IBM DHAA-2540 laptop hard drive common failure modes

kpgpbhdw@kpgpbhdw.com wrote:
Probably nobody here can tell you "if TP3 has less than 2.0 volts on it,
change R134 and the drive will then work".

The information you would need to know that is in the design
documentation for that drive, which used to live at IBM and probably now
lives at Hitachi, if it's even still around. It is probably not
available at any price - if somebody at Hitachi spends more than a few
seconds finding it and sending it to you, the value of their time has
exceeded the worth of the drive.

What you *can* do is look for any obvious burnt components, open traces
(use a magnifying glass if you need to), and like that. You can also
look up the pinout of the 44-pin connector and find out which pins
supply +5 V power to the drive. Make sure the laptop really is putting
out +5 V on those pins.

Some of the ICs on the circuit board may be custom but there might be
a standard one or two. Google the numbers on the chips; if you can
find pinouts for a chip, make sure the power supply voltages are
correct.

There may be some chips on the "underside" of the board, that you can't
see unless you take the board off of the drive. There will be at least
two cables leaving the board - one for the spindle motor and one for
the read/write heads. Sometimes you can disconnect these before you
remove the board, and sometimes you have to unscrew the board, lift up
part way, disconnect cables, and then remove the board completely.
(You might even find that one of these cables has popped loose on its
own, and reseating it might help.)

You can probably test parts of the board when it is disconnected from
the drive mechanisms, but not all the signals will be there. Part of
it may shut down when it doesn't detect the spindle motor coils or the
read/write heads, for instance. You can for sure look for burnt
components, open traces, etc on the newly-visible side of the board.

Matt Roberds

 

[Jeroni Paul]

Do you remember if you could hear the actuator when it worked fine? Most of them make some actuator noise on startup so the actuator drivers on the board would become my first suspect.

Also if the laptop does not boot with the disk connected I would suspect the data bus stuck, could be caused by a missing supply voltage on the controller or failed oscillator.

 

On Tue, 5 Aug 2014 15:31:47 -0700 (PDT), Jeroni Paul
<JERONI.PAUL@terra.es> wrote:
> Do you remember if you could hear the actuator when it worked fine?
I don't remember. The last time I used it with the hard drive was
a long time ago.

Most of them make some actuator noise on startup so the actuator
drivers on the board would become my first suspect.

Also if the laptop does not boot with the disk connected I would
suspect the data bus stuck, could be caused by a missing supply
voltage on the controller or failed oscillator.

I would need something more specific. Is there someplace where
I could download some technical documentation on the drive?
Schematics, labeled pictures or diagrams?

 

On Tue, 5 Aug 2014 00:42:59 +0000 (UTC), mroberds@att.net
<mroberds@att.net> wrote:

kpgpbhdw@kpgpbhdw.com wrote: Probably nobody here can tell you "if TP3
has less than 2.0 volts on it, change R134 and the drive will then
work".

I fear you are probably correct, although I thought I would give it
a shot.

The information you would need to know that is in the design
documentation for that drive, which used to live at IBM and probably
now lives at Hitachi, if it's even still around. It is probably not
available at any price - if somebody at Hitachi spends more than a few
seconds finding it and sending it to you, the value of their time has
exceeded the worth of the drive.

What you *can* do is look for any obvious burnt components, open
traces (use a magnifying glass if you need to), and like that.
I've done that. I could see no visible damage or deficiencies.
You
can also look up the pinout of the 44-pin connector and find out which
pins supply +5 V power to the drive. Make sure the laptop really is
putting out +5 V on those pins.
Good idea.
Some of the ICs on the circuit board may be custom but there might be
a standard one or two. Google the numbers on the chips; if you can
find pinouts for a chip, make sure the power supply voltages are
correct.
Another good idea.
There may be some chips on the "underside" of the board, that you
can't see unless you take the board off of the drive.
I've removed the board and looked on both sides.
There will be
at least two cables leaving the board - one for the spindle motor and
one for the read/write heads.

There is only one connector from the laptop to the hdd, and one
connector from the controller board to the heads and motor.

Sometimes you can disconnect these
before you remove the board, and sometimes you have to unscrew the
board, lift up part way, disconnect cables, and then remove the board
completely. (You might even find that one of these cables has popped
loose on its own, and reseating it might help.)
The board comes off by pulling a single set of header pins/sockets.
You can probably test parts of the board when it is disconnected from
the drive mechanisms, but not all the signals will be there. Part of
it may shut down when it doesn't detect the spindle motor coils or the
read/write heads, for instance. You can for sure look for burnt
components, open traces, etc on the newly-visible side of the board.

Matt Roberds

Some interesting ideas. They're a place to start. Thanks.