Re: [tlug] Dead HDD

[Kalin KOZHUHAROV <me.kalin@example.com>]

Hi CL,

Very interesting story indeed!

I have some data recovery experience as part of my personal troubles
and as part of my digital forensic practice.

For a case like yours, you are probably looking into fried controller
board and if the pee was the problem, then if you are luck the power
circuitry got burned first and the IC/flash is not damaged (and disk
assebmly/data is safe).

That said, there is no way to "spin the disks" by replacing the board
with the same for various reasons. To have a good attempt, you have to
find an exact (to the batch) match and that is difficult.
Then, part of the firmware settings (e.g. defects, physical oddities)
are stored on that board in flash, so you'll loose this when you
switch boards; bigger part is stored on service tracks on the disk.
Most modern controllers actually will refuse to operate when they
detect mismatch between the flash-stored  and disk-stored firmware.
In order to fix that, you'll need specialized hardware (usually
PC-3000) and similar controller board to the original. You'll swap the
boards, run in service mode, perform checks, spin the platters, read
firmware from disk, reflash the controller (eventually you'll have to
read the data off the dead board's flash and use it), then clone the
disk to a new one (since it is not reliable anymore).

That takes specialized hardware, tools, software, trained people and
their time as well as well a good stock of controller boards to play
with.

I can ask for a quote from the best data recovery company in Japan,
IMHO, also the distributor for PC-3000, but prices are more or less
what you know. And if the data is not worth 15-25 man, then why
bother? Also "NEED the data that is on there ASAP" usually costs twice
as more, how S is your ASAP? Turnaround time is a week usually.

Ping me off list, if you want me to try to help.
Kalin.

On Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 07:19, CL <az.4tlug@example.com> wrote:
> Well ... it happened.  I have a VERY DEAD HDD with no backup and I
> NEED the data that is on there ASAP.  Over the summer, I built a new
> work PC.  Since the mobo was mini-ATX, I recycled an old mini-tower
> case and power supply as well as the Hitachi 7200rpm 1TB HDD from the
> old machine whose larger case, full-ATX mobo and "slow" CPU became the
> base of a new torrenting machine. The new mobo didn't have IDE
> connectors so I didn't install the old data backup 320GB HDD, which
> was noisy anyway, and I made a note to get one of the super-cheap SATA
> HDDs advertized weekly "later."  A male cat sprayed the case (extended
> explanation follows below) and cat pee got into the connector end of
> the HDD and between the HDD case and controller board (the usually
> green one screwed on to the HDD case with the orange plastic printed
> circuit strap that goes to the motor.  All I could find on the shelves
> of PC Depot were 2TB Hitachi Deskstars for more than double the price
> in the two-week-old chirashi ... but I bought it anyway.  It is
> mounted in a "high" slot in the case and not in the standard drive
> bay.
>
> The current status of the HDD is "doesn't spin."  I suspect that cat
> pee grounded something on the control board and toasted it.  I need
> solutions for getting the data, including two VBoxes, off the disk
> platters.  Most of the data rescue places want circa
> JPY150,000~250,000 to get it off for me which isn't in the cards
> thanks to a sharp drop in post-earthquake business.  So  ... anyone
> know of a (much) low(er)-cost way to get this recovery done?
>
> -  I am thinking that, if the circuit board could be changed out, I
> could spin the platters up.
> -  All of my other 1TB drives are Seagate Barracudas so cannibalizing
> locally is not possible.
> -  I don't know any junk shops that might have this specific model
> with trashed platters just laying around.  Leads are welcome.
> -  I also don't see how to unplug the printed motor connector strap
> from the circuit board as the connector appears to be crimped or
> clamped in place.  Anyone disconnected one of these plugs?
>
> Suggestions regarding data recovery gratefully accepted.  Keep your
> opinions about the disposition of the cat to yourselves.  And I
> stipulate that I "should have" gotten a backup disk sooner.  So, let's
> _try_ to keep the focus on getting data back.  I have enough stored
> off-machine to get sort of running right away but need a lot of stuff
> off that HDD to walk upright again.
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> Yesterday morning, one of our male cats (who is angry with the world)
> got into the office (from which he is normally banned) and unloaded
> against the side of the tower case.  He shot pee directly into a cool
> air grille (round holes in a square pattern at the lower front of the
> case where there is room for three 3.5" drives to be mounted standing
> on a long edge with their connectors facing out) which means he got
> pee on the HDD power connector, the SATA connector, and between the
> HDD case and control board ... as well as flooding the floor of the
> case.  I found the damage maybe half an hour later when I sat down to
> check mail.  The machine was off and both the power supply and HDD
> were very hot to the touch.  After removing the HDD I cleaned up the
> case, wiring that may have been hit and the rubber anti-vibration pad
> the case normally sits on, I dried everything with a hair dryer and
> waited an hour before starting the machine.  Everything works fine
> running a borrowed SATA HDD on the same connectors that were peed on,
> running from a USB connection, and running the test suite from RAM on
> the Linux OS from Ultimate Boot CD. So, the rest of the PC is out of
> the equation.
>
> HDD:  I neutralized the pee and used a small syringe filled with clear
> water to rinse it out.  I then used compressed air and a hair dryer to
> dry out the water.  The disk would not start and the usual "system not
> found" messages ensued.  I bought a Torx driver and removed the
> circuit board.  I cleaned the back of the board, case, and connectors
> with "dry" ethanol and dried with a hair dryer before reassembling.
> Still no joy.  I am pretty sure that damage is limited to that circuit
> board, which "ought" to be replaceable (hey, I'm a car guy).
>
> --
> CL (sent from my diskless thin client)