I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until i
accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device. The power
cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of those portable image
tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop HDD seems to be not spinning,
in that case device and in another that I know is working, and I need
to recover the 15GB of images on the HDD.

I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has been short
circuited somehow. Would you agree?

In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing the
circuit board with another from the same HDD could work. I have also
read that this doesn't always work as there are issues such as firmware
and head alignment mismatch to contend with. Would anyone suggest I try
this myself?

If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have some
professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!

Any help would be great.

hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until
> i accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device.
> The power cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of
> those portable image tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop
> HDD seems to be not spinning, in that case device and in
> another that I know is working, and I need to recover the
> 15GB of images on the HDD.

> I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has
> been short circuited somehow. Would you agree?

Over voltaged, anyway. Maybe, depends on whether
that image tank has any form of regulation of the 5V
that was supposed to be plugged into it. If it does, it may
just be that that got killed and that the drive itself is fine.

I'd check that first by seeing if the drive
will still work outside the image tank.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to get one of the adapters
thats designed to allow those laptop drives to be used internally
in a PC and see if it spins up and the data can be seen.

> In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing
> the circuit board with another from the same HDD could work.

Yes.

> I have also read that this doesn't always
> work as there are issues such as firmware

Yes, and some drives wont work even when you swap
the logic card between two identical brand new drives too.

> and head alignment mismatch to contend with.

The head alignment is never a problem with a logic card swap.

> Would anyone suggest I try this myself?

Really depends on how much you value the data.
Its safer to use one of the cheaper pro recovery
operations like http://www.retrodata.co.uk/

If you cant afford that, it is worth trying if the
alternative is to bin the drive and give up on the data.

> If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have
> some professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!

Some arent quite as bad as the worst of them.

> Any help would be great.

Previously hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until i
> accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device. The power
> cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of those portable image
> tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop HDD seems to be not spinning,
> in that case device and in another that I know is working, and I need
> to recover the 15GB of images on the HDD.

> I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has been short
> circuited somehow. Would you agree?

No, likely the electronics had been fried by massive overvoltage.
5V electronics can take up to 7V for a very short time. I have
seen 5V electronics explode (literally) when connected to
12V. Short-circuit is something different.

> In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing the
> circuit board with another from the same HDD could work. I have also
> read that this doesn't always work as there are issues such as firmware
> and head alignment mismatch to contend with. Would anyone suggest I try
> this myself?

Unlikely to work in this cae IMO. There is a pre-amplifier
on the head assembly. I would say the changes are excellent,
it has been fired too. You cannot replace that by
yourself. Also there may be smoke or particles inside of
the HDD. These might kill your heads if you get the HDD
to spin.

> If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have some
> professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!

I think that is the only reasonable choice.

Arno

Rod Speed wrote:
> hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until
> > i accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device.
> > The power cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of
> > those portable image tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop
> > HDD seems to be not spinning, in that case device and in
> > another that I know is working, and I need to recover the
> > 15GB of images on the HDD.
>
> > I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has
> > been short circuited somehow. Would you agree?
>
> Over voltaged, anyway. Maybe, depends on whether
> that image tank has any form of regulation of the 5V
> that was supposed to be plugged into it. If it does, it may
> just be that that got killed and that the drive itself is fine.
>
> I'd check that first by seeing if the drive
> will still work outside the image tank.
>
> One of the easiest ways to do that is to get one of the adapters
> thats designed to allow those laptop drives to be used internally
> in a PC and see if it spins up and the data can be seen.
>
> > In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing
> > the circuit board with another from the same HDD could work.
>
> Yes.
>
> > I have also read that this doesn't always
> > work as there are issues such as firmware
>
> Yes, and some drives wont work even when you swap
> the logic card between two identical brand new drives too.
>
> > and head alignment mismatch to contend with.
>
> The head alignment is never a problem with a logic card swap.
>
> > Would anyone suggest I try this myself?
>
> Really depends on how much you value the data.
> Its safer to use one of the cheaper pro recovery
> operations like http://www.retrodata.co.uk/
>
> If you cant afford that, it is worth trying if the
> alternative is to bin the drive and give up on the data.
>
> > If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have
> > some professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!
>
> Some arent quite as bad as the worst of them.
>
> > Any help would be great.

Rod, Thanks for your advice. I did try the fried HDD in another image
tank that I knew to be working, and no go. The image tanks I use are
Vosonic X's Drives, so I guess they do not have fuses / transformers,
which is a little worrying. Have looked at Retrodata website and it
does look like a cheaper deal. Thanks.

