New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

That's what I like... :P
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash
I'm quite familiar with the various methods employed to deal with external ROM. I'm interested in dealing with two scenarios: 1. Marvel 88i6745 (or similar) goes bad. Embedded. You cannot access ROM. Not even Kernel/safe mode will allow reading... 2. GOOD PCB, but corrupt or improper ROM/headmap New drives won't even spin up with incorrect ROM. Nor will you be able to re-write this type. Now what?

I have some knowledge about what can be done, but would like to study two things: a. the extraction of flash rom contents embedded in Marvel. possibilites and methodologies. b. the use of M25P20 in usual location (which you will see @ U12 as always)
also, is there some way to force to accept/allow uploading of ROM? (e.g., shorting RDY/RSV, etc) I'm experimenting on several my own drives. I've taken a brand new such drive, corrupted ROM, write back, and now drive won't even spin up or enter kernel/safe mode. Cannot write original rom back either. I know that I can write original rom to m25 then solder to usual location, but other changes are certainly needed to tell marvel to use. Email or PM if you are working on similar. NOTE: I'm looking at two different scenarios...one dealing with a bad Marvel with embedded rom, and another with good pcb and drive, but corrupted or wrong/bad ROM.

subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

Interesting job you are doing! Did you get any useful information on the Marvell so far? The manufacturers site is down for some time now (maintenance, they call it), so I cannot check whether they had anything online which could be of help. I hope you checked before they became unavailable. Anyway, from my experience with other CPUs I would guess there are configuration options to enable bootstrapping from the external serial flash - pin-strapping is a bit outdated, so there should be a possibilty to do this via JTAG. The mileage of this will of course vary depending on the availability of information on the chip. The next step would be to extract the ROM contents. What if they are protected - have you thought about a way to defeat this?

New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash
Unfortunately I've gotten no information from them... I have two personal projects I am working on. One is a single-platter Scorpio 2.5" and the other is a dual-platter. Both SATA. Both 88i6745. I have about a dozen different models of these... so I am experimenting on a few. On lots of earlier WD models...the drive will still spin-up if you insulate the preamp commutator...in fact, its a good way to see if a bad preamp is causing your drive not to spin up, however, on these, if you insulate these contacts, the drive will NOT spin up. Quite the opposite. Another difference, and the one i'm interested in here, is the embedded flash. I'm interested in all aspects of dealing with it. Both BAD Marvel scenario, AND the good PCB / Marvel but bad/corrupt flash. I am not sure at all how to approach a bad Marvel scenario. Currently, I have a new drive which I backed up rom and modules, etc. I corrupted the ROM, then wrote bad rom back to it. Now verified that drive is inaccessible..in fact, won't even spin up.
Now i plan to take the backup of the ROM and program it onto an M25P20 and connect externally...this is easily done..especially since u12 was not abandoned and appears ready to accept. Next, i need to figure out how to make changes to switch to use external rom instead of embedded. For the bad Marvel scenario, however, I've not gotten many ideas except JTAG... many devices (NAND) support boot strapping via an input pin (i.e., called PRE) that puts the device into a sequential read mode...doubt this does, but don't have any technical info on it yet...
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

Ok, I see, you also suffer from lack of information. On the other side, there are companies (see google) that offer in circuit emulators for the Marvells in question - they should at least have all the information you need. But I doubt they are willing to share anything except their products for money. Keep up your work, as I will on my latest project - let you all know if I have success.
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

Hi Shaun and PCrecovery. Interesting stuff you are doing. I would also like to investigate these WD's but for the moment i lack the time. First doing Seagate stuff. Please keep Newing the progress. As soon as i got some time I'll look into these WD's also. Best regards, Dobre Murphy was an optimist

New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash
Lack of time is one major problem for all of us I'd guess. I'm working on an update for the clean bench and on a new hdd solution additionally to daily work - so I know what you're talking about.

New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash
I had no problems buying dev kits or ICE. Yes, everyone wants money,money,money... Try on your own or pay and save a lot of time. :S
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

Paying and saving lots of time sounds good...since time=money....looking at Lauterbach and couple others' right now...
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

Please pm me. We should talk one on one on IM or voice if you wish. I am half way with research and so some other people. Maybe together we win, alone we all lose.
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

pcrecovery wrote: Unfortunately I've gotten no information from them... I have two personal projects I am working on. One is a single-platter Scorpio 2.5" and the other is a dual-platter. Both SATA. Both 88i6745. I have about a dozen different models of these... so I am experimenting on a few. On lots of earlier WD models...the drive will still spin-up if you insulate the preamp commutator...in fact, its a good way to see if a bad preamp is causing your drive not to spin up, however, on these, if you insulate these contacts, the drive will NOT spin up. Quite the opposite.
Another difference, and the one i'm interested in here, is the embedded flash. I'm interested in all aspects of dealing with it. Both BAD Marvel scenario, AND the good PCB / Marvel but bad/corrupt flash. I am not sure at all how to approach a bad Marvel scenario. Currently, I have a new drive which I backed up rom and modules, etc. I corrupted the ROM, then wrote bad rom back to it. Now verified that drive is inaccessible..in fact, won't even spin up. Now i plan to take the backup of the ROM and program it onto an M25P20 and connect externally...this is easily done..especially since u12 was not abandoned and appears ready to accept. Next, i need to figure out how to make changes to switch to use external rom instead of embedded. For the bad Marvel scenario, however, I've not gotten many ideas except JTAG... many devices (NAND) support boot strapping via an input pin (i.e., called PRE) that puts the device into a sequential read mode...doubt this does, but don't have any technical info on it yet... pcrecovery, could you please share your method ( in details ) of backup those parts of WD disk ?
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

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Quote: also, is there some way to force to accept/allow uploading of ROM? (e.g., shorting RDY/RSV, etc) I'm experimenting on several my own drives.
Is there a pullup resistor near one of the leads or is there one missing?
I saw a photo on here somewhere where I noticed there was a resistor space near ROM and Processor but no resistor. If a pullup resistor was put in here it may change the state of the boot flag.
???????
If you can keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs, maybe you don't understand the situation.
New subject: Re: Embedded WD Flash

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Somewhere should be pin (one of the legs of MCU) which you can short and drive supposed to go to kernel (This is my guessing). Sometimes drive goes to kernel by itself (if ROM is blank for example) In kernel mode drive wouldn't accept any IDE command except for command 92h (that's I know for sure) And drive will wait a piece of code with special header (no more than 80h sectors in length) which supposed to upload the flash image and write it into the ROM. This piece of code supposed to be written by somebody :) Such piece of code might be located in SA too and this module supposed to have string "uCODE" at the beginning (this is my guessing too)

