WD MyBook 1230 4TB dropped with now 100% read errors, hdparm returns zero geometry and two identical donors available

Hello All,

I'm hoping for some guidance on a dropped WD MyBook 1230 4TB before I invest in recovery tooling. I have an engineering background and pioneering spirit so am considering attempting the fix.

The incident
Drive dropped approximately 18 inches from the top of a desktop PC onto a hard floor. No audible click or grind (or not abnormally much) at the time. No visible damage to the enclosure.

Current symptoms

Drive spins up quietly, minimal clicking
Windows detects the drive and consistently prompts to initialise (cancelling each time).
TestDisk under Windows sees the drive at 486,396 cylinders but reports 100% read errors throughout, abandoned after 24 hours
hdparm under Linux returns zero geometry cylinders 0, heads 0, sectors 0, device size 0MB, DMA not supported, standards "likely used: 1"
lsusb detects the drive correctly, lsblk shows /dev/sda but with 0 bytes
PhotoRec scans the full 4TB in approximately 30 minutes finding zero headers so clearly not genuinely reading

What I've tried

Original enclosure gives same symptoms
Identical replacement enclosures (I've sourced two) same symptoms, ruling out bridge chip/PCB as primary cause
TestDisk under both Windows and Linux SystemRescue
PhotoRec with jpg selected, paranoid mode on, brute force enabled
ddrescue attempted but drive not presenting as readable block device in Linux

Assessment so far

The 30 minute PhotoRec scan on a 4TB drive strongly suggests the drive is returning zeros or garbage instantly rather than genuinely reading. Combined with the hdparm zero geometry, my working hypothesis is the heads are damaged to the point where the drive firmware cannot initialise properly and possibly unable to read the service area.
Donor hardware
I have two additional identical WD MyBook 1230 4TB drives with matching part numbers available as donors.

Questions

Does the symptom profile, particularly hdparm returning zero geometry while Windows still detects and prompts to initialise point to head damage, firmware/SA corruption, or something else?
Is this recoverable with MRT Pro or DFL-WD, or does the zero geometry suggest physical head replacement is required first?
Given matched donors are available, is a head transplant a viable first step or should firmware intervention be attempted first?
Any specific experience and advice with the WD MyBook 1230 platform and its encryption in a recovery context gratefully received?

Thanks in advance for any input before I commit to a tooling investment.

Best regards,

Daniel

Does the disk stay spinning when plugged in?

Normally if heads are wrecked it will click 6 times or so and then spin back down.
If it stays spinning I'm leaning more towards a service area issue in which you will need pro tools such as MRT or PC3K.

Ideally it needs plugging into pc3k, etc to be diagnosed as it could be a multitude of different faults.

Thanks very much skinbob.
I get five clicks, brief pause and then one more click.
First connection test got lots of these five plus one click sets in series.
Second connection test two sets of five plus one clicks and then the disk spun down.
Also I didn't mention on the original post but have bought a W3-4 Hard Disk Head Replacement Tools Comb.
And as i mention I have two identical donor WD My Book 4TB. Identical by part number at least.
Best regards,
Daniel

With it doing the 6 clicks and then spinning down I'd say heads then. Good to know you have the correct head replacement combs too.

I'm not sure what exact model or family of drive you have, but this should help you match a donor from your selection:

https://www.donordrives.com/blog/matching-guide

As far as encryption I'm not 100% sure if that model of my book does encrypt the data, I have a suspicion it does. If that's the case you might need mrt, etc in order to decrypt the data. Or if the head swap goes fine then using the USB bridge PCB should help.

nice day for a suicide, isn't it?

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Deadski -

Thanks very much skinbob.
My next step is to asses the donor drives for a match.
As I mentioned they are identical by part number but I'll need to look also at DCM code etc.
I also plan the "clean box" build so the fix attempt will be a slow process.

instead of putting your data to risk, why don't you contact somebody with the right gear and expertise?

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

I guess that word salad of yours is a by product of your 'engineering background and pioneering spirit'. It is crystal clear that you have no idea about how to treat physically damaged HDD, why don't you just take it to a pro if the data is invaluable.

The chances of just swapping the heads and the drive come back to life without tools to modify drive behaviour is extremely low. Regardless of your educational background, this fact alone will be the crux.

I think the collective group here is trying to warn you against spending money, time, and data loss.

Whats the disk inside the enclosure ?

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data recovery Poland