Advice for donor drive: WD3200KS

[cbex]

Hello,

I want to try and recover data from a broken WD drive. It one of two drives in a RAID0 array. I read the rules for donor drives, but I have a question regarding PCB change or head stack:

Could this be an exception to the rules because of:
-only 1 day apart
-firmware different because of cache size?

My drive:
320G SATA 16MB cache
Model: WD3200KS-00PFB0
Date: 13 FEB 2006
DCM: HSBHCAJH
Product of Thailand

Donor drive:
320G SATA 8MB cache
Model: WD3200JS-60PDB0
Date: 14 FEB 2006
DCM: HSCACAJCA

Pic of donor (I do not have better picture. I have not purchased this drive yet.):


Pic of my drive:


My request for a drive in "Buy and Sell"

Thank you!

[jono-ats]

Are you trying to get a compatible PCB or a compatible head stack?

They are in same Raider family, but I have my doubts this is a good match for either . . . WDC can be very difficult to match.

Jon

[cbex]

Hello Jon,

First, I would like to try a PCB, and secondly a head stack, according to postings that I have read. I will explain what I know:

1. In BIOS, RAID controller could not detect the disk (drive was clicking).
2. This is an L-shaped board. Tested R120 and Q3. They are OK.

This drive had an easy life and is not that old. The computer gave three warnings before failure (would not boot on first attempt). Also, a tool with an electric motor (Dremel tool) was operating nearby prior to the problem starting. This may be the cause?

Are there any further checks I can do? Can I check or reprogram ROM in any way if I can not find a suitable donor drive?

Thank you!
Colin.

[cbex]

Correction to DCM code of my drive in first post:

DCM: HSBHCAJCH

A character was missing.

[jono-ats]

Offhand, I would say that you need a closer match, but I cannot tell you for sure.

I don't do head swaps for large WD drives, but some folks that do say that even having all of the numbers match does not guarantee compatibility.

Are you proficient at head swaps? If not, you chances of success with this drive are very low.

I have heard from others that they are seeing a fair number of unexplained failures with large WDC disks. Head crashes and such. I doubt your Dremel tool had anything to do with it.

Jon

[cbex]

OK Jon,

Thanks for the advice... I will wait for a better match, and if I can't find one, I guess I may consider the SalvationData WD package if it can help me at all.

Cheers,
Colin.

[jono-ats]

No one's software package can help with bad heads.

If you want to retrieve your data, send it to a pro. If you want to learn and experiment and don't mind failure, then go for it. WD drives are NOT easy, even for the pros . . .

Jon

[pepe]

Hi cbex,

U never told us what's the problem with the drive, this way it is impossible to think of an advice.
does it spin up?
how does it sound like? (compared to a good drive)

pepe

[harddrivespecialist]

Your donor drive will not match your drive.