Arno Wagner wrote:
> Previously hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until i
> > accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device. The power
> > cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of those portable image
> > tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop HDD seems to be not spinning,
> > in that case device and in another that I know is working, and I need
> > to recover the 15GB of images on the HDD.
>
> > I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has been short
> > circuited somehow. Would you agree?
>
> No, likely the electronics had been fried by massive overvoltage.
> 5V electronics can take up to 7V for a very short time. I have
> seen 5V electronics explode (literally) when connected to
> 12V. Short-circuit is something different.
>
> > In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing the
> > circuit board with another from the same HDD could work. I have also
> > read that this doesn't always work as there are issues such as firmware
> > and head alignment mismatch to contend with. Would anyone suggest I try
> > this myself?
>
> Unlikely to work in this cae IMO. There is a pre-amplifier
> on the head assembly. I would say the changes are excellent,
> it has been fired too. You cannot replace that by
> yourself. Also there may be smoke or particles inside of
> the HDD. These might kill your heads if you get the HDD
> to spin.
>
> > If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have some
> > professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!
>
> I think that is the only reasonable choice.
>
> Arno

Arno, thanks for your thoughts. I also think I wouldn't dare try this
myself. The images on the fried HDD are my brother's round the world
holidays snaps, and the HDD was fried only 1h after he returned home
yesterday. Ooops.

hddbuster wrote:
>
> Arno Wagner wrote:
> > Previously hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until i
> > > accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device. The power
> > > cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of those portable image
> > > tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop HDD seems to be not spinning,
> > > in that case device and in another that I know is working, and I need
> > > to recover the 15GB of images on the HDD.
> >
> > > I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has been short
> > > circuited somehow. Would you agree?

<edited, for brevity>

> > > If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have some
> > > professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!
> >
> > I think that is the only reasonable choice.
> >
> > Arno
>
> Arno, thanks for your thoughts. I also think I wouldn't dare try this
> myself. The images on the fried HDD are my brother's round the world
> holidays snaps, and the HDD was fried only 1h after he returned home
> yesterday. Ooops.


Hello, Buster:

Let this be a lesson to you! NEVER rely on a single location (HDD, disc,
tape or whatever) for any important data. The more copies you have, the
better; one of them, at least, should be stored off-site.

Good luck, in your recovery efforts.


Cordially,
John Turco <(E-Mail Removed)>

Hi John,

Yes I agree with you, and do store all other pics in 3 locations, both
internal and external to the PC. However, the pics I am mentioning were
only moments away from being transferred from the image tank (where
they were accumulating over the past 3 months of overseas travel) to a
secondary HDD for backup purposes. And this fact is what makes this
ordeal so particularly annoying. But I thank you for your well-wishes.

"hddbuster" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)
> Arno Wagner wrote:
> > Previously hddbuster <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > > I have a laptop HDD rated at 5V which was working fine until i
> > > accidentally using the wrong power cord on the case device. The power
> > > cord was rated at 12V. The case device is only of those portable image
> > > tank things rated at 5V. Now the laptop HDD seems to be not spinning,
> > > in that case device and in another that I know is working, and I need
> > > to recover the 15GB of images on the HDD.
> >
> > > I am assuming that the circuit board on the HDD has been short
> > > circuited somehow. Would you agree?
> >
> > No, likely the electronics had been fried by massive overvoltage.
> > 5V electronics can take up to 7V for a very short time.

> > I have seen 5V electronics explode (literally) when connected to 12V.

Presumably on a high powered PC Power supply, not on a simple brick.

> Short-circuit is something different.

Nope, that rather depends on the power and the kind of current overload
protection that is applied to the supply. A brick power supply may be able
to fuse a circuit to about a short but then not be able to blow that same
short out because of a lack of sufficient power capability.

> >
> > > In which case, I have read that there is some chance that replacing the
> > > circuit board with another from the same HDD could work. I have also
> > > read that this doesn't always work as there are issues such as firmware
> > > and head alignment mismatch to contend with. Would anyone suggest I try
> > > this myself?

> > Unlikely to work in this cae

> IMO.

In your opinion.

> > There is a pre-amplifier on the head assembly.

Most electronics on a HD work on 3,3V so it sits behind a regulator.
The regulator that supplies the head amps may well have survived.

> > I would say the changes are excellent, it has been fired too.
> > You cannot replace that by yourself. Also there may be smoke or particles
> > inside of the HDD. These might kill your heads if you get the HDD to spin.

Fire and brimstone. Beware, the devil is in there.

> >
> > > If not, than I guess I will need to foot the bill to have some
> > > professionals try the data recovery. Ugh!
> >
> > I think that is the only reasonable choice.
> >
> > Arno
>
> Arno, thanks for your thoughts. I also think I wouldn't dare try this
> myself. The images on the fried HDD are my brother's round the world
> holidays snaps, and the HDD was fried only 1h after he returned home
> yesterday. Ooops.