My hobby is numismatics - http://coins.zoxt.net/
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 model ST3120026A 120GB s/n:5JT4TR9N firmware:8.01 PCB:100306044 REV A donor drive wanted !!! _________________ T3 Professional Data Recovery http://www.t3-recovery.com I have one but locked does this help ? _________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... ============================================================================ Seagate 120GB detected* but unreadable ST3120026A It shows up in: BIOS Seagatetools for DOS Device Manager It doesn't show up in: My computer Disk Management Fdisk (detects it, but unable to access) ignore the "USB" sign. its just the same if i connect it directly to my motherboard. So is it really wrecked/unusable? or it is showing Failed Repair only because it is Security Locked? Thx gurus.. The drive is locked. You must unlock the drive first and only then you will be able to access it under windows or anything else. _______________ Image Spildit wrote: The drive is locked. You must unlock the drive first and only then you will be able to access it under windows or anything else. umm.. i know that thx it doesn't answer my question though.. I think the tool can't access the sectors because the drive is locked. As so it assumes the sectors are bad and try to re-allocate them. But the tool can't write to the drive too because it's locked. So no joy. I think that fails to repair because it's locked. You must unlock the drive first and only then you will know. But the tool is reporting that S.M.A.R.T. was not tripped and if the drive were full of bads S.M.A.R.T. ould have been tripped, so my guess is drive is locked and tool can't do anything with a locked drive. _________________ Image Spildit wrote: ...the tool is reporting that S.M.A.R.T. was not tripped and if the drive were full of bads S.M.A.R.T. ould have been tripped, so my guess is drive is locked and tool can't do anything with a locked drive. thanks spildit. now... how do i unlock it :mrgreen: ? i know about hddunlock.com but is there an alternative where i don't have to shell out a dime? coz really, $15 to unlock is a bit much considering the price of new hdds now.. If you don't care for the data try to secure erase using MHDD and known Master passwords (search this forum). Do you know how the drive was locked ? If it was working fine and locked by itself you might have firmware issue. If the drive was locked by previose owner or something like a x-box you might want to try default master passwords to unlock it. If no joy you will need to shell out some money because at least you will need a RS-232 adaptor if you don't want to use another payed service or a pro ..... _________________ Image okay many thanks. will give em a try now.. oh.. i have no idea how it got locked. i got scammed :lol: stupid me :? If $15 is more than you're willing to put into this drive you might as well stop now, because you're not going to accomplish anything without at least that much worth of parts and effort. _________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. drccsc wrote: If $15 is more than you're willing to put into this drive you might as well stop now, because you're not going to accomplish anything without at least that much worth of parts and effort. no offense, but instead of Newing useless comment such that, why don't you help solve the actual issue. or not New at all. besides, not all of us have the money to spare. fyi, i got it fixed without that much worth of parts and effort no thanks to you. Spildit wrote: If you don't care for the data try to secure erase using MHDD and known Master passwords (search this forum). Do you know how the drive was locked ? If it was working fine and locked by itself you might have firmware issue. If the drive was locked by previose owner or something like a x-box you might want to try default master passwords to unlock it. If no joy you will need to shell out some money because at least you will need a RS-232 adaptor if you don't want to use another payed service or a pro ..... many thanks mate. i followed your first suggestion and it worked. funny thing is that the master password worked only to unlock the hdd temporarily at first (until next reboot). then i erase the drive which took approx. 8 painfully long hours. and only then i applied the master password again to unlock it for good. Sigh, you're right, someone told you something to do instead of you making $15 worth of effort to figure it out. So now you have a working drive but didn't learn anything. _________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. drccsc wrote: Sigh, you're right, someone told you something to do instead of you making $15 worth of effort to figure it out. So now you have a working drive but didn't learn anything. wrong again mate. i learned to use mhdd :mrgreen: though not 100% as i just want a working harddrive, not to be a hdd specialist/technician @drccsc as soon as people think that forums are call centers and other work in the call centers for free, why worry? Don't we have something more interesting and worth to do in clean room / lab (paid !) ? Come on, at work ! 8) Were all gonna see a 'blackheart Data Recovery ' result in google as soon as he gets the right answer... :lol: hi, I have a ST3120026A in max security mode , but MHDD failed to unlock with the "vendor" password , is there a list of all known master password to test ? ________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... =============================================================================== Seagate 120GB ST3120026A PCB : burnt diode? I have a Seagate ST3120026A, 120GB, F8.01. One of the components is burnt. I am looking to replace it if I can identify it. Can anyone identify the component circled in the attached image, and let me know size/rating etc.. thanks, Its a TVS, simply remove it. If you want more info, search this forum for TVS. Hope nothing else is damaged. Best regards, Dobre _________________ Murphy was an optimist Whats the black colored component between the yellow circle and the screw at top right of PCB? Cheers -Al bigal.nz wrote: Whats the black colored component between the yellow circle and the screw at top right of PCB? Cheers -Al Here's a better photo: http://longdata.ru/images/Seagate/ST3120026A_PCB.jpg The component you are referring to is a 12V, 600W, unidirectional TVS diode, marking code BUX, made by ST Microelectronics. The BU? marking code appears to be used by ST Microelectronics in their SMBJ series 600W Transil (TVS) range. The "C" appears to be the manufacturing location, followed by a numeric YWW date code. Here is the datasheet: http://www.st.com/stonline/products/lit ... s/5616.pdf The component circled in yellow is a 5V, 400W, unidirectional TVS diode, marking code QE, made by ON Semiconductor. Its part number is 1SMA5.0AT3. Here is the datasheet: http://www.datasheetarchive.com/pdf-dat ... DSA-4543... ON TVS/Zener Device Data Book: http://www.mosaico-eng.com.br/arquivos/ ... 0Zener.pdf If, for continued protection, you want to replace the diode, try Farnell or RS Components. Look for the SMBJ series (600W) or SMAJ (400W). I have this disk ST3120026A , still need help ? _________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... ======================================================================= wd2500JD-75HBB0 pcb swap help Hi folks, I have a wd2500JD-75HBB0 that died on me, stopped working , no warning, nothing. It does not show in the BIOS. I have replaced the old PCB. I am getting the drive to spin up and down now but am getting 6 clicks repetively. (4 constant clicks followed by 2 clicks) FYI-I have not swapped the ROM Any suggestions? please. Thank you very much, sammad swap the ROM _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Thanks so much for the reply. Can you give me an idea as to how to do this. Im not sure what chip it is and how to de-solder/re-solder it. I have enclosed a picture. U12 Janos Hello, Can you tell me what chip is the U12 please as well as a technique to get it off and back on please. