Toshiba 1TB laptop drive

[stelitsos]

Hello everyone

I have a complex situation with a HDD that I need to recover.
It's a Toshiba MQ04ABF100, drive REV AAR AA00/JU001J dated 14 April2018.

The laptop would not boot up so I took it to the nearest computer store to have it fixed. After 3 days of impatient waiting, they said that the HDD is dead and they can only replace it.
I was shocked. The drive contains extremely important data inside and the only backup I have is 2 yeears old, so it is really useless

I looked around my options and in some forum someone told me to send the drive to a company named Ontrack in England.

I called them and they said they can recover the drive and I should send it to them.
So, I did.
They told me it's a complex drive that not many people can recover and they asked me for some money to get it together.
They offered me GBP 80 for evaluation and another GBP 890 in case of success.

I agreed to it and I've signed a bunch of papers.
Then, after almost a month, I got a generic reply that unfortunately my drive is not able to be recovered.

I called them, almost crying, and asked to talk to who worked on my HDD. A guy came to the phone (didn't tell me his name) and tells me that there is a problem with the internal software of the drive that helps it to boot and function (I think he means the firmware) and there is nothing anyone can do, nowhere in the world.

So, what do you think? Is that really so?
I plugged the drive to a docking station. It doesn't make any bad sounds, I can feel it spin, but it doesn't recognised. The same happens if I connect it to my SATA port on my motherboard, BIOS does not see the drive. It just keeps spinning. There is a round white sticker just under the label, I believe this means they in Ontrack didn't open the drive? I guess that's a good new.

I would appreciate any ideas and suggestions what to do.

[Lardman]

I looked around my options and in some forum someone told me to send the drive to a company named Ontrack in England....They offered me GBP 80 for evaluation and another GBP 890 in case of success.

Whoever told you to use them needs their head checking.

Why not try Northwind https://www.northwind.gr/ . Those drives don't show up very often, I think I've only had 4 in, although I recall a recent post here about one.

[SirForensic]

If the dynamic translator is corrupted, then there's no chance to get the data (with current knowledge). Just a corrupted firmware is not a problem, it just really depends on which part of them is corrupted.

[northwind]

Why not try Northwind https://www.northwind.gr/ . Those drives don't show up very often, I think I've only had 4 in, although I recall a recent post here about one.

Thanks

Must be a territorial thing, we get MQ04's more often than others now.
They're probably the 2nd most popular incoming drives (after Palmers).

I have a complex situation with a HDD that I need to recover.
It's a Toshiba MQ04ABF100, drive REV AAR AA00/JU001J dated 14 April2018.

I would appreciate any ideas and suggestions what to do.

Get in touch; we can take a look. As long as the white sticker is intact, at least the internals are in their original shape.
Evaluation is free of charge and we'll let you know what's wrong with your drive.

Just a friendly note here: You *might* have another shot with your data, don't waste it.

[stelitsos]

thx for the suggestions everyone.
With all respect, I will explore my options a bit furhter and might call a few local companies first and see what they tell me.

[northwind]

Good luck with that...

[michael chiklis]

If the dynamic translator is corrupted, then there's no chance to get the data (with current knowledge). Just a corrupted firmware is not a problem, it just really depends on which part of them is corrupted.

That's interesting.
How this toshiba drives behave when dynamic translators are corrupted? Do they click or do any strange noises, or they just don't show any data?
Do you know on which SA track are written dynamic translators?

[northwind]

If the dynamic translator is corrupted, then there's no chance to get the data (with current knowledge).

Just a corrupted firmware is not a problem, it just really depends on which part of them is corrupted.

I kindly disagree with both these statements.
For the 1st part, there is a way to recover the 2nd level translator (if that's what we're talking about here), however this piece of info is not publicly available and only very few people in the world can work with it.
For the 2nd part, this model is not supported by pc3k (even though it's included in the list). Actually, a pc3000 user with limited knowledge of the mq04 family can actually just sit and prey that the drive will work.

[Doomer]

For the 1st part, there is a way to recover the 2nd level translator (if that's what we're talking about here)

Interesting information.
Are you talking about re-creating the "translator" if it's unreadable (assuming all copies are bad) or something else?

[northwind]

For the 1st part, there is a way to recover the 2nd level translator (if that's what we're talking about here)

Interesting information.
Are you talking about re-creating the "translator" if it's unreadable (assuming all copies are bad) or something else?

I'm talking about something else. I'll send you a PM.

[DR-Kiev]

If the dynamic translator is corrupted, then there's no chance to get the data (with current knowledge). Just a corrupted firmware is not a problem, it just really depends on which part of them is corrupted.

That's interesting.
How this toshiba drives behave when dynamic translators are corrupted? Do they click or do any strange noises, or they just don't show any data?
Do you know on which SA track are written dynamic translators?

IF problem, with corrupted translator only (not readable) , drive will abort user area at all.

[michael chiklis]

Thank you DR-Kiev for the answer.
If we have CPs backup (when translators are still good), is it possible to easily fix translators by just rewritting CPs if they get corrupt ?

[Doomer]

If we have CPs backup (when translators are still good), is it possible to easily fix translators by just rewritting CPs if they get corrupt ?

The short answer is "no".

[michael chiklis]

If we have CPs backup (when translators are still good), is it possible to easily fix translators by just rewritting CPs if they get corrupt ?

The short answer is "no".

And if we have tracks backup and we rewrite them?
Almost no one does backs up tracks, especially on Toshiba's drives. It would take a lifetime, unless you make targeted backups of the important ones (if you know which ones).
Is last PC3K version able to backup CPs and tracks correctly from this drives?

[Doomer]

And if we have tracks backup and we rewrite them?

Let me know once you complete this task with PC3000 on MQ04

[michael chiklis]

And if we have tracks backup and we rewrite them?

Let me know once you complete this task with PC3000 on MQ04

I don't know because i don't have pc3k. I use MRT which i don't trust for real case working, i don't want to mess with customer drives.
I will try with mrt when i will buy a drive which i can play with and when i'll have free time. If mrt can handle tracks read/write on this toshiba's i will let you know the results.

How to voluntarily corrupt translators on toshiba MQ04 ?

[stelitsos]

So, an update.

The drive is given to a data recovery specialist shop in Athens.

They told me they will call me in the next week with results of checks.

I will update progress here.

[michael chiklis]

I wish you the best stelitos.

[stelitsos]

I wish you the best stelitos.

Thank you michael!!!!!

[stelitsos]

So, an update.
I just got call from the data recovery company.
I wasn't too happy that it took them one week to diagnose the drive. Is that normal?

Anyway, they told me that the drive is very 'special' and it needs a lot of work. They gave me a 1000-1200 euros price offer, and that it will need about 2-3 weeks to get the data.

I don't want to be in bad mood, I hope that I took the right decision.