Momentus XT, Momentus, Momentus Thin, MobileMax, and other notebook drives

[SkullPlot]

Hello, Seagate community. I've got a problem on my hands, please help:

Specs:

Custom-built laptop

i2720 2.3ghz Quad Core Processor

GT555M 2gb Video Card

Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

I am using the Momentus 750gb HDD model # st9750420as. I take better care of the laptop than my car, yet to my surprise the other day something strange happened when I went to boot up. The laptop is stuck at my BIOS screen and fails to even RECOGNIZE the HDD as being plugged in. It makes a strange and very quiet sound every 2 or so seconds (from HDD, not the speakers). I've taken a hard look at everything and come to the conclusion my logic board has fried/become damaged somehow, as one of the connectors on the board seems dark-colored instead of shiny like it's counterparts (leads one to believe it's no longer conductive).

I have been looking ALL over the internet for a logic board for this specific Seagate product, to no avail.. I can't find it anywhere! Will Seagate sell me the logic board separate or give me a third party vendor who can help me? I don't want to pay another 150$ just for a new HDD, especially since I'd REALLY like to recover the data on my drive too.

Also, as a side note I've been using this laptop for ~6 months or so. And the product wasn't OEM so I should be under warranty, correct? -or how can I check?

Thanks for any help! I'm trying to get this all done asap, this is my school laptop and I need it fixed yesterday! :,(

EDIT::ADDED NOTE::

I looked up that the board model is ---100619769 Rev. A--- so, simply, I ask does Seagate have the capabilites of selling me that part individually? If not, can someone, anyone, supply me with a vendor that Does sell these? I mean it's kind of sad the thing fried after ~6 months, and I'm happy it's not the actual HDD, but instead this "PCB" board seems hard to locate..

[SkullPlot]

Can an admin or mod please help me with an answer?

This problem is quite frustrating.

[WiseDrive]

I am neither a mod or in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Seagate.

A few off the cuff observations.

In all my years, I have never seen a hard drive electronics board VISIBLY fry unless something real untoward is done to it --- like over voltage / etc.

The industry's longstanding policy is data on the drive is not their problem --- the customer is responsible for regular backups and restore of data --- and data loss is not warranted or guaranteed in any way, shape, or form.

As for supply of spare parts...

First, a replacemenbt board may or may not work.

There are specialized firms who do drive repair and charge correspondingly sophisticated prices for their work.

Some of them stock parts, and have clean room and other facilities that if you paid enough, can recover just about anything from anywhere short of a total destruction of the platters. 

But you pay through the nose for that work.

If you are unwilling to spend $150 for a new drive (possibly the only easy way to get a spare that MAY or MAY NOT work), you are outta luck.

SOL

[SkullPlot]

Thanks for responding but what you said is nothing near true in reference to my board problem.

These types of boards don't fry in entirety, no, but the 'pin connectors' did fry on the board. It's quite common with older boards, I haven't had it happen to many new boards but I'm used to desktops. I would assume laptops break down faster, but 6 months is kind of ridiculous imo.

I found a few sites like hddzone and other PCB suppliers. But no one carries the Momentus boards.

And I'm very good with computers, so yes this is definitely a PCB/logic board problem as I can SEE the darkened connector's which is abnormal

[WiseDrive · Accepted solution]

If it is as you say, it is a warranty issue as they are warranted for  5 years.

[SkullPlot]

Right you are, thank you, I (somehow) did not even notice the warranty checker on the side of the page haha

Well I called up support, spoke with a very helpful rep at the warranty department, and the replacement hdd should ship tomorrow with a return package for me to send the old drive.

I can handle the storage transfer and DoD wipe it myself, no need to risk waste paying a bad employee $800 to copy and steal my personal information from the drive

Thanks again!

[WiseDrive]

Glad you found a solution....

Just don't expect the replacement drive board to necessarily work with your drive and don't be disappointed if it doesn't work.

AFAIK, Seagate have pretty good procedures in place to ensure that there is no use and abuse of customer data on returned drives.

Oh... in all the time I dealt with Seagate, they have always honored their warranties.

From their very beginning...

[fzabkar]

It sounds to me like your drive may have a stiction fault (heads stuck to platters) rather than a PCB fault. In any case, each PCB stores unique, drive specific information in a serial flash memory chip, so a straight board swap won't work.

BTW, the oxidisation that you have observed is typical for current model WD and Seagate drives. It appears to be a consequence of materials changes mandated by RoHS.

[WiseDrive]

---

fzabkar wrote:
It sounds to me like your drive may have a stiction fault (heads stuck to platters) rather than a PCB fault. In any case, each PCB stores unique, drive specific information in a serial flash memory chip, so a straight board swap won't work.

BTW, the oxidisation that you have observed is typical for current model WD and Seagate drives. It appears to be a consequence of materials changes mandated by RoHS.

---

Oxydation from the elimination of lead under RoHS and its associated faults I am familiar with --- and I don't regard that as burn marks.

Without high res photos, it is really hard to tell which is which.

Concur with you re board stored info...  it is possible for a top notch drive repair shop to get around that by reading the data and then doing what it takes to replace the board and use the same data.

Just thinking of all this is causing tin whiskers to grow on me!

[SkullPlot]

@fzabkar

So by what you're saying: Hypothetically, if the HDD's used the exact same PCB board model 100619769 Rev. A, and I did a board swap between the two, there's a 100% chance the PCB will not read the HDD correctly. True?

If so, that's unfortunate.