Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
February 10th, 2020, 11:10
fzabkar wrote:No, he just didn't read beyond the first two lines of your post. There is nothing which points to an internal fault.
Wrong on both counts.
fzabkar wrote:To test the remote possibility that the patient and donor firmware versions behave differently, place a business card between the HDA contacts and the PCB, and then see if the drive spins up.
Why not inspect the heads in a clean room environment?
It's possible to re-generate the ROM info on this model with a PC3K. But that assumes that there are no issues with the HSA. Inspecting the heads is prudent because continuing to operate the drive with bad ones lessens the chances of DR.
February 10th, 2020, 11:59
jono-ats wrote:Rolin wrote:DataSaver, you said "On this model, contaminated heads from media damage will cause the drive not to spin up with the correct ROM / PCB.". Does this mean the drive would or would not spin up with another board without the correct firmware? I tested the drive with another board (without correct firmware) and the drive spins up. Just need clarification... thanks
It will spin up with the "wrong" PCB but not the "right" one if there are media damaged heads.
Even if I tested by placing a folded piece of paper between the HDA contacts and the PCB? Motor still does not spin with original PCB. But spins with replacement PCB (without paper).
February 10th, 2020, 21:28
1. Original PCB is bad
2. Even though it spins with a foreign PCB, the heads may still be bad.
3. The best way to tell if heads are bad is either: a) inspect them; b) use a PCB with the correct FW If drive doesn't spin with correct FW, heads are [most likely] bad.
4. You can also try a procedure called a hot swap with an appropriate donor. But you must be able to put the drive to sleep. If you recalibrate it and it clicks or spins down, then it's most likely heads. But it could be wrong heads map.
We'll be happy to help if you want to try to recover it. There is no charge if we can't.
February 10th, 2020, 22:02
If the MCU is functional, then there is a way to read the ROM using cheap tools, eg ...
WD U-Command Tool :
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=217Once you get a prompt at the terminal port, you can use the tool to dump the ROM.
Alternatively, there is a free ZOC script which I wrote, or a nice tool written by @Severance, which can also dump the ROM (but not write it). However, there are free tools to write the ROM to a working donor drive.
In short, there is a path to a complete read & write DIY solution with freeware, but it requires patience.
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