Info for replacing WD Logic Board

[GomezAddamz]

Hi! I recently had two WD HDDs go down, a 20GB and a 120GB. It is worth it to me to repair them, but not critical enough to justify having them repaired. I have assembled several PCs, and disassembled various PC components, and would like to repair these drives myself.

From what I've read, it seems the logic boards on the drives are bad and need to be replaced. I've been able to find both replacement drives and replacement logic boards online, but I want to be absolutely sure that what I purchase will be compatible with my drives. What information do I need to know about my drives and the replacement drive/part to guarantee compatibility?

Since I'm not certain that the logic board is the problem, my plan is to repair them one at a time. I'd rather not buy two logic boards only to learn that they're not the problem. Just FYI.

In the interest of completeness, I'll now describe the details of my situation. I'd appreciate it if someone read through this to double check my conclusions, but I'd consider the rest of this post optional reading, included only for interested parties. Feel free to skip it if you prefer.

Current System Specs:
Make/model: PowerSpec 8250
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-8IDML
CPU: P4 1.4GHz
RAM: 1GB (2x512MB) PC-133
HD: 80GB WD
Video: ATI Radeon 9200
Optical: LG CD-RW/DVD-ROM
OS: WinXP Home SP2

My PSU died and took the two HDDs and my CD-ROM with it. I knew the PSU died, so I replaced that, and, long (very long) story short, I learned that my HDDs were injured, and my CD-ROM was gone for good.

Here's what's going on with the hard drives: if either or both of them are set up on the primary IDE cable (master or slave), the computer will not get past POST. It will report something like "Error loading OS". I have to set them up as the secondary slave (the secondary master is the optical drive that survived, I haven't tried putting the HDDs there, but I expect the results would be the same) in order for the computer to boot. In this configuration, the computer will take a long time to finish POST, but will, eventually, boot. The BIOS will not recognize the faulty drive until after I've gone into setup and told it to auto detect the drive. After that, the drive will be recognized and assigned the following parameters:

Capacity: 8455MB
Cylinders: 16383
Heads: 16
Precomp: 0
Landing Zone: 16382
Sector: 63

The WD200EB is identified as a WD205EB, and the WD1200JB is identified as a WD1200BB. The BIOS is the only place where the drives are recognized. Windows will not recognize them, and neither will WD's Data Lifeguard utilities. Nor any other utility I tried. I tried different IDE cables, I triple checked the jumper settings every time I changed the configuration, and I tried using a different computer, and the results were always the same. Both drives exhibit identical behavior.

I found a few people who had similar problems, and that was how I came to the conclusion that the logic board was faulty, and, if replaced, would bring the drives back to life. I had more links, but I can only find two ATM. I'll post the others if I find them.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/hardware-support/hard-drive-support/114851-dead-wd1200bb.html

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-16504-Any-way-to-recover-this-HD.html

(link also cited in above post)

Prior to this post, I searched these forums and did not find any results. I also read the FAQ "Hard Drive Repair Options" found on these forums. It was very informative, and, the way I read it, supports the conclusion that replacing the logic boards is a good place for me to start.

 

[vacunita]

Basically you would need in a best case scenario find a Drive or Logic board that comes from a drive that is the same model as your drive and has a matching Part Number.

Although sometimes drives don't have a part number printed on them.

Second thing to check is the connection Interface. Some times (not often mind you) drives of the same model, will have, because they belong to different production runs, different board shapes or connections.

You have to make sure the board shape and connection matches.



With that said, it would seem to me, that the drives are taking longer to spin up and be ready, than the BIOS is waiting for them. Which is why they can be detected when you go into the BIOS and make it Autodetect them. This to me signals a potential motor problem. Which is basically not something you could repair.


Still you mention that Windows can't see them, have you checked in Disk Management whether they are shown there?

Also make sure that they are still running when Windows loads. In cases like these its not uncommon for drives to spin up, be detected and then turn off because there's a fault or a short.

Finally, if you are going to buy logic boards make sure they are attached to working hard drives. If worst comes to worst, at least the hard drives they come with can still be used by placing the boards back on them.

You will also need a star pointed or Torx screwdriver to remove the boards. T8 I think is the correct size.


----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[GomezAddamz]

Thank you! I have checked Disk Management in Windows, and they are not listed there. How can I tell whether or not they are running when Windows loads?

That's a good point about taking drives over parts. I hadn't thought of it that way before.

I have the tools to replace the boards. I dismantled a 6GB that was in its death throws a while back. It was fun.

 

[vacunita]

Usually the technique to see if a drive is spinning, is just to place your hand on it. if you can feel the movement then its spinning. If its still as a brick then its not.

Also check the drives, do you feel them getting very hot, very fast? This suggests a short somewhere.

The Board replacement should be straight forward. remove screws, swap boards, place screws back and tighten.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[GomezAddamz]

The drives do not spin up during POST or when Windows loads. They do not spin up at all. Nor do they get excessivly hot (i.e.- I can touch the logic board from power on to power off, with Windows loading in between). They do get hot, but no hotter than a working drive. They <i>seem</i> to heat up faster than a working drive, but I can't say for certain that they do. Furthermore, a visual check of the logic boards did not reveal any obvious problems (i.e.- I can read the printing on all the ICs, and there was no obvious discoloration on the PCB).

 

[vacunita]

If they don't spin up during, post it means they are taking a while to spin, and when they eventually do, then they turn off.

This could well be a Motor Problem.

I guess the real test will be the board change. Otherwise it looks like a job for a Professional Data Recovery service.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[GomezAddamz]

Okay. Thank you for your help!

Because both drives went down simultaneously and, apparently, for the same reason, I didn't think a mechanical failure was very likely.

My working theory was that the PSU sent a surge when it died, and the HDDs couldn't handle it. Could the surge have taken out the motors, instead of the logic boards? Intuitively, it seems like the logic board would insulate the internals from the PSU.

Well, we'll see. I'll update after I get some parts. Again, thanks for the help!

 

[GomezAddamz]

The new logic board has arrived, has been installed, and the drive is working great! I was unable to find a compatible hard drive, but there are a few online sellers that sell spare logic boards. They were very helpful in finding a compatible part for my drive.

While searching for parts, I found the following link, which is included here for posterity.

http://www.deadharddrive.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=52

 

[vacunita]

Glad its working, and nice of you to come back and post results.

So it was then in fact a short in the logic board.

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[Roj1971]

Any idea where I can buy the logic board for a WD3200AAKS? I picked one up from the shops but the firmware doesn't match so it doesn't appear as a drive. It does spin now where as before it wouldn't even do that. Thanks.

 

[vacunita]

You can try Ebay, or if you know of a local Computer Store that does their own assembly and repair you could ask them.

You could also Google for "Hard Drive Spare parts". I'm sure you'll get a few hits

----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[GomezAddamz]

Yes, E-Bay is a good place. I found a couple E-Bay stores that specialize in this. I don't remember them at the moment, but I'll look them up if you're interested.

Alternatively, depending how confident you are in your soldering skills, you can swap the firmware chips on the boards and see if that fixes it. That solution is briefly discussed in the last part of the last post in the last link I posted.

 

[Roj1971]

Thanks for the replies. My soldering skills are zilch. I'll start combing ebay for spare parts. I've got a few quotes for data recovery but that's a last resort.