Is all my information lost?

WD External Drives External Drives for PC
21

I sent you another PM, click on the envelope on the right side of the page and read them.

By the way, removing and inspecting and posting pics of the drive’s controller circuit board is as far and technical as I will advise you. Anything much beyond that requires special tools and knowledge. So rest assured I’m not going to spend hours and hours getting into esoteric tricks and other seemingly complex procedures that could make the problem worse. As it stands so far (assuming microage didn’t erase anything) I think your data is still present and can be recovered.

22

I will try again to post the photo…

23

Great! Got the pics… This is a WD10EADS disk. This disk was made in September of 2010.

This is going to become technical quite quickly I think. You may want to consider pro recovery service. Because what I suggest, in a nutshell, is you’ll be replacing 2 boards here. Everything has to go right. And that’s assuming the internal pre-amps and heads are ok. One board we can ID right away with the barcode. The other one? It’s in the trash and I have no idea what version it is or what chipset was used.

Well, It appears that  in the left red marking part of the trace has gotten hot and lifted itself off the board.

The second rightmost red mark seems to show some bubbling in the coating and some of the engineering test pads are either burnt or had experienced accelerated corrosion due to heat. I’m not too concerned with the pads, but more with the discoloration and barely-visible laminated patchwork.

Do you think you can send another picture of this green board? Perhaps a different angle without too much glare? Just send it to me and I’ll post it here to the forum. Also removing the 4 screws I marked in blue will let you take the board off, there might be a piece of foam there. Take it off too, and remember how it goes together. Easy stuff. I’m not worried about this board anymore, it looks like it’s got burned traces and will need replacing. Don’t throw this out, no matter how badly anything is burned on it.

@FZABKAR- What do you think? A PCB replacement? Do you think whatever overvoltage when through the bridgeboard and this board also made it into the pre-amps on the arm assembly? What about the heads? Think they’re electrically stable? And this disk, being made in sep-2010 means its late enough to be of the encrypting model I believe. So we’ll need to get the right bridgeboard. And hope that the few internal electronic bits like the preamps/heads/voicecoil and ribbon cables aren’t bad. That’s a lot of assumptions to make. If anything is out of order, the customer will have spent more time and a $100 for nothing. Best apply it to a data recovery operation I believe.

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@Keith, I won’t be able to see the images until they’re approved, but if you are referring to the discolouration, particularly around the JTAG connection points on the rear of the PCB, then this is due to oxidisation which is a consequence of materials changes mandated by RoHS.

Here are two discussions on the subject (with photos):
http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop-Portable-Drives/WD-HDD-PCB-Oxidization-corrosion-discolorations-you-name-it/td-p/24697
http://maccentre.ru/board/viewtopic.php?t=70953&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

It’s not necessary, but you can shine up the solder pads by gently rubbing them with a soft white pencil eraser.

If the My Book has been subjected to an overvoltage from a 19V laptop adapter, then the usual result is a shorted 12V TVS diode (location D4) on the HDD’s PCB.

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/bigcircuitboard_diodes.jpg

If zero-ohm resistor R64 is open circuit, then there is a high probability that the motor controller IC (SMOOTH) is dead, in which case the board will need to be replaced. Otherwise, if R64 is OK, then simply snipping D4 with flush cutters will probably get the drive running again.

If this is JessicaS’s board …

http://pcb-hdd.com/images/WD10EADS-114BB1%20%202060-771698-002%20REV%20P1%20PCB%20REPLACEMENT.JPG

… and if it cannot be economically repaired, then the 8-pin serial flash memory chip at U12 (below the SDRAM) will need to be transferred to a replacement PCB. Several PCB suppliers offer this service for free, or for US$10. Therefore the total cost of this board, including firmware transfer, will probably not exceed US$50.

As for preamp damage, I believe this is unlikely, but an inspection of the SMOOTH chip will be more conclusive. WD’s bridge boards have an onboard switchmode supply which generates the HDD’s +5V rail from the incoming +12V supply. The +5V PWM controller IC is often rated for a 40V maximum input, so it would be extremely unlikely for it to be damaged by a 19V adapter. The preamp also requires a -5V supply which is generated from the drive’s +5V input. Therefore it would be unlikely, although not impossible, for the -5V supply to be damaged. This in turn would suggest that the preamp would most probably survive the overvoltage.

As for the bridge board, my database of photos has two possible candidates:

P/N 4060-705059 with an Initio INIC-1607E controller, USB 2.0
P/N 4060-705089 with a symwave SW6316 controller, USB 3.0

Both ICs support AES encryption.

The date codes on the 4060-705059 boards are around late 2009, whereas the 4060-705089 boards are from around late 2010. So it’s looking like the second PCB may be the better bet.

