Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

8

Time Required

                          20 minutes

Sections

1

  • Controller
  • 8 steps

Flags

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  • BackHitachi GST Deskstar HDS721010CLA332 Hard Drive

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Controller
  • Here is the failed Hitachi HDS721010CLA332. It does not get recognized by the computers BIOS and cannot get accessed by any other means. No clicking or other mechanical noises present
  • Turn the drive over to get to the controller PCB
  • Remove the four T8 screws from the PCB

Here is the failed Hitachi HDS721010CLA332. It does not get recognized by the computers BIOS and cannot get accessed by any other means. No clicking or other mechanical noises present

Turn the drive over to get to the controller PCB

Remove the four T8 screws from the PCB

1024

Step 2

  • Here is the T8 driver to remove the screws
  • The drive flex cable is a simple compression fitting.
  • Use a tool like hemostat or your fingers to remove the cable….

Here is the T8 driver to remove the screws

The drive flex cable is a simple compression fitting.

Use a tool like hemostat or your fingers to remove the cable….

Step 3

  • ….by simply pulling it out to the back of the connector
  • Remove the controller PCB from the drive.
  • Locate the controller board BIOS IC. This BIOS contains the unique configuration data for this drive. Without changing it the files on the drive cannot be recovered.

….by simply pulling it out to the back of the connector

Remove the controller PCB from the drive.

Locate the controller board BIOS IC. This BIOS contains the unique configuration data for this drive. Without changing it the files on the drive cannot be recovered.

Step 4

  • Use a hot air rework station or a soldering iron to remove the BIOS IS
  • Here is the removed BIOS IC. This is the one that will have to be transplanted to the new controller PCB. Ensure that this IC does not get mixed up. Keep it separate
  • Here is the new controller PCB with the BIOS IC that needs to be replaced.

Use a hot air rework station or a soldering iron to remove the BIOS IS

Here is the removed BIOS IC. This is the one that will have to be transplanted to the new controller PCB. Ensure that this IC does not get mixed up. Keep it separate

Here is the new controller PCB with the BIOS IC that needs to be replaced.

Step 5

  • Remove the BIOS IC from the new PCB by using a hot air rework station or a soldering iron.
  • BIOS IC removed from the new controller PCB.
  • Next clean the solder pads on the new PCB where the BIOS IC sat. Apply flux

Remove the BIOS IC from the new PCB by using a hot air rework station or a soldering iron.

BIOS IC removed from the new controller PCB.

Next clean the solder pads on the new PCB where the BIOS IC sat. Apply flux

Step 6

  • Use a soldering iron and desoldering braid to clean the solder pads
  • Clean the flux with some high grade isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab
  • Here are the cleaned solder pads.

Use a soldering iron and desoldering braid to clean the solder pads

Clean the flux with some high grade isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab

Here are the cleaned solder pads.

Step 7

  • Apply some flux to the solder pads and place the old BIOS IC onto the solder pads of the new controller PCB. Ensure the proper placement of the IC.
  • Solder the BIOS IC into place
  • Ensure that the soldering iron does not accidentally heat up the components next to the BIOS IC, particular the ones at the top end.

Apply some flux to the solder pads and place the old BIOS IC onto the solder pads of the new controller PCB. Ensure the proper placement of the IC.

Solder the BIOS IC into place

Ensure that the soldering iron does not accidentally heat up the components next to the BIOS IC, particular the ones at the top end.

Step 8

  • BIOS IC properly placed and soldered onto the new controller PCB
  • Clean the flux with some high grade isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab
  • Last step is to reinstall the new controller PCB with the old drives BIOS IC which contains the unique data for this drive.

BIOS IC properly placed and soldered onto the new controller PCB

Last step is to reinstall the new controller PCB with the old drives BIOS IC which contains the unique data for this drive.

After replacing the board and replacing the BIOS IC from the original board, the drive was once more recogized. This allowed for the data recovery of some 1000 pictures as well as other documents.

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                                                                                      10 other people completed this guide.

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                    oldturkey03

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DASO Technologies - Dec 20, 2016

Reply

thanks a lot

Yann Nève - Apr 5, 2017

Reply

Hello, thanks for your tutorial.

I wonder, when facing this kind of problem (drive not recognized), i have read somewhere else that you could just change the PCB board and be fine with it. Do you always have to transfer bios or is it just for some special cases like this one?

oldturkey03 - Apr 5, 2017

@yannos you need to replace the BIOS so that the computer can recognize that drive and can access the files. Otherwise it will read it as a new drive.

Ashin John - Jan 22, 2021

Reply

I have the same Hitachi hdd but I don’t know how to find the correct model of pcb please tell me how to find the correct one