See the posts by Fraser Corrance:

https://groups.google.com/g/datarecoverycertification/c/pxgCdFJARmM/m/I1rG20jxAQAJ

ROM is BLANK - (ORG PCB)

pepe

checked, just didn't get how it relates here...

pepe

Put the donor PCB on the patient drive and power it up. Read the ROM using The drive should be stuck in BSY and will not come ready. Go to the terminal screen, get a T> prompt and enter r1 to read the backup copy of the RAP from the SA. Open the Service information objects window by pressing Ctrl + Alt +1, select the YModem tab, and press OK. In the new tab that opens, left click anywhere in the HEX data, press Ctrl + A to select all of the HEX data, and control Ctrl + c to copy it to the clipboard. Select the Work with Flash ROM image and read the ROM over boot code. Open the RAP file, left click anywhere in the HEX data, and press Ctrl + v to paste the data from the clipboard into the RAP file, and write the data back to the drive's ROM. Repower the drive and see if it comes RDY. If it does not, you might need to find a donor that is a closer match or possibly repeat the process to recover the patient drive's SAP file using r3F to read it over YModem.

I don't fully remember if the SAP file is 3F in other families so you may want to check the system file directory of your patient drive before moving the PCB to the patient drive.

Without wishing to interrupt the discussion on rebuilding the rom .. what is the likelihood the OP's rom is actually bank ? There have obviously been power issues but enough to blank the rom entirely, Id have expected to see some signs if that were the case.

OP - can you read the rom in an external reader, it doesn't look to have been off the pcb.

just checked that video, that rom doesn't seem like empty...

post the image pls.

pepe

Have you checked if preamp is OK? there's a chance to kill the data if preamp is gone and you power it up with a donor pcb....
There's only mathematical chance it would read anything from the SA using a donor rom.

pepe

DONOR PCB (and ROM) seems good - Drive is not making NOISE and stable after INIT.

Oh, i missed that, in fact i didn't think you would post a video with donor rom, as it is really pointless unless you want to check if your tool reads rom properly.

On the other hand, how did you try reading patient ROM? Have you tried external readers? MRT won't get anything from a damaged pcb even if ROM is fine.

pepe

Have you tried external readers? Yes