EXCellR8
Posts: 1,797 +1
So I recently picked up a data recovery job and I'm having a real hard time getting the rebuilt drive working. I was wondering if anyone with a good deal of knowledge about hard drive internals and could help me out.
The original problem was the drive was not being detected and was making a clicking sound. Since the drive is no longer covered under warranty, I proceeded to run a few tests and it turned out that the drive was physically damaged. One of the magnets on the end of the actuator arm had broken off and one platter surface was scratched a good deal. It was not looking good.
So, I proceeded to order a replacement drive, an identical unit. The drives are a slightly-older 250GB Hitachi Deskstar which is not very common I guess. Since the drive came out of an External enclosure, I ended up ordering another since I could not find the drive itself. The drive came in the other day and when I took it apart it was the same drive, so I was all set there.
So long story short, I replaced the swivel magnets and actuator arm in the original drive, since you cannot take out the platters w/o removing these components. When I powered up the rebuilt drive, one of the magnets on the new actuator arm broke off... again. So, I figured if I placed the scratched platter under the broken actuator tip, it would work fine but it doesn't. As the drive spins, the arm moves back and forth but does not read or write; it's not being detected either.
So I guess my real question is there any way to disable a single actuator tip or am I out of luck yet again? At this point I'm not willing to get another replacement drive because the internals are just too delicate to handle without special equipment/magnifying glass. Can I try the platters in another drive? I have a bunch here that I'm not using.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated; sorry for the long post. Thanks!
The original problem was the drive was not being detected and was making a clicking sound. Since the drive is no longer covered under warranty, I proceeded to run a few tests and it turned out that the drive was physically damaged. One of the magnets on the end of the actuator arm had broken off and one platter surface was scratched a good deal. It was not looking good.
So, I proceeded to order a replacement drive, an identical unit. The drives are a slightly-older 250GB Hitachi Deskstar which is not very common I guess. Since the drive came out of an External enclosure, I ended up ordering another since I could not find the drive itself. The drive came in the other day and when I took it apart it was the same drive, so I was all set there.
So long story short, I replaced the swivel magnets and actuator arm in the original drive, since you cannot take out the platters w/o removing these components. When I powered up the rebuilt drive, one of the magnets on the new actuator arm broke off... again. So, I figured if I placed the scratched platter under the broken actuator tip, it would work fine but it doesn't. As the drive spins, the arm moves back and forth but does not read or write; it's not being detected either.
So I guess my real question is there any way to disable a single actuator tip or am I out of luck yet again? At this point I'm not willing to get another replacement drive because the internals are just too delicate to handle without special equipment/magnifying glass. Can I try the platters in another drive? I have a bunch here that I'm not using.
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated; sorry for the long post. Thanks!