I have 2 WD hard drives, 1 is WD1600js-61mhb1 and the other is wd1600js-22ncb1.
The PCB from the WD1600js-61mhb1 was damged, so I took the PCB from the wd1600js-22ncb1 and slapped it on the WD1600js-61mhb1. The wd1600js-22ncb1 had bad sectors, wasn't usable.
The problem now is the WD1600js-61mhb1 only reads 8gb instead of 160gb. It's probably just a firmware issue, I tried looking for the firmware of the WD1600js-61mhb1 but I can not find it.

Any suggestions on how I can make this work? Would flashing the PCB to the correct firmware fix my problem?

Transfer ROM.

Search forum.

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I understand your trying to be some what helpful, but giving me a simple "4 word" statement does not help. But thanks anyways.
Besides, the old pcb is gone. I only have just the one PCB I am using to repair the wd1600s-61mhb1. Something I forgot to mention in the 1st post ;/

Then you need pro assistance on this case, if you've thrown away the patient PCB along with the required info programmed into its ROM.

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PC Image Data Recovery
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It is the correct answer. Or was, until this next part.


Now you will need pro help or a stack of 25 matching PCBs and a good deal of luck.

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

I am not the dumb ass who threw it away ;/ I got my friend to thank for that.
i was hoping it would be as easy as finding the original firmware for the hard drive, uploading it to the drive using USB to the pins of the HDD, using a simple program that uploads the firmware. I know that's what's used to repair bricked seagate hard drives.

Yeah I know that's why I hammered myself too lol.
So I take it it's not as simple as I previously stated then right? ;/
Who who would I need to talk to for pro help? I'm looking in the forum to see if I can find someone who is in a similar position.

Yes, your guess is wrong


You would need to talk to a DR pro with the necessary equipment to recreate the EEPROM that was thrown away - someone like pcimage (who you critcised earlier, despite him giving you exactly the correct answer, based on the info you had given at the time )

If a board member (I guess you'd prefer someone in the US?) wants to offer their services, after reading this thread, they may either PM you or reply to the thread.

I also criticize myself even more for living out crucial information that I know I should of had in the 1st post
In either case was not meant to offend any one.

PCIMAGE, can you offer any suggestions?

I would normally buy a hard drive, but considering how expensive they are, and the fact that I am short on money, fixing this drive would help. Any suggestion you can offer would be appreciated. And thank you Vulcan for your input

AISI, Salvation Data's HD Doctor for WD should be able to rescue your drive. It should cost you less than US$600, and afterwards you should be able to resell it for $300. Otherwise I believe a typical professional data recovery price will be in the US$2000 ballpark.

That said, I'm not a data recovery professional, but here are two articles that appear to illustrate the required procedure. Basically you need to retrieve the "ROM" data from the System Area on the platters, and then transfer these data to your replacement PCB.

Case Study on WD ROYL Drive Using WD Utility (regenerating ROM data)
http://www.salvationdata.com/blog/data- ... y-tools02/

Fix Identification Problem caused by Corruption of ATA Overlay module or ROM content (ROYL):
http://www.salvationdata.com/blog/fix-i ... m-content/

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

This guys' last post was about "how expensive hdd's are", so i guess he won't be able to pay $600 for sd's tool (let alone that re-selling it is not the easiest thing to do).

@OP, i think your best bet here, if you care about your data, is to take this to a pro and ask for a quote.
$2000 for this job is insane, if you chose a company that has free evaluation, you can get a quote and consider it.

Good luck.

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This information does not apply to this hard drive

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

The SD tools are not so great, not so reliable and can take some getting used to. Also, it cannot be resold as licences cannot be transferred. And I think for this problem would cost less than $2000, assuming there are no other complications.

Also this is a Marvel HDD, not a ROYL so recovery of native ROM will not work. Even with this tool masses of resources would be needed to identify a compatible ROM version that may work.

If data is of no importance, get a new drive and move on.

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www.datarecoveryne.com

Thanks for the corrections. The following firmware archive is what misled me:
http://www.datadonor.net/HD%20Western%2 ... 40MVB1.rar

In retrospect I should have examined the actual MOD files, eg ...
http://www.datadonor.net/HD%20Western%2 ... 22NCB1.zip
http://www.datadonor.net/HD%20Western%2 ... 22NCB1.rar

So it's a "BLACK I", not a "ROYL", in which case the first link appears to have been filed under the wrong category.

As for the figure of $2K, it wasn't just a wild guess, but was based on comments in the following thread, albeit an acrimonious one:
wd5000aaks-00tma0-pcb-needs-changing-t15491-40.html

Unfortunately I wasn't aware of the simple ROYL procedure at that time, otherwise I would have been able to save the OP a great deal of heartache.

That said, if I were shopping for a professional data recovery service, I would use the following company as a yardstick:
http://myharddrivedied.com/hard-drive-recovery

"We charge a total of $800 ($50 evaluation + $750 Recovery) for a standard IDE/SATA Laptop or Desktop hard drive recovery. The only additional charge is if parts are necessary."

AISI, the OP has a donor PCB, so $800 would be all he would need to pay.

The proprietor of the abovementioned company is Scott Moulton who is arguably the most prominent professional in the field.

As for Salvation Data's tool, I know firsthand that a resale price of $300 is easily achievable, despite the lack of transferability of support to the new owner. In fact, if I were attempting to recover my own data, I would investigate whether I could take advantage of Salvation Data's "Team Viewer" remote support facility. Perhaps they could be convinced to do the job remotely at no additional cost???

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I'm afraid NO, less than less with 2nd hand non-relicensed tool

In this case you just need to change few bytes in rom .How to do it (with which tool) and which ones , there is a questions for few hundred bucks .

P.s. Almost sure it is possible to do remote with some free tool .

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Angel Data Recovery