hard drive does not spin? simple way to get your data back

[@hddrecoveryservices]

in case this video did not help you get your non-spinning hard drive working again this short video explains what else you would need to check: kzbin.infoYXIa_2n_QO4

[@andymrowan]

Three years on and off, I've been trying to recover my data on an old hard drive, didn't want to send it to a data recovery company, happened to stumble across your video, gave it a shot and boom, I'm in !!! Dude, thank you so much for this video, amazing help !! Cheers brother, keep up the good work !!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

you are welcome!

[@ADCFproductions]

yeah right

[@nashkian6353]

i dont mean to be offtopic but does any of you know of a tool to log back into an instagram account? I stupidly forgot the password. I would love any assistance you can offer me.

[@eshwar6969]

@@nashkian6353 Password reset or you are definitely trying to hack into someones account.

[@naryanclaudy2116]

Did you end up using the tester to see what diode was bad?

[@ClayDuval]

Holy cow I can't believe it !! Lacking all the tools except for my faithful T8 screwdriver, I deliberated for hours and watched your videos over and over. Searched the web for map of the Seagate PCB board so I could find the diode. My multimeter was broken. And I didnt have a hot air gun. So I just grabbed the diode, ripped it off, and plugged the drive into power... and the drive came back alive. Absolutely unbelievable, I can't believe it worked. This drive is from the 1990s. My wife's grandfather is going to be very happy about his recovered data. THANKS !!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

thats awesome Clay!

[@angvil]

@@hddrecoveryservices if i remove the diode and not replace it can i keep using the drive?

[@danrazART]

@@angvil He said if next power surge happens, then the drive is toast! just get data off. and replace the diodes if possible.

[@angvil]

@@danrazART I did remove/replace the diodes the HDD is still not working I guess my problem is something different. I ordered a replacement PCB lets see if transferring BIOS will work. Fingers crossed

[@richardmurton7904]

This has been a life (and money) saver! I just ripped mine out too and it's working great now (well enough to copy everything over)!!!

[@stevepetropoulos7733]

Last night watched your video very carefully,had a portable hard drive which I connect to wrong power cable 15 years ago and that was it just died, gave it to some computer guy back then but no luck,so this morning got my multimeter and start checking and found one off this fuses beeping, removed it like you did and that was it, start recovering all my files, pictures,videos with my kids and everything. thank you so much my friend

[@dfoster7001]

Thank you!! This saved about 900 GB of family photos, videos, documents, etc!! I am so glad I found your video. I did exactly what you said to do. I used a cheap multi-meter from Harbor Freight ($14) and a cheap soldering iron from Amazon. Removed the bad diode and BAM!! Moving data as I type this up! Thanks again!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Amazing! Great job Dwayne!

[@ch3lsea44]

Do you have to replace the diode with a new one or just take it out and it works like before?

[@nilsfrahm1323]

@@ch3lsea44 You should replace, if not, your hdd will have no more protection, so if it happens again, much more delicate component or multiple components will fry. Those diodes are like fuses. So if you can't replace diode, backup your data from the drive and consider it unsafe.

[@decaalv]

@@nilsfrahm1323 No need to replace, just copy the data to a good new drive and toss the bad one once done.

[@kl777-w8g]

Thank you! Hard drive had this exact problem. Never tried to fix anything on a circuit board in my life, but I watched this and went out and bought a digital multimeter and soldering iron, followed along with the video and I have now got a working hard drive with fully recovered data!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

That's awesome!

[@markharrison4638]

I wanted to email you directly to say THANK YOU but ultimately found it much easier to write in the comments and hope you see my message. Most videos on KZbin are absolutely worthless but every so often there is a video like this that is clear to understand and so helpful. My hard drive had lost power due to me using the wrong power supply. All local computer repair shops told me it was finished and my pictures of my kids and family were gone. I tried to tell these repair shops about your video but they were adamant it was a lost cause...... I spent less than £60 on tools that I can keep forever and set about doing the repair myself. I wasn't as graceful as you but I found the bad diode, yanked it out and my hard drive worked. I've since transferred all data to my new PC. Thanks again England, UK.

[@AnniekinDraws]

Oh hi Mark, is it possible for you to send me the links to the tools you bought? I'm also in England and my HDD wont power up! 😭 I want to give this a go, also worried I could kill the HDD forever!

[@jutazoo8445]

What are thd tools? Hopefully you will respone:)

[@davidhall7236]

Great tutorial mate. worked for me on a Seagate Barracuda 2TB drive. Removed the dead diode and the drive fired up. Was able to recover all files. Keep up the good work.

