Transplanting Hard Disk Platters?

[Mac128]

How possible is it to transplant hard disk platters, at least for the purposes of data recovery when a drive mechanism is otherwise physically dead?

In particular I have a 40MB 2.5" SCSI Conner HD and an old style IWM Hard Disk 20. I would imagine if it i possible, I would need working drive mechanisms to sacrifice. Once cracking the drives open, I would assume that I have basically destroyed their reliable useful life?

 

[tomlee59]

It is quite possible, and in fact it is one of the methods used by data recovery services, so your intuition is spot-on (as usual).

If you are able to open the drives in a clean environment, lifetime need not be dramatically reduced. You could probably rig up a "clean box" to create a mini-environment that is dust-free.

I once cracked open one of my many stiction-afflicted Quantum 40MB 3.5" drives, and for fun, I hooked it up to a Mac, just to see how long it would run with the cover off. It ran, and ran, and ... I lost patience, went out to dinner, and came back to a very crashed, shrieking drive. So it ran for several hours with no cover.

I then made a Plexiglas cover for another one of these drives (inspired by Ze Cube transparent Classic), and substituted it for the original. I did all of this on the kitchen table, and took no particularly extreme measures to keep things perfectly clean. That was many years ago, and the drive still works. It's fun to watch the mechanism in action (once it decides to start up).

Now, a couple of rudimentary experiments hardly constitute a reliable data set, but it would seem that instant destruction is not an inevitable consequence of opening up a drive (of course, it helps that these old, low-capacity drives have generous track dimensions and head-platter separations; I doubt that modern drives would be anywhere near as forgiving). That, in turn, gives us some hope that a "clean box" that a weekend experimenter could economically construct just might suffice.

 

[Byrd]

You would need an exact model (right down to firmware and revision) donor hard disk/PCB electronics for this to work. Anything slightly different, and it won't work.

JB

 

[Bunsen]

And once you have those matching disks, one maneuvre to try first is to transplant the electronics board from the working to the non-working drive. If that doesn't work, transplant it back and then try the platter transplant.

Also have you tried the other low tech methods of relieving sticktion? ie Freezing and thawing in a moisture proof bag, shaking, knocking on the table etc.

 

[register]

Take some other defective drive mechanisms to practise the procedure of dismantling and mounting. There are strong magnets inside for the actuation of the reading heads. You can rip off or bend the heads with near to no force. Attempt to do this task of platter transplant with enough time to work patiently.

 

[LCGuy]

Another thing to keep in mind is that you'll most likely want to remember what order the platters are in - installing them differently may result in it not working.

 

[tomlee59]

Another thing to keep in mind is that you'll most likely want to remember what order the platters are in - installing them differently may result in it not working.

I'm pretty sure that "may" is actually "will"

 

[LCGuy]

As am I, actually.

 

[Danamania]

Now, a couple of rudimentary experiments hardly constitute a reliable data set, but it would seem that instant destruction is not an inevitable consequence of opening up a drive (of course, it helps that these old, low-capacity drives have generous track dimensions and head-platter separations; I doubt that modern drives would be anywhere near as forgiving). That, in turn, gives us some hope that a "clean box" that a weekend experimenter could economically construct just might suffice.

What tomlee59 said above. I opened a 40MB one, planted it in a Quadra 605, and installed 7.1 just to watch it working away. A full OS install and some app installs later, I put the lid back on, and left the drive - it still worked OK a few years later.

I have no idea how careful you'd need to be with the heads, or removing platters - that's something I've not done - but as far as simply exposing platters to the elements, for a drive that age & size it worked for me.

Dana

 

[LCGuy]

You'd need to be very careful with the heads - the metal that they are on is very weak and easily bent, and bending it just a millimetre is enough to render that head useless.

 

[macintoshme]

I heard someone made a clean room out of his bathroom, something about the steam weighing down all the dust. I doubt the moisture would be good for the drive, but might want to read more into it. Especially if you need the drive. Those old drives are getting hard to come by.

 

[Christopher]

My idea for that (never been tested) is to put a box fan next to your work area(given that it is clean) and just keep the fan running so the air is always moving thus keeping dust away. Just a theory.

