USB-IDE Bridge Fail - old Freecom External : HW encryption?

[ConnorHdd]

Hello,

I expect you are all thrilled to hear that this is my first post here (NOT!)

I'll try to be brief but concise.

FAULT :

I have an old Freecom Classic HD 160gb that has decided to stop powering up. By this I mean:

- the HDD will not spin up or show any signs of wanting to;
- the green power led blinks only momentarily when the power lead is inserted, and only after the drive has been left unpowered for a while.

The bare drive itself is fine, having been tested as a slave on an IDE cable, and as a master on a USB-IDE adapter.

Although all critical data is backed up elsewhere, I have less critical, but still wanted stuff on the drive, a portion of which is encrypted.

Encryption is performed by dragging files to a designated directory ("Secure&Compress"), whose location and passwords are managed via a prog supplied with the drive called the Freecom Personal Media Suite (FCPMS.exe). FCPMS must be running for encryption or decryption to occur.

Whilst encryption may or may not involve HW, all FCPMS functions, other than the UI itself, clearly require the presence of the Freecom PCB. When it is not detected on a USB port, the UI reports a lack of USB drives, even if non-Freecom usb drives are available. As encryption / decryption involves moving files from the ext drive to the internal drive it seems logical to suppose the encryption app points at the freecom driver, which presumably only loads when the ext drive is plugged in via USB.

PROBLEM

Without a functioning freecom USB interface, decryption appears to be impossible, even with FCPMS loaded in memory, the drive connected via USB and a knowledge of the encryption password.

QUESTION

How might I go about decrypting the data on the drive?
Will a simple swap of the USB/IDE pcb for a functioning one solve the problem?
Does FCPMS use the USB/IDE bridge eeprom to store encryption keys?
Is it likely the board has failed for simple reasons and might be repaired (I have tried to "jump start" the drive by connecting a separate 4-pin IDE power supply to the drive whilst it is connected to the pcbs IDE ribbon cable - no dice even during spin-up).

Any advice you can offer will be gratefully received. Even if I can't solve the problem with your help, I hope to learn a thing or two. I attach a couple of pictures for orientation purposes. Much higher resolutions are available , as are any pictures you desire (of the pcb - I'm not that kind of girl - actually I'm a bloke ). If you'd like to see higher resolution images of a particular image, please refer to it by number (1 to 18) . Thanks for your time.

Regards, Connor

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[guru]

Try to take MOLEX 5/12v power from your PC to the HDD rather than the external PCB.

See if it all works then

[fzabkar]

Try to take MOLEX 5/12v power from your PC to the HDD rather than the external PCB.

See if it all works then

(I have tried to "jump start" the drive by connecting a separate 4-pin IDE power supply to the drive whilst it is connected to the pcbs IDE ribbon cable - no dice even during spin-up).

[data-medics]

I assume that you've checked all the zero ohm resistors on the board?

[data-medics]

If you can remember the name of the device as detected in device manager you might be able to spoof the id while using another adapter:

http://superuser.com/questions/127494/c ... product-id

I've never done it, but it seems someone has.

[fzabkar]

The bridge appears to be a Prolific PL-2507. My first USB enclosure had one of those.

Since there appears to be no activity from the bridge, I would confirm whether its 3.3V supply is present. To this end I would measure the voltages at the pins of the 3-terminal component adjacent to the crystal, and above the DC power socket, in image #10. You could use the black Molex pins as your ground reference. Could you also tell us the markings on the various chips?

Prolific PL-2507 datasheet:
ftp://ftp.fen.pl/sterowniki/Prolific/PL ... 07_v14.pdf

[ConnorHdd]

I assume that you've checked all the zero ohm resistors on the board?

I have to admit I have not. I'm pretty new to delving into electronics. I can however appreciate that all essentially short circuit devices should test as such given any conceivable imagined paths would be pointless. I'll give that a go.

[HaQue]

Hi, IMHO it would be much simpler to fix the faults of the non-powerup issue.

The symptom of not powering, and the led blinking only after being off for a while reeks of capacitor failure.

Are there any bulging or leaking/blown Electrolytic Capacitors on the board? Any other components look blown?

[ConnorHdd]

If you can remember the name of the device as detected in device manager you might be able to spoof the id while using another adapter:

http://superuser.com/questions/127494/c ... product-id

I've never done it, but it seems someone has.

Yeah, wondered whether that was a possibility. Sadly I can't say I remember. Would it be in the registry or a log? If so what might I search for?

[fzabkar]

The symptom of not powering, and the led blinking only after being off for a while reeks of capacitor failure.

If the LED were genuinely blinking, as in On-Off-On-Off, then that would suggest that the bridge is alive, at least for a brief moment. OTOH, if the LED blinks momentarily, then it could be just the result of a capacitor charging up in the +5V supply, as you say. The 5V supply is a switchmode type and could possibly be affected by the typical ESR problems of certain low quality capacitors. However, I believe that the bridge gets its power from a separate linear regulator. These are not usually affected by such issues.

