My 1TB SATA Caviar Green (PCB 2060-701640-001 Rev A) crapped out on me several months ago after improperly disconnecting from the USB interface i always used to connect it. I think i forgot to unmount the drive before switching the power off, or something. The drive has been used very little, was still under warranty (probably not now) and never mishandled. I would just plug it into the USB/SATA converter, copy data, and disconnect. Very little use. But after (i think) bad disconnection, the drive will spin up, no bad clicking sounds, but is misrecognized (wrong type, wrong size, everything, acc. to cfdisk) and (obviously) won't mount.

Since i think the likelihood is that it is a firmware corruption problem, i thought i might be able to get it recovered a bit more cheaply, but estimates have been $600-$800 (no way). Now i'm looking at buying WD Doctor for $550 and i would do it if i thought that i had a good chance of recovering the disk (assuming it _is_ a firmware corruption problem).

My biggest concern is getting the right modules and whatnot for this drive (e.g. finding the "donor" drive). I'm not sure about this aspect of things. Getting the exact same drive would obviously be easiest (and possibly nearly impossible, although i haven't looked yet). I've looked through the forums here for the right firmware and have found one EADS... that looks close. But i have no idea how to tell if it's close _enough_ or not.

So my question is... should i buy the WD Doctor and will i be able to get the firmware i need to fix it (assuming firmware corruption)?

Thanks for any help.
craig

Seems an awful lot of "ifs and buts" to potentially save $50!!!!

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And even if you buy the SD box, who will you teach what to do?

Agree with pcimage, you want to import a product from China, learn about DR, learn about how to use the program and hope you can actually fix the problem with this product, all to save about $50? Makes no sense to me at all. What happens if you buy the WD Doctor and you can't repair your drive?

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Don't forget the shipping charges
Of course the BIG "if" is what if it isn't firmware?
If the data is important, find a Pro..
If data isn't important, toss the drive and get another one.

I probably should also mention, that WD doctor isn't all that
easy to use, especially if you don't know what you are doing.

You wount even save the $ 50,-

To scratch for the usability of this tool you would need a proper manual
which will costs you another $ 200,- from 3rd party.

The original manual is more or less just paper for the garbage.

But - even with this special manual from the forum member < poehere >
its a DIY case - and definitely crazy if there is valuable data on the
drive.

Link: guide-t15587-20.html#p133446

+++

Why would disconnecting it without unmounting from windows damage the firmware?

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None of the replies really grasped where i was coming from with this (probably because i didn't explain adequately). Spending $500 (+ $50 shipping) on something that can be used to repair a (WD) hard drive is something that i can rationalize. Spending $600 (or more) to fix a drive that doesn't really have anything particularly valuable on it (just music + DVDs, which i'd _like_ to have... but don't need) is something i can't rationalize.

I should have emphasized that the working assumption is that the firmware is corrupted... and i'd like all responses to _assume_ that is true. I feel that it probably is. If it turns out that that's not the (entire) problem, then i won't mind having lost that gamble. Calculated risk.

I also don't mind (in fact, i enjoy this kind of thing) spending time learning and figuring things out. I've spent 30+ years working in technical fields (EE + comp. pgming). So the question is: assuming that the problem is firmware corruption, is there a reasonable possibility that i (a bright, motivated, competent person) will be able to fix the drive. Obviously, i'm not taking this approach either primarily to get my drive back (though that would be nice) or to save money (not really a concern... _value_ for my money is my concern).

My main concern is not that i'll screw the drive up via carelessness or incompetence. It's that i simply won't be able to find a matching drive or firmware (given a reasonable effort... i'm _not_ willing to spend really inordinate amounts of time on this aspect of things)... or simply won't be able to use the tool due to completely insufficient documentation.

It's interesting (someone said) that documentation IS available for another... $200 bucks. I'm loathe to pay that, but if paying that is _essential_ then i'll factor that into my assessment of whether this is something i want to do or not.

Thanks for all replies.
craig

It's essential....believe me, it's essential...

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"If it's your only copy - then it's not a backup!"

Could you be more specific?

What "type", size, etc are being reported by the drive?

How does HD Sentinel or HDDScan see your drive?

I see many reports of problems such as yours in WD's forums, but the result of an improper disconnection is nearly always file system corruption, never (?) firmware damage.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

If you have a firmware fault it is likely to be coincidental to the usb being disconnected improperly rather than causal.

I wouldn't necessarily assume 100% you have only a firmware fault. I've seen WD disks initialize OK but with an odd drive ID, to find they have managed it just off head 0, and that head 1 has failed. In which case any firmware repair tool you use is not going to be very helpful.

If you are only going to use any recovery hardware once, it hardly seems worth the possible savings of a few dollars. If on the other hand you see yourself using it multiple times, then it might be worth the investment.

John

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0161 408 4857
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This is a bad assumption, based off of no experience and no evidence.

However, even if we do assume that is is correct, how do you plan to fix it? IMO it would not be possible unless someone who knows data recovery is willing to lead you step by step. It is not like a cell phone or something where people think of just "reflashing" the firmware.

_________________
You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.