Replacing controller board WD Black

Ahhzz · Sep 13, 2021

So, I've got a small stack of WD blacks that are in various stages of infestation, packed, and failing. One of the drive is giving a "Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 339 times" from HD sentinel, and I'm considering taking the one with platter/sector issues, and stripping the controller off, moving it to the "communication" error drive. Any point in trying this? Any pitfalls to be aware of? thanks!

RJARRRPCGP · Sep 13, 2021

These, the Blues and the Greens are known for oxidation, even without any infestation! (if you're talking about any animal infestation or bug infestation)

Also, look for corrosion!

dorsetknob · Sep 13, 2021

Firmware on Disk Drive main board will probably not recognize different Drive
you can try it but from experence with other identical drive it will not work

Ahhzz · Sep 13, 2021

RJARRRPCGP said:
These, the Blues and the Greens are known for oxidation, even without any infestation! (if you're talking about any animal infestation or bug infestation)

Also, look for corrosion!

Actually talking virus, but thanks!

ThrashZone · Sep 13, 2021

Hi,
Have you tried to clean them with linux.

Ahhzz · Sep 13, 2021

ThrashZone said:
Hi,
Have you tried to clean them with linux.

Sorry, I assume that's a serious question, but when I first saw it, I read "Lysol", not linux heheh. No, I'm not really that concerned over the drive. I've already reloaded a new drive, and I'm just pulling data off the good one as I find time to strip it. I'll burn it to the ground one day, and use it for a backup drive until it crashes

thanks tho

ThrashZone · Sep 13, 2021

Hi,
Haven't run into that distro yet lol

Shrek · Sep 13, 2021

Ahhzz said:
So, I've got a small stack of WD blacks that are in various stages of infestation, packed, and failing. One of the drive is giving a "Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 339 times" from HD sentinel, and I'm considering taking the one with platter/sector issues, and stripping the controller off, moving it to the "communication" error drive. Any point in trying this? Any pitfalls to be aware of? thanks!

I believe the bad sectors are stored on a chip, and that would need to be transplanted, but the oxidation idea is a good one
Here’s a Surprising Trick Repairing Hard Disk (HDD) | Electronics Repair And Technology News (jestineyong.com)

ArdWar · Sep 13, 2021

Andy Shiekh said:
Here’s a Surprising Trick Repairing Hard Disk (HDD) | Electronics Repair And Technology News (jestineyong.com)

Lol, HASL-ing the ENIG.

Probably don't actually do it on DRAM contacts tho, unless you're fine with them potentially soldered shut to the socket over time.

Shrek · Sep 13, 2021

I would not recommend soldering the contacts, but rather cleaning them and then treating them with a little silicone oil.

The dangers of soldering are not so much binding over time as lifting of the pads during soldering.

Final_Fighter · Sep 14, 2021

you can swap the boards on the drives as long as they are the same part number. once you swap the boards you will not have access to the information unless its threw recovery software. but if you are just trying to get a working drive than plop the replacement board on, format and call it a day.

Shrek · Sep 14, 2021

What about factory mapped out sectors? which varies from drive to drive.

Ahhzz · Sep 14, 2021

I don't know... I think I'll give it a try tomorrow, see what smokes

thanks for the input all :toast:

stinger608 · Sep 14, 2021

Final_Fighter said:
you can swap the boards on the drives as long as they are the same part number.

Yep, been there done that..........Several years ago with two identical drives. The PCB's had the exact same part number and it worked just fine.

Heck, I think I still have that drive somewhere. LOL. I think it was a WD Black 250 gig drive, if I remember right.

eidairaman1 · Sep 14, 2021

Black the black just check to make sure the model numbers are very closely related

Jetster · Sep 14, 2021

Couldn't hurt to try just doubt it will work

System Name	OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor	i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard	ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling	Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory	64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage	Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s)	22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case	Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply	Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software	Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit

System Name	KHR-1
Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	ASRock B550 PG Velocita (UEFI-BIOS P3.40)
Memory	32 GB G.Skill RipJawsV F4-3200C16D-32GVR
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6750 XT
Storage	Western Digital Black SN850 1 TB NVMe SSD
Display(s)	Alienware AW3423DWF OLED-ASRock PG27Q15R2A (backup)
Case	Corsair 275R
Audio Device(s)	Technics SA-EX140 receiver with Polk VT60 speakers
Power Supply	eVGA Supernova G3 750W
Mouse	Logitech G Pro (Hero)
Software	Windows 11 Pro x64 23H2

System Name	OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor	i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard	ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling	Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory	64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage	Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s)	22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case	Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply	Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software	Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

System Name	OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor	i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard	ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling	Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory	64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage	Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s)	22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case	Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply	Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software	Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit

Replacing controller board WD Black

Ahhzz

Moderator

RJARRRPCGP

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

Ahhzz

Moderator

ThrashZone

Ahhzz

Moderator

ThrashZone

Shrek

ArdWar

Shrek

Final_Fighter

Shrek

Ahhzz

Moderator

stinger608

Dedicated TPU Cruncher & Folder

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

Jetster

System Name	HP Compaq 8000 Elite CMT
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
Motherboard	Hewlett-Packard 3647h
Memory	16GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	Asus NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 2GB GDDR5 (fan-less)
Storage	2TB Micron SATA SSD; 2TB Seagate Firecuda 3.5" HDD
Display(s)	Dell P2416D (2560 x 1440)
Power Supply	12V HP proprietary
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Asus X450JB
Processor	Intel Core i7-4720HQ
Motherboard	Asus
Memory	2x 4GiB
Video Card(s)	nVidia GT940M
Storage	2x 1TB

Processor	ryzen 5 5600x
Motherboard	AB350m Pro4
Cooling	custom loop
Memory	TEAMGROUP T-Force TXKD416G3600HC18ADC01 16gbs XMP
Video Card(s)	HP GTX1650 super 4gb
Storage	MZVLB256HBHQ-000H1 PM981a (256GB)/3TB HDD
Display(s)	Nitro XF243Y Pbmiiprx
Case	Rosewill CULLINAN
Audio Device(s)	onboard
Power Supply	Corsair 750w
Mouse	Best Buy Insignia
Keyboard	Best Buy Insignia
Software	Win 10 pro

System Name	Dean Machine/2020 Ryzenfall
Processor	Intel 4790K/AMD Ryzen 3700X
Motherboard	MSI 1150 Gaming mATX/Gigabyte AORUS ELITE B550
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED/SilverStone AH240 AIO
Memory	16 gigs Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer/16 gigs G.Skill TridentZ NEO DDR4
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte 1660 Super/Gigabyte GTX 1660
Storage	Crucial SSD 256 and 2TB spinner/Dual Samsung 980 Pro M2 NVME 4.0
Display(s)	Overlord 27" 2560 x 1440
Case	Corsair Air 540
Audio Device(s)	On board
Power Supply	Seasonic modular 850 watt Platinum/EVGA T2-850 Titanium
Software	Windows 10 Pro/Windows 10 Pro

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro