What would you do if you have a harddisk problem..

Kevlar21 · 10-16-2009, 12:13 PM

What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. and its still under warranty but you've taken the screws out on the top so it voids warranty??..

Well my hdd failed. and it has info that i dont want ppl to see, what can i do to fix it??

bios wont detect it, but when booted up, it says master hard disk problem or something..

please help

**raptor_pa** · 10-16-2009, 12:17 PM

Does it spin up at all when powered? Make and model of drive, did you remove all the screws? Did you open the top cover?

Kevlar21 · 10-16-2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptor_pa

Does it spin up at all when powered? Make and model of drive, did you remove all the screws? Did you open the top cover?

it spins during boot up..
makes a weird clicking sound..
western digital 640gb 7200rpm 32cache, and forgot what model it is now..

yes i opened the top cover =/

**raptor_pa** · 10-16-2009, 09:23 PM

You're chances of getting that drive functional again are slim to none. The western digital drives secure the head stack through the top cover, as soon as you loosen the screws, you lose the alignment of the heads. The first several of these drives I worked on it took me several days to get the heads close enough to read, I can usually get them fiddled in in an hour or two now, but it is really tough without hardware/software combos that can keep the disk alive and let you see what is going on while it is trying to initialize. These drives are the bane of even professional recovery engineers.

Kevlar21 · 10-17-2009, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptor_pa

You're chances of getting that drive functional again are slim to none. The western digital drives secure the head stack through the top cover, as soon as you loosen the screws, you lose the alignment of the heads. The first several of these drives I worked on it took me several days to get the heads close enough to read, I can usually get them fiddled in in an hour or two now, but it is really tough without hardware/software combos that can keep the disk alive and let you see what is going on while it is trying to initialize. These drives are the bane of even professional recovery engineers.

when u say about the head stack, is that the screws above the disks?
well i didnt unscrew those..
i unscrewed the hard disk cover at the top..

=/

Dogg · 10-17-2009, 09:06 AM

He is talking about the same cover that you removed.

**raptor_pa** · 10-17-2009, 12:54 PM

The screw that isd off centerline through the cover. If you had the cover off, you had the head stack loose

Kevlar21 · 10-18-2009, 07:41 AM

lol, i only removed the cover..

i think you guys are assuming that i removed the headsack (the 4-5 screws in the middle center of the disks in circular?) which is not the case lol..

ineedateam1 · 10-18-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kevlar21

lol, i only removed the cover..

i think you guys are assuming that i removed the headsack (the 4-5 screws in the middle center of the disks in circular?) which is not the case lol..

No they are saying Becuz you removed the Top cover The heads are Not alined

**raptor_pa** · 10-18-2009, 10:03 AM

That is not the headstack, those are the platters. The head stack has arms that extend over the platter. The alignment is secured by one of the screws in the cover that comes down thru the pivot point of the headstack. Bottom line is, if you removed the top cover, you lost the alignment of the heads on a western digital drive.

Kevlar21 · 10-19-2009, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptor_pa

That is not the headstack, those are the platters. The head stack has arms that extend over the platter. The alignment is secured by one of the screws in the cover that comes down thru the pivot point of the headstack. Bottom line is, if you removed the top cover, you lost the alignment of the heads on a western digital drive.

but then that just means, data lost?

its ok if i lose the data, i just want everything back and running..
is this possible now?

**raptor_pa** · 10-19-2009, 07:02 AM

No, the heads are unabe to read the synchro marks to locate tracks. About the ony thing to do is play with the alignment by adjusting slightly the position of the cover and the torque on the screw in the head stack. It is tough to do on a PC because the drive will need to be repowered contantly. We use special hardware that can repower the drive and continue to seek, so it is possible to tell when the heads are able to start reading. The drive is pretty much dead at this point. Like I said, I have spent days on some of the first WD drives I did head swaps on trying to get the alignment.
Your best bet at this point is to replace the drive. Even playing with the adjustments trying to get the alignment back, get it too loose and you can cause platter or head damage by letting the heads 'flop' around.

Kevlar21 · 11-04-2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raptor_pa

No, the heads are unabe to read the synchro marks to locate tracks. About the ony thing to do is play with the alignment by adjusting slightly the position of the cover and the torque on the screw in the head stack. It is tough to do on a PC because the drive will need to be repowered contantly. We use special hardware that can repower the drive and continue to seek, so it is possible to tell when the heads are able to start reading. The drive is pretty much dead at this point. Like I said, I have spent days on some of the first WD drives I did head swaps on trying to get the alignment.
Your best bet at this point is to replace the drive. Even playing with the adjustments trying to get the alignment back, get it too loose and you can cause platter or head damage by letting the heads 'flop' around.

thanks for the advice..

10-16-2009, 12:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kevlar21 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 52 OS: XP	What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. and its still under warranty but you've taken the screws out on the top so it voids warranty??.. Well my hdd failed. and it has info that i dont want ppl to see, what can i do to fix it?? bios wont detect it, but when booted up, it says master hard disk problem or something.. please help

10-16-2009, 12:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,833 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. Does it spin up at all when powered? Make and model of drive, did you remove all the screws? Did you open the top cover? __________________

10-16-2009, 09:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,833 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. You're chances of getting that drive functional again are slim to none. The western digital drives secure the head stack through the top cover, as soon as you loosen the screws, you lose the alignment of the heads. The first several of these drives I worked on it took me several days to get the heads close enough to read, I can usually get them fiddled in in an hour or two now, but it is really tough without hardware/software combos that can keep the disk alive and let you see what is going on while it is trying to initialize. These drives are the bane of even professional recovery engineers. __________________

10-17-2009, 09:06 AM	#6 (permalink)
Dogg Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 2,085 OS: XP sp3	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. He is talking about the same cover that you removed. __________________ Google is your friend !

10-17-2009, 12:54 PM	#7 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,833 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. The screw that isd off centerline through the cover. If you had the cover off, you had the head stack loose __________________

10-18-2009, 07:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
Kevlar21 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 52 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. lol, i only removed the cover.. i think you guys are assuming that i removed the headsack (the 4-5 screws in the middle center of the disks in circular?) which is not the case lol..

10-18-2009, 10:03 AM	#10 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,833 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. That is not the headstack, those are the platters. The head stack has arms that extend over the platter. The alignment is secured by one of the screws in the cover that comes down thru the pivot point of the headstack. Bottom line is, if you removed the top cover, you lost the alignment of the heads on a western digital drive. __________________

10-19-2009, 07:02 AM	#12 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,833 OS: XP	Re: What would you do if you have a harddisk problem.. No, the heads are unabe to read the synchro marks to locate tracks. About the ony thing to do is play with the alignment by adjusting slightly the position of the cover and the torque on the screw in the head stack. It is tough to do on a PC because the drive will need to be repowered contantly. We use special hardware that can repower the drive and continue to seek, so it is possible to tell when the heads are able to start reading. The drive is pretty much dead at this point. Like I said, I have spent days on some of the first WD drives I did head swaps on trying to get the alignment. Your best bet at this point is to replace the drive. Even playing with the adjustments trying to get the alignment back, get it too loose and you can cause platter or head damage by letting the heads 'flop' around. __________________