PCB BIOS and FLASH swap

[Round Rocks]

I have a WD 2.5" HDD that for no reason suddenly stopped being seen by Windows or Ubunto. Drive did not fall and does not make any strange sounds or clicks. Turns on fine, the spin sound sounds normal (no stuck head). When connecting to USB, PC will make the default sound you hear when you connect a device but it is not seen in any manager or data restore software, not as RAW, not as "undefined," nothing. So there is nothing to "scan."

Since it doesn't seem to be anything mechanical, I am going to try a PCB swap.
I'm going to try to use the USB connection before I might try to bypass the USB with a SATA connection.
As you can see in the attached screenshot, my PCB has two chips next to each other; one is the BIOS and one is a FLASH controller.
I found an identical model on Aliexpress and ordered it. Problem is, the one that came has two BIOS chips instead of one BIOS and one FLASH.

My question is, do you think it's enough to just swap the BIOS chip without touching the FLASH chip? Or do I have to order a different PCB that has both the BIOS and the FLASH chip so I can swap both?

Thanks!

[lcoughey]

I already answered you on your hddguru post, but figured it would be good to have it on record here too.

It is not a PCB issue. Swapping to SATA only compounds the issues if you aren't equipped to deal with weak heads, firmware, bad sectors, encryption and possible file system damage.

The problem is, right now, we can't be sure to what extent the damage is.

Unless there is a dead head, it should be a sub $500 recovery by reputable non-gouging labs. (I got a newer 4TB WD passport yesterday that a lab quoted a bunch of BS with a price tag of $2700CAD. It was only a $450CAD job with us.

Going the DIY route might save you a few bucks,..but it could end up costing you more. That is a decision only you can make.

My question is, do you think it's enough to just swap the BIOS chip without touching the FLASH chip? Or do I have to order a different PCB that has both the BIOS and the FLASH chip so I can swap both?

The U12 is the ROM chip which is what is needed to be moved. The U14 is tied to the USB bridge which won't exist on a SATA PCB.

[Round Rocks]

Thanks. Yes, good idea to post here as well, maybe it will help someone else.

I am starting to agree with people that it's not a board issue and I don't need to swap the PCB. I was told that it might not be getting enough amps to the USB port (which I was told is a common problem with WD passports.) So is there some adapter you can refer me to that can add power to the port?

So my question is, is there a way to just get the drive detected in Windows or Linux without swapping the PCB or chips. Would bypassing the USB port to SATA be enough to get it detected and scannable without transferring chips?

[lcoughey]

Typically, the symptoms you describe are firmware related, usually caused by bad sectors which are, in turn, caused by one or more weak/failing heads. For most labs, this is a likely a routine recovery where we would likely convert the drive to SATA, fix any firmware issues, image the drive, working around the bad sectors and weak heads, and decrypting the data on the fly. The price of this service can vary between labs. Unless the heads are damaged and need changing, Recovery Force would charge $450 CAD (~ $350 USD).

I just noticed that you ordered another USB board replacement and not the SATA board replacement. So, in theory, you could always try transferring the U12 between the two PCBs and see if it makes a difference, which it likely won't. It certainly isn't something you will want to do if you are not good with soldering. Should you break a leg off the ROM chip, it doesn't make recovery impossible from a Western Digital drive, it just makes it a lot more complicated for a professional.

To handle this as a DIY, you will need to have the following:

1. compatible SATA PCB on which you can transfer the U12 from the patient USB PCB
2. a tool that can access, diagnose and fix firmware issues (PC3000, MRT, DFL and possibly HDDSuperClone)
3. a blank, healthy drive of equal or larger capacity on which you can write your clone/image
4. software to clone/image the drive, skipping around bad zones and gradually working to get the cleanest clone possible (ddrescue or hddsuperclone)
5. software capable to handle the western digital encryption and decrypt the data on your clone (reallymine, I do believe) which may require another drive of equal or larger value to copy the decrypted sectors to
6. file system recovery software to scan the decrypted clone and save the data out to your destination drive (yes, another drive for the recovered data)

I think I have most everything listed.

Good luck.

[Round Rocks]

@lcoughey Thank you for your reply. Where is "Recovery Force" located? $350 is actually a fair price.

1. I would have done the soldering myself; I have a soldering specialist that would have done it for $30.
2. I couldn't find a SATA compatible PCB for the WD passport at the price I found this one on Aliexpress ($6)
3. I know the PC-3000 comes with a small USB-to-SATA adapter for just this purpose but it comes with the kit and not sold separately.

[lcoughey]

@lcoughey Thank you for your reply. Where is "Recovery Force" located? $350 is actually a fair price.

We are in Canada and our full address is on the website that hosts this forum.

1. I would have done the soldering myself; I have a soldering specialist that would have done it for $30.

That is a fair price.

2. I couldn't find a SATA compatible PCB for the WD passport at the price I found this one on Aliexpress ($6)

You can probably find dozens of the matching SATA boards on e-bay.

3. I know the PC-3000 comes with a small USB-to-SATA adapter for just this purpose but it comes with the kit and not sold separately.

I don't know of a USB to SATA adapter for PC3000, other than their somewhat useless USB power adapter. Even with the built-in USB support in the PC3000 portable system, this type of issue cannot be resolved without SA access, typically done via a donor SATA PCB and sometimes via a very slow terminal access.

[Round Rocks]

I don't know of a USB to SATA adapter for PC3000, other than their somewhat useless USB power adapter.

Most probably that's the one I saw

[ddrecovery]

That is not a USB to SATA adapter. That is a SATA power connector you can see, with two USB connections.

[Round Rocks]

That is not a USB to SATA adapter. That is a SATA power connector you can see, with two USB connections.

I don't know - he says that this is used to replace the old method with WD passports, where he had to cut up a SATA connector and wire it to the PCB to bypass the USB connector. I thought that's what an adaptor is. Here's the link that will direct you to the exact time in the video where he says this: https://youtu.be/aIX9CjmrhI0?t=219

[ddrecovery]

It is not what that adapter does. A drive with a USB PCB has one connector for both power and data. They cannot be controlled separately. This adapter is wired so the USB port only reads data, while the SATA port controls power. It does not convert USB to SATA.