Date   : Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:24:11 +0000
From   : jim@... (Jim Hearne)
Subject: Harddisc fakery using a microcontroller

  Done that more than once on 2.5" drives, especially when you just have 
a bare drive on the bench.
Some survived, some didn't.

Jim


On 14/12/2010 21:05, Wookie wrote:
> On 29/11/10 15:29, John Kortink wrote:
>> Don't ditch hard drives that seem to have died just because of
>> a powering error (e.g. 12V on the 5V line).
>>
>> Many drives are protected against this with a 'transil', which
>> very quickly shorts the power line to ground if it exceeds the
>> expected voltage. Unfortunately, this is a permanent condition.
>> But when the transil is removed, the drive will most likely be
>> fine. Replacing the transil is sort-of optional, since the drive
>> itself will function fine without it.
>>
>>
>> John Kortink
>>
> What do these "transil's" look like ? and are they on the data lines as
> well ?
>
> Ages ago was using a 3.5" to 2.5" cable to connect a laptop IDE drive to
> a desktop machine and like a idiot I plugged the cable into the laptop
> drive upside down and sent the power into the data pins, bingo one dead
> drive.
>
> Cheers
> Wookie
>