Hi Fzakbar, pcimage,
Awesome job between you both. I sent my PCB off to Sean and he's swapped the chip over. The drive is now active and the data is being recovered by r-tt. There are a few files I'm struggling with (perhaps <1%?) but that may well be down to my inability to use r-tt properly rather than any permanant, irrecoverable issue.
The bottom line is that you both, and the power of internet communities (via hddguru), have rescued me. Honestly I wonder at how we, all of us from different part of the world, can collaborate to solve a problem via the web. And also a problem that does not directly involve you guys other than via professional, intellectual pride. I salute you both! The internet is truly awesome!
Thanks,
Andy.