DocVolt
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We have a drive that clicks alot and isn't detected by windows. It wasn't dropped so that's good.
Immediately PC3000 tells us we have a head issue
Tests says we have 4 heads dead out of 4, that's very rare for a drive that wasn't dropped.
The issue may be the main controller of the drive. Western Digishital decided it was a good idea to have the main controller, the firmware rom and the head actuator on a single chip.
Normally we would take a donor drive board, swap this little chip containing the firmware rom and be done.
Sadly WD are cucks, so we need to extract the rom from the dying MCU and program it on a donor board.
Luckily we can use the factory programming port to get the firmware
Extracting the original firmware
Time to swap out the boards with a donor. In this case we just need the board numbers to match, not the whole drive
Writing the rom
Good news. We can finally read the S.M.A.R.T. Status. Very good
Sadly the rom mismatches the internal SA area (disk area that contains the drive info necessary for it to operate)
And thus a 500gb drive is seen as just 24gb, aka the size of the partition containing the drive informations (head positions, headers, etc)
Luckily we can rebuild the SA using the info of the original ROM which is not damaged.
Bingo! We can now access the data and clone the drive.
Pictures saved, happy customer.
elgrapadura
"mildly interesting"? mildly!??
atmac
Pffffttt just put the drive in the freezer
permissiontolosedenied
Wait... I thought it was put it in rice then oven ?
HarleyL
You could replace the Marvell chip if you knew what firmware was on it...? Might be tougher though
ThisOldCPU
In my lab if the commandline or OnTrack tools can't fix it, we give up. Mad respect to these guys.
MichaelHatch
Not all heroes wear capes.
kn1ghtus
I totally think he could pull off a cape though
Monrobot
seemslegit2me
canyouphilmein
Can you help me fix my TV?
DocVolt
Probably
canyouphilmein
Sweet
pickemupputemdown
parents are boomer luddites. semi-adopters of technology. only as they get pulled forwards. ppl like u save entire lifetimes of memories!thx
JackBaler
"sadly WD are cucks" there you go, immediate like
StarscreamsNullRay
Could I ask what program was used here?
TheHoleStretcher3000
NO!
DocVolt
Pc3000 UDMA by ace lab
4Astaroth
.
StarscreamsNullRay
Thank you for this.
vyzor92
..
WhatsYourStoryHomie
.
MarkPenrice
Is there anything like it, or a free trial version, that can at least scan a wonky drive and tell you what's up / if it's fixable?
MarkPenrice
I've got a multi-terabyte seagate external that just ... stopped responding one day. Error seems to be in the actual controller board as far
MarkPenrice
as I can tell (plugging other drives into the USB adapter shows it's functional), but my only plan for recovering it on what is currently a
MarkPenrice
zero budget involves duping everything from a second, identical-model sister drive and then swapping their controller boards over... No idea
SirWilfredL
.
shalviy
I couldn't find a price on their site. Around how much does the hardware and software cost?
goatpr0n
Around 8 to 9k
shalviy
wew lad
DocVolt
Quite alot.. But since they are based in Russia their prices vary alot depending on your country. You need to send them an email
shalviy
Thanks :D
nocrownonlytheharvest
I was expecting an "Epistein murder camera" folder. Imgur has ruined me.
DocVolt
God damn. I should have made something like that. Next time.. Next time
WALKABOUT2K
Great post, can I ask what pci-e card you are using to connect the drives? The one with the external sata and power ports?
DocVolt
It comes with the software, pc3000 UDMA
hartm08260
That’s some skills bruh
AtypicalMammal
Damn, that Italian mofo is rich travelling everywhere
snowflakes520
Tech Surgeon ? ⚕️
NovaZek
And its on FAT32 ... seems like someone never heard about NTFS (Not The Fucking Standard).
WatchTheMoss
Oh wow that must of cost the customer a small fortune
ThisOldCPU
Kroll OnTrack, same guys that recovered the black box drive from the Columbia shuttle, quoted us 3200 (USD) for a water damaged drive.
DocVolt
400€
Oldest
What's that in freedom bucks? I need to get a drive recovered...
LiteralVampirePotBellyGoblins
$443
wetllama
I've got a box of dead hard drives. I've been saving for some day
Cocacola1012
My Hubby is a goddam technomancer, reviving all the dead electronics uwu
BrooksJameson
+1 for calling them cucks
DontKnowTheSource
Thank you for being a god and assisting those of us in issues we may not have in the near future. Can we ask for more tech support?
