Really old HD with a bad PCB. Is this recovery possible?

[thristygrouse]

Hey everyone,

So about 10+ years ago, the power supply on my tower fried everything in my machine. I was bummed, so I tossed all the drives in a box and moved on.

I came across these old drives a few weeks ago and I started researching PCB swaps, and I'd really like to get the data off of these drives as they hold old pics and docs from my HS days.

Anyhow, I've done some scouring on ebay, amazon, and pretty much every PCB site I could find and couldn't find the exact firmware number I was looking for for one of the older drives.





What would you guys recommend doing, short of sending it to a data recovery company. Don't really have the budget to shell out a couple G's for this.

Thanks everyone!

[labtech]

Contact HDD parts vendors. They may have the right part in tests piles where the specific PCB may not have made it on their site yet.

Ex: donordrives.com

[ShaneWard]

If this drive has any TVS Diodes then it might be worth removing them, but I am not sure where they are on this PCB.

Shane

[colanco]

I think that it is not tvs in this pcb

[thristygrouse]

I checked donordrives.com, they didn't have a compatible PCB listed. I emailed them though.

I also emailed HDDzone, they didn't have one in stock either.

Seems to be a pretty elusive PCB.

[HaQue]

So what happens when you plug it in? totally dead, no signs of power?

I would start by looking for all components marked with an "L" and checking for continuity. If any are open, then these could probably be bridged with a wire temporarily to get your data off.

Also maybe the Chip Resistors could be checked.

Chip Resistors are general passive components which are primarily used to create and maintain a known safe current within electrical components.

Other than that, keep searching for PCB..

Attachments

[thristygrouse]

So what happens when you plug it in? totally dead, no signs of power?

Yes, drive is completely dead upon plugging it in.

Donordrives just got back to me and said they don't have this PCB in stock.. i guess the next option would be to start checking the components for continuity.

Does anyone know what the average cost of data retrieval would be for a drive like this?

[lcoughey]

What would you guys recommend doing, short of sending it to a data recovery company. Don't really have the budget to shell out a couple G's for this.

What lab would charge you a couple of G's for this? Perhaps a few hundred C's.

[fzabkar]

The crystal to the left of the Symbios Logic chip appears to be dented. If the quartz has shattered, you may be able to hear the shards rattling inside the metal can. If the drive sustained a significant impact, then there may be other damage as well.

[dick]

Hi. If you search the eBay auction site you will find several drives with the same model number.

[labtech]

Hi. If you search the eBay auction site you will find several drives with the same model number.

Yeah, there are few. I thought subconsciously the OP looked on ebay already.

BTW, this set cracked me up: http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTERNAL-HARD-D ... 3aa247357a

[thristygrouse]

Yeah, i've searched ebay, amazon, and emailed every vendor / pcb site I could find, no dice. I ordered a drive off ebay and the PCB wasn't compatible.

Perhaps a data recovery company is my best bet. Does anyone have any suggestions?