[@Muxmum]

Thank You!!!!!!! This video just saved another hard drive . 8 years in a draw and I have finally recovered my photos from it. 🙏🙏🙏

[@markchaffee5306]

I was just for the umpteenth time searching for a file that I know sits on a Seagate Barricuda 7200.12 right here on my table. My backup was lost in some manner (traveling too much with too much chaos) without my knowing, and my hard drive went silent last summer, and I was up a creek without a paddle. I'm 64, been using Macs since '84, first time I ever lost a hard drive. It sits here staring at me, driving me nuts...since I can't even get it to spin. You've given me hope. I love the simplicity. Now I need to get a T-8 screw driver...and see what's possible. Love the simplicity of your presentation as I've worked in delivering rural wireless internet, but from the development side and marketing side, not the tech side. Thanks for the good work and inspiration!

[@lifethewonderful]

A big Thank you for this instructive video!!!!! Had the same drive with same exact issue. Solder gun, volt meter and 15 minutes of work saved a life worth of photos! Appreciate you!!!!

[@sn1p3r847]

What kind of liquid stuff did he put on the diode to remove it?

[@richardrussell4066]

@@sn1p3r847 Flux

[@richardmurton7904]

AWESOME!!! Stumbled across this video while trying to figure out how to get my HDD working. Just like someone else, I just pulled the diode out and it's working enough to get everything transferred over!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

That's awesome my dude!

[@evropej]

Hey man, I had two drives dead which I almost threw in the trash ( 2TB and 1.5TB seagates greens ) and then I ran into this video by accident. Popped one side of that TVS up and guess what? The drives both work now. Thanks man! And keep up the good work!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

thats awesome! if you want to use these drives for storage, maybe order replacement TVS diodes to put the protection in place again. Otherwise, the next power surge will blow out the preamp

[@temiw0n]

I have a 2TB that's become a 3.86GB unallocated. I've tried Seagate SeaTools but it's not able to preform any test on the drive. I thought of using the entire back panel of another 2TB to try out, will that work as this video seems lovely but I'm scared

[@Colarocker]

@@temiw0n if you tried it, can you tell us about it here please? i have the same problem with a 3TB at the moment but i dont have a second panel :/

[@temiw0n]

@@Colarocker I eventually did but nothing changed. Seagate sent me a message that I must send to a Recovery company and recovery isn't even guaranteed. I'm just praying for a miracle now

[@lenyfreeman3807]

Great video thank you but...question. Why does just removing that diode fix the problem? Shouldn't it be replaced?

[@DomDEngineer]

The diode acts like a fuse. It's normal state is to be open ("disconnected") but if there's an electrical surge, it fuse and short the circuit, essentially shutting it down in order to protect all the other remaining equipment (think like the button on a power bar). You cut it out and it's like it is in normal mode again BUT now you don't have any surge protection so that's pretty much only useful for exporting your data elsewhere but not for long-term usage of the drive itself.

[@finn8248]

@@DomDEngineer : My HDD in my desktop stop working and I tried to transfer files using Sata drive and the HDD did not spin. I think we had a power surge. I'm going to try this. Do I really need such an expensive multimeter that he has listed above? What was that gel he used to remove the diode? It looks very easy. Staples wanted $250 to retrieve my data.

[@codysimpson911]

@@finn8248 i tried this and mine still doesn't work

[@DomDEngineer]

@@finn8248 A multimeter cost about $20. I didn't use hel or heat to remove the diode on my external HDD, I used mini cutter pliers that the ends look like a bird's beak. I cut one end and bend the diode back and forth to break the other end. Only cut it out if the multimeter shows it as short.

[@dtmenace534]

running into your channel was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me I'm messing around with this hard drive here and I'm going to try to get it going again but I'm thinking I'm going to have to buy a new machine to put it in after I get it fixed

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Let us know how it goes!

[@a.j.rittler576]

sweet video. thanks. tested both diodes on my failed HD. first one was bad. pulled it off. works like a charm now. recovered all data.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Thats awesome!

[@a.j.rittler576]

Really do appreciate the help. So easy to follow and accurate. loved the way it was filmed. almost like i was hanging out with you in the office. really a big thumbs up. i won't be replacing the diode (or continue to use the drive).

[@danielb7390]

I knew watching your videos would be useful sometime. Just "fixed" a family member HDD by doing this. They already have another HDD no put the data into. Thanks man!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

there you go!

