[REQUEST] HDD head stuck in parking position

[ssebast]

I'm having a lot of trouble with an external HDD.
The model into question is internally a ST2000LM007. I'm not equipped for very complex HDD repair operations, but this is kind of a pet project in order to better understand/learn what can and can't be done in these situations.

This unit became unresponsive all of the sudden, with blinking LED lights and the spinning didn't stop. Of course it was unresponsive to "Safely eject".
Next time I connected it, there were no more LED lights, just spinning forever. I decided to buy an exact same model and switch PCBs but being anxious I couldn't wait that long. I decided to completely open it and that's when major problems arose. When I closed everything back it started to make beeping sounds, let's say a dozen, then it powered down.
I decided to open it again, and put a transparent plastic container above it to watch, and I saw the head stuck in the parking ramp. It tries to go to the platters, but it moves back and forth over the slit this part has.
Removing the USB card and using it as a regular SATA drive gives the same results.
I also tried, gently, to move the head to the platters and then connect it, it immediately goes back to the parking ramp and repeats that beeping and back and forth movement.

Now the second identical unit arrived. What can I try? There is some data in it that I would like to get back but all things considered I wouldn't mind losing it trying to make it work. It's really not worth a recovery service.

 

[labtech]

Can you shoot a 5-7 video with your phone/tablet and share here?

Asking because the following two descriptions are contradictory, or at least seem that way:
When I closed everything back it started to make beeping sounds, let's say a dozen, then it powered down VS I saw the head stuck in the parking ramp VS It tries to go to the platters, but it moves back and forth over the slit this part has.

Upon powering on, heads cannot be stuck and move back and forth. It is one or the other.

 

[ssebast]

I kinda have a crappy phone, but this video shows exactly what is happening (not mine by the way)

 

[GTP]

@ssebast Are you a computer technician? Running/working for a computer business?

If this is little more than a "hobby" this is not the place for you.

@Kraken

 

[labtech]

Thanks for the video.

Kind of a bizarre behavior, very uncommon.
If I was to make an educated guess I would guess that:
1) the heads are mangled somehow getting stuck into the parking ramp and won't allow a clean release onto the platters unless forced [with the swiss army knife.. smh], or
2) the top magnet was tampered with and it is not quite right in place.
3) the guy in the video may have removed and head assembly all together and probably not screwed it back in quite right, etc.

Either way, it is pretty much a ball game.
Not much an amateur can do on their own, as the drive is probably fairly contaminated with dust, other debris, possible fingerprints, etc; The read-write mechanism needs to be replaced [they sound damaged once they hit the platters], which on most new/er Seagate drives we need specific tools, the firmware and user files will probably have huge amount of bad sectors, and so on.

Also, the firmware is locked on those [and just about any Seagate nowadays], so without advanced tools, not much to do.

Lastly, chances of a successful recovery by a professional are probably slim, too, sorry. Definitely, fairly costly.

As far as the thinking of "PCB replacement" as a solution:
This no longer works and has not been working for many years now. I would say roughly starting in 2008-ish, just about any drive has unique component(s) within the firmware.

Swapping controller/PCB/electronic green card from one drive to another does not work. You can try it by putting the bad drive's PCB onto the donor drive you purchased - it will likely click with spin down - why? Because the firmware is different/incompatible.

This PCB swap solution used to work, but not any longer, except maybe on some Samsung drives, if lucky enough to match the firmware version, which often is not shown on the labels on the cover.