs shoted due to vibrations and fiddeling.

I taped up all the open ends and removed a brass clips (C shaped 8X4mm) from the cabinet floor And set the whole machine up with a couple of used 320g WD laptop HDD's in in stripped raid plus a 250g hdd for backup.

The machine is still afterall intended as a learning tool for overclocking and performance tweaks.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom