PATA HDD data recovery

[jsantossilva]

Hi group,
I already scanned this ng and couldn't find a similar problem, so here
it is:
I have two WD200EB drives, one good, one faulty with data I would like
to recover but no so much that I pay $$$ to a recovery service.
Symptoms:
Repeating clicking sound as soon as the pc is turned on, even with the
data cable disconnected, and every time the drive is accessed.
After a while, using the setup hd detection, the bios detects the drive
with 0 heads, 0 sectors, 16383 cyls in CHS. It should be 16, 63, 38792.
So I tried all the following with no success:
- Swap the electronics pcb's. The good one still works, the faulty
doesn't.
- Swap machines, cables, power connectors, ...
- Used Western Digital utility, works on good, with faulty bangs out
with exception error. Too fast to read, probably division by zero
caused by 0 parameters. If so, congratulations programmer.
- Used mbrtool.exe to backup MBR from good, restore to faulty.
Read/Write error.
- Used Norton diskedit.exe on physical mode to read first sector from
good and write to faulty, sector not found message.
- Used dos debug for same purpose, no result.
- Cried for help to YOU, please help.

Thanks.
jss

 

[J. Clarke]

Hi group,
I already scanned this ng and couldn't find a similar problem, so here
it is:
I have two WD200EB drives, one good, one faulty with data I would like
to recover but no so much that I pay $$$ to a recovery service.
Symptoms:
Repeating clicking sound as soon as the pc is turned on, even with the
data cable disconnected, and every time the drive is accessed.
After a while, using the setup hd detection, the bios detects the drive
with 0 heads, 0 sectors, 16383 cyls in CHS. It should be 16, 63, 38792.
So I tried all the following with no success:
- Swap the electronics pcb's. The good one still works, the faulty
doesn't.
- Swap machines, cables, power connectors, ...
- Used Western Digital utility, works on good, with faulty bangs out
with exception error. Too fast to read, probably division by zero
caused by 0 parameters. If so, congratulations programmer.
- Used mbrtool.exe to backup MBR from good, restore to faulty.
Read/Write error.
- Used Norton diskedit.exe on physical mode to read first sector from
good and write to faulty, sector not found message.
- Used dos debug for same purpose, no result.
- Cried for help to YOU, please help.

Ding, dong, the disk is dead.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Hi group,
I already scanned this ng and couldn't find a similar problem, so here
it is:
I have two WD200EB drives, one good, one faulty with data I would like
to recover but no so much that I pay $$$ to a recovery service.
Symptoms:
Repeating clicking sound as soon as the pc is turned on, even with the
data cable disconnected, and every time the drive is accessed.
After a while, using the setup hd detection, the bios detects the drive
with 0 heads, 0 sectors, 16383 cyls in CHS. It should be 16, 63, 38792.
So I tried all the following with no success:
- Swap the electronics pcb's. The good one still works, the faulty
doesn't.
- Swap machines, cables, power connectors, ...
- Used Western Digital utility, works on good, with faulty bangs out
with exception error. Too fast to read, probably division by zero
caused by 0 parameters. If so, congratulations programmer.
- Used mbrtool.exe to backup MBR from good, restore to faulty.
Read/Write error.
- Used Norton diskedit.exe on physical mode to read first sector from
good and write to faulty, sector not found message.
- Used dos debug for same purpose, no result.
- Cried for help to YOU, please help.

This seems unlikely to be recoverable without physocal repair.
Pay somebody that knows how to repair HDD hardware (and spent a
considerable amount of time learning it) or do without the data.

Arno

 

[Bob Willard]

Hi group,
I already scanned this ng and couldn't find a similar problem, so here
it is:
I have two WD200EB drives, one good, one faulty with data I would like
to recover but no so much that I pay $$$ to a recovery service.
Symptoms:
Repeating clicking sound as soon as the pc is turned on, even with the
data cable disconnected, and every time the drive is accessed.
After a while, using the setup hd detection, the bios detects the drive
with 0 heads, 0 sectors, 16383 cyls in CHS. It should be 16, 63, 38792.
So I tried all the following with no success:
- Swap the electronics pcb's. The good one still works, the faulty
doesn't.
- Swap machines, cables, power connectors, ...
- Used Western Digital utility, works on good, with faulty bangs out
with exception error. Too fast to read, probably division by zero
caused by 0 parameters. If so, congratulations programmer.
- Used mbrtool.exe to backup MBR from good, restore to faulty.
Read/Write error.
- Used Norton diskedit.exe on physical mode to read first sector from
good and write to faulty, sector not found message.
- Used dos debug for same purpose, no result.
- Cried for help to YOU, please help.

Thanks.
jss

And now you know why backup is a good thing.

 

[jsantossilva]

Pay somebody that knows how to repair HDD hardware (and spent a
considerable amount of time learning it) or do without the data.

And now you know why backup is a good thing.

Ding, dong, the disk is dead.