[@galafuze]

Can you list a cheat-sheet on what I need to buy and do to get my drive working again? I watched the video but you don't clearly state was is necessary.

[@FjalarSigurdarson]

Brilliant! Exactly what fixed my disk. Every item intact. Thank you!!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Your welcome

[@bigdaddystrokes]

@@hddrecoveryservices Hey guys, I was just wondering which tools you would recommend for me to buy.. as I don't particularly want to buy the entire kit in the description. Thanks!

[@crisczupi]

Hey buddy thanks for the video I had a 2tb western digital external hard drive that I know it worked for me 1 week ago and I did the same thing as you did and it worked. All my daughters pictures and important documents. Thank you thank you very much you are the man.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

I am glad it helped you Chris

[@bulbulraza8976]

Hey Chris, did you do it yourself? It's the same for my HDD and I'm really upset for the last few days because of it. Could you please help me out.

[@crisczupi]

Bulbul Raza yes I did it myself bought the stuff I needed and removed the little black chip and hoped for the best and it worked connected back to my pc and it worked

[@crisczupi]

Bulbul Raza pm me and I’ll see what I can do

[@brad7648]

Awesome video and very helpful! Got my wife's old hard drive that had some pictures on up and running. Was able to back it up and put the data on to her new computer.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

you are welcome Brad

[@NevaramoWR]

which software did you use to back up the data after performing this solution?

[@brad7648]

@@NevaramoWR I used Veeam Agent for Windows. It's a very good backup software. Had Veeam agent for Windows on my laptop so hooked her hard drive up to it with a external hard drive case and backed it up and then installed Veeam Agent for Windows on her laptop and restored the data. Edit: Veeam Agent for Windows is also free.

[@NevaramoWR]

@@brad7648 Thanks alot bro. I'm gonna give it a go

[@brad7648]

@@NevaramoWR No problem. When I backed up the data from my wife's hard drive to my laptop I had a extra external hard drive plugged into my laptop that I backed it up to. Then plugged that into her new computer, installed Veeam Agent for Windows on hers and restored all the data on to her internal hard drive. Good luck! You will need to create an account on Veeam to download it. Here is the link www.veeam.com/windows-backup-free-download.html

[@daylarfarshot523]

This just gave me new hopes for my old Fujitsu HD that stopped spinning 20 years ago.

[@shadrackongeri3810]

Did I hear 20 yrs ago?

[@crystalbroscbs]

20?

[@bobafett64]

Go search for drive stiction. Have experienced that on several drives including a modern 2Tb sata drive. Decades ago I did this routinely to waken up drives that had been stitting idle long. I have several full height 5-1/4" drives that has not spun for many, many years now, and believe those will need that stiction fix to be able to spin up again. The fix involves fast rotating (twisting) the whole drive with your hand, then stop abruptly. This might be enough to free the platters from the stiction. Believe me, I have done that several times. For very old drives, I think this can be a "permanet" fix, but for new drives this might be the last resort to bring them temporarily back to life to enable the user to salvage data off the drive before discarding it. Or use it just for non-critical stuff after that.

[@for-real-tho]

@@shadrackongeri3810 Can happen. :) I have a Samsung drive in front of me that stopped spinning around 12 years ago. I kept it in my drawer ever since, and I have no idea what's on it.

[@Planet_Shel]

@@for-real-tho I have a similar situation with a hard drive I did not realize I still had from back in 2004. Now, I just have to get me a T8 screwdriver evidently of course the stores are closed with it being Christmas LOL just my luck.

[@markberger5739]

interesting, what I would like to know - is the drive usable afterwards & for how long or is it quick salvage the data & bin the drive ? also anywhere to get spare pcb's for drives? Thanks

[@nef4ri0us68]

HOLY SHIT OT WORKED!! I had an early gen Seagate freeAgent goflex 2tb external hdd that I thought I had completely fried by accidentally plugging in the wrong power cable. It literally used the same plug as my laptop at the time, easy mistake. It had over a terabyte of data on it that I thought was gone. This was 2014 or 2015 when this happened. I kept it all this time just in case I could get it back. Just today I spent some time looking around on the internet to see if I could fix it. I am now transferring all the data to a new SSD. This was my answer! Thanks!

