Please help ST31000528AS

[mysorepack]

Dear all:
After much searching for answers all over the web, I am hoping that this forum will be able to give me some direction on where to go next with my problem.

I have a ST31000528AS Barracuda 7200.12 which I believe is an OEM made for Apple (I used it in my iMac). The P/N is 9SL154-040 firmware AP24. One fine day, the drive simply quit while I was using my iMac and it refused to boot again. I took the iMac to the Apple Store (it is under Apple Care) so they gave me the drive back and put a new drive in my Mac. However, my drive has some very important data that I need to recover.

I bought a HD enclosure and connected the drive in question via USB to my Mac. Disk Utility sees the drive and correctly shows it as a 1 TB ST31000528ASQ but is unable to verify/repair it. I bought Data Rescue III which also fails to read the drive. I then took the drive in to a local "data recovery" place, but the guy couldn't do anything with it except to suggest swapping the PCB on the drive and seeing if that helps. I cannot find an identical drive on the Internet as there are several with P/N 9SL154 but they all have a different firmware version and last three digits (I can't find a -040 version). From reading various forums, it appears that the firmware version AP24 is unique to Apple and is needed in order for the drive to work properly in an IMac. I have been able to locate a drive that has the same date code as mine (10163) but different firmware (CC37) and is a 9SL154-301. It is the closest I have been able to find, but I wanted to get some guidance on where to go with this.

The local data recovery guy suggests sending it to a clean room for recovery (~$1,500). The drive make a normal sound when I turn on power to the enclosure (hums when power is turned on, a couple of HD-like sounds and then a quiet hum). I did take out the PCB and looked for any burned out components but it looks very clean.

Any ideas on how to narrow this down would be much appreciated!

[cpuhost]

Disk Utility sees the drive and correctly shows it as a 1 TB ST31000528ASQ but is unable to verify/repair it.

There could be filesystem damage, bad pcb or bad head. (firmware is most likely doubtful at this point unless someone flashed the drive)

The local data recovery guy suggests sending it to a clean room for recovery (~$1,500).

If the data is important you should send it to a professional for your best chances of recovery, the local data recovery guy is not a professional.

Did he give you a diagnosis? If so what did he say and or tell you.
Any sort of info could be helpful - did he give you any sort of answer as to what the drive is doing and or not doing?

Does the bios recognize the drive in a PC? If so then you could Download Knoppix and see if it can mount the filesystem.
Alternatively you can use MHDD for further diagnosis. (its a free download here on the main page)

If you don't care about the data and are willing to risk it then you can try a few things. Have you booted off a Linux CD and attempted to read and or mount the drive?

I suggest you remove that enclosure from the equation as it can only add to the issues. If by chance you do get a small window of time to read the drive you would
want to have the fastest transfer possible so i wouldn't use USB until after trying sata first.

[harddrivespecialist]

He probably means local computer guy instead of data recovery guy.

You should have this drive looked by data recovery technician.

We can refer you to someone near by, if you tell us your location.

[mysorepack]

He probably means local computer guy instead of data recovery guy.

You should have this drive looked by data recovery technician.

We can refer you to someone near by, if you tell us your location.

I am in the Bay Area. Mountain View, CA. Thanks!

[harddrivespecialist]

thatdellguy is CA, don't remember anyone else in CA

You can also find several member of this forum in US.