Switch to full style
In-depth technology research: finding new ways to recover data, accessing firmware, writing programs, reading bits off the platter, recovering data from dust.

Forum rules

Please do not post questions about data recovery cases here (use this forum instead). This forum is for topics on finding new ways to recover data. Accessing firmware, writing programs, reading bits off the platter, recovering data from dust...
Post a reply

Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 9th, 2018, 7:59

Hello guys,,

For some time i was thinking about improving Reading Performance of drives with Weak heads (when you run out of donors)
and i came up with some results (not finished yet) still working on it with good & improving results (but not good enough to consider it as a final result)

It is always about the material being used and the % of the mixed liquids (which am trying to figure out here)

I did some tests and here is a sample recorded video of it where you will notice the Diff. in Temp. inside & outside the container.

https://youtu.be/PLaJXj8Teg0

Am ready to share my experience with anyone who worked on this research and made some progress (hope better than what i did)
I think we will get to something @ the end.

Thank you :wink:

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 9th, 2018, 15:22

I want to say for me it has been working fairly well at around 55 degrees C.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 9th, 2018, 15:42

I'll PM you with a document that you might find interesting and may help with your project.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 9th, 2018, 16:23

I'd suggest using a thermocouple and temperature meter, rather than a laser thermometer. The latter is only accurate when the emmissivity of the target is 1.0, i.e., a black body.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 10th, 2018, 3:43

labtech wrote:I want to say for me it has been working fairly well at around 55 degrees C.


The chemical am using (suggested by an expert) is very good (giving me in some drives 10-20% speed improvement)
but if reaching the 55 degrees will be really bad/harmful.

data-medics wrote:I'll PM you with a document that you might find interesting and may help with your project.


Thank you my dear, and replied to your PM :wink:

LarrySabo wrote:I'd suggest using a thermocouple and temperature meter, rather than a laser thermometer. The latter is only accurate when the emmissivity of the target is 1.0, i.e., a black body.


This IR is good actually some how, but i asked someone to get me a better Lab model, coz its all about Temp. & proper material used (liquid).

Am trying it for cleaning Mobile PCB`s + to improve weak heads reading

so far tested more than 80 drives (seagate/wd/toshiba) all with weak heads,
my problem is the chemical Liquid best % of mix (keeping in mind some as i mentioned before bad for health (really bad)

am taking notes about all of them and hope will come with good results soon.

Thank you guys again

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 10th, 2018, 9:05

einstein9 wrote:
labtech wrote:I want to say for me it has been working fairly well at around 55 degrees C.

The chemical am using (suggested by an expert) is very good (giving me in some drives 10-20% speed improvement)
but if reaching the 55 degrees will be really bad/harmful.

Oh, yes, definitely, that could be the case if using dangerous chemicals.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 11th, 2018, 11:08

einstein9 wrote:Hello guys,,

For some time i was thinking about improving Reading Performance of drives with Weak heads (when you run out of donors)
and i came up with some results (not finished yet) still working on it with good & improving results (but not good enough to consider it as a final result)

It is always about the material being used and the % of the mixed liquids (which am trying to figure out here)

I did some tests and here is a sample recorded video of it where you will notice the Diff. in Temp. inside & outside the container.

https://youtu.be/PLaJXj8Teg0

Am ready to share my experience with anyone who worked on this research and made some progress (hope better than what i did)
I think we will get to something @ the end.

Thank you :wink:


Sir ,
I would like to share my experience with you regarding this .

1 : The ultrasonic frequency also makes a great difference .I have seen some people say higher is better but i am sure they have really not tested it .One apprehensive thing i have in this cleaning approach is that ,The head thats suspended also does shake and could actually lead to a issue "but i am yet to see this happen " . The liquid does make a difference .Once i am done with my setup for platter cleaning which is underway i plan to make a custom CNCed tool so that i can get assistance while i am preforming this procedure .

2 : The weak performance could also be due to the fact that the platter surface is not not in the best condition .In this case cleaning the heads and installing and letting the system do a sweep butterfly test helps in platter cleaning and then taking same heads out and cleaning and repeating this few times really enhances the read/write performance .mostly if starting performance is degraded then platter are mostly 75% weak too and this method improves performance

3 : External temperature also makes a lot of difference while the task is running .I will give you a example ,Assuming we have a shrek LT drive with 4 platters and 8 heads and out of those 1 or 2 heads are really weak .So if you deselect this head and clone data of other heads and in the end you enable those 2 heads at this time the overall drive temperature is high and the same heads start behaving .In this no need to clean heads at all .

