Question: I recently received a new HDD (Barracuda 3TB ATA3).
When I opened it I found two little blue sponges between drive’s motherboard and its core. I guess I have to remove them before usage, but I wanted to be sure asking here what should I do about them.
Photo ->
http://imgur.com/yFdpZwf
Answer:This appears to be the PCB:
There are two unpopulated locations for shock sensors (rotational vibration sensors, mounted at a 25 degree angle). One is just below the top RH screw hole, and the other is just below a screw hole at the LH end of the slanted edge of the PCB.
The enterprise version of the HDD would populate these vibration sensors. However, one of the “beans” appears to be wedged above the LH sensor. This would prevent the sensor from vibrating freely, so AISI this proves that the bean is not meant to be there.