[@Kal-El_000]

This video deserves a subscription. About the video, so the drive works without the diode? What is the purpose of the diode then?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Suppression. It takes a hit the first time it happens, so more important components do not get damaged

[@stevendollins5813]

Thanks for the tip man. Had the exact same diode blow. Popped it out and drive fired right up. All my files are gone but at least the drive works now.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Glad I could help

[@Allen-R]

MY DRIVE ACTUALLY WORKED AGAIN! THANKS FOR THE VID! Whatching both yours and Adamant IT's video got me to know about these TVSes. Had to do some extra googling tho, since my drive's a bit different but, now *IT LIVES!!!!* (just have to order another 0603 fuse & 12v TVS -took a while to find what I think is a good replacement-)

[@Allen-R]

Didn't wanna lose another 4TB drive.

[@GregKrehbiel]

Great video, but I don't understand the process you used to remove the diode. What was that goo stuff? And did you then use hot air on it? Could you please explain that part a little more?

[@GregKrehbiel]

I figured it out. It's solder flux, and he did use a hot air gun. I just performed this operation on my drive and it did not fix the problem. The drive still does not spin.

[@ronmcintyre1232]

Were you observing polarity on the diode? Semiconductors only conduct in one direction. To really test a diode you swap leads to check reverse and forward bias.

[@mogsub]

a BIG THANK YOU for the video! After watching it I was able to make my HD spin again and saved me a lot of money and time by recovering the data on it!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Amazing!

[@jeejay98]

You are God send. Thank goodness I saw this video and I was able to fix a Seagate green HD.

[@cyberhawk80]

well this gives me hope.. my 1tb nas is not responding.. :(

[@needspractice]

Well, looks like this is where my journey ends. For everyone that has been thoughtful and kind. Thank you. Looks like with the unexpected crash of this hard drive and the mistakes that I have made, I will not be able to retrieve this data. I will hold onto this drive-in case technology changes in the future or if I become independently wealthy and can afford a “professional recovery service”. To all the negative people out there. Humans are human. We make mistakes even when we know better. My father has been in computers for over 50+ years in the military. I know a lot about computers and backups. Life got in the way. I have a lot going on right now and the last thing I need is smart aleck comments about backing up data. Anyhow, I hope everyone has a wonderful day and wish all of you the best of success in life.

[@LhDiy]

Good video, quick repair. One question, why did you not replace this tvs diode ?

[@mylovesongs2429]

This is exactly what my problem is. The hard drive to PC, or SATA to USB cable, was bad so my PCB on my drive was smoking. I am hoping if i buy a similar drive, i can connect the PCB of the new drive to the old one, and get my data back. Will this work? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the label of that hard drive looked simliar to mine. Is it a Western Digital 1TB drive?

[@dennisdull4136]

so far the video seems good - im not finished but glad i found this video! Gives hope on my drives doing the same. BUT i believe the beep on the meter beeps when there IS connection and will not beep if there is NOT connection. Can you please clarify? In residential electrical wire diagnostics, the beep sounds when there IS continuity. Testing a light switch for example, off position no beep. on position should deliver beep. In micro electronics - is it supposed to be open or closed? the first one did not beep which indicates a blown wire or no connection. If its supposed to be in the off position then the meter is reading no connection. If it is supposed to be connected the meter will beep if the connection is good. This is an extremely important factor, i know what its like staying up hours into the night or days in, seems like i see some traits of a late night. just saying - sound confuse people. I was just making sure the beeps are correctly explained.

[@alegatti15]

Thank you!!!! I could fix my HHD without even knowing how to use a multimeter!! (Had to check for another video for that). After all the processes, I connected the hard drive to the computer and started spinning again. I did a backup right away.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Alejandro that's Awesome! I was hoping you would have a moment to drop us some feedback on our Google page. It really helps to spread the word about what we do. Thanks in advance, and here is the link: g.page/r/CTI7VfqwndZhEAg/review

[@phillichen9706]

Thanks for this awesome video explanation on testing PCBs! Excellent resolution and audio compared to anything I've seen anywhere!... Thumbs up ! Few questions though ... How do you know which diode to test and what is the next step if no diode seems to cause any issue? I understand no spinning issue can be caused by burnt motor, stuck heads, dead preamplifier .... How would you go about identifying these issues? Thanks in advance for any replies!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

There are only a few diodes on there, so test them all. The easiest way to test what is wrong is to put a working (same part number) board on there. If the drive spins with it - then it's not the motor nor stuck heads. If EEPROM on U12 is external move it to the new board, and the new board will act like the original. If the drive clicks with this combo, then the preamp is also fried. If there is no U12 chip on original board (WD drive only) then you need specialized tools that can reconstruct the content and program new board with it.