4 : Other then seagate i have had limited success tweaking rom parameters for heads .Seagate does have a Temperature adjustment feature as they call it and this does work ,But its not implemented in acelab tool which is a pity .I have had cases in seagate that have one head totally fail and i have used this tweak to read those heads and finish the case without head swap .You see these slim seagate hods mostly they are 1 platter and 2 heads and mostly 1 head is kaput .

5 : If you know the proper fiber to select ,The shape and number of a brush that you like to use for heads cleaning and also know the liquid you plan to use and your technique is good ,This approach yields better results then cleaning the heads in a ultrasonic .

PS : Regards to my senior .Just a few days back i used a special brush/liquid to clean a rosewood ST2000LM007 Top Platter Manually Although we are discussing about heads here and spend 7 hours under a microscope non stop .Result 100% data recovery from a platter that had enough metal dust spread all over the platter .I am now designing Lots of physical Data recovery tools that i plan to start selling in july and they will all be very very different from tools sold by brilliant people like hddsurgery "Lots of Love and regards to nikola sir for producing such class a products " .I am myself a user of his tools and will remain a user till like ,Tools will be to assist some of us in our physical work much different then thats being sold .I promise that this time no one will say do not buy "Made in India " Tool .All The Tools Will Be Metal And CNCed Using Ultrahigh End CNC Machines .Sometimes i feel that a thing is missing in almost all the tools i have used i hope to develop that small part also to assist us to handle those kinda tasks .I am also planning to develop some tools to help assist us in NAND Flash Work Also

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 12th, 2018, 15:44

Nice Research Amarbir

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 13th, 2018, 12:52

I have recently started using HFE 1700 for cleaning platters and heads. It is really good, however very expensive and evaporates extremely quickly. Bit leaves little to no residue.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 13th, 2018, 16:30

ddrecovery wrote:I have recently started using HFE 1700 for cleaning platters and heads. It is really good, however very expensive and evaporates extremely quickly. Bit leaves little to no residue.


Well,
i do not need to explain the folks out here that under 1 month of time a conclusion cannot be formed ,This guy posted here -> https://www.data-medics.com/forum/post10381.html#p10381 and in under 1 month he is giving a opinion .The only other liquid he is used in 99% isopropyl .In this thread -> https://www.data-medics.com/forum/clean ... t1271.html many people posted negative about this liquid he is saying is good .The Thing Everyone Needs To Know is That Isopropyl if opened can suck moisture like a pig and then reduces that 99% claim .You should know how to handle the moisture situation .The Recoding is Done At The Third Layer if counted from the top of platter surface

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 14th, 2018, 11:44

Amarbir[CDR-Labs] wrote:
ddrecovery wrote:I have recently started using HFE 1700 for cleaning platters and heads. It is really good, however very expensive and evaporates extremely quickly. Bit leaves little to no residue.


Well,
i do not need to explain the folks out here that under 1 month of time a conclusion cannot be formed ,This guy posted here -> https://www.data-medics.com/forum/post10381.html#p10381 and in under 1 month he is giving a opinion .The only other liquid he is used in 99% isopropyl .In this thread -> https://www.data-medics.com/forum/clean ... t1271.html many people posted negative about this liquid he is saying is good .The Thing Everyone Needs To Know is That Isopropyl if opened can suck moisture like a pig and then reduces that 99% claim .You should know how to handle the moisture situation .The Recoding is Done At The Third Layer if counted from the top of platter surface

As usual Amarbir, you do not want to listen to anyone else's opinion. You always think you are right.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 14th, 2018, 13:07

Hi Tim ,
Leave That Lets Talk About Liquids Here .First Post a direct link of the HFE 1700 you are using .As its a series and guy can get confused ,Secondly As You Can easily source 99.9% yes not 99% but 99.9% pure isopropyl get a litter of that and try it to share your finding with us here . Please let us know what what isopropyl you have used .There is also one more intact 2 more liquids that i will tell you to use ,First send these details here i do listen to everyone .But i have experimental so intensively in physical work that some of my own methods work flawlessly .Here i posted my morning blues with a MQ01ABD series drive - > https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_so ... -worldwide ,Sometimes i get sick with this work

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 15th, 2018, 19:53

Here is the link top Novec HFE 7100.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1998 ... -fluid.pdf.

