OMG - WD MyBook just died

[d3v]

Hi all,

You may remember my topic about this hard drive's AC power adapter blowing up just weeks after buying this external hard drive.

Now the drive will not spin up and instead just gets extremely hot.

I'm connecting it via a SATA/IDE to USB adapter ever since the AC power cord blew up.

This has served me fine for a couple of months until this new problem occured.

Is it just the harddrives PCB board that's damaged becuase that's where the extreme heat is coming from.... not the actual hard drive itself.

Would replacing the PCB board with another one from the exact same model hard drive fix this problem?

THANKS!

[RadioActive]

First of all, this is a hardware-related issue, so posting it in the "Software Chat" section doesn't make sense :s

Second, I'd appreciate it if you refrain from adding the "F" to "OMG", it might not mean much to you but it's offensive for someone with a religious background such as myself.

Now, regarding the problem in question, I'm not an expert in that field but I had a similar situation before and I believe -from your description- that the HDD (media) itself could still be intact and only the board got burned.

The only way to know for sure is to take to a specialist who can properly test it and determine the proper course of action.

Also, I don't recommend returning the HDD to its retailer/manufacturer even if it's still in warranty because they usually just give you a new one instead of trying to fix the old one, at least that's what happened to me before.

[bashar]

HDD , does it give any kinda noise ?!

[karachidude]

Second, I'd appreciate it if you refrain from adding the "F" to "OMG", it might not mean much to you but it's offensive for someone with a religious background such as myself.

its really very sad that people use this -_-

[HX1]

OWFM .. now we have morals..:lmao:

[myidisbb]

OWFM .. now we have morals..:lmao:

lol

for the person with told. im guessing a power surge got you. cheap surge procoters dont count for protection.

you could get a new extranl harddrive replace by the warrenty. lose the data then. or you could open it and remove the internal harddrive in it. the actually harddrive part may be okay. install it in a desktop or get a docking station to access it.

what to do in the future on equipment. buy on amozon BlacX 2 bay docking station for around $40s and free shiping. retail price is $69. you then get 2 internal 2 TB sata harddrives for a total of 4 TB of harddrive space. each of those are around $189-$200. these are giong to be the 32MB buffer memory ones. the 64 MB ones cost $100 more. when using the first time if your system doesnt see the HD then download software to be able to from thermaltakeusa.com, the makers of the product. BlacX Duet http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1346&ID=1895

anyway this is my plan for for diong newsgroup through a laptop. i plan on getting 2 duets and 4 harddrives.

[LeetPirate]

Hi all,

You may remember my topic about this hard drive's AC power adapter blowing up just weeks after buying this external hard drive.

Now the drive will not spin up and instead just gets extremely hot.

I'm connecting it via a SATA/IDE to USB adapter ever since the AC power cord blew up.

This has served me fine for a couple of months until this new problem occured.

Is it just the harddrives PCB board that's damaged becuase that's where the extreme heat is coming from.... not the actual hard drive itself.

Would replacing the PCB board with another one from the exact same model hard drive fix this problem?

THANKS!

Unless you are really skilled at replacing PCB etc. I don't recommend you trying it. Especially since if you expose the disk itself and a single spec of dust gets inside the disk it will crash permanently if the dust collides with the drive head.

What you could do is take out the drive and try installing it inside a desktop pc through the normal sata or ide whichever it uses and the molex power cable. hopefully the drive will spin up and you can get some data. If that does not work then rest assured the drive is dead but the data is most likely still intact. You will need to contract a data recovery service and mail the hdd to them and they could recover the data for you. I believe they spin up the disk in a clean room with zero dust and get the data out of it. Data recovery is pricey so you have to shop around to get the best deal.

Best of luck.

[myidisbb]

[oh on the data recovery companies it will cost you a few $100s. plus if there is any questionable videos and photos on it they will turn you in. (not the pirated kind)

[d3v]

myidisbb thanks for the adive. I definately do have to think of a new method for doing what I'm doing. Carrying a bare harddrive around in an anti ESB bag rolled up in a thick cotton kitchen towel sounds crude but it served me well for fixing dozens of PC's.

As you say it was most likely a power surge. Any advice for electrical surge protection in the future? BTW your link does not work.

LeePirate I shall we phoning WD. Some WD women told me to phone their Amsterdam office to talk to them about getting a replacment PCB. I'll do that tommorow. So is it not just a case of unscrewing the screws, taking the dead PCB off and bolting the new one on? I wouldn't of though removing the PCB exposes the dust-sensitive parts of a hard drive.

