So heres the deal.. years ago i juiced this WD400BB by touching the PCB on the drive.. i blew the motor chip i think.. and was fortunate enough to find an almost EXACT model except they were manufactured 1 day apart... so i swapped the boards.. plugged it in using my drive caddy.. the thing spins up perfectly.. no clicking no nothing.. however the drive does not show up in 'My computer' or Computer Management. The device says it is working properly but it does not show the model number when you look into the device manager.. all it says is WDC ROM MODEL MAMMOTH and that is it. WD diagnostics dont work.. and from the looks of it HDDScan isnt either.. so I am wondering wether or not I am just wasting my time with this piece of bleeping bleep! or is there a possibility I can still recover my data which is alot of pics, music, animations , phone numbers addresses and movies.. any help would be appreciated and please dont read this with the similar problem and ask for help in this thread please! thats annoying serious comments/solutions only please.. thanks in advance

Most likely problem is that ROM contents are not compatible between PCBs. Patient ROM has to be copied or soldered to donor PCB. Both are beyond capabilities of end user but professionals can render this service. Shouldn't be a problem to get your data based upon your description of symptoms.

So swapping the U12 chip is paramount to a successful data recovery? But everything else seems to be okay? These PCBs are ALMOST identical. Thanks in advance. BTW is soldering relatively easy?

It is if:

a) you have the right tools
b) you know what you're doing
c) you can figure out how to use this product: http://www.chipquikinc.com/

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http://www.datasaversllc.com

Thanks a lot. Yeah, that looks pretty easy. Thanks for the link.

If you fk it up you will want to go kill yourself lol

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All went well until I plugged the drive in.

he will not kill himself Mr.guru, until he can find the right person to reprogamming the new ROM

What do you mean reprogram? I thought all you had to do was swap ROM chips.

Since U cannot reprogram without relatively expensive tools, it is better for you to swap the IC.
Settle down and kill the evil inside

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

one note:
(for the first time trying to solder guy)

The ROM chip will loose (corrupt) the internal content if gets too warm or too long time warm.

Just a note.

Janos

take hot air gun for swap U12 ROM chip.

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data recovery service[/b]

Good advice.
Hot air gun without any controll and more hundred °C an easy highway to kill the chip for amateurs.

Any soldering iron with thermal controll can be more safe...

Janos

I don't really understand what you're talking about all I thought you had to do was replace the PCB and swap the ROM chip. It seems like whenever someone on here tells you to do something and they claim its the right way, someone else has a different opinion. It would be nice if someone would just confirm whether or not swapping the U12 will solve the problem. The drive it self works fine after I swapped the logic board, however it is not being recognized anywhere on my computer. SO, I should just have to swap that one little tiny chip. Correct? Thanks for all the response guys.

Swap U12, but if U are not confident doing it, find someone to do it for you.

pepe

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

Everyone here is saying the same thing, with the added caveat that if you mess it up it is going to be very difficult to get any data off the drive.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

Swapping the U12 in most cases will resolve the problem. but if you are not experienced with soldering, or not confident then you also run the risk of damaging the ROM which will make data recovery very difficult for a professional, and impossible for you. Also, you need to be careful not to heat the PCB too much as there is a risk you will damage or 'loosen' other components on the PCB which will result in failure of the new PCB.

You also need to consider the possibility that the initial failure may have had an affect on other parts of the HDD such as internal mechanics etc.

I think at this point if you do not have much skills and experience in soldering then you really should consult a local DR firm to get an estimation of the costing from them.

If data is not of any use to you however, then you have nothing to lose and by all means give this a go and good luck

Thanks guys youve all been a great deal of help. Any other input would be appreciated but I think that covers this for the most part. Thanks again.