Did you get anywhere with this drive?

I have one here and need to get the data off it. Did anyone work out the pin outs?

Thx

Here are the photos of mine:-
PS the disk is spinning, there's a quiet click, but i don't think it is a bad click at this stage (think i'm trying to too hard to hear noise). Windows does not see anything attached at all, not even in unrecognised device.

This drive has a micro USB connector. The pinout for USB is easy. The important thing is the OS is not recognizing this device. Most likely the USB IC is at fault. Even if the drive had issues with the HDA the USB should recognize in the OS. I can not read the part number of the IC closest to the USB connector. Maybe you could post the details. Also I think there is the standard ROM next to the big SDRAM IC. So a new PCB and ROM swap may work.

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HWHacker
Smiles

Personally I think the problem is elsewhere. Also, if you did want to try a ROM swap you would need a donor which is set to boot from and has an external ROM. Not all these disks actually use an external ROM which will surely complicate things.

can't you send it to a pro?

The bridge chip appears to be an Initio INIC-1607E. I can't see all the part numbers, but the ROM may be attached to the bridge rather than to the MCU.

The fact that the USB chip does not identify itself to the OS is inconclusive. Some bridges need to see a hard drive before they will ID themselves.

I would verify that the oscillator is running, and that the 3.3V (?) supply is present. Then disconnect the serial EEPROM's data or clock pin, and verify that the bridge chip identifies itself with Initio's Vendor ID and Product ID. Unless the chip is a specially masked run for WD, the external ROM will have WD's Vendor and Product IDs.

i guess that i found it , there is a special pinout connection for this drive which can be done
and converted to sata
thnx for the reply and quick tips guys

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once. By: Albert Einstein

hi einstein9,

could you describe the way you found?
I have the same problem with my wd 1tb and need to restore the files...

thank you!

Wouldn't it be possible to buy a new one and replace the pcb?
Ok i bought it a few months ago... maybe they have a newer/different model now... ?!?

Would you mind sharing it with folks? I'm having the same issue as the OP and want to get some data off the drive. Thanks in advance for the help.

I'm interested in exploring the pinout if you are, but I would like to see a clear, detailed photo of both sides of the PCB.

From what I have been able to make out from the photo in the following thread, several of the header pins go to the serial EEPROM that is associated with the INIC-1607E bridge chip.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16838

It should be very easy to at least find out where the other pins go, but determining their function may require just a little more effort. :-)

Hi frank
I Will post some high res photos of both sides in the next day or two
Thankyou for earlier response to my post

Hi fzabkar,

thank you for the quick response. i don't have a camera here now, but i'll take some pictures when i get one. Thanks!

May be this will help?





Solution with decrypting (Initio chip is present) is very simple.

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Angel Data Recovery

Nice
Thanks for sharing

NB In fairness to einstein9, he wasn't the one to first start the "sorry but can't share for free" mentality on this forum. But even those that do that do still contribute by confirming if something is possible or not, even it they are not prepared to disclose full details.

Thank You very much DR-Kiev for sharing!
Good to hear that it is possible. Do i need to solder the cables on the pcb or is there a simple pin solution with this 12-pin-conector too when i don't use encryption? Or is the data on this drive encrypted by default? I have nothing enabled only copied the files.

Of course just being able to attach the drive through SATA isn't going to magically fix whatever problem your drive is experiencing, unless the problem was only related to the USB connection. In my experience this is infrequent.

As in all cases, it's not like someone is withholding a tiny piece of information that will = instant 100% recovery. Each case needs a diagnosis as each case is different. Most of these drives that I see have problems with heads, probably due to the normal rough treatment that comes along with being a 2.5" external.

Furthermore it is not really a "secret", as anyone with eyes and a 2.5" WD SATA drive should be able to study the PCBs and figure it out.

In conclusion, it always makes me chuckle when posters suddenly find themselves on the other side of information sharing from what they are used to.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Thanks DR-Kiev. Am I right in assuming that the 5th wire connects controller ground to HD ground?

In fact this SATA "pinout" is relatively straightforward to determine. You don't need to be an Einstein or a "guru" to work it out.

All you need to look for are two thin parallel pairs of traces, probably capacitively coupled, running between the bridge chip and the MCU. These will be the Tx/Rx pairs.

As for the order of the pins, one would expect that the physical positions of the pins on the bridge chip and the MCU would be in the same order as the SATA connector on a SATA HD. This would facilitate an orderly PCB layout (imagine a SATA connector intercepting the Tx/Rx pairs). If this doesn't work, then you would try the reverse order, for those cases where the chips are on the reverse side of the board. If neither works, then there are still 6 additional permutations.

One other concern would be whether simply tapping into the SATA traces creates a double termination. Even removing the coupling capacitors would still leave reflective stubs. Whether this significantly impairs data communications would be something to consider. Still one more concern would be whether the bridge could be held in the reset state, to keep it quiet during data transfers.

As for the 12-pin header, einstein's statement that "there is a special pinout connection for this drive which can be done and converted to sata" was ambiguous in that it suggested he had gained SATA access via the header. AFAICT from the available photos, there are no thin parallel traces terminating at the header, so SATA access is unlikely.

However, in another thread, I observed a trace from pin 6 of the bridge's EEPROM chip heading out to the header, after passing through a series resistor, R97. Although R97 was not populated, it appeared, in the absence of a clearer photo, that the header provided access to the EEPROM, or to the bridge.

In retrospect, it also makes sense that the SATA test points are consecutively numbered.

OK, assuming that you have successfully connected to your drive:

1. How are you going to deal with the stream of encrypted data?

2. What if you don't get the result you are hoping for? What's the next step?

The answer to a "simple" question invariably turns into a tutorial . . . don't take it personally that folks don't jump right in to help.

Is this a fair question: Would you feel slighted, if -- after a good meal -- you ask chef for the recipe and he refuses to divulge it to you?

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

That's an inappropriate analogy.

In this case the information that was being withheld was essentially trivial. A "guru" would have stood to lose nothing by revealing it. Instead, s/he could have benefited from the good PR, as DR-Kiev has.