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Need info about replacing hd controller

D

DarkCyber

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 14, 2003
Messages
1,273
I have that Western Digital 160 gig hd thought crashed on me, but I can still hear it running and it gets warm, but the bios just will not detect it. Someone suggested that the controller may have gone bad on it.

Anyone got any info or links on information about replacing the onboard controller on a Western Digital hard drive?

Thanks!
 
you need an absolutly identical drive, im talking same size, same speed same firmware, and then you replace the boards on the bottom.
 
you would contact Western Digital regarding compatible circuit boards
for instance I have several 40GB WD400BBs but they probably arent all cross compatible
WD400BB-000CAC00
WD400BB-000DEA00
may or maynot be able to swap

then youd fing a compatible HDD on ebay (and pray its in good shape)

then simply swap the circuit boards
(employing proper ESD precautions)
 
here's what I have:

Bad drive: Western Digital 160 gig hd...model WD160JB-00DUA0
Good drive: Western Digital 160 gig hd...model WD1600JB-00EVA0

Bad drive says a Product of Malaysia
Good one says Product of Thailand.

Both drives are 8 mb cache 7200 rpm drives.

Both drives have the following numbers made into the green boards on them:

bad drive has 2060-001160-001 Rev A
good drive has 2060-00179-003 Rev A

The screws hole match up on both contoller boards.
 
I've tried calling Western Digital Advanced tech support and after about an hour on the phone couldn't get anyone.

Anyone know if the above posted models and stuff is close enough to try it?

And if they are not the exact 100% same, can it cause any damage to the good controller?

I want to try this if it's close enough, because I need some important data off there, but I don't want to toast a hd/controller either :(

Thanks!
 
DOH
I did my WD numbers from memory and added extra zeros :p

you didnt give the dates
I would still contact WD
there could be physical differences (component choices)
but more importantly the algorithms, low level data structures ect
might be different

provided you take the proper precautions
there shouldnt be anyting fried, Id assume the power is dealt with the same way,
but the data might not be accessible, or properly accessed\addressed, by the circut board
 
Well, if putting the good controller board on the bad drive probably will not harm the good controller board, then I may just try it.

First off, the data on this hard drive is gone anyways...if I don't try to get it back. I will try to call them again and see if I can get through to them.

Dates...oops! I did forget that. I'm at work and the drives are at home.

One more question...is the controller board the only thing that handles the power on the hd? What I mean, is if something else if wrong with the drive, could the drive itself cause the new board to short out or anything, if what's wrong with it isn't the controller board.

Sorry for so many questions...just never tried this before :eek:

Thanks!
 
several members have sucessfully done this, I havent needed to.
there is always the possibility that the HDD could kill the circuit board, but it more likely that you would dismounting and remounting it, do it while your grounded, and treat the drives like nitro

Proper Handling Guide


Dates might reveal the liklyhood of compatibility than the other parameters
 
as I said before, I dont know whats compatible
that could be, but if I was guessing (which I am)
the closer the dates there more chance it would work
 
Yeah, I agree, but what the heck...I'm going to try it and see. Will post back with the results when I can.
 
Ok, I emailed WD tech suppot and this is what the guy said when I asked him about changing the controllers:

"Exchanging this controller PCBA will likely not repair the disk drive. These controllers are electronically mated to the hard disk and become in effect, a matched pair. You may expect a distinct probability of mechanical damage to the hard drive if the proposed exchange is performed"

Does this sound right? I've got people telling me they have changed out the contollers on hard drives and it worked fine. So, I don't know if this guy is shooting me a line of BS or what.

Thoughts anyone?
 
Ok, I took the controller off of the good drive (the Product of Thailand) drive and put it on the bad drive (the Product of Malaysia) and the drive will power up and start clicking, but the bios still doesn't show the drive. I took the controller back off and put it back on the good drive and it still works fine.

So, I guess the hd itself must be toast and not just the controller :(
 
not necessarily
clicking is the drive trying to recalibrate
but as mentioned by the guy at WD the circuit boards are "mated"
in other words the architecture the circuit board is expecting to find, needs to match what was actually low level formatted to the HDD in the factory, when the drive tries to recalibrate, its reading the servo bursts and attempting to access the appropriate sector
if the circuit board is telling the arm\head to look in the wrong place...

so yes they need to be "mated"
which is why you where contacting that idiot in the first place :rolleyes:
and you need to know which specific models are compatible

last guy on here that did that was dealing with Maxtor
they simply gave him a list, not the run around
 
Well, this makes about 4 Western Digital hd's I've had fail in some way or another, between work and home, and I'm about to get really pissed at WD. Especially after the BS I got from the tech guy.

If Sam's Club wasn't so cheap on these things, I guess I would swtich to another brand...may anyway.

I will try and call Western Digital and see if I can get any better results on the phone.

Thanks!
 
you should bear in mind that with the exception of the odd batch of HDDs, that the vast majority of drives leaving the factory are in good shape, but they often run into 600lb Gorillas disguised as stockboys and truck drivers :p

Which Brand of Hard Drive is Most Reliable?

all 12 of my Western Digitals have been performing without a hitch for 3 years now (average)

But then I treat them right and buy from experienced and diligent sources
 
I called WD and got the Advanced Tech support and talked with a guy and he said that they had no list of drives/contollers that would swap. They didn't sell the controllers either. So, he basically said you can't do it or it wouldn't work. :(

so, at this point the drive is dead.

Let me ask you one final question and then we'll put this thread to rest.

If I put the good controller back on the bad drive and it starts clicking. Is there any possibility that if I leave it running for a little while it might actual sync up the arm/head and work. Remember, the drive is useless as it stands now.

Thanks for you help.
 
unlikely

you could simply look for an identical model number with the same manufacturing date

when they say they are "mated"
and that there might be compatibility issues
they are covering their collective butts
sectors get locked out first at the factory and later if they test bad (like during a full format and when running chkdsk)

so...

the new circuit board will have sectors locked out that are good, and sectors that are bad will need to be locked out
but that leaves alot of sectors with data to recover off of.

I have no idea why they are being so reticent
 
Well, since I'm getting no help from WD, do you have any suggestions of anywhere else I could get the info about what controllers might work?

And it looks like finding a same model and near the same date hd is next to impossible. I've been looking everywhere. Any suggestions where to look? I've posted on the for sale/want on here and looked on ebay...all ebay has is new stuff. Can't find any bad drives out there either. Anything that would be bad would be under warranty, so I guess people have shipped them back to WD.
 
pretty much what you just said, various for sale \ trade forums
and ask the seller for the lable info
or ebay
ebay has become a dump for corporate liquidation lately,
and its only the odd HDD an "enthusiast" sells

there is lab recovery, but talk about expensive :rolleyes:
they recover directly from the platters when all else fails

I bet your backup regimen changes after this
 
Well, I have really lost anything major. I just usually like to try everything possible of stuff...I don't like to loose :D

Recovery companies...nothing is that important and way to much $$$$.

Backups...lol...I'm going to raid my 2 160's and burn dvd rw backups weekly. I will have to admit, I've gotten pretty lazy on my backups. I usually make images and then transfer my images across the network and store them on different pc's.

I guess the thing that makes me mad, is that I had just spent 3-4 hours doing my taxes and I did back them up to the d partition on the same drive and didn't get them off the hard drive to my taxes cdrom that I have. I wasted far more time trying to figure out a way to fix this crazy drive than 3-4 hours. Could have redone those taxes a hundred times by now. :rolleyes:

Thanks,
DarkCyber
 
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