ST9500420AS 7200.4 500G data recovery question

[samnong]

My friend's hard drive (as the pics show, FW: 0006HPM1) sometimes can NOT be recognized by 2 desktops and 2 laptops. But sometimes it can. The "recognized" I meant is in the boot up info displaying, but it took 2-3 minutes to get into the BIOS setup screen, the model name -ST9500420AS shown, but no any other data like capacity, cylinder, ....they are all "0"

It did have click noise at the early time of the broken, but now has no click noise and spinning about 10 seconds then stop with a light click. No any other response any more.

I bought a new hard drive with the same model name - ST9500420AS and update its firmware 0002SDM1 to 0005SDM1. It works perfectly.

The question is :

1. What's the exactly problem going on here? PCB OR inside the hard case? I tried to use USB to DB9 adapter to do things in the terminal, but got nothing but the sign of "->" in the terminal. I posted my connection picture at the bottom. Is there anything I missing or wrong?

2. If the PCB problem, can I use the donor one to rescue the broken one? Change the pcb and transfer the 8-pin chip? Do I need to transfer other chips? The data in the patient disk need to be rescued! Very important to my friend!

I shown some pics about those two here:

Thanks for any help!

[samnong]

Any help please!

[northwind]

This is most likely heads-related.
If disk spins up and *sometimes* identifies in BIOS, 99.9999% PCB is fine - don't mess with it.

You say disk spins up, clicks and spins down. My bet would be bad heads. But again, it has to be diagnosed properly.

If i were you and data are important, i'd request a quote from a pro in your area.

Good luck.

[samnong]

Thanks, northwind!

I did quoted a pro company about the recovery price = $1800 . And they won't tell you where the problems are. They only said " ... a few problems found...physical damage...." like those words. Seems they are not going to tell you whether the head or pcb problem. Maybe they thought most people don't understand those tech words. Sigh ...

[BlackST]

Doesn't make any difference as it is not a diy thing and also there can be a (bad) surprise... Have a 2nd opinion or pay a real complete diagnose if you need details.

[pcimage]

Thanks, northwind!

I did quoted a pro company about the recovery price = $1800 . And they won't tell you where the problems are. They only said " ... a few problems found...physical damage...." like those words. Seems they are not going to tell you whether the head or pcb problem. Maybe they thought most people don't understand those tech words. Sigh ...

Please listen to what you have been told, it's NOT a PCB problem and NOT DIY.

Depending on what the ACTUAL problem is (I'm 99% sure its AT LEAST a heads issue) then $1800 may be a bit steep.... if it is "just" heads, but if there is any media damage, then $1800 is about right IMHO

[samnong]

Thanks for all your advice, guys!

I'll try another data recovery company to quote the price.

Thanks again!

[SquaL]

Hi, try lcoughey. His company is reputable.

[pcimage]

Hi, try lcoughey. His company is reputable.

Agree, Luke knows his stuff.

[samnong]

Thanks again, everyone! Just had to let my friend make her own decision.

[samnong]

Thanks a lot, Luke! Although we can't get good result, still thank you so much for your great effort done for me. You're a really nice guy!