Hopefully the following photos will jog’s JessicaS’s father’s memory.

[http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAzMlgxMDgw/$(KGrHqRHJEME-m1WUt54BPtbt1P-oQ~~60\_3.JPG](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAzMlgxMDgw/%24(KGrHqRHJEME-m1WUt54BPtbt1P-oQ~~60_3.JPG) (4060-705059)
[http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTMxN1gxNjAw/$(KGrHqFHJBME9rY6tOH+BPjkMmoSI!~~60\_3.JPG](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTMxN1gxNjAw/%24(KGrHqFHJBME9rY6tOH+BPjkMmoSI!~~60_3.JPG) (4060-705089)

Knowing whether the My Book was a USB 3 or USB 2 device would help immensely.

BTW, I have seen several discussions which point to the dual MOSFET chip (eg APM4532) as the most likely point of failure. This chip switches the +12V and +5V supplies to the HDD, and is under the control of the bridge IC. If this is indeed the fault that MicroAge observed, then they could have simply removed this IC and replaced each of the MOSFETs with a wire link running between drain and source. This effectively jumps the two switches and results in the HDD spinning continuously.

That said, the very first thing we need to determine is whether the HDD spins up at all. Then we need to examine sector 0. Until then, we are only speculating.

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I know about the RoHS discoloration, and how it generally progresses to a certain point and then stops naturally. What about the slight bumps near the area and seemingly visible fiberglass mesh? That says heat, and the seemingly lifted trace… heat also. Hard to see in these pics.

We also need to consider the technical capability of Jessica and dad. What tools are available to them. To us this stuff is 2nd nature. One step at a time.

I believe MicroAge has new age technicians. Not the old-skool board fixers. To them, if a board can’t be swapped, then it can’t be fixed. Ughhh…

26

Great! From this angle I don’t see any burn marks or visible damage. The discoloration is a common effect of RoHS materials used in construction. Good.

I wonder what would happen if we power this up straight away and read sector 0? We could determine if the disk works and if encryption is used. Then we could get the right bridgeboard and finish up.

@Fzabkar - the board number reads 2061-701640-407 AB XF A1A3 EYAH C 0002090 1092. What do you think about a regular usb-sata drive interface kit? They’re cheap. Or would you rather figure out the bridgeboard type and just get a replacement straight away? Also what do you think about removing the board and cleaning the head contacts with an eraser?

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@Keith, I can see the images now. As you say, those “burn marks” do appear to be discolouration due to oxidisation, so nothing to worry about there. In any case, the interesting stuff is on the other side. Cleaning the 20-pin head/VCM contacts (on the component side) would be worth doing. In fact some (most?) data recovery people do this as standard practice.

The PCB number is actually 2061-701640 (on the sticker) or 2060-701640 (on the PCB):
http://www.pcbfordatarecovery.com/media/catalog/product/cache/2/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/W/D/WD10EADS-00M2B0_2060-701640-001_REV_A_PCB.jpg

Unfortunately this PCB has a vacant spot at location U12, so the “adaptive” data are internal to the Marvell MCU (big “M” logo). If this board does turn out to faulty, then JessicaS will need a “PCB adaptation” service to transfer these data to a replacement PCB. The good news is that there is one PCB supplier who offers this service for free.

See http://www.donordrives.com/services

Like you, I’m now waiting for JessicaS to spin up her drive and show us sector 0. Personally, I would install the drive inside her computer rather than in a third party external enclosure, at least for testing purposes.

BTW, I would be interested to hear whether JessicaS’s father witnessed the HDD PCB still on the drive, or whether MicroAge removed it for him. Perhaps MicroAge were also misled by the discolouration.

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I believe that Jessica said she had a laptop. So I might suggest something like one of these – http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=sata+to+usb+cable – and more specifically one of the 3.5 “versions” that comes with an A/C adapter. These are under 10 bucks. Easy to use. No tools. You can get this at any computer store.

This little adapter will allow us to do a little troubleshooting.

It will let us know if your disk spins up and powers up.

It will let us determine if your disk is encrypted or not by reading track 0.

It only costs 10 or 15 bucks, so it isn’t a lot of money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUVz_R8kKnY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCx3GOcRMIk

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@Keith, JessicaS has a Mac desktop and a HP laptop. That said, I don’t know much about Macs, so I probably couldn’t help her in that regard. Perhaps you could? Otherwise, I agree that a third party enclosure might make it easier for all of us.

BTW, after revisiting her initial post, I see that she was able to verify her warranty online. This means that she would have had to input her product’s serial number. WD’s warranty checker would then have displayed her device’s model number. This begs the question, does she still have the original receipt/paperwork? If not, which serial number did she use? What is the model number? Part number?