I found it easy to use. It is not flammable so works well in an ultrasonic cleaner, however it has a low boiling point so you need to use a temperature adjustable cleaner or your money is just flying out the window (literally). Or indeed no additional temperature at all. I also found it good for general platter cleaning and has low residue for head cleaning duties. I know everyone uses 99.9% iso, but while expensive this is a good alternative. I will hopefully post some videos before to long comparing the two products.

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

May 16th, 2018, 8:31

@ data-medics Thnx ui got it here and processing it here (will update you later with the results)


labtech wrote:
einstein9 wrote:
labtech wrote:I want to say for me it has been working fairly well at around 55 degrees C.

The chemical am using (suggested by an expert) is very good (giving me in some drives 10-20% speed improvement)
but if reaching the 55 degrees will be really bad/harmful.

Oh, yes, definitely, that could be the case if using dangerous chemicals.


am trying here 4 Diff. types and I think i got an idea about the dose (based on some experts advice)
will post here later the results and will PM those who helped me on this..

thank you all

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

June 3rd, 2018, 8:42

As an update here for this topic, here is what i used for cleaning and you have to be extreme careful when you are working.

Used 2 chemicals:

-isopropyl (you can find it) Ref. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

- CCL4 Warning: you need to be Extreme careful when using it (image attached)
its too difficult to get it since its banned coz it cause cancer and more.

Ref.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_tetrachloride

The other 2 am still testing but those 2 are tested 100% and gave better reading performance.

If you plan to try/use the CCL4 you SHOULD consider Maximum ventilation system

For those who sent me PM`s will have more details. :beer: :agree:

Thank you
Attachments
IMG_0219.JPG
CCL4
IMG_0218.JPG
CCL4
IMG_0217.JPG
CCL4

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

June 3rd, 2018, 10:52

1. HDD manufacturers use variety of PFPE solvents (such as HFE 7100 mentioned in this thread). The are not toxic and non-flammable.
Some other solvents can be used but their are either toxic, like ccl4 or hard to store/use like iso 99.99% iso is also not very good for the job because it can react (I think) with some lubricants.

2. Cleaning the whole platter w/o re-lubrication is asking for MD, and proper lubricant deposition can only be done using PFPE solvents, not to mention that the lubricant itself is almost impossible to find.

3. Most common dirt on the heads is either plastic from the ramp or delaminating lubricant. I'm not taking into consideration physical damage of a platter.
Plastic contamination has rather large particles and can be removed w/o ultrasonic
Removing delaminating lubricant from the heads is pointless w/o first removing it from the platter


And most importantly if you do all the cleaning that means you have too much of a free time :mrgreen:

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

June 4th, 2018, 4:33

Doomer wrote:1. HDD manufacturers use variety of PFPE solvents (such as HFE 7100 mentioned in this thread). The are not toxic and non-flammable.
Some other solvents can be used but their are either toxic, like ccl4 or hard to store/use like iso 99.99% iso is also not very good for the job because it can react (I think) with some lubricants.

2. Cleaning the whole platter w/o re-lubrication is asking for MD, and proper lubricant deposition can only be done using PFPE solvents, not to mention that the lubricant itself is almost impossible to find.

3. Most common dirt on the heads is either plastic from the ramp or delaminating lubricant. I'm not taking into consideration physical damage of a platter.
Plastic contamination has rather large particles and can be removed w/o ultrasonic
Removing delaminating lubricant from the heads is pointless w/o first removing it from the platter


And most importantly if you do all the cleaning that means you have too much of a free time :mrgreen:


some how i agree with you here, but the point here of my research when i have an Urgent case and have only One Donor in hand to do the job
and at the end of the day, I dont have to Kill myself with toxic for some docs/images which are not mine actually


Spildit wrote:Can you please confirm that you do get "decent" results "cleaning" dirty head(s) in order for them to read better using Chloroform ? Looks interesting ...


It does makes a Diff. but really not worth your health.. some time ago they used it in Operations Rooms (for Anesthesia) but not any more.
Many experts advised me to look for Alter. its just something to know nothing more.

and thank you guys again

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

June 4th, 2018, 4:37

Forgot to mention something very important about the CCL4

The Temp. you have to be very careful. do not reach 45-50 degree

Re: Improving weak Heads reading performance Research

November 26th, 2020, 10:39

Is there a final outcome here ? what's best to try, what does not work ?
Post a reply