Dead WD, PCB replace a viable fix?

[Durzel]

I have a WD1200JB drive that I accidentally fried when I rewired a
Molex connector the wrong way around (red and yellow wires were
swapped - 5v became 12v and vice versa).

Needless to say the drive died rather quickly and hasn't spun up
since.

I have been looking around the 'Net for a suitable drive for a PCB
replacement (WD say the exact model, last 3 digits of DCM and LBA are
the things that need to match to do a straight swap), but when I
removed the PCB from the existing drive to check for any obvious burn
marks - I couldn't see anything obvious.

I'm not an engineer so chances are I have no idea what I'm looking
for, but is it possible that the PCB could be damaged with no
outwardly (obvious) visible signs of damage?

The data on the drive is of critical importance to me, but it isn't
business data so spending thousands for Vogon et al to recover it is
not an option for me.

I basically need to know whether I'm chasing a lost cause here, or
whether I would be better off just using the warranty that still
exists on the drive and getting a direct replacement from WD?

 

[Rolf Blom]

I have a WD1200JB drive that I accidentally fried when I rewired a
Molex connector the wrong way around (red and yellow wires were
swapped - 5v became 12v and vice versa).

Needless to say the drive died rather quickly and hasn't spun up
since.

I have been looking around the 'Net for a suitable drive for a PCB
replacement (WD say the exact model, last 3 digits of DCM and LBA are
the things that need to match to do a straight swap), but when I
removed the PCB from the existing drive to check for any obvious burn
marks - I couldn't see anything obvious.

I'm not an engineer so chances are I have no idea what I'm looking
for, but is it possible that the PCB could be damaged with no
outwardly (obvious) visible signs of damage?

The data on the drive is of critical importance to me, but it isn't
business data so spending thousands for Vogon et al to recover it is
not an option for me.

I basically need to know whether I'm chasing a lost cause here, or
whether I would be better off just using the warranty that still
exists on the drive and getting a direct replacement from WD?

There doesn't have to be burn marks for a component to be damaged.
I'd guess you'd have to replace every silicon using +5V, so the simplest
route to get a working drive is a pcb replacement.

Now sometimes bad block lists and low-level formatting data is stored on
a chip on the pcb, sometimes on a reserved cylinder. If that data was on
the pcb, you could have some problems still, but let's hope for the best.

/Rolf

 

[Arno Wagner]

I have a WD1200JB drive that I accidentally fried when I rewired a
Molex connector the wrong way around (red and yellow wires were
swapped - 5v became 12v and vice versa).

Ouch, painful! I did a similar thing when I made a 1->4 Y-cable
but one of the raw cables had yellow and red swapped. Two dead
disks.

Needless to say the drive died rather quickly and hasn't spun up
since.

I have been looking around the 'Net for a suitable drive for a PCB
replacement (WD say the exact model, last 3 digits of DCM and LBA are
the things that need to match to do a straight swap), but when I
removed the PCB from the existing drive to check for any obvious burn
marks - I couldn't see anything obvious.

Does not matter. The chips are gone. Some of the passives
will also be gone. The problem with PCB replacement is that all
drives I have opened so far (not many) had a pre-amplifier
directly next to the drive heads inside the drive. If that is
damaged, replacing the PCB will not help. It addmittedly has
a higher chance of survival, since it will likely be fed from
pre-regulated voltage.

I'm not an engineer so chances are I have no idea what I'm looking
for, but is it possible that the PCB could be damaged with no
outwardly (obvious) visible signs of damage?

Yes. In fact I have seen most overloaded semiconductors
fail non-spectacularly. I had a transistor explode once,
but could not reproduce that effect (was one of a cheap
100-pack).

The data on the drive is of critical importance to me, but it isn't
business data so spending thousands for Vogon et al to recover it is
not an option for me.

You should reconsider that statement. To me "critical" implies
"will spend thousands".

I basically need to know whether I'm chasing a lost cause here, or
whether I would be better off just using the warranty that still
exists on the drive and getting a direct replacement from WD?

You will not get a warranty replacement for the if WD does any
checking. In fact trying to get one could be considerd attempted
fraud, so I advise against it.

I think you should ask Odie (posts to this group) how expensive
a professional recovery of this would be at his shop.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a WD1200JB drive that I accidentally fried when I rewired
a Molex connector the wrong way around (red and yellow wires
were swapped - 5v became 12v and vice versa).

Needless to say the drive died rather quickly and hasn't spun up since.

I have been looking around the 'Net for a suitable drive for a PCB
replacement (WD say the exact model, last 3 digits of DCM and
LBA are the things that need to match to do a straight swap),
but when I removed the PCB from the existing drive to check
for any obvious burn marks - I couldn't see anything obvious.

I'm not an engineer so chances are I have no idea what I'm
looking for, but is it possible that the PCB could be damaged
with no outwardly (obvious) visible signs of damage?

Yes, particularly with that type of flagrant voltage abuse.

The data on the drive is of critical importance to me,
but it isn't business data so spending thousands for
Vogon et al to recover it is not an option for me.

I basically need to know whether I'm chasing a lost cause here,
or whether I would be better off just using the warranty that still
exists on the drive and getting a direct replacement from WD?

That isnt a warranty claim, you killed it yourself.