Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
September 30th, 2011, 3:03
Hi
Not sure if anyone can help me here.
I have a WD5000BMVV and it lights up and i can feel the drive spinning, though cannot see it come up.
I read that you can change the connector board with a new one or another which is the same model, so i went out and got identical drive and changed the board.
When i plugged it in, it come up with a 2040GB drive, not 500gb drive.
also has media is write protected. Stuck here. Does anyone know what to do?
September 30th, 2011, 4:45
paulydee wrote:I read that you can change the connector board with a new one or another which is the same model
Really ?
paulydee wrote:so i went out and got identical drive and changed the board.
When i plugged it in, it come up with a 2040GB drive, not 500gb drive.
also has media is write protected. Stuck here
No wonder !
paulydee wrote:Does anyone know what to do?
Yes, have the drive analyzed and serviced properly as it may be internal failure.
October 3rd, 2011, 16:00
Your drive almost certainly has firmware issues, changing the PCB will not help.
It requires pro knowledge and expensive tools to fix the issue.
Seen loads of these!!
October 3rd, 2011, 18:10
You have an encrypted drive if you are getting media is write protected, this WD are encrypted on the fly, transparent to the user
October 4th, 2011, 1:30
hdd_sand wrote:You have an encrypted drive if you are getting media is write protected, this WD are encrypted on the fly, transparent to the user
Maybe so, but the reason he is getting the 2tb reported size is due to the wrong PCB being fitted. The drive is recognising that the fw version of the tiny amount of fw on the PCB does not match the main fw on the platters.
What needs to be done is the original PCB replacing, firmware problems resolved and then and only then can the encryption be an issue which should be simple enough if the pw is known.
October 4th, 2011, 3:37
pcimage wrote:
Maybe so, but the reason he is getting the 2tb reported size is due to the wrong PCB being fitted.
I disagree on this.
I had an incoming BMVV which I myself have removed the usb casing (so the PCB has not been changed by any means). I connected disk to my main pc to have it reported on Disk Management as 2TB.
Then I connected to another machine to have it shown as 500GB. I don't know why, don't ask me

Seems that these disks have a bunch of problems

Just for the record, the problem with my disk was failure in smartware which resulted in disk asking for password (which was never set).
Disk non-recoverable
October 4th, 2011, 3:44
northwind wrote:pcimage wrote:
Maybe so, but the reason he is getting the 2tb reported size is due to the wrong PCB being fitted.
I disagree on this.
I had an incoming BMVV which I myself have removed the usb casing (so the PCB has not been changed by any means). I connected disk to my main pc to have it reported on Disk Management as 2TB.
Then I connected to another machine to have it shown as 500GB. I don't know why, don't ask me

Seems that these disks have a bunch of problems

Just for the record, the
problem with my disk was failure in smartware which resulted in disk asking for password (which was never set).
Disk non-recoverable 
Disagree with you, IT CAN BE
October 4th, 2011, 3:56
einstein9 wrote:
Disagree with you, IT CAN BE
Crack Smartware?
October 4th, 2011, 4:08
THE WAY people talk about Smartware hdd`s is ENCRYPTED
many people i know here KNOW but because of R n D been done with it
it stays ENCRYPTED
Now, if the solution comes in PUBLIC they will come with something new, New Tech. which is not SMARTWARE it will be called: NIGHTMARE for new open subject R n D
i hope u understand what i mean here
good luck
October 4th, 2011, 5:00
The answer is simple.
If you think you can unlock this hdd, PM me with a quote.
I will not ask you to reveal the big secret, not to worry.
Thanks.
October 5th, 2011, 3:16
no comments
October 5th, 2011, 4:12
paulydee wrote:I read that you can change the connector board with a new one or another which is the same model, so i went out and got identical drive and changed the board.
When i plugged it in, it come up with a 2040GB drive, not 500gb drive.
also has media is write protected. Stuck here. Does anyone know what to do?
Your drive probably has internal problems, but to resolve the board mismatch, you need to transfer the 8-pin serial flash memory chip (at location U12) from patient to donor. There is also a second EEPROM chip associated with the USB-SATA bridge IC (Initio INIC-1607E ?). This EEPROM may or may not need to be transferred as well.
Your local TV repair shop should be able to move the chips for you, but I suspect that it will be a waste of time and money. :-(
October 5th, 2011, 5:21
einstein9 wrote:no comments
Whatever.
October 9th, 2011, 8:00
northwind wrote:einstein9 wrote:no comments
Whatever.
you may ASK ANN (poehere) she knows only how much progress and RnD i did on this
thank you
October 10th, 2011, 7:10
einstein9 wrote:northwind wrote:einstein9 wrote:no comments
Whatever.
you may ASK ANN (poehere) she knows only how much progress and RnD i did on this
thank you
I never questioned that you made progress on this, or that you know about this stuff.
I only said, if this is possible, send me a quote.
October 29th, 2012, 20:00
i too would pay top $$ for this service. i don't care what the secret sauce is; i just want the pictures and video of my deceased father back!!!
October 29th, 2012, 20:24
a1cmaw wrote:i too would pay top $$ for this service. i don't care what the secret sauce is; i just want the pictures and video of my deceased father back!!!
Contact Mike at PC Recovery LLC (
www.pcrecoverllc.com) in your city.
Jon
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