WD1600AAJS Recovery

[dmprantz]

Second time posting here after a flubbed start, so I hope I don't say the wrong thing again...

I have a WD1600AAJS (WD Caviar Blue). Sticker Reads 2061-701640-202 03PD8. The drive is SATA with Man. Date September 24, 2009.

The drive is fairly new and worked fine for a while and then stopped soon after a power outtage. As of now, it is not visible by BIOS nor any OS. When it is plugged in I can constantly hear the drive spin up and then down, up and then down, but no clicking. I actually work for a drive recovery company, but believe it or not, it seems to be impossible to get them to recover the data for me under my employee program. I asked some one at work who knows more about drive recovery than I do, but is not in the drive recovery division either, and he said that he thinks the fuse is bad on the pcb and the easiest way to fix this is to some how remove/bridge the fuse on the pcb and immediately copy all of the data off. My first question I guess is does this seem reasonable, or does it sound to y'all that this guy is giving me bad advice? If this is a feasible way to attack the problem, can some one help me identify the fuses? Unfortunately, this guy gave me advice and has been slow with the followup.

If the fuse idea is wrong and it is the pcb, what's the easiest, fastest way for me to resolve the issue. I can solder some, but stay far away from sm, and would rather pay a few dollars for a pre-programmed pcb than try to pull out my soldering gun on it. So...is the best approach to find a donor drive with the same pcb, or is there something I can do with this one? If it it's the donor board route, should I just take this pcb off and identify it to do a search?

Thanks in advance,

dmp

[BlackST]

Same answer for your previous "wrong" post. There's no fuse to check, re-read what Pcimage and I suggested.

If you want a different answer, we can give it, but the result isn't gonna change

[microsoftengineer]

Good Day
first of All it has Customer Important Data Don't play with it if you can't solve that Problem send to any DR Pro.

[pcimage]

Like BlackST said, asking the same question again doesn't make for a different answer

It's NOT the fuse.

[dmprantz]

That's fine on a fuse not being the answer. I just wanted to start a new thread with correct data in the OP rather than what I started at first, which would require some one to read through several posts to figure out that the whole thread was wrong. I just wanted something that would be easier to track and read for me and for future searchers. I posted in that thread that I was moving discussion here since it was more accurate, but for some reason that post requires mod approval. Is it because I posted a link? Regardless, I believe it was said in the other thread that it could be the board, the firmware, or heads, and that there was no external ROM. My final post, which is yet to be approved as of this writing, asked what the next steps are for this drive short of high $ recovery. Does the above mean that even if it is the board, finding a donor drive won't solve the problem? Like I said, my company does recovery, but no one responds to questions about the employee program, and even if they did, it's flat fee recovery.

Presuming that it is the board but still not something I can do myself, can some one refer me to a reasonable pro who can diagnose and recover data at a rate which is commensurate with the work required? pcimage seems to do this, but you're in the UK. Any one like this in the US?

Thanks,

dmp

[BlackST]

How much are you willing to spend maximum ?

P.S. : sorry but who should measure if the amount is "commensurated" to the work required ? Seems to me that you know exactly what is the problem or what happened exactly to the drive. Every pro / company have different costs, services and eventually can decide to make a special offer, let's say a "hddguru discount" but it's up to them. Speaking for myself, I give a price range but totally indicative and the quote is not a binding agreement. There's an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM , a diagnose fee and then we see later. Everything is relative.

[drc]

Based on success stories I hear on the forums, I would check out Data Savers in Atlanta or a guy here on the forum called "harddrivespecialist" (I don't know his company's name)

[dmprantz]

Thank you for the replies, and please excuse my spelling. I hope to make up for it with civility. By comensurate, I was referring to some DR companies (like the one for whom I work I think) who charge the same fee if they extract data by swapping out the board or by reading from the platters directly. It would seem to me that the former would take less time and thus cost less. PCImage seems to start at 100 gbp, which I presume is a simple job and is considerably less than I have seen here. That is certainly in the ball park of what I would pay. On the other hand, some companies give free inspection and only charge for DR. Perhaps that's the price difference.

Again, thank you all for the help that you give, and I'll contact the two domestic ppl you told me about.

dmp

[dmprantz]

I wanted to say thank you to those who gave me useful information, especially in determining that this is not a diy job. I finally pulled the right strings and got my employee discount started at work, so they are going to do a professional DR on it. Paper work has been started. Thanks again to all.

dmp

[HDD Spaz]

charge the same fee if they extract data by swapping out the board or by reading from the platters directly.

How do they do this? can they sell this to me?

[drc]

[BlackST]

They remove platters and put on DVD rom reader.... more or less it's the same size didn't you know that technology ?

[Hexed]

Oh come on now BlackST. It's not that simple. First you have to modify the DVD rom reader by removing the optical sensor and gluing in a GMR head. But I'm sure you already knew that.

[dmprantz]

I guess the concept of what I was describing is lost on every one? I wasn't trying to say that any one reads directly from the platters as much as that some places charge the same fee regardless of the work they do, while others charge different amounts depending on how much effort is expended. It's obvious I am not an "HDD guru" by the questions I have asked, but by all means, please continue to be rude, condescending, make fun, and pick at nits. Again, I would like to thank those of you who actually helped me with my situation. Is this place supposed to be open to the public, or just those who already know what to do?

dmp

[BlackST]

Simply some apply a flat fee other don't.

[guru]

excuse my language but I HAD THAT FKING BOOK WHEN I WAS YOUNGER !!!!!!!!!!

ah great times lol Thats better than hard disk repair for hexsperts book

[fzabkar]

It's obvious I am not an "HDD guru" by the questions I have asked, but by all means, please continue to be rude, condescending, make fun, and pick at nits. Again, I would like to thank those of you who actually helped me with my situation. Is this place supposed to be open to the public, or just those who already know what to do?

dmp

This place is a conflux of egos. It operates like an elitist Club, unlike more civil forums which operate like egalitarian communities. Watching visitors being ridiculed by the self styled "gurus" is like watching sharks in a feeding frenzy. You're not the first person to make your observation, and unfortunately you won't be the last. In fact someone likened this place to a grease trap where all the worst human qualities accumulate.

The sad reality is that most of the "gurus" wouldn't pass Electronics 101. Incredibly, some don't even understand how to use a multimeter. So don't be impressed by the vessels that make the most sound. They're probably empty.

[drc]

More to the point, I don't think that DIY instructions are really the intent of the forum. And Franc enjoys trying to ridicule some of the regulars because they hurt his feelings when he first signed up.

[hddguy]

You can attend college and learn electronics, advanced training is also available, software development training is commercially available, computer forensics courses and many other courses. But when it comes down to Data Recovery, and everything relevant to it, there is no official training for this, and no openly documented processes, information is scarce, and industry is very closed off regarding distribution of information.

So this must mean that all members of this 'elitist' club, and its associated 'worst human qualities' have developed knowledge and skills through something called Hard Work (Im sure I can find a link to explain the concept of HArd Work if I looked hard enough, but cant be bothered).

It is the discresion of each member whether to disclose information, and frankly (excuse the pun!) people do not want to work hard only to happily distribute all knowledge they accumulate.

And if you have such a low opinion of this forum and its members, I am sure you will not be missed if you were to go.

Actually, you might be missed a little. Everyone needs some form of entertainment after a long hard days work

[hddguy]

So don't be impressed by the vessels that make the most sound. They're probably empty.

Lately I see you making more sound than anyone else...