NeoHelios
Halfway through I started reading this in Louis Rossman’s voice :)
NeoHelios
—sorry “Rossmann”
NeoHelios
#RightToRepair
gmreml132
And that's why you backup constantly, and backup your backup periodically. Then take your backed up backup and store it at work
MasterPrime
No backups. Lose your data like a real man.
OtterlyMagnificent
My main backup is on my desk. (Weekly). My Secondary backup is in my desktop/server/monstrosity (Monthly, with integrated RAID 1+0). My 1/
OtterlyMagnificent
tertiary backup is in a fireproof safe in a thermal-bag (Annual)2/2
ElbowDeep
I put my bulk on Mega.nz, and once a month I download it all (reg updates) combine it with local files, and clone onto my two backup SSD's
iMcFly
I use a local backup and BackBlaze (offsite backup). If it wasn’t for BackBlaze, I’d have been deported from Canada when my drives failed.
Lutki
I have a nas running unraid at home and one at my grandmother's house. Then I also have some of the more important things in the cloud
ThatShiftyMonkey
Yep. I store my backup hds at my parents house, and they store theirs at mine. Backup is good for tech failure, but not a house fire.
DarkUranium
What you're describing *are* backups. Off-site backups are still backups.
Xeddius
Cloud backup and off-site backups are crucial for really important files like family photos and financial documents. Good thinking!
MrJimmyRustles
Heh, family photos - is that what you call 'em? Why is step family, incest porn so prevalent and mainstream these days?
AimlessSavant
If you have the money, and capacity; setup a RAID array.
AimlessSavant
A RAID Array requires 2 or more ( in this case 4) data drives. For a basic RAID array you would set 2 drives in a "stripped" mode. Which
AimlessSavant
takes all data from both drives, and splits them in half. This method makes data reading/storage much faster. However the big risk
AimlessSavant
Is that if one drive fails. Data from both drives are rendered entirely useless. To remedy this. You can setup 1 or 2 more drives to
AimlessSavant
Create a Stripped > normal memory raid array. You get the speed benifits of a stripped array while also having 1 ot 2 drives that copy data
clucja1
For porn? Just redownload it.
DocVolt
Word.
finninthejakesuit
Any advice for someone who knows almost nothing about hardware on where to start learning?
Xeddius
Check sites like Ifixit and for board-level repair look up Louis Rossman (He mainly does Macs but you will still learn useful skills.)
finninthejakesuit
Wonderful, thank you sir!
CyberAkuma
No no no, Word is a terrible way to backup data. That's not even a backup app!
DarkUranium
What do you mean? I just zip up my data, open the ZIP in Notepad, copy all the text, and paste it into Word! It's foolproof!
gilliamv
Nalianna
Grandfather, Father, Son backups.
xtreampb
Umm this is a main purpose of cloud technology. Automated backups. Good for most consumers. You can get more intense cloud solutions as well
blkbox
Cloud storage is not viable for enthusiasts with tens of TBs.
xtreampb
So $.001 per gigabyte isn’t viable (azure blob storage). One drive gives me 1TB of cloud storage with my office 365 subscription, accessible
xtreampb
From my phone, my wife’s phone, my home pc, my work pc and integrates very well with each OS
blkbox
At some point bandwidth is the problem. 1TB @ 100 Mbps will take you 22hrs for a complete transfer at full speed.
xtreampb
well these are backup solutions. Typically you aren't transferring all TBs of data at a time but rather single files or incremental changes
gmreml132
Cloud just means a drive somewhere else... Anyone can literally do that on their own. A pigeon can transfer data faster than Cloud service.
xtreampb
Sure but reputable services have their own redundant services to ensure data integrity and availability. I use azure (one drive) for it's
xtreampb
integration/ease of use
gmreml132
You could also have your own redundancies in place, as a permanent fixture rather than lose everything when you want to stop paying.
xtreampb
That’s the trade off. Convince vs cost. What you save in cash, you loose in personally managing an infrastructure which can end up costing
LastElf
If WD are terrible to work on who do you recommend from a reliability/recovery point of view? Or is everyone as bad as each other?
prodmerc
WDs are the most reliable for me, IF you disable the dumb fucking 'head parking and/or spindown' every 5 seconds "feature"
Ulthirm
Shitgate, Toshitba, WesternDigiShital. Theres a reason they all have these names.
mdzmdz
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-stats-q2-2019/
Waterman1
I think for spinning it’s all either WD or Seagate. Everyone else has been bought up.
DocVolt
ElbowDeep
Wait, that's from factory?