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you sammad U12 is the 8 Pins IC _________________ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Got it! Now I see it. Is there a "best way" to do this. What part do I heat to remove this? The legs? The chip? Long story short, Im a novice to soldering, however, I will give it my best. Any help is appreciated. And thanks so much for all the replys! sammad Hi, if you not used to soldering I would suggest you to take the Pcb to a eletronic repair shop and ask them to do the change. Best Regards Bosse mr_spokk wrote: Hi, if you not used to soldering I would suggest you to take the Pcb to a eletronic repair shop and ask them to do the change. Best Regards Bosse Agree with Bosse, if you damage the chip while taking it off, it'll make your recovery a lot, lot more difficult! Where are you based? _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk I'm in the USA, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Thank you sammad Just take the PCB to any electronic technician and tell him to replace the new 8 pins IC on the new PCB with the old one on the old PCB _________________ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. I will look for an electronic technician. I will New results. Thanks for all the New folks! sammad The ROM swap worked perfectly. A special thanks to harddrivespecialist who provided the PCB as well as the soldering. Very honest and dependable work. I would highly recommend his services to anyone, and I would not hesitate going back to him in time of need, Thank you to everyone who replied to this thread as well. Sammad Is it necessary to swap the ROM in every case of a PCB swap on a wd2500JD-75HBB0? On this model, YES!!! If you do have right software and hardware you can just read than write flash to working lb. Physically moving chip is in need only if lb doesn't respond to data request. Anyway I"m happy for anyone get data back. ========================================================================= Boot Failure- need to extract file from HDD Hi, here is a kind of long saga, though its only been a few days. I put this up on the Lenovo T30 forum but its slow getting info over there, seems most people are into hardware repairs, not issues like this. My IBM T30 laptop (win XP) suddenly stopped booting. The error was something like "we are sorry windows could not start .... unable to mount boot disk...." I got the menu of options- reboot using "safe" mode, reboot using last known good configuration etc.... None of these worked. I always got the same error message. I did not want to use IBM RapidRestore because the backup I have is a little old and I want to recover some newer files before reformatting. I did some searching and found out about the XP repair CD, which did not come with my computer (I bought this computer new and it was preloaded with everything). I searched more and found a link that supposedly had the image of a bootable XP repair CD and booted off of that, but it made things worse. Now the computer will not boot off CD at all. There is no longer an option to start in "safe mode" or any other mode. The errors are Bootup text- ================================================ Intel(R) Boot Agent Version 4.1.07 Copyright (C) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation Intel Base-Code, PXE-2.1 (Build 083) Copyright (C) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent Operating System Not found ================================================= Here are the IBM Bootup Screen options ================================================= F1 enter IBM Bios setup F11 to invoke product recovery F12 to choose temporary boot device ================================================= F1 works F11 does not work/ no message "starting recovery" and instead you get the same error as #1 F11 used to work before I booted from the supposed 'repair' CD. F12 options ================================================= 1. Removable Devices 3. CD-ROM Drive 4. IBA 4.1.07 Slot 0240 ================================================= I do not think F12 will work as it tends to give the same errors as on bootup and F11. Therefore I cannot successfully boot from CD, I think. What I want to do is recover a few files from the HDD and then reinstall the backup (either HDD backup or from CD-ROM) on another HDD and proceed. I do have a bootable IBM Rapid Restore recovery set of discs and a local backup archive on the problem disc (if IBM rapid restore could be executed); however before reformatting anything I need to extract a few VERy crictical work projects from the hard disk which took me 2 weeks to create. So the tasks are #1- recover some files and #2 reinstall XP. How do I accomplish this? The HDD is a 2.5" PATA. Next, the computer store guy told me PATA and IDE are the same, so I removed the HDD from the laptop and put it into a IDE to USB enclosure. It fits the connector, except that the T30 drive has 4 extra pins that don't connect to anything???? What??? But it kind of works, the Drive "F" is the computer HDD of interest which the 2nd computer tells me needs to be formatted. The drive "G" is the recovery partition which I can see a directory of but which is hard to extract anything out of. Whenever you try to do anything with "F" the OS (Vista) on the new PC will freeze and the program will fail. I've got a repair product but it concedes to the OS that drive "F" needs to be formatted and won't try to make an independent evaluation (supposed to fix/ check it right/?)t. What good is that? help? Man, run Get Data Back on it. Just choose right FS. _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net As there is no F12 option to boot from a hdd device I would suggest the hard drive has now failed to a point where it is not seen by the bios. Your biggest mistake was to mess with it whilst it was in the T30 laptop. What you should have done as a minimum is to mount it as a secondry drive and check it in a bootable pc. Then you should have imaged the drive/partition. You might even have been able to grab the most important data with the right tools. It does now look like your tinkering has nearlly killed a failing drive. If the folder is still available then you need to run a software recovery which allows you to change the read retry settings otherwise the system will lock up and maybe you really kill the drive. Recovery is still possible and might still not cost too much. A pro would have to take this on as he would have access to the required tools. john1in2 wrote: except that the T30 drive has 4 extra pins that don't connect to anything???? What??? They're for master/slave config. No connection = master Yes, I am an idiot! I should have let it sit in the IBM and not messed with it all all. I am running getdataback, thanks for the idea as I could not really tell which products to buy from doing searching and going to the computer store. Running getdata back. 1. boot 2nd PC (no network connection) 2. plug in enclosure with problem drive to USB2 socket (right side up!), wait for steady green light. 3. run getdataback, select default option, hit "next" 4. getdataback gives me a list of drives- including problem drive in a popup window. 