Since the OP has already tried an external power source, then this would suggest that the onboard 5V supply may not be a problem, unless the bridge firmware is testing for its presence, or requires it for some other purpose. That said, perhaps the linear regulator runs of the +5V regulator rather than USB power, so you may be right after all. A simple test with a multimeter should confirm this one way or the other.

[ConnorHdd]

The bridge appears to be a Prolific PL-2507. My first USB enclosure had one of those.

Since there appears to be no activity from the bridge, I would confirm whether its 3.3V supply is present. To this end I would measure the voltages at the pins of the 3-terminal component adjacent to the crystal, and above the DC power socket, in image #10. You could use the black Molex pins as your ground reference.

You are referring to the AH33 voltage regulator, yes? (pic added) I guess this would be the datasheet to take pin readings from?

http://pdf.datasheetcatalog.com/datashe ... IC1722.pdf

Could you also tell us the markings on the various chips?

Prolific PL-2507 datasheet:
ftp://ftp.fen.pl/sterowniki/Prolific/PL ... 07_v14.pdf

Yes, will annotate an image.

Thanks for your help. Am trying to complete a tax return simultaneously so please forgive any delays.

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[ConnorHdd]

Hi, IMHO it would be much simpler to fix the faults of the non-powerup issue.

The symptom of not powering, and the led blinking only after being off for a while reeks of capacitor failure.

Are there any bulging or leaking/blown Electrolytic Capacitors on the board? Any other components look blown?

This did occur to me, from the miniscule experience I have, so I have inspected all electrolytics and can't see any cause for concern. Also the drive has had recent power-ups, so no reason to suspect a reforming issue. As fzabkar pointed out, I have tried "hot wiring" the drive with a separate supply (from the USB/IDE adapter purchased to put the drive back on USB access), but no data link was possible even with the bare drive whirring away.

None the less I really appreciate your input and appreciate there may still be power issues depending on where components of the PCB are drawing their power from (USB or DC input). I clearly need to do some tests.

Can I just point out here that I am also very grateful and have replied to posts buy guru, data-medics and fzabkar, but for some reason these were put into moderation. I'll wait a while and see if they emerge before re-posting. Thanks all.

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[ConnorHdd]

The bridge appears to be a Prolific PL-2507. My first USB enclosure had one of those.

Since there appears to be no activity from the bridge, I would confirm whether its 3.3V supply is present. To this end I would measure the voltages at the pins of the 3-terminal component adjacent to the crystal, and above the DC power socket, in image #10. You could use the black Molex pins as your ground reference. Could you also tell us the markings on the various chips?

Prolific PL-2507 datasheet:
ftp://ftp.fen.pl/sterowniki/Prolific/PL ... 07_v14.pdf

Not quite sure what has happened here. I have replied to this message, but the board said it was awaiting moderation. I will wait a while b4 reposting. In the meantime, thanks so much for your input.

[data-medics]

If you look at picture #18 you can see a black resistor on the right side of the picture. It has a "0" on it. Use a multimeter and test all such zero resistors. They should read 0 ohms or really close to that. If you find one that has a really high resistance try jumping it using a paperclip or small bit of solder.

That's the easiest thing to look for. Next step would probably be to start testing capacitors.

Does it smell like burnt plastic at all?

[ConnorHdd]

This is a little annoying. My replies to everyone except HaQue have vanished into a black hole of moderation. If they don't emerge soon I'll have to repost, but will have to forgo quoting (cos that's what seems to be stopping those replies).

Please bear with me.

[fzabkar]

I have identified the chips for you. There could be mistakes, but your feedback will help to clear them up.


APM4925K, Anpec Electronics, Dual P-Channel Enhancement Mode MOSFET, 30V, 6A:
http://soft.laogu.com/datasheet/27/APM4 ... 120190.pdf

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[ConnorHdd]

If you look at picture #18 you can see a black resistor on the right side of the picture. It has a "0" on it. Use a multimeter and test all such zero resistors. They should read 0 ohms or really close to that. If you find one that has a really high resistance try jumping it using a paperclip or small bit of solder.

All 4 zero chip resistors seem fine.

That's the easiest thing to look for. Next step would probably be to start testing capacitors.

Does it smell like burnt plastic at all?

Not noticeably.

The only odd looking area is that pictured below (v difficult to make of the chip markings):

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[ConnorHdd]

Apologies for the lack of replies. I haven't the faintest what moderation are up to, but they certainly aren't helping. I'm going to steer clear of quoting, as this seems to be the issue as far as fzabkar is concerned.

To your identifications fzabkar:

Yes, you have correctly identified the LDO regulator, marked AH33 (pic below). As I posted earlier (yet to materialize), I believe this is the component you wanted me to test. I have a datasheet which I believe gives me the correct pin potentials.

more to come ...

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[ConnorHdd]

The bridge is indeed the Prolific PL-2507 :

[ConnorHdd]

Your id of the dual power switch appears correct too. Is this a suitable datasheet:

http://www.micro-bridge.com/data/syncpower/SPP4925.pdf