HddSurgery Seagate 7200.10 User manual

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HDDSURGERY
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Tools for data recovery experts
Guide for using HddSurgery™ tool:
HDDS Spindle Replacement Tool
Seagate 7200.10/.11

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HDDSURGERY
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phone [phone]
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[email protected] Tools for data recovery experts
Table of contents:
1. Introduction ..............……………………………………………….. page 3
2. HddSurgery™spindle replacement tool ..……………………. page 4
Parts of the tool ........................................................ page 5
3. Spindle replacement process
Extracting the donor bearing .…………..........…………… page 6
Preparing the patient hard drive ……...................………... page 9
Placing the patient drive on the tool .......................…. page 10
Pushing out the bearing from a patient hard drive ......... page 14
Using “the puller” ........................................................ page 15
Placing the donor bearing in a patient hard drive .......... page 16
Dismounting patient hard drive from the tool ............... page 18
4. Appendix ............................................................................ page 20
4.1. Check the patient heads ................................... page 21
4.2. Use longer screws ............................................. page 22
4.3. Tighten the hard drive casing ......................... page 23
4.4. Clean the donor bearing ................................... page 24
4.5. Check the height of the platters ......................... page 25
4.6. Adjust the height of the platters ......................... page 26
4.7. Use “Edit HDD ID” function ................................... page 27

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HDDSURGERY
Lomina 33, 11 000 Belgrade, Serbia
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1. Introduction
This guide is intended as a short course in handling of our tools for professionals in
data recovery. It is assumed that the user is experienced in data recovery and familiar with
"traditional" ways of saving data. This manual should not be taken as a guide for training.
Using these tools without adequate software support is not recommended. It is
recommended to use some of the proven systems for cloning, such as Ace Lab, Salvation
Data, Copy-r and other products.
The general idea behind HddSurgeryTM tools was to make sure that the process of
data recovery from damaged hard drives goes with no errors. With some basic procedures
and short training it is possible to let junior data recovery technicians handle complex tasks.
With the development of these tools, we are trying to eliminate the element of luck that
usually accompanies the process of data recovery.
Experienced data recovery technicians or engineers can have great success even
without our tools, but they can have absolute security only by using HddSurgeryTM tools.
If you have questions about compatibility, you can send them to HddSurgeryTM
support team on [e-mail]
HddSurgeryTM is not responsible for any eventual damage caused by usage of our tools.
HddSurgeryTM is not responsible for the data stored on the patient or donor hard drives.

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HDDSURGERY
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2. HddSurgery™spindle replacement tool
The process of data recovery from hard drives with jammed motors is usually done
by transplanting the platters into another hard drive with a motor that’s working, and then
transplanting the heads and electronics.
On older hard drives, only problems were how to keep the synchronization between
the platters and how to transplant the heads. But on new hard drives there is another
problem. On new drives we must notice two types of synchronization: one is vertical, one is
horizontal. The vertical one is responsible for synchronization between platters like on the
older drives. Now we have a horizontal problem as well because the inner diameter of the
platter and the platter carrier (the hat) outer diameter have a big tolerance during
production. Those two diameters are not the same so the platter can’t always be centered
right. That leads to impossibility of putting the platter in the same place after once it has
been taken off the platter carrier. That is why platter fixation lid needs to keep
synchronization at all times. Many of new hard drives also have spacers between the
platters made of metal or plastic. In process of platter transplantation, you must move these
spacers along with the platters and make sure that they don’t touch each other. If these
spacers touch the platters, they could damage them and make data recovery impossible.
HddSurgeryTM Spindle Replacement Tool uses the whole new approach to hard
drives with jammed motors. Instead of transplanting the platters to a new hard drive, only
the bearing is replaced on a patient hard drive. This way of functioning implies that the
heads, spacers and platters remain in place, while only the bearing is being replaced, which
eliminates almost all of the difficulties that go with the platter transplantation process.
New Seagate hard drives belong in the category of disks that “park heads” above the
magnetic platters and that have spacers between the platters. This implies that all of the
above mentioned problems with platter transplantation are present on these hard drives.
With HddSurgeryTM Spindle Replacement Tool for Seagate hard drives we can
eliminate all of the problems mentioned. This tool can be used to replace the bearing on
Seagate 7200.10 and Seagate 7200.11 hard drives.

