I am completely confused on this one, I think PC3000 has a bug - but after speaking with their technical support (Maxim) I am no closer to a solution.

A client came in with a single platter 2 head Hubble (WD Passport HDD).
This hard drive presented with a mechanical failure.

The heads were replaced by donor obtained from credible website.
PCB was changed to SATA and ROM was written (an actual transfer not a read and write).

Model : WDC WD5000LMVW-11CKRS0
Firmware : 01.01A01
Capacity : 500 GB (976 773 168)

MOD 02 shows this drive as SED type.

Using PC3000 I performed typical block SA (shift) and upload SA DIR and Loader to gain access to SA.
PC3000 only shows Copy 0 available (H0), Copy 1 not accessible.
Head tests confirm that H1 is not working.

Ok, so with H0 functional I should be able to get 50% of the data on the HDD read by building HM as this is a 2 platter model.
A backup of all modules are made (no errors besides 6F which can be ignored), SED is removed (Edit HDD ID), a slow fix is applied. I write MOD02 by ABA Copy 0.

I then change SA regions to both point to Copy 0 and power cycle HDD.
Last I change HM on the HDD from 0>1 to 0>0 to ensure only one SA is being addressed.

Drive becomes ready and then will ID properly in PC3000, I can also browse NTFS structure (not encrypted) on H0 - however PC3000 still reports the HDD is SED locked.
No access to SA (at all). I then repeat the process but this time I read MOD02 using Module Directory. I write "101010" in MOD02 and write to HDD via ABA Copy 0. PC3000 says the module was written OK.
Then I refresh MOD02 and see the changes I made are gone, the "101010" is not present. So, PC3000 is not writing module.

I again repeat the process, this time I use terminal. Same result.

I contacted ACE Labs who state the problem is with H0 not being able to write.

I question this as a heads test shows no write errors, and I can write using H0 to NTFS (client data area) - I tested with the same "101010" in a few sectors R/W by H0.

Am I crazy? To me, PC3000 simply is not writing the module. I could also legitimately have a drive that will not write to SA due to damaged heads, but in 13 years doing DR I've never encountered that.

Are other SA mods writeable on the same head(non important mods)...
If so, you can try to edit the DIR, change the address pointers to a writeable module for 02 and have your 02 located onto the spare mod(non critical for DR or efficiency).

Load that shit in RAM and see if it works.. Also there is a chance that it is still reading mod 02 from the non functional head SA(just a guess? May be composite read where the other copy is strangely SED enabled?)

Also, please check your 47 adaptive. Can you try to regen from SA and patch it in rom?
I have encountered issues with Donor Roms which have 47 that are strangely behaving read only.

Let me know how it goes.

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This is my post ?!?
https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php ... 50#p257450

With some heads after replacement compatibility is enough to read but not to write - maybe this is your issue. Can you write to any other dummy mods to check if changes are preserved?

LOL

I thought there used to be a "report post" button, but I don't see it anywhere?