Hitachi Deskstar 3.5 inch Internal IDE Question 1

[JoeybXE]

Hi,

Recently my Hitachi Deskstar 120GB IDE internal HD went TU. I want to retrieve the data in the most cost effective way.

The fault lies with the internal arm that skates across the disks.

My question is this - Can i buy another Hitachi Deskstar 120GB disk and swap the internals over to make mine work again? I literally would just need to swap the arm over i would imagine.

My second question would be - does it have to be the internal arm from an identical drive or would i be able to use, say, the internals from a Deskstar 250GB?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Sleepsalot]

No

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[electronicsfreak]

You can not open a hard drive. One tiny spec of dust is enough to destroy the drive completely. You might find a company that does data recovery and that has an anti dust room that could retrieve it.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=data+recovery&btnG=Google+Search

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[Sleepsalot]

Hey EF I gave you a star I kinda went blank on a suitable answer.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[JoeybXE]

Well its already been opened. Its only something i'm doing at home, if it were a customer then yes, i would have used our DR company.

All i would like confirmation on really is (in theory) would taking my disks out and placing them in another HD of the same make and model and capacity etc etc work?

I would swap over the PCB on the back of the HD also. I can't see why it wouldn't. Please feel free to say otherwise...(as i'm sure you will lol)

Many thanks

Joe

 

[electronicsfreak]

If you have opened it already, trash it. Its gone. Dust in the air, oils on your skin, etc.. All of it damages it further. Try all you want as you have nothing to loose but im 98 percent sure its gone. Also different revisions have different parts at times so they may not work at all. Anyway your choice but I think your chasing a dead goose.

Also thanks sleepsalot for the star. Yeah ive had that happen before, go to reply and mind goes blank. Its like wake up brain I could use you right now lol.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[JoeybXE]

OK no worries.

You're right, i have nothing to loose...hence the question.

I will get a cheapy off eBay and let you know how i get on. Once i have retrieved data i will be binning it and getting a new laptop anyway.

Cheers guys

 

[G0AOZ]

JoeybXE, if you were trying to repair this drive, it would be helpful to be able to determine which bit or bits was/were duff. Not easy! Swapping the circuit board out is the easiest thing to check first - it could be part of the board's logic that is causing the arm to swing about uncontrollably. But as Electronicsfreak says above, you'd need the same model of drive, with the same revision (version nbr.) of the circuit board. However, it might just be a physical problem with the arm mechanism...

Anyhow, you've reached the point of no return now it's opened to the fresh air... So good luck with it.


ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[Sleepsalot]

The drive is all ready destroyed why waste a second drive and time. I can't see that you or any one with out a clean room and the proper tools would even attempt such as this. But it is you time and money to waste.

Wayne

Life is a big Roleplaying adventure.

 

[firewolfrl]

LOL....I ran a hard drive without its top lid for a year in a plastic box with a clear lid to see it work (used it as a Demo for my son's science project)
it was an old drive I was going to get the magnets from anyways. I use the platters for coffee cup coasters

Anyway, It blew up after a year.....

I have an old photography lab in my shop....it worked great as a clean room.....now it works great as my wife's junk storage.....lol

I would only pull a junk drive apart...not one I want to use to recover data or store data

as for the platter exchange ....each controller card on the drive is synced to the platters(the settings and adjustments are burned into the ROM at the factory).Each drive has a different adjustment that is needed

so swapping platters is a good idea in theory...but a good chance it won't work

alignment is soooo very important.you have to have a decent magnifying glass and a steady hand. just tightening the screws holding the platters is enough to go out of alignment

Hey I won't discourage you from trying....I hope it works


So post your results on the forum....LOL

 

[JoeybXE]

I can see which part is duff. The tip of the swing arm on one of the platters (check me out, getting the lingo lol) - the bit that makes contact - has come off / hanging off.

All i really need i guess is maybe another arm.

AS for a waste of a hard drive, its only about £20 for a 2nd hand drive off eBay. And i am curious to know the outcome now and can't help but try.

Cheers

Joe