Anyway I've found a crap but adequate old hard drive to replace my dead MyBook. It's better than nothing. I'm re-downloading all my stuff to it now.- security apps, cleaning apps, multimedia, internet apps, post-format stuff like service packs, autopatcher.... everything I need to fix PC's.

I didn't have anything on the MyBook worth paying hundreds of £ for to get back - just a few inconveniences that's all.

It's amazing what you think you need but when a drive goes dead you realise you don't need it at all :unsure:

p.s my the MyBook has been out of it's shell virtually since I bought it. A power surge killed the caddy bay and now a power surge killed the hard drives PCB. I've been using the MyBook like I say out of it's shell rolled in a blanket for months now :fear:

[RadioActive]

Any advice for electrical surge protection in the future? BTW your link does not work.

Well, almost all modern UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) have built-in surge protection, so you might wanna consider getting a small one for your PC or sensitive electronics.

[d3v]

yes.. a UPS. Don't suppose they make backpack-sized ones?

I'll be buying a few big ones soon as I'm setting up a net cafe for a friend.

[RadioActive]

yes.. a UPS. Don't suppose they make backpack-sized ones?

I'll be buying a few big ones soon as I'm setting up a net cafe for a friend.

not a big fan of sarcasm but regardless, perhaps something like this should suite your needs? Of course there are better products, just search for "surge protection" and see what your options are. I hope that helps.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-SurgeMaster-6-Outlet-Protector-Joules/dp/B000068CNT/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256402586&sr=8-26

[myidisbb]

i like belkin surge protectors. get the ones with cable and highband phone line protection too. connect cable or dsl from wall to the SP first then to modem then computer or route. all 3 hardware on a SP also. normal price looking at $40-$50, dont waste money on home theater monster that cost $99 or more.

[LeetPirate]

I would never recommend Belkin. The last time I depended on belkin, the lightning hit and my belkin surgemaster caught on fire. LOL. I opened it and realised it was the shittiest design I ever saw. The pcb used the thinnest possible trace for the path that is supposed to carry the surge current and it burned out that part of the trace with the excessive current. Belkin is not a power company, they know nothing, they are just a brand name buying cheap shit from china.

APC is supposed to be good but they are like intel, lots of marketing while hiding the true data sheets. APC UPS uses the lamest charging algorithm, a linear one. Anyone with a bit of knowledge on the charging process knows that the best charging algorithm is a multi-stage algorithm with pulse charging, which you will never find in APC domestic products. Maybe they have it in their industrial products but certainly not the ones for home use. Total waste of money. They do that on purpose to guarantee that your battery lasts the set period of them so you will pay them loads of money to have it replaced.

While I have not tested every brand on the planet, one that has proven itself to me is Powercom. Sure they don't do lots of marketing, and their website isn't as flashy as APC but their engineering design is excellent. Under the hood of a Powercom ups is how a ups should be. They use multi-stage pulse charging, and intelligent self discharge protection, advanced battery management, conditioning etc etc. Great value without the overpriced fees for brand name.

My batteries in my APC are dead for a second time and the ones in my Powercom are still holding out even after 6 years. I have stopped trusting brand names for reliability, I test and use the products that actually get the job done. Back in the day I used to trust intel, got screwed with their prescott (aka presHOTT) core; trusted Belkin, house almost caught on fire; trusted APC, UPS kept switching between battery and AC when the usb cord is connected till the battery dies, stupid code, lame charging, the list is endless; trusted Seagate, got screwed with their faulty firmware and cheap drives. So many others but I won't list them all.

Best of luck with getting the pcb replaced, removing it does not expose the disk, but there are alot of things that could go wrong or break so be careful. Be sure you get the right tool with enough torque to turn the screws.

[myidisbb]

well, i like the oens i got. im just hopely they poster's hd is still good when he removes it and places it in a copmuter or dock station. it should be.

on a side note. i know we cant go by the flag on where the people actually are but in anycase, it seems there is a difference in same company products in the usa vs western europe vs japan/korea vs rest of the world. i know the usa got that 120 volt difference compare to the rest of the world. im thinking some products out there are fakes and recalls.

[d3v]

thanks for sharing your valuble experience LeetPirate. Any idea where to buy a Powercom surge protector in the UK??