5. getdataback hangs and does nothing...still trying to find more drives although it found the only 2 in the system. Should I be waiting hours for the list of drives to be populated? Seems it does not know it is done searching for drives. Its not even let me pick a drive at this point. ================================================================================== Samsung HD501LJ cirquit board replacement Hello. Somebody has asked this before here but I'd like to hear some more information. My Samsung HD501LJ suddenly stopped working and one IC burned. There is a hole in it. It is the IC which drives the motor. In working HDD it gets very hot when the drive starts. I bought two of Samsung HD501LJ HDD:s and changed the board. The IC doesn't burn so the motor seems to be OK. But the drive only starts, takes some readings and then it shuts off again. I believe that neither of these boards don't have the right firmware for this drive. How can I check that the board is the right one? What or which IC must be the same and how identical they have to be? There are three IC:s. The one which burned (I hope that this is not the one which has the information needed) and processor IC plus one memory IC. I believe thet the processor IC has the information but not sure. I have some pictures where you see these IC:s and the label of the HDD. Somebody told that the Rev must be the same. And it is, all are Rev. A. Then he says that TW xxx must be the same. But where is that TW-number? On the processor IC there are letters TW but no numbers are following it. And finally, do you think that I could just replace the burned IC? If that doesn't have any information needed, it should work. I know how to do it because I'm electronic maintenance engineer and I have the right tools. The burned IC is on the left upper corner (rotated 45 degrees). Hi, The part of the FW is located in Flash memory inside 88i6725. Locating a compatible PCB is not easy, as the FW rev is not noted anywhere on the drive, nor the PCB. So it is a good idea swapping the motor driver, if u are skilled enough to do that. In this case check the other nearby semiconductor parts like diodes, and that transistor to protect the new motor combo as much u can. Or U may find a company to recover your data for a not too high fee, I suppose it should be not more than 200 eurs, provided that drive internals are not affected. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery yeah. swap motor chip will be more easy for you. do you have replacement one? _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com Sometimes the FW version is written on the PCB (e.g. TW100-14) but more often than not it's not, so we have to find it out by hot-swap and reading out data from the SA and interrogating the right module to determine the FW version. Then it's easy to find a compatible donor. This procedure is straightforward if you have the tools and the knowledge, but it's not DIY'able. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) is spot on with the price of around €200, we would charge between £149-£195 for this case. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Under 200 e sounds very reasonable to me. I have asked few places and they told me that it costs around 700-800 euros which is quite a lot of money. I have checked the components around the motor chip and they are OK. I believe that the IC has just burned due to very hot temperature when starting the drive. I thought that I'll take the replacement IC off one of those working drives. Hi all, I'm suffering the same issue, cant figure out yet which chip as fried, although it seems to be 88i6725 but I really have no skills at electronics at all. Anyways, i wanted to have a feedback from the Finnish user here and also maybe to know if samsung is able at least to provide me with what FW my drive as been manufactured with, so i can hopefully find a replacement PCB. Find an attached picture of the drive. Here are the PCBa informations; model: HD501LJ serial: SOMUJ1MP821129 (O might be Zero/0) Rev: REV. A PCBA: BF41-00133A / TRIDENT 11-RE / Rev06 Thanks for your help. best regards, m.I have just had a burnt out chip on my HDD also. Has anyone had any luck retrieving the data from their HDD through any type of operation? The chip that fizzed is the large diagonal one near the Orange ribbon, I have manged to get the USB detection through windows but the drive wont populate its space in the system. I feel that the main Circuit board is definitely dead and i will need to get a replacement.it looks like it is possible to jump start the motor through soldering the 4 main points on the orange ribbon if i had another drive. Any Suggestions? networkpc3000 wrote: yeah. swap motor chip will be more easy for you. do you have replacement one? Guess what? It's going be the only chance. As far as I know. And I do know something. _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net r3712 wrote: networkpc3000 wrote: yeah. swap motor chip will be more easy for you. do you have replacement one? Guess what? It's going be the only chance. As far as I know. And I do know something. If i can get my hands on a PCB BF41-00133A TRIDENT 11-RE Rev.06 then i will be fine. I need to find another drive which has it. apparently the 300gb version of samsungs drive is the same PCB. The only wires i would have to solder over would be the orange ribbons right? There is no soldering to do at that cable. You'll see if you remove the pcb its a connector. Dobre _________________ Murphy was an optimist dobrevjetser wrote: There is no soldering to do at that cable. You'll see if you remove the pcb its a connector. Dobre Would anyone here have a PCB I could buy? I do live in Australia and its really hard to find this particular HDD. I called Samsung and it is Discontinued. With the connector, How would i connect the new PCB? does that Black thing just sit over the top and clamp down on the orange ribbon? I'm guessing if i have a replacement PCB it will be very easy to just hook it up and it will work again like normal via that connector? Cheers :D Justin_melb, Just make sure you do no harm with a PCB swap. _________________ Don't gamble with your data! ================================================================= Read sectors with ATA password from unlocked drive Hello I'd like to analyze if a specific system is setting a password on the drive in the clear (meaning the password as given in the bios) or if it uses a hash algorithm and sends then the hashed password to the harddisk... I thought easiest to do that would be setting a password on a drive and then read it's sector where the password is stored. Unluckily I'm quite new to MHDD and with the search function I didn't really find anything useful. (All Newings seem to be about how to remove a set password without knowing it, but in this case I know the password and I can unlock the drive...) So basically: 1. Setting Master and User password on the harddrive with high security. 2. Unlock drive with user or master password. 3. Start MHDD and analyze the drive. Now, can the sector where the ATA passwords (User and Master) are stored be read from any of the following drives with MHDD when they're unlocked? - Toshiba MK4025GAS - Western Digital WD2500BEVE - Hitachi HTS54108 I'd also have some even older 3.5" IDE/SATA drives (IBM, HGST, WD, ...) or some newer 2.5" SATA drives (WD, HGST, ...) that I could use for that experiment, but one of the drives above, especially the Toshiba, would be more comfortable. ========================================================================== WD5000AAKS-40YGA0 clicking needs help hello guys, my wd drive got a very noisy clicking, it's WD5000AAKS-40YGA0, I performed a PCB swap but it keeps clicking, then I did a head swap, still not recognized, what can be the next possible step to do? Anybody help? _________________ Dream as if you'll Live forever, Live as you'll die today. http://www.datarecoverytools.co.uk Big time Looser Spammer, Ignore him.Hitachi DeskStar HDS722516VLAT20 - No Spin - Nothing... Hey - I am new and I am 'just an end-user' - no talent for system fixing or system restore. I've got the above HDD that came from an eMachine. Long story short, the hard drive will not do anything. I began having computer issues, and thought it was my video card. My monitor began giving a display message every now and then suggesting no signal input. I searched high/low on the internet, and was given help on a forum. I purchased a new video card, installed it and still had the issues. Needless to say, the system was 5-6 years old, so when that did not work, and folks began discussing memory and mother boards, I opted to purchase a new system. So, I did that. I also purchased an external HDD USB holder, thinking I would be able to remove my hard drive, put it into the adapter and get my data. I have not backed up