Data recovery from IDE drive

[ddrueding]

It has been a long time since I've had a drive with critical data fail without a backup. This one wasn't my responsibility before now, but I told them I would try to get it back.

IDE Barracuda 7200.8 200GB

User attempted to install an additional drive, and in doing so temporarily disconnected and reconnected this drive. Upon inspection, one of the pins on the connector had been pushed in (seems clear the user tried to plug in the cord upside-down). I was able to physically pull the pin back out, but no idea whether the electrical connection behind the plug is still intact.

Connected the drive via IDE-USB adapter to my workstation. It detects the adapter, and detects the drive (make and model), then declares "device unplugged" and tries again a few moments later.

Before I try to remove the connector and make any repairs, can anyone think of something less intrusive to try?

Thanks!

 

[Mercutio]

Get a T7 screwdriver and replace the PCB (which IIRC includes the data connector) from a known good drive.

 

[ddrueding]

IIRC, it would need to be an exact drive, no? The only similar drive I have is the 400GB equivalent.

 

[Mercutio]

If the shit is worth that much to the end user, they're not going to have a problem with a $50 expense for an Ebay purchase. The more work you have to do the more verbal abuse you can heap on about backups later.

 

[ddrueding]

Hmm....

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barra...ie=UTF8&qid=1371156906&sr=1-1&keywords=9Y7289

 

[ddrueding]

Ordered. Not quite an exact match (P/N after the "-" is different), but we will see. Very reasonable price.

 

[Bozo]

I didn't realize that hard drive pcbs were that easy to get. Nice to know.

 

[Chewy509]

Dave, one critical point, for a PCB swap to work you'll most likely need to copy the flash storage from the dead PCB to the live one. The onboard flash will have motor timings, dead/reallocated sector map and a few other settings to make it a 90% chance of working instead of a 5% chance of working...

FYI. most modern HDD's have about 2MB of flash that holds some critical information about the drive: drive motor setup, sector reallocation map, bad sector map, etc.

 

[sdbardwick]

Dave, do you have a native IDE (Intel or AMD circa 2004ish [note that Marvell controllers on motherboards sometimes function as IDE->USB converters]) controller to play with? Some IDE-USB converters just don't play nice with some HDD.

I gather the drive was working until the ill-fated cable push. If that is the case, you really should try more agressive measures to mend the physical connector damage before attempting a PCB swap; the PCB swap can brick the drive.

 

[ddrueding]

When connecting the drive directly to a native IDE port the machine halts before completing post. It first shows the drive, and it passes a SMART test in the BIOS, but halts on a blank screen (sometimes with a blinking cursor) when attempting to boot with the drive connected.

 

[ddrueding]

De-soldered the IDE connector and put another one on. Copying files now. The new PCB arrives Monday. Oh, well.

 

[sdbardwick]

Cool! You are gonna be somebody's hero-for-the-day!