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HDDSURGERY
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Parts of the tool
Spindle-pushing screw Bottom cylinder Platter holder
Clamping nut “The puller” Cocoon Piston
Needle-screw Upper cylinder Needle

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3. Spindle replacement process
Extracting the donor bearing
To prepare the bearing that will be used in the spindle replacement process, the
whole working bearing must be first removed from a donor hard drive.
1. Best way to remove the bearing from donor hard drive is to first remove the heads from
a donor, then remove the platters along with spacers between the platters. This means
to remove all internal parts of the hard drive except the platter carrier –“the hat” and
the bearing on which it stands.
2. When the hard drive is prepared in this way, place it in the tool so that the bottom hole
of the tool is precisely under the bottom side of the hard drive spindle. To place the
drive correctly, use the needle on the upper side of the tool. Push the needle down and
place the drive so that the needle points to the top side of the spindle.
Placing the donor drive in the tool
3. When the hard drive is positioned correctly, use 6 butterfly-screws to fix the hard drive
in place. Pull the needle up by unscrewing the needle-screw.

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4. Turn the tool upside-down and screw the bottom cylinder in the hole on the bottom
side until it hits the drive itself.
5. Through the bottom cylinder, screw the spindle-pushing screw to start pushing out the
bearing from the hard drive case. Since this screw is not long enough to push out the
bearing completely, we must use the piston.
6. Remove the spindle-pushing screw, place the piston inside the bottom cylinder, and
then screw the spindle-pushing screw again to push out the bearing completely.
Pushing out the bearing from hard drive casing
After pushing out the bearing, it comes out along with the platter carrier - “the hat”.
7. Turn the tool upside-down again and remove the hard drive casing.
8. Position “the hat” with bearing above the bottom hole on the tool the same way like
when placing the hard drive (using the needle).
Pushing out the bearing from “the hat”

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9. Screw the needle-screw to push out the bearing from “the hat”. After this, the donor
bearing is extracted and prepared.
The whole donor bearing

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Preparing the patient hard drive
10. Remove the lid on a patient hard drive.
11. Place the provided hard drive lid with a hole on a patient hard drive and tighten it with
the screws previously removed from the original lid.
12. Remove 4 screws from the platter fixation lid that’s holding the platters in place. Be sure
to remove screws two by two from opposite sides so that the two screws on the
opposite sides remain.
13. Use 4 screws previously removed to screw the platter holder to the platter fixation lid.
Make sure to screw these screws tightly because these screws will suffer a great amount
of pressure when pushing out the bearing.
Mounting the platter holder on a patient hard drive

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Placing the patient hard drive on the tool
14. Place the patient drive on the tool so that the platter holder coincides with the upper
cylinder of the tool. The needle in the upper cylinder must also coincide with the central
hole in the platter holder.
Screwing the upper cylinder
15. Pull the needle all the way up (unscrew the needle-screw) and then screw the upper
cylinder (by hand) until it touches the platter holder.
Affixing the upper cylinder to the platter holder

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HDDSURGERY
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16. Use 4 or more evenly distributed screws to affix the upper cylinder to the platter holder.
17. Tighten the casing of the hard drive using 6 butterfly-screws on the sides of the tool.
Tighten 2 butterfly-screws in the middle first.
Screwing the butterfly-screws
18. When the upper cylinder and the platter holder are firmly attached, make sure that the
cylinder doesn’t move anymore. Do this by screwing the clamping nut (by hand) on the
upper cylinder until it touches the ramp. At this position, tighten the screw on the
clamping nut so it wouldn’t move.
Affixing the clamping nut on the upper cylinder

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19. When the hard drive is in place and firmly attached to the tool from the upper side, turn
the tool upside-down and screw the bottom cylinder until it touches the bottom side of
hard drive.
Screwing the bottom cylinder
20. Screw the clamping nut on the bottom cylinder until it touches bottom side of the tool.
Tighten the screw on the clamping nut. Place another clamping nut on the cylinder also.
Affixing the clamping nut on the bottom cylinder