in a while. I followed the instructions, and tried the hard drive in the holder. It would not work. I pulled another hard drive from an older system here, and tested the holder. It worked just fine. I tried to put my DeskStar into the older system, and it doesn't work there either. The hard drive appears, for all practical purposes, dead. Does not hummm or do anything. I see nothing wrong with the Processor board and am not too savvy about all this. Am I going to be able to recover anything? I never had any 'lightning', any sparks, any funky sounds, any notification that the hard drive was failing and I am bummed out!! If you give me suggestions, please keep it simple!! Thanks in advance! Take it to a pro. I see many News regarding power supply failures in eMachines. Motherboard damage is often the result. The fact that your drive doesn't spin would suggest a problem with its circuit board. Could you upload a detailed photo of the component side? Perhaps it was overvolted? Thanks for the replies! I will find my camera and take some photos of the HDD. If a pro is suggested, I realize from reading and researching here that names and/or companies are not to be named. However, my hope is someone can PM me and recommend a provider in the US. Is there a limit on the photo size? I've got a couple appts. this AM, but can hopefully New this afternoon. Again, Thanks!! OK - a day later....here are some photos of my hard drive. Offline I did try to upload photos, but they are not here. Did I do something wrong? I guess I'll try again..... Offline Joined: 9/9/2009, 01:21 News: 170 Location: Australia I'm no DR guy, but it seems to me that a PCB swap will probably work, as long as you transfer the 8-pin serial EEPROM chip at U5 (L76R) from patient to donor. However, if this were my drive, I would check the onboard supply voltages, and I would verify continuity in the motor windings. There are three zero-ohm links (R25, R29, R4) that arouse my curiosity, too. fzabkar wrote: I'm no DR guy, but it seems to me that a PCB swap will probably work, as long as you transfer the 8-pin serial EEPROM chip at U5 (L76R) from patient to donor. However, if this were my drive, I would check the onboard supply voltages, and I would verify continuity in the motor windings. There are three zero-ohm links (R25, R29, R4) that arouse my curiosity, too. Thank you - I am now going to have to research how to do what you suggest. Are there any other ideas/suggestions/feedback? Thank you! NVRAM got to be transfered or swap will work in very low persentage of success. _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net ======================================================================== Normal Amount of HDD Seek Errors??? I'm not sure if a "normal amount" of seek errors even exists for a drive. My dilemma is, I ran Spinrite on a 60GB Fujitsu 2.5" drive. My results are as follows: I'm pretty sure I'm ok with the ECC Corrections, but I'm not sure if I'm within a normal boundary of seek errors....if there even is one. I ran Fujitsu's testing utility and it passed, finishing the extended scan in 40 minutes. This is a laptop I am checking out for my father with which he is reporting slow boot up performance and occasional freezing. It's an older Dell Inspiron, but I know the tech guy that issued the laptop to him did just perform a clean OS install. These seek errors that Spinrite is reporting are worrying me and I'm wondering if this drive is slowly biting the dust, even though the Fujitsu utility says it's okay. Is there actually a seek error threshold for certain drives, or is my drive needing to be replaced (IMO, there should be no seek errors). I don't understand the "error rates". It appears that ... error rate = error count / 127 So does this mean that the test runs through 127 passes, and that the error rate is the number of errors per pass? If so, then the figure is meaningless. A more meaningful result would be ... error rate = total errors / total operations ie, seek error rate = total seek errors / total seeks Try a SMART diagnostic such as HDDScan, HD Sentinel, or smartmontools. HD Sentinel (DOS / Windows/Linux): http://www.hdsentinel.com/ HDDScan for Windows: http://hddscan.com/ smartmontools (Linux/Windows): http://sourceforge.net/projects/smartmontools/files/ http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartm ... i/Download This program is a drive killer. Use MHDD if you want correct information on this drive. If you want to kill your drive continue to use this program. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini poehere wrote: This program is a drive killer. Use MHDD if you want correct information on this drive. If you want to kill your drive continue to use this program. I understand that many, if not most, of Steve Gibson's claims may be bogus, but yours doesn't make any sense to me either. Can you explain how reading and writing using standard ATA commands can damage a drive? Is it the sheer number and frequency of operations that overstresses the drive? Have you ever been in the middle of imaging a drive when it died? Ok, now imagine that instead of imaging it you're telling it to read and write on known bad sectors with potentially weak or failing heads hundreds of times in a row, on purpose. Wheely34 wrote: My dilemma is, I ran Spinrite on a 60GB Fujitsu 2.5" drive. You're right, that IS a dilemma. _________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. ====================================================================== Mounting Partition Manually in a Recovery Tool Need help. I have a drive that I need to copy partitions because its got issues, but with a tools that lets me individually me mount one partition at a time. As one of the issues the drive has when mounting its 7 partitions, is that last partition is corrupted in a way that freezes the drive, so no partition can be read after that point. And yes the drive is one for the now famous Seagate 7200.11 1.5tb drive, but the firmware is CC1H, which is not supposed to have the famous issue. I realize that some people have also complained having the same issue with this firmware, but if possible before updating the firmware, I would like to copy the good partitions. I know that the other partitions are fine and readable because when Windows mounts the drive and then each partition (when connected via USB after booting) Autoplay properly starts searching files, as you can see it searching in each partition, and only freezes when the mounting process gets to the corrupted partition. Once frozen no partition is then readable. In fact the drive is frozen, until you power off completely and restart. All of the recovery tools, non windows based, I have tried, mount all the partitions for a drive at once, and thus freezes the drive after mounting the last partition you select it for copying or recovery. Windows based tools are useless because it will always mount the partitions prior, and the drive will be frozen way before I can run them. So can anybody recommend a non windows based tools that lets you mount drives one at a time, so you can copy them? Based on your description, drive has some other issues, not a Firmware. Probably bad head or a scratch on a surface. _________________ Don't gamble with your data! That may be, but 6 of the 7 partitions are working, I just need to get to them, without it freezing up, when the bad partition is mounted. Once I do that, I will call Seagate for a replacement. I only stated that it might be the firmware bug since its the systoms are identical. The only difference is that it doesn't get stuck in BSY status, and thus is recognized by the BIOS, once I power down. But note that if I don't power down and just reset, the BIOS is unable to see the drive on reNew. Again very similar to the old bug as it seems to be stuck in BSY status in that instance. Now, I know that many Linux distriutions allow/require manual partition mounting/binding for non linux file system drives, as in years past I have done it myself when experimenting with Linux. But I was hoping for a simple recovery tool that does the same without have to build a Linux machine. Also it seems that all Live CD (Bootable) Linux automount for convience, but I am still investingating that fact. If I find a tool, or figure out a workaround, I will New it. Until then, any recommendation would be helpful Hi, sjacas wrote: But I was hoping for a simple recovery tool that does the same without have to build a Linux machine. Also it seems that all Live CD (Bootable) Linux automount for convience, but I am still investingating that fact. Try SystemRescueCD. It does not mount HDDs automatically. http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page Hope this helps, Peter also u can use killmbr (or something like that) in MHDD this will deactivate the MBR (delete the 55 aa signature) so partitions are not mounted automatically. Then clone the drive to a known good one and recover data logically from that one. