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[deadmax]

I've googled around the globe in three days and have come to the conclusion that I need to swap out my logic board.

Well, there's a problem... Seagate support is about as handy as Micorsoft's Black Hole Support.

How could I go about getting either a board with Firmware 3.CTA or a whole drive (ST9250827AS) or (PN: 9DG134-566 or PN: 9N2A4-500) to go about retrieving my data without the ludicrous expense of going through a recovery service?

I found one drive for over two hundred dollars on some online "shopping for the best price" page. I think NOT!

Newegg doesn't have any techy people to contact to see what firmware the drive they carry has. This is nuts.

I'm open to suggestions.

[fzabkar]

AIUI, the bulk of the firmware is stored in a hidden System Area on the platters, and the remainder in an 8-pin serial EEPROM chip on the circuit board. This chip also stores calibration data determined at the factory. You should be prepared to transplant the EEPROM from patient to donor, in which case it may not be necessary to match the firmware versions, if all else is identical.

Can you describe the failure symptoms of your original PCB? Any visible damage? Was the drive overvolted? Was it in an external enclosure?

Do you have a multimeter?

Can you upload a detailed photo to a file sharing service?

[deadmax]

fzabkar:

Thanks for that bit of information. This has been a grand learning experience for me thus far!

This is the first I've read of transplanting chips from one board to another save in the case of a fried chip, which mine has not.

I'll link you to my thread at pcadvisor for details. Rest assured I've tried everything short of the board swap and the platter swap inside the "zip lock freezer bag clean room."  I'm presently watching and waiting for another Maxtor external like mine from which to harvest this component.

In this thread I mentioned a click. It is NOT like the patent Click of Death I've heard on several video postings. It's more an electronic sound. Hard to describe, actually. Not much need as I can tell to post photos since nothing has been fried. It's a pretty straightforward and oh, too common issue as I'm learning. 

The thread-

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=374205&forumid=1

I did find an article wherein a guy replaced his burned chip. Luckily I have a new soldering pencil and  a steady hand. My eyes are in need of help though! LOL!

[fzabkar]

I see that in the other thread you describe the sound as the "clicking of tiny critters". If it is anything like the chirping that is often discussed in these forums, then it is most likely not a board problem. :-(

Instead it suggests that the drive is unable to spin up, possibly due to a seized spindle motor bearing, or stiction (heads sticking to platters). This often happens after the drive has been dropped.

Sometimes a failure to spin up can be due to insufficient power. A USB port is current limited to 500mA, whereas a typical Momentus drive requires 850mA for quite a few seconds during spin up, and about 400mA thereafter. A Y-cable is sometimes used to pick up power from two USB ports. I don't know what size drive is in your Mini4.

If your drive is actually spinning up, but clicking immediately afterwards, then this would suggest that it is unable to read the firmware on the platters. It could even mean a head crash, although I would expect to hear some horrible noises in such a case.

[deadmax]

This is a video I took this morning-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sHtGfhWsNM

It is of my 250gb 2.5" Momentus 5400.4 in a Maxtor 9NU2A4-500 "OneTouch 4 Mini" enclosure. Its FW is 3.CTA, Seagate model ST9250827AS, PN: 9DG134-566. I've typed this information so often that I've memorized it!

To the best of my knowlege it has never been "dropped." At least not from a distance onto a hard surface. It is possible to have fallen perhaps three feet from my tower to a carpeted floor, but I don't recall this ever happening. I do have kids, though.

Thanks for your help so far. That bit about noise vs possible severe mechanical issue is disheartening at the least. Can you say ZipLoc?

Eric

Message Edited by deadmax on 01-26-2010 07:18 AM

Message Edited by deadmax on 01-26-2010 08:05 AM

[fzabkar]

Sorry, Youtube crashes my machine. :-(

In any case, the data recovery professionals at HDD Guru would be able to give you a more accurate diagnosis:

http://forum.hddguru.com/hard-disk-drives-data-recovery-and-repair-f1.html

The fall could have caused the heads to be dislodged from their parking position on the load/unload ramp, in which case they could be stuck to the platters.

See ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiction#Hard_disk_drives