Western Digital WD5000AAKS, AAJS, KS, YS, AAVS, AAKB hard drive & disks

August 6th, 2010

Western Digital hard drives and disks from the following families are routinely diagnosed and subsequently  recovered in our data recovery labs.

Wd5000AAKS, WD5000AAJS, WD5000AAJS, WD5000KS, Wd5000YS, Wd5000AAVS, and WD5000AAKB.( This list is not definitive)

Typical issues users report are clicking noises, usually there are three clicks then the hard drive will stop spinning and shutdown, if the disk is connected via a Windows PC the device manager might offer a brief ID of the storage device a WD 5000 with a strange serial number, not related to the device at all.
In this instance the firmware has shutdown the spindle after n=x times as per the firmware instruction code, and can be caused by a variety of issues from PCB (Rare, but possible), HSA (More likely) and or firmware based of critical modules in the S-A range and therefore critical not only to the operation of the disk but to access the user data area.

Many users of the drives mentioned above have reported that the hard drive was functioning correctly and flawlessly before it failed, there appears to be no reason as to the failure, so why now?

Hard drives do offer a basic form of protection in the form of S.M.A.R.T, but very often this is disabled in the motherboard BIOS, basically SMART will look at sector re-allocated counts and other such lists and then re post back to the user, vary often with a vague or ambiguous message.

If the WD hard drive clicks three times then stops, generally speaking this is an indication of HSA head stack failure, at this point do not switch the drive back on, you need to speak and contact a data recovery company such as our lab’s.

Another issue we have had reported is that the drive spins up and calibrates as normal with no unusual noises or clicking, the serial number is correct as is the family name ot model however it reports its size a 0MB, this would in dictate that there firmware issues with the SA or system area which are damaged or corrupted and require repair or replacement, again this failure type is not fixable by end users and no software available wikll scan, or try and repair this, please do not even attempt to repair, you need to speak with a data recovery lab for advice and help.

If after diagnosis at our lab it is determined that clean room work is required, often the HSA will need to be exchanged for a good working working unit, this is not a s easy as it sounds, and here is why.
All hard drives are unique to themselves as are the HSA, so to simply buy the HSA (which is not possible as manufactures do not sell HSA units) is not easy, lets look at an example;

Model: Western Digital WD5000AAJS
DC: HARCHV2CAB

The important part is the DCM: Tghis 10 digit code pertains the HSA and must be matched for a good donor hard drive to be of any use at all, try phoning around to locate a drive with those details, they will say yes, ok we have that drive model in stock now ask them about the DCM: code, they won’t have a clue as they do not take a note of this information, this is where specialist suppliers and dedicated people in locating spares come into their own and track down what is required.

So we have our new HSA and are in the clean room, just exchange the old heads for the new right?, wrong, the HSA on WD drives require very fine tuning, particularly around the head pivot and lid, even experienced data recovery technicians find this very difficult, however it is possible with the right methodology, knowledge and tools.

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Hard drive issues common problems not detected in BIOS

August 5th, 2010

Our labs have seen all types of hard drive and disk issues ranging from not detected in the bios to, clicking or noisy, formatted, data removed from the recycle bin, disk registers as an alias of the hard drive family, partition corruption, HPA issues, and virus type damage.

Here are a few problems and fixes;

1.  Hard drive not recognised
Check all leads, it sounds obvious but sometimes after a period of time connectors can break down for both the power and the data cable, whether it is PATA IDE or SATA interface, simply unplug and reconnect all connectors to and from the hard drive and to the motherboard, you would be surprised how many ‘failed’ hard drives will suddenly be re detected in the BIOS and up and running again.

2. Reset motherboard BIOS CMOS, typically there is a RTC BIOS battery and the motherboard may have spurious or incorrect data regarding the geometry of the hard drive, after resetting go back into the BIOS and try and re detect the hard drive.

3. Wrong PSU
Check that firstly you have used the correct power supply, then that the connector to the hard drive is properly seated, if the wrong PSU has been used, DO NOT switch the hard drive back on again as further damage may occur, this applies to external storage devices.