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Have you imaged the disk? if not, you should stop and do that first. Have you tried turning off Autoplay/Autorun/Autoinsert Notification? Mr.Data Recovery lab (mumbai) => ( SWITCHMBR ) :) _________________ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Yes, that's it! it was long time ago... ============================================== TOSHIBA MK1652GSX - cannot access any LBA Hi Gurus! Got some strange Toshiba drive. It came up ready, read ID and when I tried to access any LBA it gave CRC errors only. Many times I got TOSHIBA drives that were acting the same when had problems with G-List. To clear G-List it required terminal connection so i built adapter for PC3000. Saved all CPs but got one error. Then I cleared G-List and now it doesn't even return CRC errors but won't allow any access at all. Could that be caused by erratic CP? Attaching screenshot. DD is P-List, which one is G-List in here? Is it safe to clear P-List on this drive? Thanks, yco. Attachments: 52gsx.GIF 52gsx.GIF [ 27.03 KiB | Viewed 94 times ] If your performing data recovery, and not just HDD repair, clearing the P list is a terrible idea. Strange that the drive is ID'd correctly by the utility, but further down it's a MK3252GSX. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk I noticed that as well. I am guessing that because the translator is corrupted the drive may be reporting as a larger size, and maybe some sort of bug is occuring with pc3k where it assumes it must be a 320GB version of the drive.. i have seen this from time to timeIBM Ultrastar 9.1GB SCSI 68 PIN Failed after incomplete LLF Hello i need to know if there is a way to bring back this hdd? I started the low level format process in the SCSI controller, but after 1 and half hours the power cord was disconnected by mistake and now it does not start spinning and the controller does not recognizes it. i will appreciate to hear some opinions do i need to send it to the trash can? sorry for the English my native language is Spanish =================================================================== RISK PLATTER Hi Gurus! :mrgreen: Is possible? :?: Recovery photos from hdd... _________________ ??? ?????? ???????????? Hi, I think generally recoverable. But of course need to see more deep to better judge. Janos I am not so optimistic, as the ring is pretty much where the SA is. if the bottom side looks the same, I am pretty much sure the game is over. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Data Recovery lab (mumbai) wrote: I am not so optimistic, as the ring is pretty much where the SA is. if the bottom side looks the same, I am pretty much sure the game is over. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) yes, i know this is why i sad, need to see more deep... ================================================================= Need ROM: WD1200JB-00EVA0 Hi Gurus, Happy New Year!!! I'm in search of ROM and ATA module for the following drive. MODEL: WD1200JB-00EVA0 PCB: 2060-001179-003 Rev A Date would be as close as 23 NOV 2003 Thank you in advance!!! PM or MSN XRONIS _________________ T3 Professional Data Recovery http://www.t3-recovery.com ==================================================================== Seagate St3500418AS hi all i am having an issue with this drive which is a CC34 F/w, the drive will ID correclty,, become ready straight away, when i try and access the data on it with DE it will not let me access the data on it and the drive stops being ready and flashes error registers. Cloning does not work either. there is no clicking of any sort from the drive, on average i am able t image about 1 million blocks and then the drive imaging turns yellow( sector skiped) i found that at this point if i put the drive power off and on again with DE it will start to image again or a little while and then the same has to be done. so i worked round this to a degree by setting DE with drive options of power on/off and no resets as the resets make it image all yellow. all good for the first 380million blcks of the drive and then it slows right down to about 1 million blocks every 3 or 4 hours and the drive is doing alot of restarts whih i dont want to do. doing the above is imaging but very very slow. from the image i have been able to extract the user folder (windows vista) but have way too many corroutptions in there to be a good recovery, folder structure is there but alot of files are corroupted. i am suspecting this may be to do with only having imaged 1/3 of the drive. does this sound right to you ? my questions are has anyone encountered this error with this drive ? i swapped heads with an identical drive and the drive would not wor with the donor heads, and the original heads did not work in the donor drive either, i swapped heads back to original drives and bothdonor and patient are working again but in thew case of the patient i am having the above. can this be a translator issue ? trying to work with the Atola to aimge this drive has given worse results. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance PM or MSN... XRONIS ================================================ ST31000340AS No terminal? Hello gurus. I freed a jammed spindle on this drive and now get it to spin up slowly with noise. But I don't get any terminal output and it just does a couple of light clicks every 10-20seconds and stays busy. Is platter swap necessary? Most likely. If shaft is bent there is no way drive can gain enough speed to get it into ready state. In old good times it was possibly to loose bearings just by manually turning platters forward and back. No more :( _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net Of course yes , and check both and the heads... XRONIS _________________ T3 Professional Data Recovery http://www.t3-recovery.com cheers ... these are very tough jobs. ========================================================================== Samsung HD753LJ terminal error Hi Guys Got this drive with these errors on terminal, dont know what it means. Thanks SpinOk mServoStatus1 00000003 SK C: 82939 H:0 ServoTable Loaded FdtTable Loaded TgtCyl: 4032 Hd: 0 Zn: 0 Avg.:- 167 TgtCyl: 221264 Hd: 0 Zn: 1 Avg.: 113 SVCAL(0080,0000)-->PASS | 21 | SET_MAX | 3 | 0 | 142 | B98B | | 21 | SET_MAX | 3 | 1 | 142 | B98B | | 21 | SET_MAX | 3 | 2 | 142 | B98B | | 22 | SECURITY | 3 | 0 | 143 | B98B | | 22 | SECURITY | 3 | 1 | 143 | B98B | | 22 | SECURITY | 3 | 2 | 143 | B98B | | 159 | DCO | 31 | 0 | 0 | B98B | | 159 | DCO | 31 | 1 | 0 | B98B | AP:2 C: 4093 H:2 SK C: 7415 H:2 | 159 | DCO | 31 | 2 | 0 | B98B | S_0AP:2 C: 4056 H:2 UF 5 1stSkErr Vel Parking! PK_3 C: 6261 H:2 SK C: 85716 H:3 [N_SK_TMOUT] Vel Parking! PK_2 C: 4055 H:2 SK C:110766 H:2 TOUT 0000000F 00000001 00000000 00000000 0000000C 00000000 [N_SK_TMOUT] Vel Parking! PK_2 C: 4057 H:2 UF 5 1stSkErr Vel Parking! PK_3 C:111313 H:2 UF 5 1stSkErr Vel Parking! PK_3 C:112301 H:3 SK C:111343 H:4 S_0AP:2 C: 4056 H:2 SK C:100974 H:2 TOUT 0000000F 00000001 00000000 00000000 0000000C 00000000 [N_SK_TMOUT] Vel Parking! PK_2 C: 4057 H:2 UF 5 1stSkErr Vel Parking! PK_3 C:111452 H:2 UF 5 1stSkErr Vel Parking! PK_3 C:112274 H:3 SK C:112426 H:4 _________________ ?????? ????, ????? H2 gone. _________________ - Data recovery thanks Data Recovery lab (mumbai), now H2,H3,H4 and H5 dead ============================================= how to check hdd and mark bad sectors Gents, I just need to check hard disk (read/write operations) and mark all failed sectors as bad. Which software can do it ? Should I do it before partition (Windows XP, NTFS) creation or after ? ps. chkdsk /r is not well. Thanks Read News on MHDD this should give you your answers. Do a search on this program and download it and use it. