Retrieve Data from HDD...

[Tigjaw]

My brother's Spinpoint F3 decided to fizzle and die recently and took all of his precious files with it. He was in the middle of reorganising and (ironically) backing his data up ready for a few upgrades.

He said he saw sparks out the back of the HDD where the SATA power port connects so we believe all the data still may be intact.
...So, we're hoping to find a way to retrieve the files.

We are considering trying to find a spare board (see 2. below) and attempt a transplant. (A search for the board s/n didn't come up with anything though).

Does anyone have any other ideas?

1. HDD Details: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3wbl19nuou8sj2f/SpinpointF3 (2).jpg

2. Board: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jvz76d7htfefwb4/SpinpointF3 (1).jpg

 

[DennisMenace]

Getting sparks from a 12v connector is not good - have you checked the PSU? Is the HDD completely dead, have you tried powering it from a different PSU (or Sata-USB adapter)? Can you see any scorch marks or blown components? (Nothing's obvious from pic 2).

If it is just the board, a straight swap might not be enough - each HDD is individually aligned/calibrated, and the offsets stored in flash memory or via pots - which you'll be changing. Although you could get lucky.

The sensible, reliable and (often extremely) expensive answer is a professional data recovery service - but you probably knew that. But if the files are priceless, what's a few hundred quid?

 

[PistolPete]

Board swaps these days rarely ever work. Years ago with low platter densities it was possible to find a similar board and if the alignment of the motor controller was similar than data could be pulled off.

The higher density of the platters today means that the alignment of the motor controller in the firmware is even more critical so get one where the alignment is even a fraction of a degree different = garbled data.

EDIT: Kinda beaten to it.

 

[Tigjaw]

Cheers guys,

Yeah the PSU is fine, he's running his new setup from it. The HDD seems completely dead indeed, he's tried it with different cables to no avail but I don't know if he's tried a Sata-USB adapter connection. I'll check that out.

There's no obvious scorch marks or burns to my (slightly blurry) sight but my brother thinks he can see some marks - but they must be miniscule because my eyesight isn't quite that bad. Either way, when he initially took it out there was a definite burnt smell coming from around the board by the ports. You have to stick your nose quite close to the ports to get a whiff of it though. That's why we were hopeful of retrieving the data - if the damage was isolated.

I had no idea that each HDD was unique due to alignments etc... I guess replacing the board doesn't sound too viable.
So even HDDs with the exact same serial numbers, parts and firmware, and boards with the exact same part numbers would be unique to one another?

The data isn't quite priceless but it amounts to a lot of time and effort and (as mobsters are always telling us) time is money. Professional data recovery is an option but as you say, it costs a hell of a lot of doll-hairs.

 

[AbsenceJam]

You might find the exact same board, but the contents of the ROM may be different. There are data recovery companies that can deal with this I believe, but obviously expensive.