[@phillichen9706]

Thanks for all this i,fo

[@MedRady]

Awesome! thank you for this important video, put do you need to put a new diode? what material you used to remove the bad diode?

[@j3wpb]

Found the right one, removed and worked great! Thank You so much. Does my Electronics Engineer degree come in the mail now...or..?

[@aldoa4544]

Great video, just did the exact same procedure on my WD hard drive and was able to recover all my pictures. Thanks!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Glad it helped!

[@Steve-tk6fo]

Hello HDDRS, I think this is a similar story with our WD Blue 500GB Desktop HD which stopped working. No sound & not spinning and won't show up when plugged into another computer. I've never used a Multi-Meter before. What is the setting on it in order to read/find the possible bad diodes on the HD ? Also, what gel did you use to remove the diode ? How long do you have once the diode is removed to save the data on the HD ? I don't own a computer vacuum so what can I use instead of that ?

[@benhill1382]

What settings do you have to make with the multimeter? Does it matter with which cable you measure back and front?

[@dzoni97a]

so you just removed diode and it can run without that diode? :D i red current flow from both sides on one dioede (D1) so i guess that one is faulty cause as i know it should pass current only on one side

[@mmichaeldonavon]

I'm guessing that with the two diodes that it might be a Full Wave Rectifier - now is only a Half Wave, with enough filtration to straighten out the DC. (but with half of the voltage?). Or, maybe a Voltage Doubler, with the two diodes? Just odd that they would install a Secondary Diode - for nothing. $$$$$

[@aprilkolwey4779]

These two diodes are TVS diodes and are there to protect the rest of the board from small power spikes/surges/etc. - with them removed, the drive will still operate, but no longer has any such protection.

[@tubee2b]

Great video! Thanks. I fried my 2TB WD Blue HDD by upgrading my PSU and assuming that all sata cables are the same (They are not). I found an open zero ohm resistor on the hdd pcb near the 5v supply. I replaced it with a piece of wire. There are 4 diodes on this particular model's pcb. ...not just a D3 and D4, but also a smaller D1 associated with D3 and a smaller D2 associated with D4. Can you tell me if the same rule applies to these two additional diodes, i.e., if it is assumed that no other damage has occurred, can all four diodes be removed?

[@ГригорийХовер]

Damn this is my dream to become data recover specialist...

[@joandaleigh]

Bless you, this was so helpful!

[@producerjc2941]

Could you buy a PCB board to replace the one that might have a bad diode? Would you need the exact board for the model of the HDD you own?

[@AndyWattsSP2]

Many thanks for a very interesting video.. I've recovered data from an external HD that was connected to the wrong PSU and fried the diode... What software do you use please

[@angelinasouren]

That software is by MRT Lab. It may be MRT Express. But it goes with a piece of hardware and the whole kit sounds very pricey as it will take you two years to pay for.

[@pclabrecovery]

Usually what I do first is to backup the FW, and after test access to data/sectors ehehheeh. Good work, as always!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Same here

[@FreeScience]

All my disks that I'm actually not able to rescue data from (at home) are dead to the point that the bios won't pass POST with them connected and any OS, generally Linux or Windows will not react to the disk being plugged in. So without an external programmer (which I wouldn''t expect to do anything useful, as I believe any interesting firmware is read from the actual platters) I can't read the firmware. The tip in this video could help with some of them though, but I'm not certain any of them doesn't actually spin up.

[@Eddygeek18]

Also thanks so much for these videos i have watched a few from you and they're great so many in the data recovery business are so cryptic about everything so me trying to do it myself is very difficult not having anywhere to learn from until now

[@jfbj1667]

Great video, I have the same problem with a Seagate Barracuda of 1 TB, but you don´t say if you replace the Diodo, can you answer please. Thank a lot.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

If you want to use the drive again preferably replace it with same one.

[@Hax0rexePresents]

I don't know how somebody can hit the 'unlike' button, the whole content is good as fuck, haters gtfo, and go to see something other. Good job buddy

[@WyvernApalis]

Yo dude, I pulled that shorted piece out of my board and now it's spinning :D and I'm getting all the stuff from my drive to another new drive now Saved me two drives worth of money and the hassle, fuck yes man

[@hddrecoveryservices]

you are welcome

[@lilsdon]

Thanks for the tip, i just backed up my old HDD and bought a new gaming PC, went to plug in the old HDD and plugged in the wrong power supply, the WD drive isnt spinning, but im going to exacly what you did, as ive lost so much information, ill be back if it work soon, thank you so much for this tutorial

[@alexandervorobyov479]

Hey brother, great video! Both spinner drives went on me after a psu popped. Both do not spin at all. I will definitely give this a try! One question, what solution did you apply when you were taking the diode off?

