WARNING:
This will void your NetDisk warranty. You have been warned.

Roughly four months after I bought my 160 Gb NetDisk in the black market (eheh) and after having it serve as my central storage repository for most of the CDR and DVDR backups I keep scattered by (and more, much more), it eventually had to happen. A backup device must be backed up too. I figured that carrying it around everyday on my backpack (even carefully wrapped and conditioned) would lead to this. So one day, Windows ceased to recognize the 160Gb NTFS file system as valid. I mounted the drive on Knoppix and ran a fsck on it. It seemed the file allocation table differed from its own backup and I couldn’t easily restore it, since I couldn’t easily mount it read/write. So I did what I had to do, copy most of the files to a safer place. The trouble was it was painfully slow and the NetDisk hard drive was clicking and scratching like a madman. It didn’t take too long until the hard drive stopped responding and started making much more noise. I pronounced it dead, sighted in relief for the important files I managed to recover and started thinking about opening the NetDisk case and look what was inside. I guess it wouldn’t be wise to get back to the flea market and ask for a refund (even if I did, there were still important things inside the damaged hard drive I didn’t want on someone else’s hands).

The NetDisk is just a hard disk case fitted with a USB controller (which is pretty common nowadays) and an proprietary Ethernet controller. My model had a 160Gb Maxtor hard disk inside (ATA 7200RPM), but any hard disk may be used. It took me a while to figure how how to open it, but here’s how:

Step 1: Tear apart the warranty seal and unplug the NetDisk

Step 2: Get a pair of 3.5″ audio jacks or some small screwdrivers and push them inside the side holes. Don’t push too far, as the left hole is right next to the hard disk 40 pin connector and it can get in pretty bad shape if you push it too hard (mine did).

Step 3: Hold the bottom of the NetDisk on a firm and stable surface (specially if the bottom rubber feet have been swept away, which is pretty common). Turn the logo side towards you (connectors to the back). Carefully push the top cover towards the front of the NetDisk. The side panels and the top cover will slide together. It may take a while to match the pressure on the side holes to unlock it. Take your time.

Step 4: If you managed to open it without ruining the hard disk connector, take away the hard disk screws and replace it with a brand new disc, after unpluging the internal power cord and hard disk connectors. The replacement hard disk must be set to CS (Cable Select) mode.

Surprisingly, this is what it looked like before.

These are the little holes you should be looking to.

This is the way the top cover slides over to open the netdisk.

This is my brand new 160Gb paperweight.

This is the inside board with the USB/ethernet hard disk controller. Notice the “hole” on the right side of the picture, which is right next to the IDE cable connector. If you push the hole too hard, trying to open the box, you’ll risk damaging the connector. (click the image for a larger version)