Cant run WD 1TB drive black open.

Hugo Drax

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2011
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I opened up a 1TB drive and figure I could at least watch it work for a little while, but all that happens is the drive head moves and it seems to vibrate and not move anymore. Windows does not recognize the drive either.

I opened it in very low dust environment. Does the head only float if the cover is on?
 

alzan

Diamond Member
May 21, 2003
3,860
2
0
I opened up a 1TB drive and figure I could at least watch it work for a little while, but all that happens is the drive head moves and it seems to vibrate and not move anymore. Windows does not recognize the drive either.

I opened it in very low dust environment. Does the head only float if the cover is on?

I don't know enough about HDD's to say. Back in the day I used to be able to get them to run with the cover off.

If I had to guess I'd say they still float but at a different height, (probably not the height they need to be).
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
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It might be due to lack of pressure. I found this:
Contrary to popular belief, a hard disk drive does not contain a vacuum. Instead, the system relies on air pressure inside the drive to support the heads at their proper flying height while the disk is in motion. Another common misconception is that a hard drive is totally sealed. A hard disk drive requires a certain range of air pressures in order to operate properly. If the air pressure is too low, the air will not exert enough force on the flying head, the head will not be at the proper height, and there is a risk of head crashes and data loss. (Specially manufactured sealed and pressurized drives are needed for reliable high-altitude operation, above about 10,000 feet. This does not apply to pressurized enclosures, like an airplane cabin.) Modern drives include temperature sensors and adjust their operation to the operating environment.
http://acsdata.com/how-a-hard-drive-works.htm
 

KingFatty

Diamond Member
Dec 29, 2010
3,034
1
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I guess the question is, did the heads already crash into the disc, due to the lack of being enclosed?

Maybe there is a grounding circuit that was opened when the cover is off, and you can complete the circuit using a jumper wire or something to get the spindle to spin up.

That's weird it didn't spin but the heads moved. I would have guessed the opposite would have happened, with the disc spinning but no head movement?
 

Hugo Drax

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2011
5,647
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The HDD had issues bad blocks etc.. but it semifunctional. enough I could format (Although it took 2 hours do to the retries)

but took the cover off and nope, it crashed. I guess when the cover is out air turbulence occurs or the pressure does not rise inside enough with the spinning platter not enclosed.

I guess the new drives have much less space like the old school drives that you could open and actually see it work.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,371
762
126
You can sell the circuit board of the HD (or the whole thing)... lots of places are looking for them.
Just write down the exact model & firmware version.
 
Feb 25, 2011
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Yeah, the tolerances are too tight anymore. If you want to put on a show, you need something in the 20-40MB range, imo.

The heads will still crash immediately, but at least you'll be able to watch the thing spin.
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,559
248
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I suppose if you were crafty you could just replace the top with polyglass, assuming that could be done in a clean enough environment.
 

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
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I opened it in very low dust environment. Does the head only float if the cover is on?
Unless you've opened it in a clean room, any type of particle getting in there can possibly cause catastrophic failure.

This picture should give you an idea of the scale we're working at here:

Hard-Drive-Diagram.png