[@jbc7277]

probably flux

[@garrymuir1442]

Great info. Just wondering what the software is you were using once you had it spinning up?

[@PachuauZ]

Seems like a Acelab PC3000, its a hardware-software combination

[@brianwatts9896]

Yeah, how did you remove that diode? What was that stuff you put on it? Great vid, super informative!

[@peterlaydm1986]

It's known as flux or flux paste. You can buy it all over electronics online shops. :)

[@djjammindave]

wow, 4 years old video. but helpful. my omega 1T doesn't spin after a fall. am trying to figure out what's wrong with it. your video was very helpful. i need to probe mine.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Hopefully that solves it

[@AmitSingh-py2nt]

Brother my name is amit Uh have one of the best workshop....its really fantastic..

[@Spencerbuildsit]

Cool vid! thanks. Shouldnt a nube then reverse the probes when checking the diodes? Are they part of a rectifier circuit and why will it run without the diode? My 500gb external Lacie is alive, but sounds like a metronome. whiring and click click click. Doesnt spin up. Any ideas where to start? Thanks so much

[@nilsfrahm1323]

For normal diodes, yes, you should check both ways. These are more like safety fuses that fail instantly in case current is exceeded and become conductive, 0 ohms. What this does is shorts the power which will trigger high current draw from psu and it will shutdown. It also prevents the current from frying delicate components behind the fuse. User will then need to remove the hdd from his system.

[@RichardSpeights]

Thank you. Note: The Toshiba power supply plug fits the WD hard drive perfectly. DO NOT MISTAKENLY PLUG THE TOSHIBA POWER SUPPLY INTO THE WD. DON'T DO IT!!! I spent last night in a restless slumber of hopelessness and loss, so much work on that drive, so many images, so many years and miles gathering them. I wish I had seen this video before going to bed.

[@kevinhuynh31]

Same problem happened to me,did you fix your drive by any chance?

[@RichardSpeights]

@@kevinhuynh31 Yes - after watching many, many informative KZbin videos. With the chip board removed from the hard drive, look at the chip side of the board. On the upper right there are two small black chips. These are, for lack of a better term, circuit breakers. One prevents an overload. The other prevents reversed neg/pos. I blew both. It took a while to realize I needed to remove both. The drive then worked (I could hear the disk spin and arm swing) but the computer could not read it. I used Disk Drill to gather all the information on the drive and recovered all that was lost.

[@kevinhuynh31]

@@RichardSpeights what tools did you use to remove those diodes

[@RichardSpeights]

@@kevinhuynh31 I took the board off the drive housing. Then, pinching the diode with a quality pincher tool, I heated the solder holding the diodes to the board with a soldering iron. I'm not that good with these tools, so I left a bit of a mess behind. Nonetheless, I did no damage to the board. In the end, it was not that difficult. I was a lucky boy.

[@kevinhuynh31]

@@RichardSpeights i don’t have a soldering iron do you think a heat gun and flux would also work removing the diodes?

[@WillMiles]

Thank you so much! Spent $9 on a hexalobe screwdriver and yanked out the diode that I fried on my external hard drive.

[@jloveys5489]

Just had this problem with a drive in a caddy today. I'm going to check it out but question is what you did to remove the diode. What was the stuff you put on and ow does it remove the component?

[@craiglavender5540]

Many Thanks. I had a dead drive, and searched the web for help. Came across your video, which featured the same drive I have, with the same symptoms. Pulled out the diode, and voila! Great work, and many thanks again!

[@hamidmazuji]

amazing how you made a video of an arbitrary package from n.y. and how you zeroed in on the defective diod on the pcb but you didn't explain that a diod is suppose to pass current in one direction only haven't read the other comments but i'm sure someone has mentioned just how amazing this video is but more than anything, it was the new wave music that did it for me

[@plips2002]

Great video, what is a good hdd diagnostic program to use at home? Thanks

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Hi Sean, hddscan

[@macoxygene]

Thx to your tutorial i save my 1Tb HDD !!! Thx so much!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

You are welcome

[@mrnmrn1]

Don't forget to put a new voltage suppressor diode on your drive. And replace your power supply to a better quality one, something is wrong with it, if it blown the TVS on your HDD. Don't use cheap noname power supplies.