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini ============================================== Where to start with personal learning? Background I currently work for a company that offers data recovery. In house we can really only do software (partition corruption, deleted data, etc), get data from affected Seagate 7200.11 drives, and get data off drives with hardware issues only if it's in good enough condition to be imaged with ddrescue / dd_rescue. Anything beyond this goes to the clean room we are partnered with. We also do not have tools like PC3000, pretty stone age when it comes to data recovery. My company tells me we will never have a clean room or do that sort of work for liability reasons. I am very interested in the art that is Data Recovery, and would like to learn more about real data recovery techniques, and frankly I'm at a brick wall for learning where I work now. Is the best way for me to work with a bunch of drives (which I have access to) experiment, note, and develop my own techniques (combined with research obviously). I'm really just looking for pointers on where to start I guess. Thanks, any help appreciated, Xander Sholtz Get a bunch of identical drives and play. I suggest older hitachi drives (40GB). Lots of information out there on them. I go to the local Whitebox shop every saturday and buy all of their bad drives for $1 each. You really have to figure out what the drive is doing when it is working properly(logically and physically). Direct IO access to the drive is a good start from the programming end. The ATA spec and a LOT of research helps as well. Shawn Hi Xander welcome check the link below see this videos it will help u lot to understand Data Recovery this Guys are really doing something for Data Recovery but it is not good for Us i mean Professionals check it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx-D1nJc ... re=related phishin_ca: I really appreciate the information itconcept: I have watched these clips a million times in the past, this is where I learned of the Seagate terminal connection (may have been on his website) and researched the 7200.11 method. I really respect the time and devotion put into research and development that many of the members here have done, and honestly, while I am happy to have the information Scott provided, if I were a Data Recovery Guru these videos would have infuriated me. The fun part about the videos is that they make things look easy. THis convinces people to try it on their own. The videos are a joke. XanderSholtz wrote: I'm really just looking for pointers on where to start I guess. This forum has a wealth of information, you just have to be prepared to do your own sifting. _________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. There is a tremendous amount of info "out there." I initially purchased about 10 loose-leaf folders and assembled information by brand. it's still useful when I forget something - which seems more often than not! There is a tremendous amount of info "out there." I initially purchased about 10 loose-leaf folders and assembled information by brand. it's still useful when I forget something - which seems more often than not! =============================================================================== Help needed: WD10EADS-00L5B1 Hello, I have a WD10EADS-00L5B1 (Kermit) HDD which has some corrupted modules including loader module. If you have resources of the same drive please share it with me. Details: Model: WD10EADS-00L5B1 Date: 20 APR 2009 DCM: DANNNT2CFN Firmware: 01.01A01 Firmware version: 000500C5 (I need modules of this version) (My donor drive dated 23 March 2009, has firmware version of 000500C2 which in not compatible) Please have a look at attached screen shot for more details or for any possible advise regarding recovery of data from this drive. Thank you Pninja Attachments: File comment: Screenshot of patient drive WD10EADS-SS1.JPG WD10EADS-SS1.JPG [ 139.55 KiB | Viewed 283 times ] can you read sa tracks? if you can, make a full backup of BOTH sa heads. if you send me the backup i can see if it is possible to extract the modules. Good Day i have also same problem with same model Drive firmware version 000500CE . Some heads are faulty _________________ ?????? ????, ????? agree with terranova. but backup of sa tracks could be possible. extraction of modules is neccesary for hot swap. swersig wrote: can you read sa tracks? if you can, make a full backup of BOTH sa heads. if you send me the backup i can see if it is possible to extract the modules. YES, I have full backup of SA tracks on both SA heads. Do I have to send you all tracks? yes. in case of single sector defects in sa i need both sa backups. it just increases chances. can you send me donor sa backup as well (i mean both 000500C5 and 000500C2, for my database) ? zip file would be preferable. TerraNova wrote: Some heads are faulty Hi TerraNova, Head test says all heads are OK. I believe we can trust it :? itconcept wrote: Good Day i have also same problem with same model Drive firmware version 000500CE . Hi, You are lucky guy. I think I have all modules of 000500CE version. If you need them let me know? swersig wrote: yes. in case of single sector defects in sa i need both sa backups. it just increases chances. can you send me donor sa backup as well (i mean both 000500C5 and 000500C2, for my database) ? zip file would be preferable. Ok. I'll send you Zipped tracks of patient and donor tomorrow. It is late night here and I don't have access to my database right now. ok, i'll see what i can do to help. pninja wrote: TerraNova wrote: Some heads are faulty Hi TerraNova, Head test says all heads are OK. I believe we can trust it :? No, you can't. jono-ats wrote: pninja wrote: TerraNova wrote: Some heads are faulty Hi TerraNova, Head test says all heads are OK. I believe we can trust it :? No, you can't. WHY? You should ask Ace Lab this question. I have my own theories. Suffice it to say that sometimes heads will pass the heads test, but you still cannot read customer LBAs. If a head passes the test but doesn't function in Data Extractor, then it is bad. You should ask Ace Lab this question. I have my own theories. Suffice it to say that sometimes heads will pass the heads test, but you still cannot read customer LBAs. If a head passes the test but doesn't function in Data Extractor, then it is bad. jono-ats wrote: pninja wrote: TerraNova wrote: Some heads are faulty Hi Head test says all heads are OK. I believe we can trust it :? No, you can't. On this type (green label), head swap is pretty easy. So I did a head swap today. Unfortunately, nothing changed. Original head also worked fine on donor drive. In very very rare cases I have seen a faulty head passing the tests. That is why I normally trust the head test until I have no choice other than the head swap. Start in kernel mode Do head map edit on the fly - turn off all but #2 Do soft reset See if you can get drive ID See if you can access SA (may have to exit utility & re-enter w/o powering off to access some SA features) jono-ats wrote: You should ask Ace Lab this question. I have my own theories. Suffice it to say that sometimes heads will pass the heads test, but you still cannot read customer LBAs. If a head passes the test but doesn't function in Data Extractor, then it is bad. Hi jono-ats, I don't say that head-test algorithm of ACE lab is absolute or perfect, it just helps me to decide the