4. Drive requets to be formatted
DO NOT follow the request if your system states that the hard drive should be formatted, partition and or logical corruption has occured and must not be formatted as this will really compound the recovery, some systems offer a low level format this will completely destroy your data, even a unconditional format will seriously compromise your data, do not attempt or do this.

5. System restore
DO NOT follow a system restore if your system has crashed as often this will be a form a ‘ghost’ type image which will completely erase your data as it could go over the top of your important data.

6.DIY attempt at data recovery
Friends and family although well intentioned ‘may have a go’ at restring your data, this is not a good idea as often the recovery software is downloaded directly to the target drive with the important data, additionally no write protects to the user data area will typically be set up, this will cause complete overwriting and destruction of your data.

7.  Swap PCB or hard drive board
Many clients now actually attempt to swap or exchange the PCB or board of the hard drive for another one, even locating the firmware or revision details correctly in an attempt to access the drive and get their data back, this should not be attempted as this can cause further issues for any data recovery company at a later date.

8. Update or ‘flash firware’
Hard drives are not like mobile phones or similar electronic devices where updating or flashing the firmware will ure bugs or glitches, the firmware stored on a hard drive is unique to itself and locked away for good reason away from normal user access and requires techno or vendor specific commands, any updates you find may actually brick your drive.

Prevention
The old adage that prevention is better than cure really does apply here as adding a UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply and a hard drive cooling kit to the hard drive really will pay off in the long run as the computer and the storage device will be protected from power spikes and loss of power something to which many hard drives actually fail from.

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Toshiba hard drive clicking noisy 2.5 BIOS issues

July 14th, 2010

Toshiba brand of laptop 2.5″ media are often used by laptop and notebook manufacturers in their builds and make a very reliable form of data storage with decent performance in read and write tests.

Excessive heat within the laptop may cause issues with the disk surface or magnetic coating this will first exhibit itself as degraded media and many bad sectors appearing, perhaps the operating system will attempt to repair or mark as bad these sectors.

Another form of failure may be caused by a back EMF electro motive force, an excessive or wrong power supply which may cause an over voltage, ofcourse the hard drive has rudimentary protection in the form of a fue(s) or a TVS transient voltage suppressor, however they have a limited use and may allow excess currents to enter into the disk enclosure and damage the HSA head stack assembly, thus causing the clicking or strange noise heard from the hard drive.

In 0ver 90% of cases a noisy Toshiba laptop hard drive can be located to a failed HSA and will require the intervention of a clean room and skilled engineers to resolve the issues, it will most likely not be the PCB as some users may attempt to change without success.

The MCU on the PCB together with the firmware will allow the hard disk to spin up and then when it has reached the correct speed will release the HSA to seek out the servo wedges and tracks, if this can not be located in x time it will shutdown the hard drive to stop any further damage to the disk surface or disk.

Locating and matching the Toshiba HSA is not straight forward as the manufacture will not simply sell this component, it requires the location of the same model and head stack assembly and date match, this requires determined effort by trained and dedicated people and good contacts worldwide to supply the correct replacement HDD.

Replacing the HSA in no clean room conditions and without correct ESD precautions will destroy the good HSA and compromise or destroy any possible data on your failed hard drive as the HSA literally files over the platters using Bernoulli effect at less than 1 micron, dust and fingerprints represent massive obstacles for the HSA to deal with and thus will destroy it and further degrade and damage the disk surface further.

A head crash can occur when the HSA comes into direct contact with the disk surface at a place and time it should not, vertical damage like a dropped laptop , particularly when it is on can cause massive damage as it has less than 1 micron distance to impact into the platter, if this happens do not switch your laptop back on it will further damage it.

Some of the range within the Toshiba hard drive disks are;

MK GAS, MK MAT, MK GAT this is not a definitive list.

In the right hands and with the right tools Toshiba data recovery to 2.5″ media very often is a success so do not despair if you lose your important and precious data.

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WD Western Digital hard drive error 0mb not detected

June 30th, 2010

WD Western Digital hard drives and disks can exhibit the following symptoms such as spin and click, or make strange noises, register as an incorrect size, or a family name, not the correct size and serial number as it should be it functioning correctly.

Usually these issues are related to the firmware zone also called the SA and is a very complex area for any data recovery technician requiring years of hands on experience dealing with failures.

