Thread: Hard Drive Repairs - DIY

it can work if it is the pcb that has died.

Originally Posted by djhampson

Has any one had any experience with replacing the PCB on a hard drive?

My Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 SATA 1TB HD has stopped being detected by any computer and I suspect that the PCB is dead.

I've found a few sites around the place that sell replacement PCBs so I'm going to give it a go.

Just wondering if anyone has had any luck doing this?

Does it still spin up when you switch on?

There was a firmware issue in the seagates not too long ago.
Basically the test firmware had a flag that would shut down the HDD after a certain number of startups. When they updated to retail, the flag was left behind, and once you hit "x" number of reboots, the drive would go into lockdown.

If this is the issue with yours, all the data will still be intact, but will just need to be posted back to Seagate and re-flashed with an updated firmware (all at Seagates expense).

There is a DIY method around, but will require a UART(?) board for flashing IIRC.

It spins up but then it "thunks" and stops. It repeats this continuously.

I've ordered a PCB from the US for $39 so I'll see how that goes. It sounds like I'll need to swap the EEPROM chip over.

I have tried this in the past with some identical drives.. didnt fix my problem though. Fingers crossed that the PCB might be the answer. What sort of drive? Any product details? I have a lot of HDD here and I might be able to find a matching controller.