Toshiba Drive Recovery

[AlecU]

Hi,

I have a Toshiba external Drive MQ04UBF100 on a G0034A board.

The board does not appear to be getting any power (LED is not showing, and the drive does not feel like it is starting). Usually, I would plug this into a SATA external caddie to access the data, however the connection on the drive is not what I expected.

Any advice on how to best access the data for recovery?

I am based in the UK. I have seen a board for sale on ALI express, and another in the US. But wondering if there is a more local method.

Thanks

[pepe]

there are a couple of members from the UK you can contact, like scratchy, pcimage.
I am sure you would get a decent service on an affordable rate without the risk of damaging the rom while transfering.

pepe

[Lardman]

If you want to DIY and accept the risk.

You can post an image of the PCB - members will give you the test points to check voltage and continuity.
You can purchase a like for like PCB - you will need to transfer the ROM.
You can purchase a compatible SATA PCB to convert the drive - you will need to transfer the ROM.

Once your drive is spinning you may have full access or you may need more work.

What happened to the drive the last time it powered on.

[fzabkar]

The most you should pay for a PCB + ROM transfer is US$50. The ROM is at location IC2.

There is a tiny fuse near the USB connector. This is sometimes affected by nuisance failures. It is located just above and to the left of the white arrow adjacent to the USB connector.

https://obrazki.elektroda.pl/8281367800_1594814812.jpg

[Lardman]

The most you should pay for a PCB + ROM transfer is US$50.

That's a little on the low side for the UK, it's more likely you'd pay that for the PCB and then a minimum service charge to move the ROM. More likely the equivalent of around 100 USD all in - stuff is just expensive here. It's still considerably less than I (and everyone else) would charge to recover the data in a professional capacity.

[fzabkar]

The most you should pay for a PCB + ROM transfer is US$50.

That's a little on the low side for the UK, it's more likely you'd pay that for the PCB and then a minimum service charge to move the ROM. More likely the equivalent of around 100 USD all in - stuff is just expensive here. :cry: It's still considerably less than I (and everyone else) would charge to recover the data in a professional capacity.

I stand by my statement. A board swap and ROM transfer is not a Data Recovery, it is a Drive Repair. Suppliers such as hdd-parts.com offer this service for US$50.

[Lardman]

A board swap and ROM transfer is not a Data Recovery, it is a Drive Repair.

I think that depends on where the service actually ends. Blindly soldering and sending it back - I might agree. Part of the cost is for the transfer of risk, do you think the company needspractise used to move this rom recovered their costs?

I don't see the OPs original pcb listed on hdd-part.com but postage to the US from the UK even with royal fail is an additional 15 USD, I suspect the OP was looking for a UK based solution though and I don't know of one in that price bracket.

[fzabkar]

Free Worldwide Shipping

Our Clients enjoy FREE shipping(from us to clients), Item will be shipped by Canada Post Light Packet (air mail).

[Lardman]

Free Worldwide Shipping
Our Clients enjoy FREE shipping(from us to clients), Item will be shipped by Canada Post Light Packet (air mail).

How is the OP's ROM going to be transferred without sending it tothem to transfer? Postage back may well be free but postage to them doesn't appear to be.

[AlecU]

Pepe- That is fantastic, cheers! Any idea what I need to do, in order to be able to Direct Message people?

Lardman - I am the in house IT guy for my work, so never really done component transfers etc. The prices you discussed with fzabkar are within the user's budget.

He has advised that the last few times it was booting up, it involved adjusting the USB cable until it connected. So, it sounds like there is a faulty connection within the input, but as my previous line, I am no expert in these things.

I have attached an image of the board.

Attachments

[ShaneWard]

Looks like the diod might have been removed. If thats the case the resistor beside it could be blown and will need to be shorted. But wait for more confirmed message first, just in case I missed something.

[Lardman]

He has advised that the last few times it was booting up, it involved adjusting the USB cable until it connected. So, it sounds like there is a faulty connection within the input, but as my previous line, I am no expert in these things.

Ahh the wiggle it till it works fix I can't see any obvious damage, the usb port looks ok but can we get a good picture of the pins inside of the connector, and I assume you tried the obvious and checked the usb cable.

If you have a meter handy and good eye sight check the fuse for continuity as per fzabkar's suggestion. It's also worth giving each usb pin a poke to see if they move.

[AlecU]

The auto focus on phones can be rather frustrating, I think I have the pictures requested. No movement on the pins, that I could see. No damage either anywhere, other than minor corrosion up and right of IC9 And below L501 on the kind of squarish grey things. (Very technical terms in use here)
Yeah, tried a different cable as well.

Attachments

[pepe]

Free Worldwide Shipping

Our Clients enjoy FREE shipping(from us to clients), Item will be shipped by Canada Post Light Packet (air mail).

...and if it is lost, he gets the shipping fee back and looses the data for good...
we can chase 2 cent solutions, but we may hit the ground pretty hard by that, so a local solution, even if it costs a bit more, is a lot safer.

pepe

[Lardman]

USB looks fine - that's a shame, mushed pins would have made this easier.

Did you check the fuse by the white arrow on pin 1? You need to check the usb bridge is getting power.

test_fuse.PNG (550.2 KiB) Viewed 14590 times

Is that a diode to clamp to ground just below too? I thought I'd got one of those PCB in the fucket bucket but it's a WD so I can't run diagnostics with you, I still need a PCB in front of me, other members don't.

Worst case - the same drive on ebay at the moment is going for 80 quid with buy it now. Grab it and take it into your local phone repair shop to swap the rom for cash.

[Eastcoast]

USB looks fine - that's a shame, mushed pins would have made this easier.

Did you check the fuse by the white arrow on pin 1? You need to check the usb bridge is getting power.

test_fuse.PNG

Is that a diode to clamp to ground just below too? I thought I'd got one of those PCB in the fucket bucket but it's a WD so I can't run diagnostics with you, I still need a PCB in front of me, other members don't.

Worst case - the same drive on ebay at the moment is going for 80 quid with buy it now. Grab it and take it into your local phone repair shop to swap the rom for cash.

Would probably check first to see if it spins with the donor PCB on before paying someone to swap the ROM, just in case it's something more than the PCB. If it does, then definitely agree, a phone shop should be able to swap the ROM if the OP wants to go that way.

Last edited by Eastcoast on May 25th, 2021, 6:04, edited 1 time in total.

[AlecU]

Cheers Lardman, will see if I can locate a tester with small enough needles and see what is happening. Impressed you can make it out enough from a blurry picture!

[dick]

Back to the 'wiggle fix'.
They do fail so have you tried an alternative cable?
Also some top secret info.........you can try a standard micro usb charging cable as used in a samsung phone or similar. It will fit to the slightly wider connection on the socket.

[Lardman]

Impressed you can make it out enough from a blurry picture!

I can't fzabkar did. He's very good with this sort of stuff - I just don't think he'd had his snickers the other night