Resolved Samsung HDD logic board replacement

It finally happened. My hard drive died.

My HDD is a Samsung HM160HC 160GB/5400RPM/8M/PATA The serial number of the drive is S12TJDRZA66895

I do have a back up but I am about one month shy of a complete backup. (my fault)

This is what I am trying to find out. First of all when I power up the hard drive externally I can hear the platter spin and I can hear what sounds like the read arm going back and forth non stop. The mechanics of the drive seem to be working.

I was thinking about buying an exact duplicate of the bad drive and swap the logic boards and see what happens. I have read that the firmware must also match. How can I tell what version of the firmware is so I don't blow this experiment because of a firmware issue. Also my HDD is a PATA. If I can only find a SATA will that cause a problem?

There is nothing on the HDD label that mentions the firmware. I was told the firmware ID is in the serial number. If that is the case how do I determine the firmware version from the S/N?

If I do get another HDD that matches everything and make the logic board swap and my old HDD still doesn't work then ( if I don't destroy the new logic board) I will at least spent my money on a working HDD that I can replace my smaller HDD I am using now.

If anyone has done this before and had success or failure please let me know the details of your efforts.

If anyone thinks this is just not worth the time also let me know.

Open to all comments.

Thank you TRoof

 

I have done so with a couple of old hitachi drives. Firmware is very important and you cannot trust the FUBAR drive for anything other than grabbing the data.

As pete said don't bother mixing SATA/PATA, for a start the model is different. The drives have to be identical (or 99.9%) for success.

Hopefully you'll maintain regular backups in the future.

 

Thank you PeteC and Wildfire for the replies.

The PATA and SATA issue is resolved.

What actually is firmware and how can I match the firmware from my old HDD?
Since my old HDD is no longer bootable is my firmware version contained in the HDD?

If so is my data recovery attempt doomed from the get go?

Thank you,
Troof

 

Firmware is the hardware version. You need to have the correct version if you are to succeed.

Many HDD manufacturers, like Seagate, print the firmware version right on the label. If you don't have the version on the drive itself, its very hard to find it when the drive is not working.

If you want to take a chance, & its BIG chance, get a same model hdd. You can try swapping the card from there - but no guarantees.

 

Thanks rsinfo, My Samsung has no notation of the firmware. Bummer. So I guess it comes down to Dirty Harry pointing a 357 magnum in my face and asking me if I feel lucky. Well do I?

I guess now the search is on to find a match. Like I said, if all this proves futile, in the end I will still have a new hard drive.

Not sure if this thread should be marked resolved since I am still in the execution stage of my HDD repair/recovery. I hope to get back with good news.

Thanks all - Troof

 

Update.

I purchased a new identical Samsung hard drive and swapped the logic board from the new HDD to the bad HDD. My old HDD did not respond at all. The error message was the HDD could not be found and to check the cable.

I swapped back the logic boards to their original places and then cloned my working
80GB older HDD and installed it to my new 160GB HDD. The 160GB is now installed on my laptop and works just fine.

I will now backup a lot more frequently then I have in the past.

I am bummed that I lost those pictures of the ET that landed in my back yard and allowed me to take a picture of him/her in front of the ship with my wife.

Thank you, Troof

 

Thanks for letting us know troof but as you've discovered it's a bit of a hit and miss (mostly miss). Worth a try but backups are easier and more reliable to restore.

If it helps ET's inlaws are visiting me next week, would you like a couple of snaps?