Should I replace Maxtor PCB

michael baxter · 20 Jan 2006 at 18:55

A good friend has had a disk failure (Maxtor DiamondMAX 9 200G), the disk is part of a Maxtor OneTouch USB unit. I have volunteered to see if the data can be recovered........

The disk was working fine, then......

On turning on the OneTouch unit the disk didn't spin-up and the LED on the external PSU started to dim and flash (which shouldn't happen).

Thinking it could be a PSU issue I removed the disk from the OneTouch case
(it is a standard IDE drive) and tried to power it from a spare molex in my desktop. Then a component on the harddrive PCB went up in smoke.....................and it didn't spin-up!

Obviously, the drive has a problem!

Now, I wonder whether it is possible to replace the PCB on the drive itself?

Can one suggest whether I should try and do this? Am I wasting my time?

By the way, my friend isn't in a position to pay for a data recovery company to have a look.

Thanks,

Michael

Fred_Or_Dead · 20 Jan 2006 at 19:32

You have to also take into consideration that the initial fault could have been mechanical which then in turn blow out the component on the controller?!?
So you could end up with 2 dead controllers and 2 completely useless Hd's?!?

Personally I would tell him it's knackered and to keep his important data backed up in future.

michael baxter · 20 Jan 2006 at 21:16

Thanks Fred, I understand your point that it could be a mechanical issue, thanks for the reply.

I have told him it is 'toast', but I just want to help him out if possible, as he is a very good friend. Further, I'm curious to see if can be recovered, as I strangely enjoy solving these kinds of problems.

Anyone, able to give me any suggestions whether it is possible to swap PCBs from an identical drive?

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks again,

Michael

Steves_pc · 20 Jan 2006 at 21:43

So long as the drive the working controller comes from is identical model wise then theres a very good chanceof success unless its an internal failure on either the drive motor or head actuator that fubar'd the original in which case you may get more smoke :eek:

In saying that i did the same to an IBM click o death drive a year or two ago and it worked fine.

michael baxter · 21 Jan 2006 at 16:36

Thanks you all for the help!

It's fixed! Nice!

I traced the problem to a capacitor across the power supply input on the PCB, which had become shorted. Typically the function will be to smooth the supply, but isn't necessarily critical. So I pulled it off..............

The short circuit disappeared, I attached the power, and it spun up!!! Filesystem seems intact!

Just transfering the data and all seems to be going well.........

Fred_Or_Dead · 21 Jan 2006 at 17:34

Personally I would meter the cap to find out it's value and then solder in a replacement. The Hd may work fine now but I can guarantee that the removal of that cap will significantly effect the Hd's MTBF.

michael baxter · 21 Jan 2006 at 18:40

Fred,

That's a fair point! However, I'm getting the data off it as quickly as possible, then I'll decide what to do. I don't want to take a soldering iron to the PCB until I'm done.

It appears as though the cap' is mounted across the supply rails, so probably for decoupling/smoothing. I can't measure the capacitance as the component is fried. The only markings are:

ST (ST electronics brand)
BUX Not sure
C402 Not sure

Tried looking the part up, but can't find anything at the ST website, just wondering whether it maybe a custom component for Maxtor only.

Thanks again Fred!

Regards,

Michael