I have several Samsung HS081HA/A 1.8" drives. They were probably pulled from iPods. I am looking to be able to use them elsewhere, but they seem to have a unique firmware or something.

In PC3000 the Samsung utility errors out without allowing access to the firmware.

The universal utility allows me to mount the drive in windows, where I can format the drive, copy as normal, etc.

If I try the drive connected normally to the computer, with the same adapter but plugged into the same computer's motherboard instead of PC3000, the drive is not recognized in windows or even the BIOS. I also tried a different adapter and different computer.

Is there something unique about the firmware in the drive that keeps it from working outside of iPods or PC3000? There does not seem to be any passwords on the drive that I can tell.

Thanks.