I have several 120 GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 EIDE drives with burnt out pcb boards.

Based on googling, it seems that the following info is critical to identify matching pcb boards:
1. CODE (YAR41BW0)
2. Controller chip (Agere/Ardent 040111300)
3. No external ROM (empty pad for 8-legged chip on bottom left of PCB near the motor hub)

My question is given that the above matches, does the SIZE of the drive matter? (e.g., can an 80gb drive pcb be used in a 120gb drive (given that there is no external ROM)?

Do any other elements of the model numbers matter? (e.g. 6Y120P0 vs. 6Y120L0)

Finally, does SATA vs. PATA matter? (i.e. can you convert a PATA to a SATA drive while still keeping the disk readable as long as the above 3 criteria match)

Thanks

I think google will provide the answers too. Come on.

Trust me - I have been googling all afternoon. The problem is too much conflicting info. Some people talk about the "firmware sticker number" others about the chipset numbers and others about the "CODE" and other digits. I am trying to figure out what is right and what is not before I start buying parts (with no return policy) on eBay.

Also, I have seen very conflicting info on whether the size of the drive matters or not if the other information (firmware andor CODE number and/or chip numbers) are identical.

So my problem is not google laziness but rather too much conflicting and half-baked information on google.

Sheesh!

Usually I buy fully baked bread, except when I make my own in my oven

Wow - that makes for two helpful replies from you -- why not just not answer if you have nothing useful to add?

Because there is the answer - read and/or search better AND I can't do everything for you, this is not Maxtor's free help desk. I owe you nothing at all.

I'm sorry puterboy.. BlackST is a complete dick.

See my thread here: best-match-for-maxtor-hard-drive-pcb-recover-data-t9854.html

I wrote what happened to me with a Maxtor disk and maybe we can help each other out. I actually found an exact match from a 60GB IDE for my 120GB. I got my data off with that but with no help from anyone here. I am now looking for a close match for the 60GB to at least make that drive useful again. My friend has access to a lot of dead hard drives so if I knew what matched what and what was close to a match id have a better idea of what I was looking for. There is a lot of conflicting info. It seems that the best things to match are the firmware code (YAR #), rom version (E4FYA looking #) and the CPU (large chip). If you match those then it should work but I have not confirmed that yet and would like to know which of those is not needed if any.

If I am a complete dick who is the nut(s)? They usually come as a complete set. DO NOT OFFEND. You have worked it out by your own as you should. If you had used the search function you had saved a lot of time. Everything was covered at least 1 or 2 times.

Thanks Madhits for the kind and helpful words.
I have just purchased 2 seemingly matching drives (based on a combination of all the criteria I saw passed around on these newsgroups and google).

Hopefully, they will work -- it seems though that I should first check the resistance on the preamp leads to make sure that isn't blown.

I will keep you all posted.