PCB Wanted for WD5000AAKS

[havoc92]

These are the specs on the drive itself:

MDL: WD5000-AAKS-22TMAO
Date: 01 AUG 2007
DCM: HHRCNV2MHB

If you have one or know someone who does, contact me please. Have a drive with good platters and retrievable info.. just need a pcb
to salvage the drive for continued use. Thank you.

[pcimage]

Do you have PC3000 or Salvation tools to deal with the embedded ROM in the MCU?

[havoc92]

Do you have PC3000 or Salvation tools to deal with the embedded ROM in the MCU?

No, and I'm not real certain as to the relevance? I've been a freelancer for 20 years. I've swapped out pcbs on
older drives without a problem for years. Are you telling me that a chip in the drive knows if you change the
pcb now and won't let you?

[networkpc3000]

hi,
i can help. he mention that you need to change main chip. as it include ROM data in it. for more detail please contact me by email or MSN. i need more detail. thanks.

[Eric Lee]

Hi,

You could just swap the rom chip, we have working PCB in stock, pls contact my hotmail too.

Thanks
Eric

[pcimage]

Hi,

You could just swap the rom chip, we have working PCB in stock, pls contact my hotmail too.

Thanks
Eric

Good luck with this, there is no external 8-pin ROM chip on this drive to swap.

[pcimage]

Do you have PC3000 or Salvation tools to deal with the embedded ROM in the MCU?

No, and I'm not real certain as to the relevance? I've been a freelancer for 20 years. I've swapped out pcbs on
older drives without a problem for years. Are you telling me that a chip in the drive knows if you change the
pcb now and won't let you?

Ok, you know best. Good luck.

[lcoughey]

Havoc,

PCImage is the only voice of reason. The PCB in later models of drives, particularly Western Digital, have unique code on the PCB. With the model of drive you are dealing with, this code is contained within the CPU on the PCB and really is not movable...nor is there any reason to do so, if the remainder of the drive is working. However, without the necessary tools and a suitable donor drive that works, you are out of luck.

Should you decide to seek the assistance of a data recovery professional, expect to be quoted anywhere from $500 to $1500 for this project...maybe more, if your diagnosis is incorrect.

Good luck.

[Eric Lee]

Eric Lee wrote:
Hi,

You could just swap the rom chip, we have working PCB in stock, pls contact my hotmail too.

Thanks
Eric


Good luck with this, there is no external 8-pin ROM chip on this drive to swap.

Yep, pcimage was correct, this is the new ROYL WD version, I forget that the rom program have been joined with the main chip. Sorry. So we suggest havoc92 find a local pro.

Thanks
Eric

[havoc92]

Do you have PC3000 or Salvation tools to deal with the embedded ROM in the MCU?

No, and I'm not real certain as to the relevance? I've been a freelancer for 20 years. I've swapped out pcbs on
older drives without a problem for years. Are you telling me that a chip in the drive knows if you change the
pcb now and won't let you?

Ok, you know best. Good luck.

No need to be flip. You'll notice that I included a couple of question marks in there because I was pretty
genuinely tweaked at the possibility that the answer to what I was asking would be yes...

These manufacturers really know how to scheme to stick it to someone when it comes to what should be
a rather simple fix in this instance.

I have twin drives. The pcb is the problem.. already been down the road of swapping out the pcb to verify
that. The data is intact. So, I'm not in need of a recovery service, just a repair option on the drive.

[lcoughey]

Unfortunately for you, the cost to "repair" the drive is not going to be any cheaper than the recovery of the drive. To "repair" the drive, you will need a working PCB, likely from another working drive, making it no longer work. Then you will need the assistance of a data recovery company with the necessary tools to reprogram your new PCB with the ROM information from the old PCB. You could do this yourself by purchasing and learning how to use the tools. But, in reality, you will likely be spending more for the tools and donor drive than you would pay to simply have your data recovered.

As for your assumption that the only problem is with the PCB, you may be right. However, I just did a job last week where there was media damage on the drive, likely due to the heads crashing down on the surface during the PCB failure.

Good luck!