please HELP IBM Deskstar IC35L040AVER07-0

[ccoleman2]

Hello guys....

Please help with advice to recover my files on my IBM DeskStar 41.0GB hard drive !!!!!

Model: IC35L040aver07-0
p/n: 07n6654
MLC: h32161
Made in Thailand.
Assembled in China
May 2001.

The problem is: my hard drive spins up, but is not recognized by the BIOS, so the machine fails to see a hard drive attached to the system.

The symptoms : the hard drive makes 4 very quiet head seeking (?) noises, it waits 1 second, then repeats the seek/click(?) noises 10 times.

I recorded the sound from the Deskstar spinning up in mp3.

Listen to the sound it makes HERE:

http://www.espacenetworks.com/ibm_deskstar_IC35L040AVER07-0_spin_up_sound.mp3

So far this is what I tried :

I bought an identical hard drive ( Same Model, p/n and MLC, but made in Hungary and Assembled in Czech Republic in July 2001 ) to try to swap the circuit board and see if it would work.. unfortunately, it did not work !!!!!!

I am very careful because there are some valuable files, but I would like to do this myself if possible.

Any suggestions of what to try next ?!

Someone had suggested swapping the small 8 pin surface mount NVRAM chip.. is this necessary ?! Why ??

Also, How hard is it to unsolder and resolder this NVRAM chip ?? I have soldered many things before and am relatively good at it but have never soldered any surface mount components so I would probably pay someone to swap the chips if that is the solution..

I am waiting for your replies

Please HELP !!!
Christopher

 

[786687786]

this drive firmware problem

 

[ccoleman2]

Thank you for your reply.
Where is the drive firmware located ??
What is the procedure to fix drive firmware problem?!
Best,
Christopher

 

[TechXYZ]

The drive firmware loacted in system area on the disk platters.

You can read about the professional data recovery process here:

http://www.deepspar.com/3d-data-recovery-overview.html.

They have tools to diagnose the drive, fix drive's firmware issues, retrieve data from bad sectors, etc...

All this staff is pretty expensive though and not easy to use, so I guess the cheapest way for you to recover data will still be to go to a data recovery company...

 

[ccoleman2]

How much does PC-3000 cost to rent or buy ?!

How much does data recovery cost in montreal for this kind of firmware version / head replacement problem on a deskstar ?!

I have a working donor drive that is the same model, part number and MLC.. if I offered my donor drive for data recovery specialist and I suppose I would get a cheaper price ?!

 

[786687786]

you can check with optimumrecovery.com they will help you

 

[ptdd]

I think it is the head wrong.

The Read/Write Heads

The read/write heads read and write data to the platters. There is typically one head per platter side, and each head is attached to a single actuator shaft so that all the heads move in unison. When one head is over a track, all the other heads are at the same location over their respective surfaces. Typically, only one of the heads is active at a time, i.e., reading or writing data. When not in use, the heads rest on the stationary platters, but when in motion the spinning of the platters create air pressure that lifts the heads off the platters. The space between the platter and the head is so minute that even one dust particle or a fingerprint could disable the spin. This necessitates that hard drive assembly be done in a clean room. When the platters cease spinning the heads come to rest, or park, at a predetermined position on the heads, called the landing zone.

Only the proffessional data recovery comany can change the head. Opening hard drive must be in clean room.

 

[TechXYZ]

In most of the cases when the heads are failed IBM drives make clicking noises. The drive's sound in this case looks more as a firmware corruption. The drive keeps trying to load firmware from system area (disk platters) a few times and each time fails to do that...

BTW, for "ptdd": you are wrong in your understanding about how hard drives work... . For example:

When one head is over a track, all the other heads are at the same location over their respective surfaces

Each head of the drive is positioning and reading/writing independently, so each time the drive switch between heads it has to relocate servo-data of the track on that surface.

The space between the platter and the head is so minute that even one dust particle or a fingerprint could disable the spin.

This is also not true.

 

[ccoleman2]

Thanks for your replies, ptdd and TechXYZ.

What is the solution for firmware corruption ?

 

[TechXYZ]

PC-3000 became a standard tool in data recovery industry. Pretty much every data recovery company is using it nowaday. I've heard that there are some other tools exist, but it seems like just a few people are using them, and I am not familiar with other tools.

However, as I mentioned to you earlier, it would be too expensive for you trying to handle it by yourself. And it's not just a matter of expensive tools... you will not be able to fix it without a good knowledge of drive's firmware structure. These tools are not automatic, by using them you will get access to lots of firmware objects, such as drive firmware modules and you will see which of them are corrupted, but then you will have to know how to fix them... Each module may have it's own repair procedure.

It's like with any electronics. Not many people will be able to fix TV if they have screwdrivers and oscilloscope, right? Same thing...

 

[ptdd]

Thank you TechXYZ.

May you tell the detail, I want to study it.

 

[TechXYZ]

Ptdd, if you mean to study hard drive design internals applicable to data recovery technology then unfortunately, you will not be able to find this information in public domain... . There are some companies that teach classes on this topic though. Try to search for "data recovery training".

 

[ptdd]

Thank you very much. I must study the hard drive knowledge if I want to become a data recovery specialist.