Hard drive head swap

[jakegon]

Hi all,

I'm not really into this data recovery stuff. It's just that one of our drives got busted. I sought the services of a data recovery specialist here in our place. I guess they're not one of those shady ones because WD recognizes their certifications and will not void drive warranties opened by them.

To make the long story short, the specialist replaced parts of the drive to make it work and enable them to recover my files. Problem is they seem unable to recover a single file from my drive. They can see the partitions and detect the drive but they allegedly can't see any files.

My question is, is it possible that the parts that they used for the transplant was wrong which allowed them to detect the drive and see the partitions but not the files?

Really hoping to get your opinions on this one. Thanks.

[kaxi]

How did the drive fail? If it was a drive full of files that failed suddenly one day, ex due to dead PCB or dead heads, what they told you doesn't make sense. Ask for more details. Did they manage to image the drive? Did they try logical recovery on the image?

[HaQue]

possible it is encrypted. really not much detail to go on. I would think a DR firm would recognise it. I think maybe the DR firm could maybe go into a little more detail, or you could give a bit more background on the drive and system it came from.

@kaxi I agree, but would change your comment "what they told you doesn't make sense" slightly to "what you are saying about what they told you". it is a slight change but more accurate as it is fairly common for a customer to mis-interpret advice or technical details. Not saying it happened here though, but to be aware of it.

I guess there are a number of possibilities here

[jakegon]

Sorry, I don't really know the details that is needed for this.

My drive isn't encrypted. I can previously access said drive using generic USB enclosure. Actually the drive was a WD My Cloud which by default can only be accessed via a network. It contains WD Red drive.

From what I understand, although I didn't really delve into what they were trying to do, was that they already have an image of the drive but they can't get any files from it.

[jakegon]

Hi Spildit,

I am supposed to pay them around $600 to $650 for their services if they are successful. I gave them another drive to be used as donor drive and after the transplant my drive was, according to them, already detected and from the description of the lady that I was talking to they tried making an image from the broken drive. But up until now they can't give me a list of the files that can be recovered.

[jakegon]

Hi Spildit,

Both the defective and the donor drives are have this model no. WD40EFRX - 68WT0N0. They are 4tb WD Red drive from a WD My Cloud single NAS drive. Here are the details of the drives:

Defective drive - DCM = HGRNHTJMAB
Donor drive - DCM = HGNNHTJMGB

I was told that they needed to change the actuator head and the PCB. I gave them the details of the above donor drive and they accepted even if the last 5 letters did not completely match.

Hope to have your input about this. Thanks.

Regards,

Jonas

[HaQue]

Maybe they forgot to swap ROM and end up swapping pcbs and now adaptives doesn't match ? If so they can read SA but not user data...

surely a firm that can do head swaps wouldn't forget something like that? and once it didn't work they would surely know to re-check their work?

could the enclosure encrypt the drive transparent to the user?

It doesn't sound to me that the DR firm is incompetent, based on current info

[jakegon]

The enclosure is a WD My Cloud NAS. I don't think it has encryption on it. The donor drive also came from a similar WD My Cloud NAS (this was supposed to be its backup) and I was able to access it via a generic enclosure before giving it to them.

If the ROM wasn't swapped is it possible for them to see the partitions but not the data? Because apparently they see the partitions but not the data.

[kaxi]

They saw partitions, as mentioned in the initial post, doesn't sound like an encrypted drive. But on the last posts it is mentioned they are "trying" to image the drive. A bit confusing, seems there are pieces missing in the story.

[jermy]

what is the DOM (Date Of Manufacture) from both drives ?

[HaQue]

So it is embedded Linux. What is the filesystem? This page mentions MyCloud OS.. maybe it is a completely different filesystem, or block level storage.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1140#Tab8

[jakegon]

Hi all,

Yes it's a little bit confusing that is why I'm here for your expert opinions because I think the person I'm talking to is withholding something from me.

Back to the device, it is a single drive WD My Cloud NAS. It has linux in one of its partitions then the data part of the partition is EXT4.

I am visiting their lab this friday so I'll update you guys. Thank you so much for your help.

[lcoughey]

But up until now they can't give me a list of the files that can be recovered.

This makes perfect sense. Even if they could give you a file listing, they cannot know that a file can be recovered until they have copied 100% of the sectors from that file. So, they must first finish the imaging process and file system reconstruction before they can produce a file listing.

By asking for the file listing this early in the game is like asking for a list of the survivors from a plane crash before search and rescue has even arrived on the scene.

Be patient and let them do their job.

[jakegon]

Hi all,

Just to close this thread. I visited the company and was able to see the files that they recovered. Unfortunately the haven't recovered the files that I am after. I decided to pull out my drive instead asI have now come to accept my loss. Thanks all for your help.