Hi all,

First-time poster to the forum so please be gentle.

I recently discovered my old Creative DAP6G02 Digital Audio Player which was in a bit of a worse for wear state. However, intact was the Fujitsu MHK2060AT IDE HDD. Sadly the audio player will never be able to restored however given the HDD is in a good state I was wondering what the likelihood of getting in running and seeing what information it holds is?

I've attached a couple of photos to the drive so you can see for yourselves should you need to:






I bought a few weeks ago a cheap USB to IDE converter but sadly I don't seem to be able to get anything from the drive, I'm wondering with it being a cheap mass-produced product whether it's the product not working rather than the drive itself?

Do you have any recommendations on products I could buy to test drive with and if so what the likelihood of getting this 22 year old drive running is? I should mention I don't have a jumper switch so would it be worth investing in that too?

Any help or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Xone.

Does it spin up?

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

I've not heard it personally but that could be because it's getting enough power or that the computer has detected it.

If it's not spinning, then the problem is most likely with the PCB or your adaptor or your cabling.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Is there any particular cable that you recommend to use that you know works? Would it also be worth investigating in a 'hdd jumper' would that make any difference?

Thanks in advance.

The drive is configured as the master (no jumpers). That should work.

I don't have any preference for adapters other than to say that you should avoid any that use JMicron's JM20338 bridge IC. This chip has data corruption issues, depending on the adapter.

Be aware that it is easy to reverse the IDE cable. If you do this, then you will most probably damage the drive.

Which adapter are you using?

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

I'm currently using this:

DIGIFLEX SATA IDE to USB Adapter Cable for Hard Disk HDD - 2.5/3.5 - Supports SATA HDD, 2.5" hard disk, 3.5" hard disk, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, COMBO device, DVD-RW to computer with USB 2.0

I have a SATA cable running from the device to PC and it connected to both the Fujitsu drive and a USB port. But I'm getting nothing.

Admittedly the reviews aren't the greatest on it, looking back on reflection.

Is this the adaptor?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Digiflex-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Hard/dp/B004JO1Z52

If so, then both your drive and the adapter are keyed. Just plug the adapter into your drive, and then plug the adapter into a USB port. It makes no sense to plug the adapter into a SATA port. That port is for a SATA HDD, not a SATA controller on your motherboard.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

So bit of an update..

Yes, that was the device that I had. When I tried to plug it into my computer the other night it set off all the fans on my system and I got an alert from Windows telling me that the USB was drawing more power than able and it ended up crashing my computer.

I decided to buy this instead given it's got it's own power source FIDECO IDE and SATA Adapter, USB 3.0 Hard Drive Adapter. This is working however it's not detecting the drive which is making me think that the drive is dead either through the PCB or something else which naturally is very disappointing. I'm unable to hear the drive spin up at all. Nor can I feel any vibration when touching it.

If I were to look to get it fixed at a local company so I can access the drive is there any indication as to what kind of cost would be involved? I realise that this would only be an estimate and not something official.

It sounds like the PCB is dead. I expect that a PCB swap is all you need.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Here is your PCB:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/MuEAAOSwPhdU45k0/s-l1600.jpg

This is the pinout of the IDE connector:

https://old.pinouts.ru/HD/Ata44Internal_pinout.shtml

Pins 41 and 42 (bottom left corner) connect to a tiny fuse and TVS diode. Measure their resistances with a multimeter.

TVS Diode FAQ:

http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=100&t=86

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

It's very unlikely you have a local data recovery company - this is not the sort of thing your local computer repair shop will do.

Cost wise you'd not get much change from 300 quid for data recovery, I suspect there's more to this than just a blown fuse. I had started offering a repair service for psu damaged boards at a considerably discounted cost, but it was abused a few times and I'm loathed to offer it again.

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Data Recovery Services in the UK.
https://www.usbrecovery.co.uk/

From doing a quick Google Search there is a local company that specialises in data recovery and deals with HDD repair etc. Doesn't look to be a local computer store either it's a genuine recovery company.

https://www.dataclinic.co.uk/

However, if you're saying you think it will be approx £300 then as much as my inquisition is hounding to find out about what's on the drive I'll just leave it as it's too much.

Sorry to hear about your service being abused.

Thank you both for all your help and assistance.

It's not right for me to comment on other services, especially when I haven't used them - but they also claim to have a lab local to me at an address which they share with over 500 other companies. You may also want to look at the facebook reviews.

£300 is what it would cost if it had shown up here for data recovery, you can try Sean http://www.pcimage.co.uk he may be cheaper and has volume as insulation.
Don't be - you didn't do it and I should have known better.

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Data Recovery Services in the UK.
https://www.usbrecovery.co.uk/

If you have a multimeter (US$5), I can help you to determine if the problem is in the fuse or TVS diode, in which case there is an easy, zero cost DIY solution.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.