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So I have a disk that developed the click of death and has stopped working. Never tried to fix one before but unfortunately there is some not-backed-up data on the disk which I need. Does anyone have any experience of fixing this problem?
I know it may well require opening the disk up, which is fine, I actually have access to a cleanroom at work so I'm happy to do that. I'm guessing the head has either crashed into the platter or the head is stuck (bad bearings?) or something like that. If anyone has fixed this sort of thing before/knows a good guide it would be very much appreciated...
Would like to make sure I have the necessary tools/a vague idea of what I'm doing/things to look out for before I open it up.
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Geeze, I would be overwhelmed trying to do that.. I hear it costs a couple thousand dollars to pay to have it done. That's what Leo the tech guy says, but he's sponsored by a data backup service.
I had an xbox 360 drive fail. I needed to use the same drive serial on my xbox.. So I replaced the physical lazor and moving parts of the drive and kept the controlling chip board the same.. Of course it was the same type of drive and fit perfect.
I can only speculate.. that something like that could be done.. By swapping the drive platters with an identical working drive. I have a half dozen broken hard drives laying around.. Some of them work sometimes.. But luckily I have never lost important data.
I can also guess that the internals can be seen online.. Look up that model and pictures maybe even guides online. I hope that data isn't too important.. I am pretty pessimistic about the success of doing that.
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Yeah I'm just in the information gathering stage, I'm worried about the data of course, but the way I see it it can't be that hard - the main problem is access to tools and a clean room, but I have those and I've done plenty of work with other electronics, so... well fingers crossed I guess.
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9/10 times your just going to completely destroy it. Its ridiculous how fragile they are... I've done it a number of times but only successfully repaired it once or twice and yea.. only when the head was just stuck. If it crashed into the platter its very likely that it caused some damage and wont be worth repairing. If your just trying to repair a jammed head then you dont need too much in the way of tools just the proper sized screwdriver for the screws that are holding it and probably a magnetized flat head to pry off the magnets... Its a pretty simple matter to open it up and take them apart. Putting it back together is another matter though
Your best bet if your just trying to get the data is to find a computer store//data recovery company that has the machine(dont remember the name) that you can just put the platter itself onto and get the data off using that. More likely that you would actually be able to retrieve the data if its important. Makes it a lot easier but the HDD would still be doomed.
Anywho good luck!
(This post was last modified: 08-12-2012, 01:42 AM by
Redorb.)
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I have taken apart my android phone many times.. First to just replace the broken glass. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It's a slider phone and the ribbon cable connecting it is paper thin.. I broke it a couple different times by moving it lightly. I've not gotten a lot more experienced with the insides of phones.. But it's nerve wrecking dealing with an expensive device. In the future, I'd rather not do it. Laptops, and desktops, are so much easier.
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Loki Wrote:Would like to make sure I have the necessary tools/a vague idea of what I'm doing/things to look out for before I open it up.
Double bag it and place it in the freezer, after 3 to 4 hours run it and copy whatever is the most important, quickly, then try the freezer again as soon as you get the click of death... it saved me at least 2 times.