Thank you all for your help, if I can call that.
However, for those that read this in the future experiencing a similar
problem, don't listen to that, go ahead and risk it in spite of those
that think they have the exclusive of this area, they call it business,
or those that just want to tell a joke or even those that sound like
your mamma "you should have done this and that..", instead of
helping you.
So I took the risk of opening my disk, not in a "clean100" room but
in my cellar full of dust, detected a broken head assembly gone off the
platter, replaced it with the one from the other good disk and got most
of my data back.
Saved a lot of bucks and enjoyed doing it.

jss

 

[Odie Ferrous]

So I took the risk of opening my disk, not in a "clean100" room but
in my cellar full of dust, detected a broken head assembly gone off the
platter,

Never seen this one before - normally the mechanism that prevents the
r/w assembly from moving off the platters is pretty solid.


Odie

 

[Arno Wagner]

considerable amount of time learning it) or do without the data.

Thank you all for your help, if I can call that.
However, for those that read this in the future experiencing a similar
problem, don't listen to that, go ahead and risk it in spite of those
that think they have the exclusive of this area, they call it business,
or those that just want to tell a joke or even those that sound like
your mamma "you should have done this and that..", instead of
helping you.
So I took the risk of opening my disk, not in a "clean100" room but
in my cellar full of dust, detected a broken head assembly gone off the
platter, replaced it with the one from the other good disk and got most
of my data back.
Saved a lot of bucks and enjoyed doing it.

Impressive. You are either very skillful or very lucky.

Arno

 

[jsantossilva]

Never seen this one before - normally the mechanism that prevents the

r/w assembly from moving off the platters is pretty solid.

Impressive. You are either very skillful or very lucky.

Just to clear any doubts you might have, I reassembled the broken head
assembly back on the good disk I had, on the exact position I found it.
Take a look here:
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/41d14bef_21ec/bc/photos/WD200EB.jpg?bfr.U0BBVtTO3NIC
Watch for inserting the full http address in the browser box, probably
you know this but there are people who don't.
As you can see, the part of the head assembly where the voice coil is
embedded is made of plastic and you can see it broken on the end that
was used as a limit stop.
As to my skills, I just used a trax (is this the correct name?)
screwdriver for all the screws (they all have the same size and type)
and a needle to open the heads fork to put it back on the platter.
For your information, the disk is now completely dead after the head
landed on the platter with that shriiiiinch.. noise due to a dust
particle being caught between the two.
jss

 

[jsantossilva]

The picture address is wrong, I didn't realize it was a temporary
address.
So, please go to:
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/jsantossilva2
and once there, move the photos folder and click on the WD200EB

jss

 

[Arno Wagner]

Never seen this one before - normally the mechanism that prevents the
r/w assembly from moving off the platters is pretty solid.
Impressive. You are either very skillful or very lucky.

[...]
As to my skills, I just used a trax (is this the correct name?)
screwdriver for all the screws (they all have the same size and type)
and a needle to open the heads fork to put it back on the platter.

For your information, the disk is now completely dead after the head
landed on the platter with that shriiiiinch.. noise due to a dust
particle being caught between the two.

O.k., very lucky then ;-)

Sure, if the data on such a disk is not worth much, and if there is a
spare HDD of the same model that also has no significant worth,
anybody may try this. And I agree, that if it works it is very nice.
However it may (and will sooner more than later) fail and can result
in no data recovery at all. And professional recovery from the result
of such an attempt will be very expensive.

So all of you that realy do not want to loose your data, paying for
professional recovery is far, far less risky.

All others: Give it a try ;-)

Arno

 

[J. Clarke]

Just to clear any doubts you might have, I reassembled the broken head
assembly back on the good disk I had, on the exact position I found it.
Take a look here:
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/41d14bef_21ec/bc/photos/WD200EB.jpg?bfr.U0BBVtTO3NIC
Watch for inserting the full http address in the browser box, probably
you know this but there are people who don't.
As you can see, the part of the head assembly where the voice coil is
embedded is made of plastic and you can see it broken on the end that
was used as a limit stop.
As to my skills, I just used a trax (is this the correct name?)
screwdriver for all the screws (they all have the same size and type)
and a needle to open the heads fork to put it back on the platter.
For your information, the disk is now completely dead after the head
landed on the platter with that shriiiiinch.. noise due to a dust
particle being caught between the two.

You are very lucky that you got your data back _before_ the "shriiiiinch"
noise.

One should not count on getting away with this. Now, would you have tried
this if the data was worth $100? 1000? 10,000? 100,000? 1,000,000?

 

[jsantossilva]

It's difficult to tell the value of the data I had on the disk but,
just to be objective, I wouldn't have tried it if it was worth more
than $300.
That's when the professional data recovery services come in, I guess.
jss

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

Impressive. You are either very skillful or very lucky.

Yeah, he is definetely in your league, Arnie. He probably has your insights too.
And the same clue in physics, like yourself. Unlike certain "other" people, eh Arnie.

So next he'll probably teach us how to let water burn. Now, wouldn't that be great.