The firmware located at the SA (System Area) is a reserved area of the hard drive locked away from any normal user access, and for good reason, it would be very easy to cause major issues with the HDD if the SA as available to all computer users.
Special techno vendor specific commands are used to gain access to this area and are drafted by the manufacturer and T13.0rg which has governance over ATA and similar technology, let me explain a little further what the SA handles.

Each hard drive made is unique! to many who hear this are not totally convinced it is true, after all surely this would impede manufacture times? Not so, the process of covering the platters with magnetic based substance is called sputtering, this process is different from drive to drive, also when the hard drive is receiving its factor formatting procedure the HDD has its own defect lists for itself only, and can not been transferred to another, the defect lists also work with the translator which handles (P)CHS to LBA or lately LLBA, this is the process of converting the physical to logical geometry of the HDD, and it does so with amazing repeatable accuracy, time and again, however due to magnetic failure issues, growing bad sectors, back EMF or similar issues this can become damages, this is where an engineer is required.

So now you have a basic understanding as to why your WD hard drive may have failed and that user repair or intervention simply will not work.

Our engineers are experts with WD Western Digital hard drives and often recover HDD which are declared unrecoverable elsewhere, in fact much of the work received is from existing

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Clicking or noisy hard drives & disks

June 30th, 2010

Loud unusual clicking, scratching noises emanating from your hard disk drive should be investigated immediately and not left to simply ‘go away’ as some users think might happen.
In those circumstances the hard drive should be stopped at once and shipped to a data recovery lab for diagnosis as more than likely the HSA (Head Stack Assembly) may have failed.

When you switch on your computer system power is applied to the PCB which controls the hard drive, after it has reached the required speed the HSA is released where by the servo wedges, tracks, and all firmware unique to your hard drive is located, should there be any issues with this the system will attempt x times then stop the spindle motor and HSA from causing any potential further problems with the HDD.

The failure can be a specific head or heads, and or the preamplifier itself, this device amplifies the very weak signal from the GMR (Giant Magneto Resistive) head(s) and can be caused by a back EMF (Electro Motive Force) or wrong power supply connection, this type of failure requires opening of the HDD in a clean room environment to diagnose further.
Please do not attempt to open you HDD in non clean room conditions as this will damage you drive further, at the very least it will compound any possible recovery.

Swapping the PCB is not a good idea either as the PCB contains unique information pertaining to your disk only and will not help at all with any possible recovery.

Diagnosis is the most important step and should be left to trained engineers with years of experience as mistakes here can be devastating to any potential recovery.

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3TB Seagate hard drive?

June 29th, 2010

So Seagate are now reportedly shipping the massive 3Tb hard drive.
The storage device is called FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive 3Tb, and stores a whopping 3Tb (before factory formatting etc) and pushes the envelope further for storage hungry users who demand more and more digital space for there computer requirements.

On sale for a reported $250 it offers excellent ROI for hard drive storage users, however there were technical difficulties in areas that most users would not even think of, namely the file system of XP and earlier products which has a limit of 2.2 Tb, and the sector size of 512 Byte, the fix is based around increasing to 4k sector size , other issues are LBA (Logical Block Addressing) and the new LLBA (Long Logical Block Addressing) which extends this now outdated format, who would have thought that all those years back that we would ever need to go beyond 2.2 Tb on a  single volume?

Boasting 5 platters at 600Gb per platter and utilizing a technology called SmartAlign the areal density has not been increased.

So what can you store on 3Tb hard drive? Right now figures are not available but simple maths using MP3 files of 4Mb on average file size give colossal figures, perhaps you can use this device for digital photography purposes and store all of your precious memories of loved ones, then there is the RAID aspect, 5 x 3Tb in a RAID 5 configuration, now there’s a thought!
The list of the uses of this magnificent device is truly endless.

One last thought on this subject, ‘what next for storage’ I mean when will we be saying ‘only 3Tb hard drive’? Mores the point what exactly is the raodmap for spinning magnetic media or hard drives to me and you, well rest assured areal density and total storage area on single 3.5″ media is set to continue, at least until the foreseeable future, watch this space as they say.

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