[@OVRCOME]

DUDE! My WD Drive was doing this for sure!! D3 was dead for me. Tested it and got the noise and no reading.. Took it out... And BAMMM Worked perfectly!!! Question, would you continue to use it, or just get the data from the drive and then get rid of it?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

I am glad it helped. We clone drives right after. But if you replace the TVS diode with same one, the drive should be as good as before it fried

[@kryptonic010]

Great video. What software are you using in the video?

[@TT_Roger_von_Corswant]

Hi Erkin. I am starting my own recovery company right now here in Sweden. I'm a little interested in that really big computer you're using in this video. What is it for a machine? Looks really heavy! I have ideas about buying a Rapidspar to start with, what do you have for opinions about it? I'm using DDRescue right now for my image job where possible. I turn off the re-allocation function through the com port before. Seems to work quite well, I have not failed with any image yet ...! I do not really have the money to buy PC-3000 UDMA now at first. What did you start with for machines and software? What do you think of SSD? I would not dare to buy one if so for 1cent Do you have any old recovery tools software, hardware or similar that you would like to sell? Keeping up with your videos is great and instructive to both see and hear you work! / Roger

[@maxe.6260]

Had exactly the same problem, thank you!

[@ringoyaaoyama9739]

man your videos are always amazing! does the hard disk work fine without the componed that you desoldered???

[@richarda3659]

Yep. Think of the de-soldered component as a kind of insurance or "safety valve". Until something goes wrong with the power supply in the future, the disk will work. You don't need collision insurance on your car ... until you get in an accident, right?

[@darthkahn45]

Ok I think im just gonna throw it in the bin. Have fun looking for personal data and just finding a bunch of PS2 ISO's whoever you are

[@Eddygeek18]

wow, i had a couple hard drives like this i purchased as parts from ebay to learn to fix them and i didnt realise it was this simple. Now i just need a soldering iron thats hotter than an ice cube and i'll be good to go

[@Mr.BrownsBasement]

So if the PCB worked without the diode, what is the purpose of the diode in the 1st place? How many can be removed and have the drive still operate? What kind of test jig did you have on your PC that looked at the signals?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

It's part of the circuit protection layer

[@numbr6]

I have a Seagate 4TB disk that is totally dead when power is applied, no disk spin, no head click I took off the controller card, looked around, and do not see anything wrong. There is one diode on this board, and it is good. The problem: SATA 12v power pins are shorted to ground. As I have a backup of this disk, no data recovery is needed in this case. I'm more interested in determining which part(s) have shorted. I'd suspect SMT capacitors between pins 13-15 to ground. One day I'll invest in a hot-air soldering station, and experiment on this drive controller. These parts are way too small for even a fine tip pencil soldering iron.

[@mirtiko]

Hi. First of all you are really good at your stuff. You must be proud. Second.. what if diode seems ok and HD does not spin? What is next? I really would like to send you a HDD for repair.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Different drives have different protection/weak spots. But if solution via repair and short detection does not happen fast we just reprogram a donor board to be compatible

[@radkoskalicky4356]

Thank you, it helped to me too. What is the function of this diode?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

It's a TVS Diode. A transient-voltage-suppression diode, also transil or thyrector, is an electronic component used to protect electronics from voltage spikes induced on connected wires

[@mohammedsarraf1472]

@@hddrecoveryservices Should just be replaced or removed? Thanks for the great video btw

[@needspractice]

I will be geting my rework station tomorrow. May I ask what heat setting is best for removing this PCB Board Firmware Rom Chip? It has a digital setting with three numbers on it so I would assume I could set it to the exact setting. I need both settings one for the soldering device and one for the heat gun part. It has two settings.

[@moonspell2003]

Fantastic videos! Thanks for putting them together and keep going. I have a Barracuda 7200.12 that clicks and I ordered two PC boards thinking I may just need to swap the board out. Any other recommendations? I believe these drives are a common problem. Where can I get the software that you use? I assume the same software will image a disk.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

moonspell2000 these drive don't click due to failed PCB. Heads are damaged and need to be swapped out. We use PC3000 and MRT for data extraction

[@IIGrayfoxII]

How to identify a diode PCB will have the letter D to denote Diode(this is an international standard) Look for a Triangle with a line at the end, this is the symbol for a diode Diodes will be rectangular or cylindrical and have a line at one end.

