Dropped External hard drive!

The_Devil

Hi All,

I have a WD My Passport 500GB external hard drive. While the drive was in use i picked up my laptop to move and the hard drive fell, disconnecting itself from the USB cable and hit the floor, approx 1 foot.

Trying to get acces to the drive now how ever it is not being picked up by any of the machines in the house. (Various laptops). the light comes on and there is a buzzing sound coming from the device as if it is trying to read the drive however nothing is happening. There are things on there that are replaceable but there are photos that have great sentimental value that I have no copies of.

The device is still under warranty however WD state on there site that they do not do data recovery, also from researching on here I understand it can be quite costly if i take it to a professional service.

I have no expertise with these at all so taking it apart and looking at the drive or putting it in a PC is just unrealistic for me. From other threads i see that it could be just a connector issue and a new case/ connector could be all that is required? im not sure..

Do i have any options here, desperate to get the data, am i right in saying that if i tamper with the outer shell at all then my warranty becomes void?
Would really appreciate if someone could advise me what the options are here.

Any input is greatly appreciated,

Thanks

hearny

Sorry to hear about the issues with your data.

I have a friend with exactly the same problem.

Usually the external hard drives are SATA drives and they connect to the case which is essentially a SATA to USB adapter.

People do have luck connecting the SATA drive directly to a computer and it really is a simple procedure. You say you cant do it but its really not that tricky on most drives.

Now the problem is some of the My Passport drives are not SATA drives and the usb connection is located on the drives logic board so its not possible to connect into another PC.

It gets worse as some of the drives have an onboard chip that encrypts the data - did you ever set an encryption password on it.

All is not lost however as I contacted Western Digital about the possibility of switching with another logic board, and here is the response:

Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support. My name is Stefan F.

Did you already tried another USB cable, or another computer, to connect the drive?
If the drive is still not working, you can contact one of our data recovery partners: http://support.wdc.com/recovery/index.asp?lang=en&selregion=emea
The biggest chance, that another circuit board will work, is if it is from the same manufacturing date. The manufacturing date of your drive is 10/30/2010.

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email and we will be happy to assist you further.

Post the full model number of the drive and I will see if I can get some info on it.

The drive I had (actually still have it) is WDBAAA5000ARD - 00

The drive does exactly what you described.

riclad

The internal, pcb board may have been damaged,
or data, cable loose , or power cable inside loose,cable from pcb to drive.
you can remove the disk drive, place inside caddy,sata caddy 15 euro
/
when disconnected from power, usb drive heads go into safe parking position,
ie its likely drive is ok.
You could go to a pc repair shop,ask them to test it,put in caddy, buy caddy there, they,d charge you about 25euro,includes caddy,
ie would take maybe 8mins,open case,place hd in caddy/

a new300gig drive is only 50 euro ,or less
i would ,nt worry bout gaurantee ,
if the photos are important,not backed up.
i bought 300gig drive 35euro 9 months ago.
IF OPEN ,do not touch drive,pcb, circuit board.move it really gently.
all you need is a screwdriver to open the case,

I expected the first reply to be a hair-brained suggestion about freezers or caddys etc but hearny's post is 100% spot-on.

99% of the time when you drop an external HDD it's the parts inside the HDD itself that gets damaged. Not the enclosure or logic board or USB connector etc.

And if that's the case then your data is gone. A professional data recovery firm might be able to get some, but no guarantees and it'll be very expensive either way.

Also your warranty was void the second your dropped the drive...they have shock sensors that get triggered above 350G or something..I think its a ball-bearing that breaks free from its surroundings but basically a decent fall will trigger them and upon inspection of your drive they'll know it fell.

riclad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2htIARCnf4&feature=related
from this it seems it has the pcb,board with usb .which is easy to remove
leaving the drive itself, i presume its sata interface.

riclad

I,m saying tis worth spending 15euro on a caddy,to check the drive,
in a pc shop ,they,ll just place it in a caddy or use usb to sata cable.
i had 3 drives, unit pcb broke, the drives,hds are fine.i just put em in a new caddy.they are working fine.
According to video ,theres no cables inside, just a usb to pcb board ,and the drive itself.
a techie ,will not open the hd,he,ll just use a caddy,enclosure,.In 8 mins he ,ll know if drive is loading,acessing docs,pics files.
HE MAY place finger on drive top,metal, not pcb, to check for spinning up vibration.

The_Devil

hearny wrote: »

Now the problem is some of the My Passport drives are not SATA drives and the usb connection is located on the drives logic board so its not possible to connect into another PC.

It gets worse as some of the drives have an onboard chip that encrypts the data - did you ever set an encryption password on it.

QUOTE]

Ok i finally got someone to take a look at this with me just in case I messed it up. The USB connection does what you describe above, connects to a logic board so it cant be connected. I havent encrypted the drive so hopefully there is a light lol

I'll pull out the serial number and post it up, hopefully you might get some info on it. Did your one get sorted in the end? where do we go from here, does it need to go to a recovery agent...whats the general price that I would be expected to pay?

thanks again for the help

riclad

slide off usb board gently ,as in video, is there a sata connector,
can you post the drive model no, look for label on the drive.
is there a model no on the case ,external case.eg passport 5097a

if you could buy another identical drive ,you could swap the usb board onto your drive.
can you post pics of the drive ,from above,and from edge,rear interface
after usb board removed.

buy from adverts ie ,or ebay.what year did you buy drive?

The_Devil

Hi Riclad, Unfortuately my hard drive is smaller than the one in the clip, its connected via a micro usb. I opened the drive and the miro port is connected/ soldered to a motherboard which in turn is directly attached to the hard drive. There is no scope for removing parts.

The model number seems to be 1711B with P/N: WDBAAA5000ABL-00

It was bought from Currys approx 12 months ago.

riclad

Can you post a pic ,of the top, of the drive,eg drive pcb, and a pic where usb
connects to the pcb.
Ill give you more advice then.
say i get seagate 390klld hd ,its possible to replace the board ,pcb,
by buying another drive,IT MUST be exact same model ,to be sure pcb board is compatible.
OF course a new pcb ,is of no use ,if the drive,heads,platters mechanism is damaged.
Standard HD pcb is rectangle ,with 4 or more screws holding it to drive hd case,

hearny

Sorry for the late reply. I did a good bit of research on this at the time and its a very common problem for these devices.

The model numbers are the same with the exception of your device being black or blue in Colour and mine is red.

People have had success with replacing boards its just a matter of finding one at a reasonable price.

Im looking for a replacement part and I will let you know if I find one, as we both need the same part.

riclad

In theory ,you could go back to currys,or look on website,if they still sell the same model,then get a techie to transfer,swap in the new board,pcb to old drive.
place drive, on a soft cloth,plug into pc,boot up pc, e,f,usbdrive,click on drive, in theory, by gently touching case,you should be able to feel the vibration as the heads spin up.