Fixing a Dead Hard Drive

[LHammonds]

The new (well, used but working) drive came in the mail today on schedule! I am at work so I cannot do anything but sit here in anticipation of swapping the boards to see if it works...but of course I will try the drive before I mess with it just to make sure it is not a DOA drive.

 

So, the only thing I can do right now is compare documentation.

 

Dead Drive

WD Caviar SE, Serial ATA Hard Drive

Drive Parameters: LBA 625142448

MDL: WD3200JD-00KLB0

DATE: 23 JUN 2005

DCM: DSBHCAJCH

Number on board: 94V-0

Number on board: 2060-701336-003 REV A

 

Used drive that came in the mail today

WD Caviar SE, Serial ATA Hard Drive

Drive Parameters: LBA 625142448

MDL: WD3200JD-00KLB0

DATE: 23 AUG 2006

DCM: DSCACAJCH

Number on board: 94V-0

Number on board: 2060-701336-003 REV A

 

The GREEN numbers are a perfect match to the original. This is good news!

 

Here's to hoping that 1) the new drive works and 2) the dead drive is not damaged beyond the electronic board.

 

LHammonds

[Retribution]

No quadruple posting :P

 

Good luck.

[LHammonds]

No quadruple posting :P

Yes, I was mindful of that and EDIT when I can but posted new replies about major events for those with a topic subscription to the thread. ;)

 

But really, after the first few replies, there was no need for anyone else to make a post on this thread other than me. :)

 

EDIT: I got into too much of a rush to get out of the door and head home with my hard drive and forgot the SATA to USB conversion cable. Since I have nothing at home that can utilize a SATA drive, I just caused my own delay to wait yet another day to see if my data can be restored. Grrrr!!!!

 

LHammonds

[bben46]

Murphy strikes again. (Who is this Murphy guy? I want to put out a contract on him.)

This post is so you don't get skewered for multiple posting again.

Good luck with getting the drive working.

[Dark0ne]

For goodness sake I've got my eye on this thread waiting to see if you manage to pull it off and you keep leaving me in suspense doing stupid things like leaving things behind. Come on Lon, THINK OF US!!

[LHammonds]

hehehe. The converter is in my pocket and not leaving my side until I get home today!!!

 

I would have gone back to work and nabbed it yesterday if it wasn't for the fact that my wife was "IN" my office trying to get her comprehensive test completed for her PhD....meaning I had 5 critters at home to look-after. I thought about locking them in the closet while I got the cable but the doors do not have locks so I stayed home. I was hoping she'd come home early but she didn't get home until about 2 hours before I left to work this morning!!! Gotta love how things have this supernatural timing about them. ;)

 

LHammonds

 

EDIT: 10:47 PM - Just tested the new drive. It works! Now to swap the board on the fried drive and see what I get...gotta remember to bring the MyBook online first so I have drive space to begin data recovery immediately if the drive spins up.

 

EDIT: 11:12 PM - No joy. Drive spins up but the OS detects nothing. Tried re-seating the board, adjusting the jumpers, rebooting, trying different USB ports, cycling power in different combinations and reboots. Only think I can think of now (while typing this) is to use the old 4-pin style power cable rather than the SATA power cable.

 

EDIT: 11:30 PM - Still no joy. Same reaction using either power source. Disk Management seems to pause 60 seconds longer than normal to display when the drive is plugged in so it knows something is there but just cannot communicate with it. Also unplugged all other USB devices in case there might have been some kind of conflict. The ONLY other thing I can think of trying is to actually put the drive into a computer that has built-in support for SATA....yes, it is a VERY long shot at this point but this SATA->USB converter cable has not always been 100% reliable. I am thinking my chances of getting the data/mods from this drive dropped from 50% to 3.5%. ** sigh **

[buddah]

Good luck Lon, I have been following this as well.

 

if it spins up, this might help you recover the data, I have used it a few time sucessfully. It is free download. Might help, might not...but worth looking into.

 

http://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/file_recov....htm?language=1

[LHammonds]

Thanks buddah. If the PC BIOS will recognize the drive when I place it into an SATA-compatible system, this software might increase my chances of recovery if Windows still cannot detect the drive.

 

I have no such SATA-compatible PC anymore and will have to find/borrow one. The funny thing is that I support 300 PCs at work but none of them are SATA machines. I have a 40 GB drive I got from work because a tech ordered a replacement drive for a dead system and they sent an SATA drive but we had nothing that would use it. So they gave it to me for my PC (which did have SATA).

 

Thanks,

Lon

[Thor.]

Hey have you tried something like this, a usb sata hard drive case, if it reads through the bois it might also read through windows as a usb device.

 

http://www.usb-ware.com/esata-usb-5-25-enclosure.htm

[LHammonds]

Thor, the USB enclosure is essentially the exact same thing as the SATA to USB Cable that I have been using except it is not designed to be a permanent solution but more of a trouble-shooting tool. And no, the BIOS will not recognize a hard drive through the USB port. It has to be physically plugged into the motherboard to be seen inside the BIOS. And as I've said, I am not holding my breath on this one. It is very unlikely that it will work. But if the BIOS can see the drive, I can at least subject the drive to the tool buddah mentioned as well as another recovery/diagnostic tool called SpinRite.

 

I did not have a break at work today to work on it and I had to come home immediately at 5PM sharp to look after the rug rats so my wife could continue working on her comp exam...which by my calculation should be "due" to be turned in within 60 seconds (midnight)...yes, she is working right up to the last second.

 

LHammonds