Hi everybody

I'm trying to recover data from a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8, model: 6K040L0 (PCB: A2GKA).
The drive won't spin up and can not be recognized. It makes a sound that seems like a "BEEBEEP" and after a while a "WRRWRR".
(A behaviour like this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCMCVTa5LYI)

I bought a donor drive, swapped the pcb and unfortunately nothing changed. The orignial pcb, if mounted onto the donor drive makes it spin but not work (some sort of noisy behaviour can me heard).
Donor drive model, pcb and code are same to original drive, some other infos are different.

The same customer has another drive (a WD300) that was mounted into an external enclosure. It turns out that maybe this drive failed first, and an unexperienced person took the Maxtor one from the pc and mounted it into the same enclosure.

The WD300 may be interesting to be repaired, because same data were on there as a backup. The drive spins and at first seems to work correctly but it is slowly recognized and partition manager hangs.

No burnt component on both PCBs.

Any help is REALLY appriciated.

Hi,

So for the Maxtor I think at least you ruled out that PCB is not the main issue (or the only issue).
So if you don't have experience and proper tools, and of course, if your data is valuable, I think you should stop there and contact a pro to give your a proper diagnosis.

For the WD drive, what you could try is to image the drive and check if you have just a few bad sectors or big defective areas. If it's the first option, you might get lucky in getting your data and after throw the drive to garbage can. If it's the second, again I think it's not a DIY case.
If your goal is just to repair the drive, I would not even loose time with it to be honest.

Tutto risolvibile per entrambi, ma con gli strumenti opportuni. Diversamente, buona fortuna con il fai-da-te che perlomeno e' gratis.

Fixable with proper gear. Otherwise good luck with DIY (that on the other hand is free)

Of course by repair I meant recover data
Actually WD300 got strangely recognized (wrong capacity) but partition is slowly accessible. I'm copying data

Suggested program to make a full backup skipping bad sectors?

Quello che stai usando.

The one that you are using.

Risposta piuttosto esauriente ... please, get technical.
Is a degree in electronics engineering enough for you to talk about computer programs and pcb swaps? I don't believe black magic.

However, your contribution is always well accepted

Is 12 years running a company + about 15 of other experiences enough for you ? I DO "black magic", go figure.

Anyway , beside custom made SW or very specific SW+HW stuff, nobody in DR field use simple SW to clone unstable /failing drives. Surf the internet and you'll find dozens of "more or less" free, "more or less" working stuff.
And all this because at the uni they don't teach "data recovery" neither "design of storage devices".

Good luck.

P.S. Should I be impressed by "titles" ? Mine are all in drawers or attached on the walls here in nice frames. The difference in real life is made by 2 things : the BANK ACCOUNT BALANCE and RESULTS. Just like in sports.

I'm not discussing your experience, you are discussing mine. I was expecting a technical discussion instead.
However, data are back and that's what I care.

Good luck.

ps. No one is trying to impress you ... hope you don't mind.

Many thanks to dmarques for his contribution.

Hi,

Glad you solved your problem.

The discussion is getting to italian (personal), so I'm out

Almeno io traduco anche per gli altri...

At least I put the translation aside for non-italians.

You're right

So we can at least learn something. As I was too little time in Italy to learn more than a few words...

Congratulations.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.