The following document correlates WD’s model prefixes (eg WDBAAF or WDBACW) with model IDs (eg My Book 1110 / 1130 / 1140):
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5819/~/downloads-(firmware,-software,-drivers,-etc)-for-wd-drives-based-on-product-id

In addition, if the My Book had been successfully connected to her laptop in the past, and assuming the OS is Windows, then there will probably still be a reference to the device in the registry.

The above information would help us procure a replacement bridge board.

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Great! The next thing I think we should do is polish up the contacts I have outlined in red, a small pencil eraser will do fine. Go over them just as if you were erasing writing on paper. But be gentle of course. Be sure not to damage any of the surrounding parts or the green board and wire traces. The contacts will turn a silvery soda-can-aluminum color when they are clean. Blow away the eraser shavings too.

You may wish to practice on the screw hole areas or a test point first. They’re pretty tough and more forgiving of any mistakes. It’s the same material and same type of corrosion. I have outlined them in yellow.

Then re-assemble the drive. Put the foam pad back in place on the drive. Be sure it is positioned to allow the contacts to connect to the tooth-brush-shaped connector block in the corner. Same thing goes for the gold ribbon cable contacts that power the center motor. It’s pretty easy. Most everything is self aligning so it won’t be difficult. It’s good to put the screws in loosely and let the parts position themselves. Then button it all up.

As far as taking stuff apart this is all we will do. Taking the disk box apart is a no-no and needs to be done in a cleanroom laboratory. To put things in perspective, a hospital operating room is quite dirty compared to a disk drive laboratory!

Then we need to power this disk up and see what we can see! Based on what happens next we might ask you to order an encrypting or non-encripting bridgeboard (the circuitboard that was thrown away), or a new drive PCB (the one you just took apart), or both. This could come to about $25-$100… or maybe nothing! Depends on what happens here.

We might ask you to check some things in Windows. Or possibly run some special software. There are several choices, here, too, with price ranging from $0 freeware to $100 Do-It-Yourself recovery. It’s too early to tell yet.

If these things fail *then* it will be time for a professional to work on the disk in person.

@Frank I outlined the TVS in blue, they don’t look damaged or anything. And if they are, how are we to know it? I don’t think Jessica has a DMM to test them. Without having seen the bridgeboard and what got smoked on it I don’t know if it acted as a fuse or not.

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@Keith, sorry for my belated reply. I need to wait for the images to be approved before I can see them.

As for a DMM, these can be purchased from places such as HarborFreight for US$5.

Cen-Tech 90899 7 Function Digital Multimeter (US$5):
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-function-digital-multimeter-90899.html

Cen-Tech 90899 7 Function Digital Multimeter User Manual:
http://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/90000-90999/90899.pdf

My TVS diode FAQ explains how to perform a resistance test.

BTW, this thread has now racked up 30 posts and JessicaS still has not spun up her drive, nor has she provided us with the model number and part number that she used for her warranty enquiry.

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Sorry I haven’t done this yet. I hadclosed it after I took the pictures and borrowed the tools from a friend. I now need to get the tools back so that I can reopen it and “clean off” the areas you have pointed out. Although I don’t know how afteis this I will beable to power this disk up? Should I be purchasing something in the mean time?

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Sorry for my slow responses fzabkar, I currently live at the beach and have no Internet, so I am only able to check online every several days. If the thread is going on too long, I do not mind at all moving this to email correspondence instead.

Also I have theoriginal box that my hrd drive came in. That’s where I got the information I used to figure out ihave was still covered underwarranty. I’ve taken pictures of the box, bucram still having difficulty adding pithesis to post. If u want I could email them to you.

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You could send them out to me  and I’ll post them here and on a picassa account for all to see. See if you can get a good picture of the white label that has all sorts of barcodes and numbers if possible. If it’s there.

I think you should get the contacts cleaned as I described a few messages back. And get a simple USB-to-SATA kit, also described a few messages back. Please re-read them. And watch the two youtube vids. And keep in mind we’re using this USB thing as a diagnostic tool to see where we’re at. Don’t look at it as a waste of money if we use it only one or two times.

Microage may have done the same thing, but just didn’t know what to do with what they were seeing. Typical…

I think we should keep working in this thread as anyone at anytime can jump in with some suggestions we may not have thought of. And that’s a good thing.

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And if it takes another 50 messages, then so be it. We are proceeding carefully to avoid making an unknown situation into a disaster, providing MicroAge didn’t do that already. When we’re done here one of two things will have happened:

1- You’ll get your stuff back.

2- You’ll be asked to send the disk to a pro-recovery service lab for specialized repair and recovery.

Right now, as it stands, it can go either way. Let’s see pictures of the box and get this disk powered up!