Hi all,
I need a little help and advice on recovering my data. I have a 2TB Western Digital My passport drive that I connected to a USB hub with incorrect power supply (12/1.5A instead of 5V/3A) by mistake. Unfortunately, the hard disk stopped powering up since then. I did some research online and found out that it could be some TVSDiode shorting issue. Since, I had an identical hard drive so swapped the PCB to check if I could read the data with a new PCB. I didn't know that swapping doesn't work just like that. Hence, the swapping part wasn't very successful because although the hard drive started spinning with the new PCB but i heard a few strange noises and hard drive failed to show up. Now, I am afraid I caused damage to the drive trying to swap the PCB . Is that true? I also couldn't locate the TVSdiode on the drive because the components were really tiny on this drive.

Can someone give me right directions on how I can recover the data? Any idea on how much it would cost with professional data recovery people? I have some very important collection of rare documentaries on my drive that I don't wanna loose. I have been collecting them for years . Please help!
Thanks

I am attaching a few pics of the PCB board to locate TVSDiode

Hi
if you have the Identical Donor, Swap Patient ROM ( U12 ) to Donor PCB it will work .......................

Thank you so much. I see a small chip called U12. Is U12 BIOS IC? Which one is BIOS-IC? I was reading that for this PCB (WD 2061-771801-002) the BIOS IC swap is a MUST. Could you please clarify? How do I find TVSDiode in this board if you know that?

Yes U12 is the chip you need to move to the donorboard

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Rescue IT Datarecovery service Sweden
Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
http://www.rescue-it.se

Oh cool thank you so much. This U14 chip is also 8pin. Do i need to replace that one too? Whats that for?

One last question: Do you think when I tried identical PCB of another drive, it could have damaged my otherwise perfectly recoverable drive? I heard a few strange clicks/noises when I used another PCB but I quickly stopped and didn't try too much.

U14 contains the bridge firmware. If the drive works but the data are encrypted, then swapping U14 may fix it. Hopefully it survived the overvoltage.

An "identical" PCB clicks because its "adaptives" are different. No damage should result, as long as the preamp voltages are the same.

I would measure the resistances between the supply (pin #8) and ground (pin #4) pins of U12 and U14. This is to confirm that neither is shorted.

BTW, I notice that the square bridge IC (behind the USB connector) has what looks like a blister. This IC appears to contain the PWM circuitry that generates its own 3.3V supply. This supply may have been damaged, in which case U14 might be suspect.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

It's possible that the overvoltage damaged the preamp (on the headstack), but I don't know how the preamp supplies are derived, so I can't be sure.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Thanks fzakbar . It was very helpful insight though I am still confused about U14. Like I said, the drive is unresponsive to power. I ordered an identical model donor PCB online from hddzone. Do I only need to swap just the U12 from old PCB to this donor PCB to make the whole thing work or do i need to swap U14 as well? If I don't swap U14 but just U12, would the drive work but the data could be encrypted or i understood something wrong? I'll arrange a multimeter tomorrow to check resistances and will report updates. I noticed the blister you mentioned and it is more like a shiny dot.

Thanks everyone for their help!

Hi Fzakbar,
I checked the resistance on U14 and U12 and they both seem shorted (zero resistance between pin 4 and 8 ) . What do you suggest now? Should I still get the replacement or cancel my order?
Please suggest.

Carefully desolder either of the two pins (4 or and retest the IC. This will tell you whether the short is in the chip or in the external circuitry. If U12 is shorted, then a simple board swap will not be possible.

BTW, I hope you are familiar with resistance measurements. I'm currently involved in another thread where the OP is reporting nonsensical results, so I'm wary about giving you the wrong advice.

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Desoldering only two pins on this IC it's difficult and may damage it if you don't have enough experience.
I would desold all it with hot air soldering station (safer and easy)

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My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI

Oh kk. Thanks so much for your help guys.. I am waiting for my replacement PCB to arrive in 2-3 weeks, then will try to swap U12 anyways to see if it works. Will send it for professional recovery if this fails.

I tried U12 swap with a new donor board but it didn't work . The hard disk clicks a little bit. I think the U12 chip in the old drive got shorted as well. What are my options now? How can I recover my data?

Probably it is the HEADSTACK that has been fried too. If so, game over for DIY . Alternative : take a look at identical drive and try to swap the heads back and forth, if you succeed you can try on your own... Chances of success are zero without tools and experience.

Thanks BlackST. I think I'll leave it to professionals now and keep it until I have enough money. Any rough idea on how much would it cost? Would it be less than $1500?

As long as there is NO media damage you should be able to find a deal in your area. It is not a simple work as clean room work and donor parts are required, AND other software rework too.
If you don't find anything useful and professionally safe we can refer you to someone trustable in your country.