Ok here goes, left pc on over night and woke up to bad hard drive. Windows will not recognize the drive, nor Western digitals diagnostic tools, data recovery software ect.

Bios does recognize it though but with an incorrect serial number. After doing spending all night xfering data on hard drives and loading up windows on a spare drive I got some research done but still have some questions. I have never had a hard drive physically fail to the point where I could not recover the data, so fixing the hard ware of a HD is new to me.

Anyways here goes, the bad HD is a Western digital POS (250 GB SATA)

Mind you, I have not taken this appart yet, as I do not have the correct tool.

MDL: WD2500KS 00MJB0
date: 22 Jul 2006
DCM: DSBAYTJAH

Barcode Sticker: 2061- 701335-C00 AH
PCB printed number 2060-701335-005 REV A

Ok like I said HD is intact and from the outside there is no obvious signs of burning or odd smells. No clicking noises, no symptoms of hard drive failure prior to this incident. Hard drive will spin up.

Bios recognizes it as WDC ROM MODEL-HAWK----

Any ideas????

I just so happen to have another hard drive with the exact same model but manufacture date of 1 NOV 06. This hard drive is the one I just loaded up with windows and am currently using. I am wondering if swapping PCB's temporarily for the sake of saving my data will work and be worth risking a good drive over.

The exact numbers on the working drive (possible donor drive) are:

MDL: WD2500KS 00MJB0
date: 01 Nov 06
DCM: HSCHYTZCHB

Barcode Sticker: 2061- 701335-C00 AK
PCB printed number 2060-701335-005 REV A

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also if there are tutorials with pictures of the suggested repair floating around the net please hook a noob up with the link.

Thanks in advance,

It looks like You're dealing with firmware problem, ROM corrupt or bad PCB. You can try to replace PCB with another one, printed number PCB must match + You must do U12 swap (flash rom unique content). But there is a little chance that PCB is broken.

Appart from that it is not easy case and You must have pro tools and good knowledge to recover this drive. If You are care about data, You should take it to the pro, there are many guru people on this forum that might help You.

If data is not important then...

Damon

No clicking does not mean no head damage. PCB replacement may be worth attempting, but if you are not competent in soldering or if data is too important to put at risk, then seek professional assistance.

I can solder and I fix electronics for a living. I am just seeking this forums knowledge to help isolate the problem. If it sounds like corrupt firmware, is there a software solution? If so what is it and what website can I purchase it from? I am not here to find a professional I am here because I want to fix it myself.

The data is important but I would rather pay for software then have someone take my 250 dollars to point and click my data to saftey.

You need PC3000 UDMA. You can buy it in Canada. Look for acelab products.



There is also a lot of literature about data recovery.

Did you try freezer solution yet? I hear it is very helpful thing.

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www.datarecoveryne.com

@harddrive specialist... you should at least provide the price for the PC3000UDMA complex (hardware + software)... and you mentioned the freezer but forgot the oven

I don't get many people who tried Oven option, but I guess it is as good as a Freezer.

As for a PC3000 price; I have done spoon-feeding and now you asking me to chew it for them also???

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www.datarecoveryne.com

might as well change your name to douchebag specialist. If I wanted to waste my time I could have read any of your other posts. I am not here for your geeky comedy, just some technical help. if you have something smart to say post otherwise keep your nerdy wise cracks to you and your dorky friends.

No comment.




You seems to know what to do and how easy that is, so do it!

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www.datarecoveryne.com

Its not even 250 its going to be 560 plus data recovery fees.

I have been told now by 3 different sources its most likely corrupt firmware.

I didnt mean to be a dick but I am not an idiot and by no means computer retarded. I fix my own problems and have recovered data in the past from failed hard drives using software solutions. I know a few of you guys probably recover data for a living and or repair drives. That's great but the way I see it is if I have to shell out 500-1000 bucks for my data I might as well invest that into the tools to use it for the future. I will figure it out myself and maybe help others with the pc3000.

I am not some idiot who took a frozen hard drive to geeksquad that you and your data recovery buddies can laught at. I am looking to fix this myself. Simple as that.

Also since there is no one in the state of alaska with that type of data recovery tool it may be a worth while investment. 10K is pricey though

Keep in mind that data recovery is a skilled profession, much like being a doctor. You wouldn't show up at a health forum and say "hey, I think I have appendicitis. I've never done this before but someone teach me to remove my own appendix! where are the noob tutorials with pictures??"

Or maybe you would, but I don't think you'd have a lot of luck.

Even if/when you buy the pc3000, you still don't have a point-and-click solution. You have the interface to the inner workings of the drive, but what do you plan to do with it?

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You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

To darkstar939:

You are ignoring any advice given.
What is a point of giving you any other advice?

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www.datarecoveryne.com

If there was a software solution for such problems, this forum and our profession would be useless. Some problems or things are not user-serviceable (luckily). And I have never heard about people that bought this kind of equipment (BTW you have to pay annual support fee for it so the expense is not limited to initial buy) and ... snap ! started a DR business. Usually this approach ends with "PC3000 FOR SALE... URGENT !!" .
Moreover, PC3000 or similar tools are not a magic stick : many problems are unaddressable by these tools (that are meant ONLY to give some access to drive system internals) , not all drive families are supported (yes, even a 10.000$ + tool have limits) and very often you have to find a workaround by yourself, and no one else can help.

Finally just a bit of humour... the OP is Alaska located, so obviously the freezer trick was the 1st thing to do in natural way. SMILE

It just blows my mind that there isn't a firmware emulator or way to restore firmware without hardware.

I am aware of the $1800 or something annual updates and there is definitely a learning curve to data recovery as hardware and mechanical failure require technical expertise. I have talked to several computer repair shops in town and there is a need for data recovery here. The thing is though is most people, especially in these economic times can't shell out $500 to 1000 to recover....say family pictures of a dead HD.

I am not ignoring advice, I did notice someone said I could replace the PCB's if I did a U12 swap.

Here is the thing, I do not care about 98% of the hard drive contents. I have pictures of my 4 month old son from the day he was born until today and a few work files and financial data. At the same time I have saved passwords and other personal and financial content on the drive I do not want to give anyone access to. I do not want to change tons of passwords nor risk my personal information being compromised.

So it comes down to this, are those pictures worth $560 dollars? I have some of them backed up but not 3 months worth. I just can not see paying that kind of money. On the other hand if a PC3000 was 1000 dollars or even 2k then yes I would buy one and learn it and probably try to make a buck with it. There is a need for that here in my state.

I also got information from another person that said a U12 swap shouldn't be required since they are identical hard drives and PCB's

I feel like this discussion is a little bit pointless.......... I can't help, I should have fixed your drive but this is unpractical. But I can suggest you to keep the disk in a safe place and wait either if DR prices will lower or until you can afford it.

No it is not possible at present to emulate FW or do what you need without specialized complex(es) : I can tell you this because I do R&D on this field and have developed proprietary solutions for access data/firmware on many drive families. If you want to try, do it: everything come and go from the drive port but don't expect to get info on how this is done. I know it is frustrating for so-called experts, but there's a limit to admit : everyone use things made by other, and unless you do reverse engineering, you won't be able to recreate or service hi-tech things like modern HDDs. It's more like black magic, nowadays.
Some info is dispersed, some other discovered by chance, but very few people have the necessary knowledge. It doesn't bother me, I started this years ago and concentrated only on two brands (I know the other, too, but I am specialised on some part of the DR process), and - trust me - it's not a "click and go" business ...

P.S. the fact you say there is need for DR in your area means two things :
1) No one needs DR really
2) No one can afford DR.
Otherwise, at least one DR firm should have started.