Data recovery from Western Digital hard drive, PCB board problems

[dockmaurer5]

I have a hard drive from an old Windows computer. The hard drive is a 1TB Western Digital, model WD10EADS-00L5B1. The computer is long broken, and I want to get the files off of the hard drive.

I purchased a SATA cord for data recovery and when I plugged the board in to the computer the drive did not show up. Within 5-10 seconds my attention was diverted from the screen by a strong odor of electrical burning coming from the drive, which caused me to quickly yank the cords out. The smell seemed to generally come from where I plugged the cord in, so I assume it was a problem with the PCB board. (Opinions? Does anybody else think that's what it would be?)

The PCB board is model 2060-701590-000 Rev A. I've done some research on PCB boards and I understand that to replace it you usually can't just swap the boards, because the special chip (bios chip, i believe it's called?) that is unique to the drive needs to be swapped as well.

So my questions are, does my particular drive have the option of being able to swap that chip?

The reason I ask this is because I was told by somebody online that there is no option to swap the chip on my particular model, but I see otherwise when I look online. I found an exact identical model of my board on Ebay for $17 and judging from the photo, it seems to imply that a chip swap is possible. And when I look at my PCB I see the same chip in the same spot.

I'd like somebody's expert opinion as to whether the information I was given is correct. In short: Is it possible to swap the chip on my particular model?

Secondly, if it turns out that swapping the chip IS possible, how difficult would it be for me to do this myself, and is there any directions on how to do it? Would it cost much to have a professional do it if it's too hard for me to do myself?

Thanks in advance for any help. Here is a few photos of the PCB board and bios chip (including the number on the chip) that I took for anybody who needs them: https://imgur.com/a/vxcoNAO.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jay32267]

You want to swap the chip that says 8818846?

That is going to be extremely difficult.

Is there something very important on this drive? If not, you may want to just get rid of it.

 

[dockmaurer5]

You want to swap the chip that says 8818846?

That is going to be extremely difficult.

Is there something very important on this drive? If not, you may want to just get rid of it.

Well, I saw videos of people online swapping the chips. As long as it's possible to recover the files, I want to try. But anyways, that is the correct chip and it can be swapped, correct? Want to know if what I was told before was incorrect.

 

[jay32267]

it's possible to swap the chip but it is a VERY difficult job.

I think I can solder pretty well and I would only attempt doing a swap on that if something close to my life depended on it.

 

[dockmaurer5]

it's possible to swap the chip but it is a VERY difficult job.

I think I can solder pretty well and I would only attempt doing a swap on that if something close to my life depended on it.

Ahh ok. Anyways, I'm having second doubts about the problem being the PCB board, because I noticed that the smell (which I can still smell, days later, when I put my nose to the drive) is stronger on the drive itself. If it was a problem with the hard drive and not the PCB, do you have any idea what the problem might be?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Most likely a burned out spindle motor. Either way this isn't a job for amateurs. If the data on that drive is that important, and you didn't keep backups, then you need to bite the bullet, take that drive to a recovery service, and pay the price for recovery. Keep in mind though that no matter how much you spend, recovery is never guaranteed.

 

[jay32267]

I tend to agree with bubblehead. ^^^

 

[dockmaurer5]

Most likely a burned out spindle motor. Either way this isn't a job for amateurs. If the data on that drive is that important, and you didn't keep backups, then you need to bite the bullet, take that drive to a recovery service, and pay the price for recovery. Keep in mind though that no matter how much you spend, recovery is never guaranteed.

The files on it aren't that important, if I don't attempt to try to get the files off now it it'll probably just gather dust on the shelf for years to come. So I'd really just like to give it a shot at any rate. Would you have any advice on how to do it?

 

[jay32267]

Myself....and also it sounds like bubblehead is of the opinion, that this is something you can't do yourself and would be best done by a data recovery service. It will probably be pricey.

 

[PdxPetmonster]

It's going to be tricky finding equipment that can solder down to those trace levels accurately. It wouldn't take much to get a blob of solder hitting 2-3 contacts, thus ruining any chance of a fix. This would most likely have to be recovered professionally.

 

[dockmaurer5]

Thanks everyone for your answers. So I've come to the conclusion that it's probably not a problem with the PCB board after all. I took off the back panel and tried plugging it into the computer again to see what would happen and lo and behold, it wasn't spinning. Don't know why I didn't notice it the first time. The burning smell was back again, of course, and got pretty strong within a matter of seconds. So I guess that's my problem, if anybody knows a possible cause and how to fix it I would love to hear from you.