Re: [tlug] Possibility to recover a hard disk by swapping control board

[PF2K-WLKN@example.com (Keith Wilkinson)]

I'd agree with Francois that not providing enough 
stable power to a USB drive is very unlikely to 
fry it, but the partition table may be damaged. 

I'd recommend getting a Mac-compatible USB drive 
case* (with AC power supply), installing the SATA 
drive in it, and checking the drive with TestDisk  
by using a PC to boot a Linux Live CD rescue disk 
containing (ideally) the most recent TestDisk. 

PartEd Magic is one such Live CD rescue disk 
(I didn't use it, I ran the latest TestDisk from 
Linux on a multiboot Linux/Windows installation 
on the affected disk, which had settings for 
one partition munged in the partition table). 

TestDisk supports Mac partitions.  You will 
probably need to page through to the most 
detailed screen (may take two or three scans 
from Quick through to Detailed to find all 
the possible partition table entries, and to 
confirm -- by attempting to view files on 
each partition -- which entries are correct). 
This is awesome software, and the (French) 
author is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. 

In the unlikely event that you can't fix the 
partition table with TestDisk, you can still 
use the author's PhotoRec to recover image, 
music and word processor files. 

*Note: Such a case will cost maybe 4,000 yen 
(you might want to buy a big disk for the case 
then reuse the drive/case for backups). You can 
buy a 3.5" drive case if you wish, because the 
SATA data/power connectors are the same for 2.5" 
or 3.5" drives. 

Keith