Hey guys,

I have a WD5000AAKS that looks like it has a weak/bad head. It goes ready and IDs, but I can only read the Primary Modules in HD Doctor. I've tried disabling all heads but Head 2 (as well as many other combinations), but the data is still inaccessible. Is there anything else I can try here, or is a head swap pretty much my only option?

Thanks

I think the best option is (heads replacement -4 heads I think?). Not an easy job but not too hard for a pro.

Good luck

Hi,

Maybe there are some other options before that.
What are the damaged modules?

In SD WD Doctor disabling heads does not always give you good results. You head 0 seems to be reading but you are not reading from head 1 right now from what it sounds like. Yes I agree with dmarques there is some other options on this one that might be possible. If you can read from head 0 right now on it can you try and test the SA primary and see if you have any bad mods on this one and post if you do. Then we can see what can be offer or suggest for you to do on this one.

_________________
Iorana Haraharaini

I tested the Primary mods and all come back fine except mods 23, 24, and 32. When I try to view these mods in the hex editor, I can see data within mods 23 and 24, but mod 32 shows all zeros...

I don't remember mods 23 and 24 what are they, but mod 32 is related to translator. Can you read mod 32 from second copy?

I found a copy of mod 32 (RBBLIST) and was able to update that. I also was able to eventually read and update mod 24, but I still haven't had any luck with mod 23. Mods 23 and 24 are SMART TABLE mods. I can now see data in the View Sector region, but the drive LBA is off and I'm unable to change it to the correct LBA. Any ideas?

Thanks for the input guys

Well I was able to change the LBA to the correct value, and I disabled the heads that I believe are bad (4 and 5). I can see some of the data region, but not enough to recover anything significant it appears. Looks like the best thing for this one is a headswap...