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21. In order to know the height on which the bearing is on a patient hard drive, screw the
spindle-pushing screw in the bottom cylinder until it hits the bottom of the bearing on
hard drive.
Screwing the spindle-pushing screw
22. Unscrew the second clamping nut (that was previously placed on the bottom cylinder)
until it hits the spindle-pushing screw. At this point, tighten the screw on this clamping
nut to fix it in that place. These two clamping nuts on the bottom cylinder mark the
position of the bearing and they must stay in place where they are fixed until we finish
the whole process of bearing replacement.
Marking the position of the bearing with clamping nut
23. Remove the spindle-pushing screw (but not the bottom cylinder or the clamping nuts on
it) and turn the tool upside-down again.

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Pushing out the bearing from a patient hard drive
24. Use the needle-screw on the upper cylinder to push out the bearing from a patent hard
drive. Turn the needle-screw slowly.
Screwing the needle-screw
In most of the cases, only the spindle comes out and not the whole bearing. If only
the spindle comes out, use “the puller” to pull out the bearing casing.
Spindle “The puller”

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Using “the puller”
a) Pull out the needle from the bearing by unscrewing the needle-screw in the upper
cylinder. Also, remove the bottom cylinder (be sure that the clamping nuts on it don’t
move).
b) Place “the puller” in the bearing casing through the bottom hole on the tool. Push “the
puller” all the way through.
Placing “the puller” in the bearing casing “The puller” with bearing casing
c) Screw the needle-screw again but slowly by hand. The needle will start pushing “the
puller” until it gets to its position and starts gripping the bearing casing.
d) When “the puller” had gripped the bearing casing, screw the bottom cylinder again, and
then screw the needle-screw to push out the bearing casing. After this, unscrew the
needle-screw to pull the needle out, and unscrew the bottom cylinder along with
clamping nuts (make sure not to move the clamping nuts).

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Placing the donor bearing in a patient hard drive
25. Pull out the needle from the bearing by unscrewing the needle-screw in the upper
cylinder. Remove the screw from the cocoon, place the donor bearing in it, and then
place the cocoon with bearing in the bottom cylinder.
26. Screw the bottom cylinder with cocoon and bearing by hand to ensure that the bearing
goes straight. Push the bearing this way until the cocoon hits the bottom of the hard
drive. When this happens, unscrew the bottom cylinder and remove the cocoon from it.
Screwing the bottom cylinder with cocoon and bearing
27. If the cocoon stays on the bearing, use the screw to remove it from the bearing. Screw
this screw in the hole on the cocoon and pull it to remove the cocoon from the bearing.
28. Turn the tool upside down and apply super glue to the visible part of the bearing.

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Applying super glue to the bearing
29. Screw the bottom cylinder again (without the cocoon) until it hits the bottom of the tool
with its fixed clamping nut.
30. Screw the spindle-pushing screw to push the bearing to its place. Screw this screw until
it hits the clamping nut that marks the height of the previously removed bearing. This
way we will place the donor bearing at the same position where the patient bearing was.
Placing the donor bearing in a patient hard drive

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Dismounting patient hard drive from the tool
31. Wait some time needed for the glue to affix the bearing to the hard drive casing and
then remove the spindle-pushing screw and remove the bottom cylinder.
Removing the bottom cylinder
32. Turn the tool upside-down and unscrew the screws connecting the upper cylinder with
the platter holder.
Removing the screws from platter holder

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33. Unscrew the upper cylinder and then unscrew the butterfly-screws holding the hard
drive in place.
Unscrewing the upper cylinder
34. Pull out the hard drive from the tool, unscrew the 4 screws holding the platter holder
and remove the platter holder. Screw those 4 screws back in place. Place the lid back on
the hard drive and start cloning the drive.
For a more detailed instruction on how to use this tool, check the video guide and
animation which can be found on our website:
You can find more information about this tool and many other tools used for data
recovery on our website.
http://www.hddsurgery.com/
Animation
Video guide

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HDDSURGERY
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4. Appendix
After 3 years of intensive use and a large number of successful spindle replacements,
we have decided to present you some additional guidelines in using the Spindle
Replacement Tool.
These additional guidelines are based on our experience with spindle replacement so
far, and they represent some best practices which should help achieve a success rate that is
close to 100%.