DocVolt
No, that's the sata header I had to solder in order to comunicate directly to the sata controller and get data
ElbowDeep
I'm a software guy so I was confused lol, but does that work sort of as a bypass?
DocVolt
Kinda. You bypass the USB-to-sata embedded ic and you talk directly to the drive trough the sata connection
LiteralVampirePotBellyGoblins
*side eye glance at WD passport sitting next to him*
UnspokenX
holy shit that... that hurts to look at.
erbiumyttriumytterbium
You’re screwed. It’s all SG or WD, and they’re trying to squeeze every penny out. Backup, backup, backup.
erbiumyttriumytterbium
My apologies. Wasn’t replying directly to you but to the world at large. My bad!
LastElf
Nightlies and off site. What kind of MSP would I be without practicing what I preach?
DocVolt
Fixed USB ones are a nightmare. You need to solder a sata header bypassing the USB ic to try to connect it for data recovery.
prodmerc
Do the USB controllers fail that often?
DocVolt
Absolutely. It's a disease.
allthis4nothing
What do you suggest as external drive?
DocVolt
Anything that has a removable USB to Sata connector inside and not a fixed USB (the USB to sata chip always die) and maybe 3.5inches
allthis4nothing
Thank you. How do I find out how it connects? I’ve never seen, or recognized, a spot in the specs list for this type of USB connection.
DocVolt
Google the model and search for disassembly or something like that. Those small black plastic ones in green boxed wd sells are all soldered
DocVolt
Actually.. Just buy a caddy and put inside a wd red
Hexidimentional
i was gonna say, enclosures are like 5-10$ for a usb3.1 and then y ou can slap whatever size drive you want inside
370zSteve
HGST
DocVolt
They have interchangeable boards with se wd drives. So probably Judy different brand
dreweydecimal
HGST is owned by WD. SAUCE: I work for WD.
370zSteve
I know. My friend used to work there as well. I remember when they were acquired. Pretty reliable in my experience.
DocVolt
Sadly.. Yes.. Maybe wd red nasware are a bit more decent but everything is crap. Just stay away from external drives with fixed USB ports.
bigguywhokills
My WD RE3's and RE4's are all still running except for one. I had one RE3 out of 5 fail at about the 4 year mark.
ozjuggler
Aren't they the most popular solution for backups of desktops and NASes? Like LaCie rugged portable drives etc.
LastElf
He means soldered on USB. Most externals are just a 2.5" drive with an adaptor plug
CyberAkuma
I tend to somewhat prefer HGST these days, but with most previous manufacturers having purchased the others, are any good ones even left?
ZeroLogain
HGST is WD, they bought them out a few years back and retired WD Gold. They just brought Gokd back so HGST is expected to be retired.
CyberAkuma
I thought that while WD owns HGST, they are not just plain WD drives rebranded and still build like HGST?
DocVolt
They have interchangeable boards so I doubt they are very different
LastElf
I have IronWolf's in my homelab and WD blue/blacks in my desktops (that aren't SSDs). Granted I also have backups since it isn't if but when
acidandfreaky
Mario is that you?
StoicOptimist
Neat. I only do small business computer repair and home computers, so this is just a tad out of my tools price range. 8)
FelixTheCAT5e
That chip kinda looked like the maxim logo
DocVolt
It's a Marvell MCU
CrankyTitan
How much to save mine?
atotalmoron
Mind if I share this?
stevtom27
Its on imgur it's already been shared
DocVolt
Not really, you are free to if you want
Henako
What a strange question.
TNwhiskeyginger
Well...the username...
atotalmoron
Just being polite and respectful of @OP
TeppeMannen
I mean.. there's a share button right there....
MooklearAnnihilation
And backup your shit people! I'm working the shortbus version of this, but I saw someone come through with a drive like swiss cheese... 1/2
MooklearAnnihilation
only copy of her PhD got cored. Google drive and dropbox give you tons of space for free, and many Unis give you even more! Make use of it!
blkbox
If you're gonna do a PhD and only keep a single copy and lose it, I won't feel bad for you.
NotSoSmartAlek
Just be careful, because some cloud-storage companies decide they have rights to what you store.
MooklearAnnihilation
While I don't disbelieve you, I also haven't yet heard of this. Care to name some names? I'd like to avoid said names if possible.
NotSoSmartAlek
ISTR Facebook and probably some photo sharing sites (Flickr or Photobucket maybe?) using users' pics elsewhere.
NotSoSmartAlek
Old stories though, don't recall details, sorry.
NotSoSmartAlek
Oh and there was a fuss some years back about Facebook's new ToS basically saying that they had the rights to anything you post or upload.