Two dead Maxtor 6L200P0 after attempted PCB swap

[Rapper_skull]

Hi guys, this is my first post here.

I have two Maxtor 6L200P0 HDDs:

Disk 1 was working almost fine. The only problem was that after some time of intensive use, it got disconnected and I had to shut it down and turn it on again. For this reason I thought that the PCB was faulty. Code is BAJ41G20 and the reported firmware version was BAJ41G20.
Disk 2 was making clicking noises and was incorrectly recognized, so I tought the problem was with the heads. Code is BAJ41G20 too but, if I recall correctly, firmware version was BAJ47Z4Z.

As you might have guessed, I swapped the PCBs in order to save at least the "almost working" one. What happened, however, is that the "good" disk started making clicking noises, suggesting that the problem of disk 2 was with the PCB. The other disk, on the other hand, continued to not work, but without noises.
At this point I decided to reassemble each disk with its own PCB. Disk 2 continues to exhibit the same problem, but now also Disk 1 is not recognized. Firmware version is unknown and size is 0 MB.

Do you guys have any clue of what happened? Is that a firmware problem? Is it possible to recover the "good" drive? I don't care about the data, I would like to recover the disk, since it is one of the few IDE disks that I have still working.

[michael chiklis]

I think you have some sort of mixed issues, probably also instable pc.
Are you using some kind of IDE to SATA adapter?
Many of those are bad and can give a lot of instability to the system, or you might have bad power supply or bad flat data cable (or a mix of all this).

Before assuming that hdd PCBs are bad, i would try those drives (especially "Disk 1") on another system that has different power supply and use a good quality ide --> sata adapter (or even better connect those drives on a IDE motherboard).

[michael chiklis]

In my experience, bad ide --> sata adapters are like this:
https://www.amazon.it/Adattatore-Sata-B ... B0779GK363

Very bad ide --> usb adapter (power supply included might also explode):
https://www.amazon.it/Adattatore-Alimen ... 085YF5WK1/

In my experience, better ide --> sata adapters are like this:
https://www.amazon.it/Cablecc-femmina-c ... B081YP2S5R

[michael chiklis]

Code:

The other disk, on the other hand, continued to not work, but without noises.

PCB jumper must be set to master?

[Rapper_skull]

Code:

The other disk, on the other hand, continued to not work, but without noises.

PCB jumper must be set to master?

Jumpers are set to master and I'm using an external USB enclosure that works fine with other disks. I'll try with an internal IDE adapter and I'll let you know.

[Rapper_skull]

Forget about it, just realized my only internal IDE adapter has a PCI connector. However I tried with another enclosure, this time on a Ubuntu PC. Both show the exact same thing. The output of the terminal is from HDSentinel.

[michael chiklis]

If there is any unstable issue with your PC or adapters then this would mean that hdd fw is not loaded properly.
FW modules are corrupt or can't be properly read due to bad head.
Without professional tools can't be fixed.

[dick]

As the drive is showing Sabre as the family name and there is no detected serial no. I would suspect the firmware has suffered some damage.

A pro should be able to repair it quickly and cheaply.

The diy repair possibilities are out there but are extremely dangerous and risky to carry out as a good understanding of Maxtor firmware and the free tools would be required. Data is likely to go up in smoke with one or two mouse clicks.

[Rapper_skull]

As the drive is showing Sabre as the family name and there is no detected serial no. I would suspect the firmware has suffered some damage.

A pro should be able to repair it quickly and cheaply.

The diy repair possibilities are out there but are extremely dangerous and risky to carry out as a good understanding of Maxtor firmware and the free tools would be required. Data is likely to go up in smoke with one or two mouse clicks.

As I said, I don't care about data. I just would like to save at least one of the drives. I would happily try any DIY solution, and if something goes wrong, the drive was already dead. Just hint me in the correct direction. I found a PCR file in the download section, but I have no idea of how to use it. I tried doing some research, but I haven't managed to even find the name of a free tool, let alone a manual or tutorial.