Barracuda XT, Barracuda, Barracuda Green, DiamondMax and other desktop SATA and IDE drives

[s54321]

Out of 4 internal drives, my two Seagates died at the same time.  What are the odds of that?  Anyway, I was going to open up the Maxtor  STM3320620AS and try to retrieve the data.  Both drives have a short I guess because the power supply turns on for less than a second and then shuts off.  If I unplug these two drives it turns on ok, so it's not the power supply.  The one dead drive sounds ok when I twirl it in my hand, but the Maxtor, the main drive that I want to retrieve the data off of, makes a clicking sound when I twirl it.  I was told that if I replace the logic board, it has to be an exact same replacement, because a different firmware won't work.  My firmware is 3.AAE.  I can find a used Seagate on ebay that has the same model number, except without the 'M', but of course the firmware is different too.  Can someone confirm that it has to be exactly the same?  I know the clicking sound is probably pretty bad, can someone tell me what that might be?  I'm going to open it up in a "cleanroom box" I made to see if the bearing is frozen, but I think I'm stuck unless I find an exact replacement drive.

[fzabkar]

Please don't open your drives, at least not without trying the following suggestions.

Firstly, if your Maxtor clicks when you shake it, then I suspect you may be hearing the head stack moving about on the loading ramp, but that's just a guess. In any case, the sound is probably normal. I have a Seagate 320GB PATA drive, with no history of problems and a clean SMART log, that makes a similar sound.

Here is a label that should dispel your doubts.

Seagate Momentus ST320421ASG:
http://www.mindspring.com/~fdooman/images/P9141517.JPG

The label states that "rattle noise is normal when handled".

As for the shorted drives, please check your power supply ASAP. What has probably happened is that an overvoltage condition on either the +5V or +12V rails has taken out the TVS (transient voltage suppression) diodes near the drives' power connector. Once you are satisfied that your PSU can be trusted, you can remove the shorted diode(s) and the drives should work perfectly without them, albeit without continued protection.

If you search this forum for "TVS", you will find several success stories, with photos.

Otherwise feel free to post your own photos and one of us will help you locate the components.

If you need to replace the logic board, you will need to match the firmware on the label, and you may need to swap the EEPROM chip (usually 8-pin). The EEPROM contains the "adaptives" that were determined during factory calibration.

Be aware that only a small part of the firmware is stored in the EEPROM -- the bulk of it is written to the platters in a reserved System Area.

Message Edited by fzabkar on 30-09-2009 05:34 AM

[s54321 · Accepted solution]

Thank you fzabkar.  It was indeed the TVS diode.  It took me and a friend a while to figure out which of several similar looking parts was the TVS diode, but we finally did, and successfully removed them.  I wish there were pictures for each model number, that would help others looking for the diode.  I eventually RMA'd the drives.  One was replaced, the other sent back because of a break in the plastic label above one of the assembly screws.  I eventually replaced the drives with three 1Tb of the same brand as the other drives that did not fail.

Message Edited by s54321 on 11-04-2009 10:31 AM