head-swap as a first or last action in my data recovery process. As to your example, I think you didn't choose a good example in this case. Head test routine tests heads based on their physical parameters, while accessing usre LBAs in data extractor involves logical parameters and translator tables too. Failing to access user LBAs doesn't mean a faulty head necessarily. Please correct me if I am wrong. jono-ats wrote: Start in kernel mode Do head map edit on the fly - turn off all but #2 Do soft reset See if you can get drive ID See if you can access SA (may have to exit utility & re-enter w/o powering off to access some SA features) I did it. Drive ID or SA was not accessible. Anyway, thank you for the hints. Is very easy case , easy drive , heads works , only you need some commands to get all the data back. PM if you interesting. XRONIS ======================================================================= Quote/Referral on ROM Chip Swap Hey everyone, I'm wondering what kind of prices I would be looking at if I were to commission someone to take the 8-pin ROM chip from one PCB and place it into another. I want someone with experience since the cost of data recovery goes up substantially if that chip dies... Anyway, feel free to PM me. Thank you.. Oregon, USA, btw... ============================================================ can a WD1600JB-00GVA0 be repaired with a PC swap ? I have been wading through 20 or 30 News trying to find something to shed light on this problem... and finally I think that if there is any hope of help is HERE, with the resident gurus... I'm sorry if a make a few of the regulars laugh. but I had my WD1600 in an external HD case for sometime, and I bought a new external case for a different drive, problem here is that I inadvertently swapped the power supplies... BAD business. BEWARE of those.! The STUPID chinese that make external enclosures DO NOT use standard PwrSupply pinouts. Result: the +12V and Gnd pins ARE REVERSED in the mini DIN connector. They use the same stupid connector for both. Well: needless to say my HD got fried. no smoke, no noises, nothing, just plain dead. I know hat the internals, (heads, platters & motor) are good, because the flimsy power supplies dont provide enough power even to make it smoke... ! Now the QUESTION: What are the possibilities of reviving this HD swapping the circuit board with another from a similar HD. exact model # and how close should be the serial #? I know that HD's have a lot of specifics in them, like the embedded firmware that changes with the production place and date, and internal bad sectors mapping registers in the controller flash memory and who knows what else. But IS IT POSSIBLE, if so could I do it myself ? considering that I have a electronics engineering degree, and that I have been working with computers since 1984, (yes I'm that old, actually 52), well the fact is that I could even swap a surface mount IC from the PC board with no problems. (I'm familiar with all the ESD protection rules etc). the other side of the question is that I don't have access to any special equipment, hardware or tools like a programmer to transfer firmware from a board to the other. The HD is a fairly common one; Western Digital Caviar Dive Parameters: LBA 312581808 - 160GB PN or Model: WD1600-00GVA0 S/N: WCAL91493328 Date: 30 Sep 2004 DCM: HSBAYTJAA Product of Thailand. Please, any help will be welcomed, I have a lot of personal information in that HD that I'll hate to lose, 5 years + of memories, pictures, letters, some music that could not be created again, saved stuff, web links, too much. I know the RULE... Backup often, well I have some backups but there is a lot missing from them. I should have used mirroring, or some level of RAID or something, but.. not the case. too late. On the other side I don't have a lot of CA$H to invest in this one, even though I could invest a lot of time trying to recover it. THANKS in Advance for any help. :cry: While there may not have been smoke, there is still a possibility the preamplifier chip located on the heads sustained damage. It is particularly susceptible to over-current damage. That being said; I am guessing that you may have some luck with this if you are handy with soldering tools (Iron, Hot air station) First, New a good resolution photo of the chip-side of the circuit board. Can you upload a PCB photo ... XRONIS _________________ T3 Professional Data Recovery http://www.t3-recovery.com You probably have a shorted 5V TVS diode near the power connector on the HDD. There may be a zero ohm link which has opened as well. Remove the diode and bridge the link, if necessary. For continued protection you can replace the 5V TVS diode with an SMAJ5.0A from Farnell, Mouser, Digikey. Here we go again, finally managed to shot a few picts of the deceased (ok... critical condition) HD. Take a look at the burnt motor controller, typical, it blew a leg out of the chip ! ! ! but the PCB trace still intact. II'll check the diodes to see if the sacrifice themselves to protect. if so, I'll replace them with donor diodes w the same specs from other donor WD HD. But... the big question stills... did the other IC's survive, how to tell. The motor IC drive ... question: is it generic for a series of WD HD's, if it is, could it be swapped (for another with the same numbers) .. again from a WD HD donor?.. too many questions together.. lets see one at the time. .. now the picts A question that comes to my mind is if the motor itself suffered damage from the high current that blew the IC ??? How to test the motor, is only a set of coils that can be tested measuring resistance, or has it some more internal electronics.?? Does anyone have a schematic of this or similar family (same basic board) WD HD? Sorry, I misread your first New. I thought you had interchanged the +12V and +5V rails. Anyway, I'm only an observer at these forums, but it appears to me that there are no protection diodes on your PCB, at least not near the power socket where you would normally expect to find them. The motor is a three phase DC motor. I believe its speed is detected by sensing the back EMF of the windings. The 4 pins connect to the 3 phases plus common. Here is a datasheet for a first generation SMOOTH controller (L7250): http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datashe ... Xyuswx.pdf http://wandrew.regruppa.ru/PCInfo/TechDoc/L7250(Smooth).pdf The application circuit may give you an insight into the motor's construction. When you swap the PCB, you may need to transplant the serial EEPROM (U12, AT25F1024 ?) from patient to donor. http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod ... oc1440.pdf Desoldering U12 from patient PCB and soldering to Donor PCB.. simple ccamargol wrote: Desoldering U12 from patient PCB and soldering to Donor PCB.. simple This. Just be careful not to overheat the U12, as you could lose ROM contents if heated too much. Also be weary of too much heat on the PCB as you can warp layers Greetings to all, I find myself in a similar situation. I have the same model drive along with a WD2500JD that were smoked when a PSU went bad. I have tried purchasing a new drive and swapping the PC Board without any luck. I have been told that without a clean room the platters of the drive cannot be removed and and reinstalled in a working drive housing. Is this true? I have thought about constructing some type of Plexaglas housing and changing the platter myself. Do the model, S/N & batch number have to be the same for one drive to read the platters? Thanks for any help you might be able to give me. S Hi, with such thinking you've got a great chance to mess up your drive in minutes. there are quite a few threads about the matter, please take the time to find and read some. Especially I recommend this Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Data Recovery lab (mumbai), Thanks for your input. I understand that the platters are quite fragile. I guess I just don't know how fragile. I will take some time to read the information in the link. Thanks,