Hi all,

my Maxtor DiamondMax 40 VL, model 34098H4, crashed and got a firmware lock (the f/w is identified as YAH814YZ instead of YAH814Y0). I need to rescue user data from that drive.

First I have to unlock (or restore?) the system area to make the drive available for copying.

Can you recommend a good tool for that?

Pc3000 isa can work with this drive .

I was also told that PC-3000 is a solution. I studied the documentation for Maxtor Drives but they do not describe how to unlock the SA. If you know how please advise.

It will take a while to explain how to fix SA.
PC3000 does explain how to fix it, but you need at least some basic knowledge about HDDs.

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www.datarecoveryne.com

I think that I've obtained basic knowledge recently, the PC3000 documentation describes modules etc. quite well: http://www.chinahdd.cn/hdd/PCI3000%20UD ... or_Net.pdf
They describe pretty understandable how to use their tool but they don't mention what exactly to do to change the firmware from YAH814YZ (locked state) back to YAH814Y0 (unlocked state)... any ideas?

You really need a pro with the right knowledge and tools. I recommend "YYYYYYY" who is in your area, "xxxxxxx"

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

I used HDD Repair v2.0 to repair DiamondMax Plus 9. Your drive is earlier model, it should also work. Tricky software, easy to lose everything. Be warned. If desperate, I can assist, but would need to remember things...

Before you assume that the issue is a firmware problem, it should be diagnosed. Considering the age of the drive, it is very likely to be weak or failing heads.

_________________
Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery

Sorry, it is definitely firmware problem, serial number ends with 'Z', it shows that it is taken from ROM, not readed from SA area and firmware is not initialized correctly.

So it wouldn't be the weak/bad heads not being able to access the SA, so the drive initialises from ROM then?

Luke's suggestion is just as feasible IMHO.

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PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

ABC of data recovery.... MAXTOR PROXIMA.... Maybe it's necessary a bit of BACKGROUND ... and as it is a DSP, a stroke of GOOD LUCK !

Well Luke didn't make any suggestion, just assumption. Yours is an assumption too. Drive is old, thats a suggestion?

Heads gone wrong or just simply power interruption, even it could be single sector media fault in SA, or just intermittent fault triggering firmware bug (unforseen circumstances). How you can be so sure? Truth is that you never know for sure before it is proven . Anything else is a lie.
And what you do in such case? Repair firmware or load external loader to RAM from the donor. Then you can test heads and take out data. All this can be done with HDD Repair. Testing and repair. Risky - yes, as said before.

Sounds interesting. There are several tools which have "HDD Repair" in its title, which one do you mean? That obsolete tool from SalvationData?

I didn't say it WAS bad/weak heads, I just meant don't rule it out like you seem to have intimated by saying "it is DEFINITELY a firmware problem"

You are right, it "could" be several things, nothing can be known for sure until it is checked out properly with the right tools.

Any "suggestion" now is what I would call a "guess" rather than a "lie" IMHO

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Ok, it's an ABC... Assumed that I loaded the SA into a tool successfully, I have to edit some modules to unlock SA. I am desperately looking for information on modules. I read some resources but couldn't find out until now which module is resposible for the lock.

One more thing, I've got an identic HDD to make a low-level copy. Can I make an SA dump from there and flash it into the damaged drive? The only difference between drives is their serial numbers.

A Maxtor with media damage will display ID from ROM if left long enough.....

@AndyAndy

IF it is SA, it will be near impossible for a repair without the right knowledge, even if you have the tools for the job. Diagnosis needs to be confirmed before anything is attempted, or else the risk of permanent data loss is instantly increased.

You can get free diagnosis and evaluations from most professional firms. They can also offer a professional recovery service with the right tools and skills.

Ideas few and confused. P.s. Again, it's DSP !

Ok... what I need in the end is not restoring the drive but a 1:1 copy of the user area on another, identical hdd.

Is there maybe a way to access/copy the user area even when the service area is damaged?

Thanks guys for defending my post. I was distracted and probably should have given more explanation.

It is clear that the drive is loading into kernel mode without access to the SA. The question is why? My experience has been that most maxtor firmware issues, these days, are caused by bad sectors/surface damage in the SA or failed/crashed heads. If the heads haven't completely crashed, the window to recover the data is usually small and certainly requires the right hardware level imagers.

But, if you want to assume that the heads and media are 100% healthy on a drive of this age, you are welcome to do so.

I'll revert back to my first post. Based on the implication that the OP doesn't even have or know of the right tools for the job, I'd say that they'd have better luck getting it looked at by a pro with the tools and experience rather than to kill the drive by experimenting on a live case. If the data has no value and the OP has nothing better to do with their time, then it is worth playing and learning.

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Luke
Recovery Force Data Recovery