Very SMART Question - hope some one PM or Reply

[einstein9]

Dear Experts ONLY plz

suppose i have a ROM file, IS THERE ANY WAY TO KNOW THE Head Map from the ROM file

I know for some of you this might be a Secret, if you do not want to publish it
please PM

i`ve been looking for a while for such a solution and did alot but wish to have the answer
or any TIP is also welcome.

thank you

[einstein9]

I forgot to mention that it is possible to know the number of heads in SD tools
but the order of those heads (not yet discovered by ME yet)

which is my Question here

thnx again

[pcimage]

WD Royl drive?

[quasimodo]

As hard drives do have different architectures, it would help if you would specify which hard drive brand and model you are asking about.

[einstein9]

Am talking in general, as an example here

dead pcb, have donor but need to know the head map of the drive
is it possible to know it from the ROM file or ROM Modules if we have it?

if the drive is working then no problem but if dead how do i know the head map
thnx

[jono-ats]

Put the board in safe mode and read the ROM. The heads info (for Marvel series) is in module OA.

Compare the binaries of a few known OA modules and you should quickly spot the addresses where the info resides.

[einstein9]

Put the board in safe mode and read the ROM. The heads info (for Marvel series) is in module OA.

Compare the binaries of a few known OA modules and you should quickly spot the addresses where the info resides.

Sounds Interesting here, will do it Thnx man

[quasimodo]

Am talking in general

Well, there is no general, in some drives yes, in others no. But as the colleagues already pointed out, in WD it's possible and quite simple. In Hitachi it's in NV-RAM and also quite simple. A quick way is to read out rom/NV-RAM, then modify head map with your tools, then read out ROM/NV-RAM again and compare in winhex.

[einstein9]

when i said general i mean WD but General Families