I have a Western Digital drive with the following specs:

WD5000AAVS- 00ZTB0
DCM: HANCHT2MBB
with PCB bar code: 2061-701444-J00 AB

The logic board is clearly fried, as in I saw smoke and the board is now black around a couple of chips.

I'm computer savvy and would like to recover the data myself. I thought a pcb swap would do but I heard that I have to match the model (WD5000AAVS- 00ZTB0) and the 5th and 6th digits of the DCM (HANCHT2MBB) for it to work. Others said, it'll never work because of adaptive data on the drive. I don't know who to believe.

I also found it impossible thus far to find someone who has exactly this drive so I can even try it out.

What are my options? Would a PC3000 help? If so, how much is it? Can I buy another board with the same pcb number and reprogram it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi, no need to match the DCM code for Pcb swap.
Just match a Pcb with 701444, and move over the adaptives.
If your Pcb have the ROM in a chip at U12 then it's that to move, if it does'nt you need to seek out a pro.

Regards/ Bosse

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Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

Bosse is correct, DCM is not the criteria for PCB exchange.

You WILL need to get the "adaptive" ROM info transferred, either by chip transfer or by programming a new one with PC3000 or similar tool. (forget about buying pc3000 unless you have $10,000 spare to throw at this drive!)

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PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Salvation Data's HD Doctor for WD is a far cheaper tool for a one-off job. It should cost you less than US$600, and afterwards you should be able to resell it for $300.

I'm not a data recovery professional, but here are two articles that appear to illustrate the required procedure.

Case Study on WD ROYL Drive Using WD Utility (regenerating ROM data)
http://www.salvationdata.com/blog/data- ... y-tools02/

Fix Identification Problem caused by Corruption of ATA Overlay module or ROM content (ROYL):
http://www.salvationdata.com/blog/fix-i ... m-content/

BTW, which chips were damaged?

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A backup a day keeps DR away.