WD10EARS Data recovery after PCB swap

[Markiempje]

Hi there!
I am not sure if this topic has been adressed previously. i did do a search so if i missed some topics, please let me know.

the problem:
the disk wasn't recognised anymore by windows. I took the PCB of the hard disk casing and discovered a significant amount of corrosion on the copper on some places. I installed a new pcb from a donor disk and also did a ROM bios swap with a hot air soldering station. And yeey, the disk spins up and i am able to read something again!
The disk gets recognised in windows disk management and tells me it is a new uninitialised disk. Some programs i've installed so far show that the disk is accesible and give model numer information, number of sectors and cylinders, etc. However after running some time consuming tests none of these programs can give me some data back.

Do you guys know what might be the problem? below is some specs and data but if something is missing please let me know.

MODEL: WD10EARS-22Y5B1
SN: WCAV5M411787
DCM: EARNHT2MAB
DATE: 23 DEC 2010
PRODUCT OF THAILAND
Board number on label: 2061-771640-B03 AC
Board number on PCB: 2060-771640-003 REV A
Controller Chip: 88i9045-TFJ2
Smooth Chip: L7251 3.1

thanks alot,
Mark

[sathyan]

What was the initial problem with the drive?
(not spinning/clicking)
How did the problem arise?
(power surge/accidental shocks)
what was the original partiton structure and filesystem?
Was the drive encrypted ?
which software tools have you run ?


Try MHDD to properly check if the drive has been correctly identified.
Also check in the bios if it is properly detected(model , manufacturer, size)
IF the drive is showing up in windows management as uninitialised,but showing proper parameters, then it can be a logical data recovery job.

Try partition find and mount,
or R-Studio

[dobrevjetser]

Zat de schijf in een externe behuizing ? Zo ja, welke ?
Was the disk in an external case ? If yes, which one ?

Dobre

[Markiempje]

What was the initial problem with the drive?
the drive would not be identified in windows, it would nt spin up even.
How did the problem arise?
i've seen som corrosion on the pcb of the external casing assembly. the USB interface pcb had corrosion which also creaped thtough the pcb of the WD hard disk PCB.
what was the original partiton structure and filesystem?
most probably NTFS, but i am not sure.
Was the drive encrypted ?
I dont know exactly, but i dont think it was, can i check for this?
which software tools have you run ?
i've tried things like GetDataBack for NTFS/FAT32, stellar phoenix. these programs seem to not find any file system. I let the scans all run for the complete amount of time and all say there are no file systems.
I've done a raw file scan too, to see if there is anything on the disk. the first 23202406 sectors show a good amount of data with (only?) 481 file starters. the strange thing is that using GDB for FAT32 or NTFS, both find 481 file starters. i stopped these scans early and try to read the resuls for for instance image recovery. i get a very large single file containing apparantly the images, but cant open it.

Try MHDD to properly check if the drive has been correctly identified.
Also check in the bios if it is properly detected(model , manufacturer, size)
IF the drive is showing up in windows management as uninitialised,but showing proper parameters, then it can be a logical data recovery job.

Try partition find and mount,
or R-Studio

Attachments

R-Studio_shot

[Markiempje]

last post was not complete, i wanted to add that i want to thank you for the effort so far! also i want to add that i did the PCB swap, without bios swap and gave it a go, to see if that worked. might that have made the file system corrupt or anything?

is there any simple way, or a guide what to do after pcb and bios swap to recover files?

thanks!

[dobrevjetser]

There are several possibilities:

1 Disk is encrypted
2 When failing some critical filesystem data has been overwritten
3 Filesystem is not NTFS or FAT

Probably 1 or 3.

What casing was your drive in ? Many wd casings have build-in encryption.


Dobre

[Markiempje]

It is a Western Digital My Book Essential (WDBACW0010HBK-EESN) 1 TB USB (http://www.shopping.com/Western-Digital-WD-My-Book-Essential-1TB-USB-3-0/info)
its NTFS according this site: http://www.comx-computers.co.za/WDBACW0010HBK-EESN-specifications-62317.htm
i still have the pcb of the casing (and the casing), but this is corroded aswell, doenst seem to be working.

thanks!
Mark

[dobrevjetser]

According to this site (http://www.codima.be/product/2865/weste ... -EESN.aspx) this drive is encrypted.
So without its casing you cannot access the data.
This will be a hard one if you want to do it yourself!
You can search this forum for WD encrypted drives but even better seek professional help.

Dobre

[Markiempje]

Thanks alot!

i've looked up some videos confirming the encryption of data on the hard drives. it always seems to be that you need the casing of the hard disk to get to the data. i will try to get some life in the casing, but if this wouldnt work i'll try and look for a donor enclosure to get the data of. seems to work acording the couple videos i've seen...

Mark

[sathyan]

You have understood as to why you are not seeing your data.

Post a picture of the enclosure.
Trying to get it working will get your data back as the hard disk seems to be responding properly.
Testing tools and component identification and checking will be necessary.
You have succeeded in getting the drive to detect , hope you can do this too.
Or try to get a similar working enclosure and connect your drive to it and check it.
good luck

[Markiempje]

Hey all,

i just got home and looked up the western digital enclosure to see the corrosion on the PCB of it. just to try i plugged in the adapter and hard disk. it still works!
copying the files now!

many thanks to you guys.
you were right dobrevjetser, the disk was encrypted. Now i can see all files. Original file structure and maps are still there, as if nothing happened.

thanks again!
Mark

[sathyan]

Mark , Job well done

[dobrevjetser]

Good job!