 

[macintoshme]

it would also be pulling dust though... which is problematic. Could try something with a closed container, a wet filter, and a fan. Have ports with gloves fitted in them. Like the thinks they keep premature babies in.

 

[Mac128]

And once you have those matching disks, one maneuvre to try first is to transplant the electronics board from the working to the non-working drive.

Now why didn't I think of that?

 

[tomlee59]

My idea for that (never been tested) is to put a box fan next to your work area(given that it is clean) and just keep the fan running so the air is always moving thus keeping dust away. Just a theory.

Macintoshme has correctly identified the logical flaw in your theory. Moving air doesn't just blow dust away, it also blows dust to. Much better to have still air.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

How possible is it to transplant hard disk platters, at least for the purposes of data recovery when a drive mechanism is otherwise physically dead?
In particular I have a 40MB 2.5" SCSI Conner HD and an old style IWM Hard Disk 20. I would imagine if it i possible, I would need working drive mechanisms to sacrifice. Once cracking the drives open, I would assume that I have basically destroyed their reliable useful life?

Let's go back to step one.

You mention a 40 MB 2.5" SCSI drive and a 20 MB, 3.5" Rodime (proprietary) drive. Do you mean you want to swap platters between those two? Or just that you want to perform this on those two completely separately?

Assuming you mean to do it completely separately, it would be possible. But, for the love of $deity, don't sacrifice a working HD20!!! (I have two dead HD20s that I need to rip open and try to fix, but I would never even consider ripping open a known-good one in an attempt to get either of my broken ones working.)

If the information is really that valuable, pay a dedicated data recovery company to recover it.

 

[tomlee59]

Mac128 knows what he's doing; he is not proposing to swap a 2.5" platter with one from a 3.5" drive, or vice versa.

 

[II2II]

Just one question: would swapping the drive platters even work? When all is considered, a hard drive is an analog device with some electronics converting that analog signal into a digital format that a computer can handle. Any misalignment would likely distort the signal beyond use.

(Yes, I know that certain SyQuest drives were essentially removable hard drive platters. On the other hand, SyQuest drives were designed with the removable bit into consideration and they probably made some compromises to get it working.)

That said, nothing ventured nothing gained.

If you know it's something like stiction though, I would give the drive a few good twists around the rotation axis then try recovering the data immediately. If that doesn't work, I'd go onto opening the case and rotating the platters at the hub then trying it. I would not consider removing the platters since it is to intertwined with the drive heads to remove without the risk of damage.

If you don't know what the problem is, try swapping the electronics board. I don't know how dependent the firmware level is. I would imagine that the wrong firmware (or mixing up the plate) would leave you with a readable drive, but the OS would have trouble sorting out the blocks in order to reconstruct the file system.

I would not use the fan, for reasons already mentioned.

I would not weigh dust down in a steamy bathroom, since you are just asking for condensation.

Good luck. And if your data isn't important, try to have fun.

 

[tomlee59]

Just one question: would swapping the drive platters even work? When all is considered, a hard drive is an analog device with some electronics converting that analog signal into a digital format that a computer can handle. Any misalignment would likely distort the signal beyond use.
(Yes, I know that certain SyQuest drives were essentially removable hard drive platters. On the other hand, SyQuest drives were designed with the removable bit into consideration and they probably made some compromises to get it working.)

That said, nothing ventured nothing gained.

If you know it's something like stiction though, I would give the drive a few good twists around the rotation axis then try recovering the data immediately. If that doesn't work, I'd go onto opening the case and rotating the platters at the hub then trying it. I would not consider removing the platters since it is to intertwined with the drive heads to remove without the risk of damage.

The alignment question is a good one. In very old mechanisms, the location of the tracks is defined as in a floppy drive. Later drives use a feedback positioning method. Swapping produces no problem in the latter -- the servo will find the tracks and center the head over them.

In the case of the older open-loop drives, you may have to perform an alignment. It's easy, though, and the method is the same as in a floppy: Rotate the head-positioning stepper motor until goodness occurs.

That said, swapping platters is definitely an operation of last resort. As others have suggested here, other methods should be tried first (freezing, thwacking, swapping electronics, etc.)