I've been studying for the past couple of days to try to recover data from my WD2500JB.

Details:

• PC that it was in is dead. Probably due to a power spike during a recent storm.
• Does not register in BIOS (This is likely because the Service Area can’t be read?)
• Does not spin up, though I can feel it torque as-if it is trying to spin
• It makes some faint noises that I guess is the voice-coil trying to move the heads?
• Removed the PCB to inspect. (no smell or visible scorches)
• I have another drive for a donor, bought on the same day. (same model, same manufacture date)

Questions:

• Before I destroy my second drive, is it likely that this can be repaired at the PCB level?
• Given that lightening may have caused this issue, is there a high chance of stiction?
• Given that my donor drive has the same complete model number and date of mfg, is there much chance that replacing the PCB will work without swapping the U12 component? Would it hurt to try?
• If I get this running, my first course of action is to dd image the whole thing to a spare drive. Does that sound like a good idea?

I have access to a multi-meter, o-scope, and various other test equipment. Do you have any other troubleshooting tips before I give up?

Best Regards,
Aaron

If it's just the PCB, you might have a chance but usually you need to work with the adaptive info on the PCB that is unique to each hard drive...

If something in the HDA is damaged it can cause damage to your good PCB.

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

U might want to check the preamp before ruining another PCB.
To do this U might want to search the forum, there are topics dealing with basic preamp checking...

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Adatmentés - Data recovery

First let me apologize for asking "Would it hurt to try?". I had already read about the possibility of frying the donor PCB in several other posts. And all advice given in an open forum should be assumed to have no warranty. That said, I am not much concerned about killing the donor drive (or its PCB). Except that it would leave me with one less tool to resolve this issue.

The intent of that question was to determine if the donor PCB with the donor U12 is likely to make my dead drive any worse? Though after more reading, it seems that the ROM (U12) contains control information that could overdrive the voice coil or something like that.

I will try to transfer the ROM data using the process in this thread, http://forum.hddguru.com/read-write-serial-flash-wdc-logic-boards-t7192.html. In post ~15, Aviko said "when a flash content is damaged - pcb will not boot...". Would this prevent spin-up? Corrupt firmware could explain why I can't find any signs of fried components.

Cheers,
Aaron

According to this post from jono-ats, "a corrupt ROM will cause a WD not to spin." That makes sense. But, if I need the ROM from my patient drive and that ROM is corrupt, then what? I suspect that the answer is in this forum somewhere.

phpBB says I can edit my posts in this forum. Though, for some reason I cannot find the button to do so.

Unfortunately that would probably put you beyond the realm of DIY. However if it is "trying to spin" then this is not your issue. When ROM is corrupted the drive just sits there doing nothing when you plug it in.

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

PCB swap and solder the original ROM in donor PCB.

If this was the case, then either take it to a recovery firm or go buy that expensive equipment but the equipment cost will well exceed the data recovery cost from the recovery firm...

Is your drive WD2000JB-00DUA0 by any chance???