Buffalo LS-WXL Series NAS RAID data recovery

[nbendall]

Hi all, I hope you are well.

I have recently been given a Buffalo LS-WXL Series NAS that needs all data restored off it. The NAS has two 1tb WD Green drives in it. The owner said that one day the device started clicking, then just "died". When I powered on the device, the fan bellowed smoke out the back of the device, and a chip was left burnt on the board:


I took the drives out of the NAS and connected them to my 3.5 HDD to USB dock. Disk 1 (the one plugged into the SATA connector where the burnt chip is) wouldn't power up and the dock wouldn't give off any lights. When I plugged Disk 1 straight into the PC, the PC refused to even turn on! However, Disk 2 powers up and shows up in Disk Management on Windows. After reading online for some tools that can recover data, I decided to try EaseUS Data Recovery. Partition 6 is the biggest and the one that I would like to get the data off so I ran a scan. I left the scan running overnight and it found around 44,000 images, videos, and documents.

When it came to recovery, EaseUS recovered 5% of the files and I checked the quality of them and all the images were horrible quality. Some weren't great quality (like 360p) and the rest were split into three parts, but they were in the wrong order. After this, I decided to swap over to Ubuntu, since this was a Linux NAS and Disk Management showed Partition 6 as an XFS filesystem. Before I switched over to Ubuntu, I cloned the disk using the HDD Raw Copy tool onto a 1.5tb disk.

When connecting the disk to the dock in Ubuntu, I was greeted with this in Disk Manager:


Ubuntu had been able to see some of the partitions and I could mount them, which I did. I got a nearly full copy of the operating system and logs. I tried to mount the 6th partition but had no luck. This is what I am seeing when I click on (what I assume is) the partition:


After seeing that the partition was RAID 0, I read online that I can run a command "mdadm" on /dev/sd6 to see what information the system can get from it, this is the result:


I am just looking for what I can do next in terms of recovery. Disk 1 seems like it is pulling all power from whatever it is connected to and since the Disks may be in a RAID 0 setup, I do not know if I can recover the data without access to Disk 1.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Nathan

[pepe]

you need both disks if it was R0. The burnt one is probably shorted, perhaps it is TVS related but might be more serious damage.
Consider contacting a guru member from your area, like scratchy, pcimage, Lardman, cheadledatarecovery and others who can deal with it properly.

pepe

[Lardman]

As Pepe says you've jumped the gun a little. You're not going to get very far without the other drive as you're trying to do a jigsaw with half of the pieces missing.

Take some good pictures of the PCB on drive 1 and we'll see if the magic smoke has been let out. Do you have a multimeter handy ?

[nbendall]

Hi both, Yes I have a multimeter. What is a TVS?

Here are the best pictures of the PCB I could get:

Disk 1:


Both Disks:


Sadly, the forum doesn't let me upload higher quality files, but here is the link to the higher quality images:
https://hissmarthome.uk/f/bothHQ.jpg
https://hissmarthome.uk/f/disk1HQ.jpg

[nbendall]

Hi all, Attached are some more pictures of the boards.

pepe, What is a TVS?
and Lardman, yes I have a multimeter.

If you need pictures of the other side of the PCB let me know and I'll get some

[nbendall]

Hi all, here are some images of the PCB:

Disk 1:
https://hissmarthome.uk/f/disk1.jpg

Both:


I have high-quality versions of these but the forum won't let me post them.

And yes I have a multimeter.

[fzabkar]

To me it looks like the +12V input to the drive has taken a hit. You may be lucky and the only dead component may be a shorted 12V TVS diode, as this would prevent the PSU from turning on. The solution would be to snip the diode and run the drive without it.

In the worst case you will probably get away with replacing the PCB (with a ROM swap), provided that the ROM is not embedded within the MCU. The reference to clicking is a little disturbing, though.

[Lardman]

In the worst case you will probably get away with replacing the PCB (with a ROM swap), provided that the ROM is not embedded within the MCU. The reference to clicking is a little disturbing, though.

Guessing the NAS backplate damage is secondary as the unit smoked after the OP had been given it to get the data off. I'd be more concerned about the clicking before the smoke too.

[fzabkar]

It's not the same PCB, but D4 and D3 are the 12V and 5V TVS diodes, respectively.

http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/WD5000AAJS_TVS.jpg

HDD TVS diode FAQ:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

[Lardman]

If you need pictures of the other side of the PCB let me know and I'll get some

Yep - those are the ones we need.

I know Steve has his critics but https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Laq4z4trU will give you a very good visual guide of where the diodes are and how to check them.

[nbendall]

If you need pictures of the other side of the PCB let me know and I'll get some

Yep - those are the ones we need .

Is it just as simple as unscrewing the screws on the back and flipping the PCB over? I really don't want to mess anything up since I only have one shot at recovering this data.

If so, I'll take both of them off Disk 1 and 2 to compare, get some pictures, and follow the steps Steve took in the video above.

[Lardman]

Is it just as simple as unscrewing the screws on the back and flipping the PCB over?

Yep. The drive itself is safe inside the casing.

I really don't want to mess anything up since I only have one shot at recovering this data.

Don't open the drive body itself, that way if you have to pass it on (and clicking might mean it's not a DIY job) you're giving us the best chance of recovering it. You will also avoid the open drive fee - we don't really care about how badly people butcher the PCBs (just mind the ROM if it has one) but just 1 fingerprint on the platter can ruin a day.

[fzabkar]

I believe you'll need a Torx 6 screwdriver.

[Lardman]

I believe you'll need a Torx 6 screwdriver.

T8 .

[pepe]

I really don't want to mess anything up since I only have one shot at recovering this data.

that's why i suggested contacting one of the guys mentioned above.

pepe

[nbendall]

Here are the images of the other side of the HDD PCB:

Disk 1 TVS:

Disk 1 Whole Board:

Disk 2 TVS:

Disk 2 Whole Board:

To me, it looks like the TVS on Disk 1 has blown up!

[Lardman]

Disk 2 works doesn't it? If so you can put that on one side for the time being.

TVS looks rather toastie, external rom which is good and smooth at least looks ok. Meter the diode confirm it's gone and remove. BEFORE applying power again check the diode pads for resistance to ground and check there's continuity on the 0ohm resistors.
Apply power to the PCB only that way the drive is safe if nothing go bang you can think about putting it back on the drive and powering up. If things start to click or scratch power off immediately, it's no longer a DIY job. If there's still no spin there are voltages to check and the external rom makes a board swap easier.

[fzabkar]

I really don't want to mess anything up since I only have one shot at recovering this data.

that's why i suggested contacting one of the guys mentioned above.

pepe

It looks like a straightforward diode snip to me. R64 apparently survived, so it should cost $0 at this point. Clicking might be something else, though.

No need to frighten the OP.

[nbendall]

Disk 2 works doesn't it? If so you can put that on one side for the time being.

Done, and I have cloned Disk 2 just in case.

Meter the diode confirm it's gone and remove.

"Meter"? What setting am I using on the multimeter and what result should I expect?

This is my multimeter:


What is the best way to remove the chip should I need to? I have wire snips, pliers, screwdrivers, and a soldering iron to hand.

[pepe]

i posted before the pics with the pcbs were posted. Also, it is still some way to go, like clone the drives, assemble the raid, which is not a big hokuspokus but he definitely wanted not to screw things up, hence i said to consider contacting them. Where's it frightening?

pepe