Fried Disc Drive., Fixable? Options

[Surreal Killa]

Hello. The circuit board on my Phillips Lite-On DG-16D2S-09C drive touched metal whilst on, resulting in a crackling sound, burning smell, and plumes of smoke. Obviously, it now does not work. So I aim to replace it, but I will need the key to get the new one to work with my motherboard. Since the device is essentially dead, I would need to get the key using the hardware probe method. Will this work though? I'm unsure as what to do. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[MadMaxGR]

Can you post a photo of the board first?

[Surreal Killa]

The board itself actually looks fine. The metal it touched was scorched slightly, and the contact point on the board melted (I assume), but it looks more like a slight, shallow laceration made with a scalpel or something. It actually looks in good condition. But I looked the exact board model up, and there is a live charge right next to the main chip, the main chip being where contact was made. It still smells burnt if I sniff it. I'm thinking maybe beneath the chip, underneath the epoxy is probably damaged. So to summarize, it looks fine, but doesn't respond at all when power is connected. It is possible that it (the drive) may have received high voltage initially, which is what I first thought, until I realized it had been touching metal.

[MadMaxGR]

nope, was shorted out! so a hoto can give some light to more experienced eyes.. post a photo, won't hurt

[Surreal Killa]

My camera is terrible, and I have poor lighting, but here's some pics.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/img0001ntc.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/img0002zm.jpg/

[Surreal Killa]

I'm going to replace the drive completely with a new one, but I need the key. So would it be worth me buying Xecuter tools to obtain the key, or just buy a new 360 - which I will have to do if I can't get the key.

[MadMaxGR]

Ok, as I see from the pics, there is a fried diode (the little "look like chip" with three pins) that if is replaced, maybe would fire up the controller properly. I say maybe because you must measure with multimeter , some components to check if anything else is fried. The controller chip doesn't look like fried, so if you won't do the diode replacing then the only other choice you have, is to unsolder the controller chip (the glued one) and solder it to a new board, or on specific programmer to read the chip's data. RDC is the specialist on these stuff and maybe he can confirm my findings.

[Surreal Killa]

Thank you! I appreciate your help and support. I have found a local game store that do console repairs. I'll contact them and see if they can fix it. Thanks.

[Surreal Killa]

I mailed the board to this guy and this is what he said:

There is absolutely no way of retrieving the drive key from this damaged board, it’s quite visible the drive processor is damaged, there are burn marks on the top the power supply 3.3 or 12v has been shorted to the 1.8v line.

Sounds to me like he didn't even try to test it.
What do you think?

[wilgo45]

I agree with MadMax.

Think you just have to replace that transistor or diode. Would have to see if first hand to know which it is.

I would work on it, if interested. I could test power it up with a 360usb pro II.

Wouldn't charge you for labor either. Just the part and shipping. That specific component maybe under $1. I might even have one on hand

Can you read any part numbers on top ?

This post has been edited by wilgo45: Jul 12 2012, 07:12 AM

[MadMaxGR]

Yeah, I think the guy just didnt try much to fix it. Let wilgo give it a try, and since in US the shipping costs are low, it worth the trouble.