Recovering data from drive with possibly damaged BIOS

[guferr]

Hi folks.

I have a 2.5'' WD hard drive with a accidentally-destroyed PCB.

The hard drive is a WD5000BPVT-55HXZT2.

I've found that I have a working WD5000BPVT-22HXZT1 with a PCB of the exact same board number and rev as the destroyed one.

According to what I've read, the only thing you need to replace the PCB is to have a PCB with the same board number (and rev) and to swap the BIOS chip.

So, i done it, but after doing it, neither of both hard drives would even spin up with the PCB with the swapped BIOS on it.

I checked the soldering several times, it was ok, but it wouldn't work. I then undone the swapping, placed it back on the drive where it came from and it kept working just as it was before (at least I didn't screw the soldering or overheat its BIOS, so i didn't lost the other drive).

I got back at square one, i still have a drive without a PCB, but now it's worse: The failed attempt may mean the BIOS got damaged in that same accident.
Swapping may be impossible.

So, my question is:

If i find a PCB from a hard drive with the same exact model and with the same board number, is there any chance it will work without swapping the BIOS? Or, is there any chance that swapping to that other PCB will work, even being that swapping with the one I have failed?

Thanks for the help!

[jermy]

Can you explain what do you mean by "accidentally-destroyed PCB" ?
Maybe the chip is also destroyed ?!

[guferr]

Can you explain what do you mean by "accidentally-destroyed PCB" ?
Maybe the chip is also destroyed ?!

Well, the PCB got broken when i tried detach it once (it had a little problem that was bringing the whole pc unstable, but still worked, i was trying to see if i could do anything for it).

I forgot to remove one of the screws, and I forced too much trying to detach it. I got to unsolder the bios chip from it, but one of its pins broke on the process.

I soldered one thin wire to each one of its pins, including the broken one (there was still a little copper edge in there) and then glued them so the wire on the broken pin wouldn't come off.

I tested it with the multimeter afterwards, and the readings check. The wires are all connected to the pins, including the one that was broken.

I also made sure of the sequence of the wires and which wire was on pin number one (the pin with the marking over it). They're of different colors and I have a photo of it to make sure.

I then carefully soldered the tip of those wires to the corresponding spots on the PCB I tried to do the swapping. Checked the soldering several times and made sure no wire got loose, it's easy to detroy those little copper paths on the board.

I checked everything, the sequence, the position, the soldering. Everything was fine, but didn't work. I then placed its BIOS back and placed it on its original drive. I didn't damage the other drive at least, but didn't make any progress either.

The question is that I may have damaged the BIOS of the destroyed PCB with the heat of the soldering gun, while I was soldering the wire on the broken pin (it got me a lot of time, it never stood still on the spot).

So, anyway, i don't know if its BIOS is still working. That's why i asked if I could replace the PCB without swapping the BIOS.

[jermy]

Regarding the chip, the only way to find out is to read it (you can use an external programmer (or with the right tools via terminal), but according to your story, I'm afraid either you didn't soldered it properly, or the chip is gone.

That's why i asked if I could replace the PCB without swapping the BIOS

It depends on the ROM FW ver. inside, even with same FW ver. Sometimes you have only access to SA

[northwind]

You can regenerate the ROM from the SA but you need specialised equipment (and know-how).

[guferr]

You can regenerate the ROM from the SA but you need specialised equipment (and know-how).

What would be the equipment?

It may not look like, but I was used to work with software data recovery and some electronic repairs back then, but i rarely needed to swap any chips at all.

Somewhy I tend to be much less carefull with my own things than with the things I worked with in my time. Specially cause i had proper tools to work with.

Anyway, what exactly is this SA you're reffering to?

[guferr]

You can regenerate the ROM from the SA but you need specialised equipment (and know-how).

What exactly is this SA?

[fzabkar]

newbie info, from and for newbies About firmware, SA, etc:
http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6562

Regenerating a WD ROYL ROM from SA MODs:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=761&p=2710

The above procedure works on some drives, but it may not work on yours.

[guferr]

newbie info, from and for newbies About firmware, SA, etc:
http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6562

Oh, yes, sorry. I know what the system area is, i'm just not used with the abbreviation, i didn't study this in english.

But, how am I going to read the SA if I don't have a functional PCB? Only specialised equipment can manage reading a modern hard drive without the adaptive information.

If this information were on the disk platter it would be easer, as the PCB wouldn't have anything unique to each drive. But, if those drives have actually unique adaptive information on the BIOS chip, there's no way I can read it without it.

[jermy]

If this information were on the disk platter it would be easer, as the PCB wouldn't have anything unique to each drive. But, if those drives have actually unique adaptive information on the BIOS chip, there's no way I can read it without it.

you asking or saying ?

[guferr]

If this information were on the disk platter it would be easer, as the PCB wouldn't have anything unique to each drive. But, if those drives have actually unique adaptive information on the BIOS chip, there's no way I can read it without it.

you asking or saying ?

Oh, sorry, i missed the last paragraph of text. Here it is:

But, do those WD hard drives actually store indispensable adaptive information on the BIOS? Or is there a possibility that a similar hard drive will be compatible? The Board number and model of the hard drie (with the firmware version) are the only things that matter? Of finding one with same model, firmware and DCM would be a better choice (regardless of the board number)?

[jermy]

It does not depend on model or DCM, it depends on family and ROM FW ver.
May I understand where are you getting at ?

[guferr]

It does not depend on model or DCM, it depends on family and ROM FW ver.
May I understand where are you getting at ?

Well, if I can't get my BIOS to work, then i'm going to need to seek for a compatible PCB. That's why i'm asking. Is there any way to discover it's FW internal version through the information printed on it or something?

[guferr]

Also, there's a small QR code on the PCB that seems to have more info, but i can't find what it's about anywhere, nor can i find if this is useful

[jermy]

Forget about that its not gonna help you either