[@Glitchy10010]

same is happening tome ive watched the short and i do not know whats going on and i am unable to check for shorts on the bored but it came out of a DELL OptiPlex 757 and its a Seagate Barracuda 7200. 12 what do i do call you lot or something else

[@forensicguy]

Nice and simple. Love these jobs!

[@johnmoschioni1688]

What did you put on the ends of the diode to soften it to release it.

[@soldiers303]

Soldering flux

[@alejandrito8151]

Thank u so much ur amazing this worked for me and got back my 5 yr old broken data after just removing a bad diode.

[@hddrecoveryservices]

Glad I could help

[@88Rmdy]

Love the vids! I have a 2Tb Seagate Barracuda st2000dm001 that doesnt power up. Ive removed the only diode that showed short with continuity test, nothing. Then ordered a replacement pcb, would the replacement not power up the hdd before swapping the 8 pin ROM chip? Starting to think its the motor... Any thoughts?

[@mailuser1335]

Thank you for this video. I got 2 data drives in my PC. One shows up and then disappears of the system in few minutes and one simply stops the computer from turning on. I checked the diods loke you did but they are good. Any suggestions appreciated.

[@sawyersisterstoyandmakeupt8617]

Frickin awsome vid just got me my 12000 images and vids back thought i had lost THANKYOU !!!!!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

That's a awesome! Feel free to drop us some feedback g.page/r/CTI7VfqwndZhEAg/review

[@Detroit-gx5nd]

So you don’t have to replace the diode first?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

for repair you would want to, but I just ripped data off then the drive is done.

[@octapc]

swap multimeter probes on the diode around because diode will appear short in one direction but not the other If both read short it's stuffed. It can be burnt out and open circuit too.

[@richarda3659]

Actually, in this case, if the diodes were burnt out and open circuit, the drive would work (if that was the only problem).

[@jamesebola1250]

Few observations. Why use zero resistance resistor? Next, diode lets current through in one direction only. If you remove it, there is no current going through at all. How is this a "fix" ?

[@lifea_stone1674]

I saw it well. What is the name of the removed diode? I want to buy it, but I don't know the name.

[@fjusdado]

What about that diode? You don't need to replace it? Simply removal and it works? For what was it there? I am in this situation... I can try but I would like it is safe!!!

[@hddrecoveryservices]

it protects from voltage spikes, you need it there so it can keep more important components from blowing up the next time. In my case, I did not because this was just a data recovery project. Even if by some miracle another surge accured, I can easily take care of the problem by the PCB swap. Our shop, literally, has hundreds of PCBs that could be used in this case.

[@fjusdado]

@@hddrecoveryservices ok, I tried this and I fucked up!!! 😂 It was with the test one, so no worried, but I did not only not fix it but I also removed a resistance... And keeps not working. So I believe change of PCB is the most sensible for me, even though I am not sure how to change all the BIOS chips, maybe I bring to a shop for it.

[@xpez9694]

If you didnt want to get into using the probes and sautering PCBs couldn't you just buy a replacement hard drive board and replace the whole thing if you were to find the exact model number to match your hard drive model?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

No, boards have firmware. Swap from the same drive without firmware adaptation or transplant will not get you access to the data

[@luso9429]

What type of software do you use?

[@hddrecoveryservices]

I use a lot of different ones but most of the work is done in PC3000 and data extractor

[@misterfee6467]

Did you replace the diode or just remove it

[@marcodev3375]

Finally I know why my HDD is not spinning. It's SSD 😂

[@hddrecoveryservices]

🤣

[@awilliams1701]

I'm to the point where I'm like what's a HDD? lol SSD for life!!!

[@j4techmediajishnusreedharst]

🤣🤣🤣😂 are you kidding

[@Forensic1Man]

Very great video - How does the hot air work?

[@2k1lex]

heat

[@garnetknight]

awesome! will this work on an WD Elements Passport?

[@DrZipZwan]

Thx, after watching your vid, I decided to inspect the PCB of my seagate 1TB. Issue: not spinning! I found a blown capacitor just after the 5v rail of power Sata. I replace it with another SMD capacitor that looks the same size >> no success. I then remembered I got a board of a old HDD than I dissected long ago, and decided to give a try with those tiny capacitor on it, btw they are black SMD capacitors, no brown like the one I first used >>> the HDD is again spinning!!!! ok got some broked sectors, but I can live with that 😋 of course it is not my main HDD, only a HDD that I use when needed, only good to have another HDD lying around when needed 😁