Thank you for your posts guys.

I'm really looking for a way of doing this myself. I've learnt the hard way with this. Transferring an NVRAM chip is a fairly straight forward procedure to me now (as a novice) but I made the mistake of outsourcing it in the beginning as I didn't have the equipment or knowledge at the time.

This is still a huge regret to be shown a melted chip after all the effort I had gone to in sourcing a replacement board from half way around the world. As Data-Medics said I should have checked his credentials and used a pro for the procedure.

Thank you for your kind offer DrHDD but I really don't have that kind of money plus postage right now and it's not my drive, I'm just trying to recover it for a friend but appreciate we all need to make a living with our pained and learned knowledge. Seriously, thanks.

I'm really looking for assistance to learn how to perhaps pull off the data myself from system area and place it on the NVRAM chip...

Anymore help would be truly appreciated. Thanks

regarding your post here, you have been told already by data-medics and drHDD that it's possible to get a copy on the NVRAM from SA.

also drHDD provide you an offer to do it for 100 $

good luck

Thanks for your good luck wishes Jermy.

Yes you are correct and I'm very aware that the guys on this forum have kindly identified the fact that NVram data is available on SA and indeed Pm's have been exchanged to this affect with contributors so options are open if all else fails.

The post to which you linked was merely to ascertain how or if this member resolved his issue, ie did he have to outsource drive or did he manage a DIY approach from knowledge gained.

My post mentions that I'm working on this out of kindness for a friend. I do not own PC3000 or similar expensive equipment as I do not work in this field. I appreciate outsourcing may ultimately be the only way but am still exploring all avenues at the moment to keep costs down.

I would like to know yours and other contributors thoughts on this link as this guy believes/claims that PC3000 can be replicated for 30$ with TTL communicaton and good knowledge of drive commands.

As a DIYer such avenues intrigue me, but is this really feasible?

https://pythorian.wordpress.com/2012/09 ... er-30-diy/

I came on this forum to learn from knowledgable folk which I have and for which I am very grateful. If I had no interest I would have told my friend to send it to a recovery expert in the first instance and not got involved. Sadly, he is on a low income so this was not an option. Sometimes common decency is what matters as time and kindness can be free but do appreciate we all have to earn a living too.

Basically, my question is this.

Is there any way I can lift data from SA myself without costly software or is it really this technical and only possible by the pros with their specialist gear?

Thanks.

let's say for the sake of argument, that PC3K can be replaced for 30$ with TTL communication, is the knowledge and time that was put into that (PC3K) also replaced with that kit or its a package deal ?

BTW if PC3K can be replaced for 30$ how much should cost a replacement for MRT ?

with all kidding aside, of course if you had the knowledge of the engineers and developers from PC3K you would able to do it, but i think you'll have to invest a lot of time to pull it off

and to make you the work easier, know this, you don't need a TTL for that

Yes. this is not a task of special difficulty.but if you know VSC