Thread about swapping a PCB?

[GregJ]

I am wondering if I can try swapping the PCB for a relative's HDD with some decent chance (>20%) of recovering data. He took it to Geek Squad, I think, and learned that it was dead. He doesn't want to pay any more for the digital photos on it, but I am willing to spend $40 for a PCB to swap in, if I can find one. Is there a thread somewhere (or a web site) that explains what is involved with swapping a PCB? I can probably handle complexity at the software level, but can't do much at the physical level other than screw in a different PCB.

Also, because of my curiosity (I wanted to find the exact firmware version number), if anyone can identify any of the many cryptic codes on the HDD, I would learn something.

1. Manufacturer Name
2. Product Name
3. Model Number
4. Size, Bus it uses, Type of Product
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?
8. Serial Number of this particular HDD
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. Voltages/Milliamps used by this drive
13. Manufacturing Date of this particular HDD
14. ?
15. ?

Attachments

[labtech]

What does "dead" mean?

[Doomer]

For this drive you need to match number 3, that's it (for a PCB swap). You also don't need to solder anything
But if the drive spins up - it is highly unlikely a PCB issue