# From Inside the Hard Disk [bandwidth heavy thread]



## Faun (Sep 22, 2015)

I was cleaning my PC for all the dust and mess stuck in CPU cooler and in the peripheral vision of my eyes I saw the worst happening. A slight nudge from my hand send the hard disk off the table, it was only an auxiliary hard disk with backup OS and Downloads partition. Not risking my data, I backed up what was already present in Downloads partition, and identified that the hard disk had trouble copying some data. What's a fun way to do away with hard disk, a bad one ? Let's dissect. I will learn more but for now just the pictures. If you have any suggestions then list out here. It's a sacrifice that I should make. Hard disk you will be missed.

*i.imgur.com/UOIlk5M.jpg
Unscrewed all screws sans one. It's a 160GB SATA HDD. That Orange tape is for NZXT Sentry 2 temperature probe. Not using it anymore.

*i.imgur.com/QJm8BU7.jpg
Reveal the remaining last screw. Don't break the seal if you don't want to compromise your HDD's warranty.

*i.imgur.com/KE8WbWn.jpg
Entrails seen through the opened cavity. One can see the seal lining over the cover at left hand side. It reduces the contamination by dust. There is another seal (left of the circle with hidden screw) which dampens the vibration. Note: The head is in resting position where the locking mechanism prevent it from moving radially over platter.

*i.imgur.com/u3Yx5N0.jpg
As you can see, this can be a good replacement for mirror. However, one can find other good uses too. 

*i.imgur.com/zhhHo3J.jpg
This is the head assembly. Connected to a controller through ribbon connection. 

*i.imgur.com/maxacgM.jpg
Another shot of the assembly. Notice the dry silica bag at the top right corner. It keeps humidity away. I was surprised to see it here.

*i.imgur.com/jaKpowe.jpg
That plastic bit, caressed by my finger ever so gently, looks like the locking mechanism. If you flick the head to the radial center of the platter, the lock kicks in and the head will not move radially outward at all. I had to press the plastic bit to unlock the movement of head. I guess when the had disk is idle it sits in the resting position near the radial center and the lock becomes active. Must be used to prevent damage during transportation of hard disk by restricting the movement. I am not sure. Not a PhD in HDD.

*i.imgur.com/NGre1hM.jpg
Unlocked the mechanism and now I can move the head freely in any direction. Moving it to radial center will trigger the lock at the end.

*i.imgur.com/70yMPUN.jpg
Yes, that's a silica bag. To keep things dry.


Some other shots:
*i.imgur.com/oLPFWhp.jpg

*i.imgur.com/WwGkArv.jpg

*i.imgur.com/kIzu7QX.jpg

*i.imgur.com/CEemeo3.jpg

Fun Fact: My ceiling fan made cameo 5 times. And in one you can see my guitar. Any guesses ?


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## tkin (Sep 22, 2015)

Fantastic teardown, always wanted to see the insides of a harddrive in person 

Side note, you're using the LG G2 I think, check to see if there are scratches on your lens. It's made of sapphire glass but there is a polarizing chemical coating. If that gets scratched then the photos start to show halo, like in this case: *www.digit.in/forum/mobiles-tablets/181368-lg-g2-discussion-thread-post2258123.html#post2258123


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## ankushv (Sep 23, 2015)

Stupid question ...
Does the HDD work after putting it back together ?
Also thanks for your post . Appreciate your effort .


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## Vyom (Sep 25, 2015)

Oh man... I have a couple of bad hdd lying around. Wanted to tear them down since long. Will do soon.


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## Anorion (Sep 25, 2015)

you didn't remove the head assembly?
there is a pretty powerful magnet in there

PS, done this too, but got soo excited that stopped taking photos
*i.imgur.com/R1eHYiG.jpg
*i.imgur.com/0iXwSwr.jpg
*i.imgur.com/IQsHh5L.jpg
*i.imgur.com/WAzAOEP.jpg

getting that platter out is tough. Broke and cut some things, including a screwdriver handle, which I was using to force stuff apart. 
Hit a dead end. Check second last picture, need some specialized tools to disassemble any further.


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## icebags (Sep 25, 2015)

yes, hdd should have neodymium magnets, look for them, very strong stuff !


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