A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup. The drive
apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for data recovery, but
this is totally outside her budget. It occurred to me that, assuming she
wants the notebook working again anyway, she could buy an identical
replacement drive and try swapping the controller boards over to see it the
fault was on the controller rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable
thing to try? Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in
flash that would render the idea non-feasible?
Previously "Steve S \(another one\)" <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup.
The usual comments about ignoring reality (disks fail) not changing
reality apply.
> The drive apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for
> data recovery, but this is totally outside her budget.
If the files are irreplaceable, she will need to pay. Otherwise
they will very likely turn out to have been replaceable after all.
> It occurred to me that, assuming she wants the notebook working
> again anyway, she could buy an identical replacement drive and try
> swapping the controller boards over to see it the fault was on the
> controller rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable thing to
> try?
Yes, but the success rate is relatively low, and you need an exact
match, which can be very hard to find. Also you may damage the drive
further, by _any_ experimantation, which can increase the cost of
recovery significantly.
> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in flash
> that would render the idea non-feasible?
That is why the success rate is relatively low. Depends also on
the drive, I guess. The thing is that the "high" prices data
recovery outfits ask are really quite reasonable, in relation to
effort and expertise needed and the fact that they have to
keep lot of spare parts in stock. Also the risk of a professional
recovery outfit actually damaging your drive further, possibly
beyond recovery, is pretty low.
Still, there is a price range and there are cheaper and more
expensive recovery outfits. There are also thos that will
only charge for a successful recovery, but they may not even
try more complicated cases or have to be more expensive in
order to stay economically viable.
"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:68dqajF2sd97fU1@mid.individual.net...
> Previously "Steve S \(another one\)" <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
>> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
>> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup.
>
> The usual comments about ignoring reality (disks fail) not changing
> reality apply.
>
>> The drive apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for
>> data recovery, but this is totally outside her budget.
>
> If the files are irreplaceable, she will need to pay. Otherwise
> they will very likely turn out to have been replaceable after all.
>
>> It occurred to me that, assuming she wants the notebook working
>> again anyway, she could buy an identical replacement drive and try
>> swapping the controller boards over to see it the fault was on the
>> controller rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable thing to
>> try?
>
> Yes, but the success rate is relatively low, and you need an exact
> match, which can be very hard to find. Also you may damage the drive
> further, by _any_ experimantation, which can increase the cost of
> recovery significantly.
>
>> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in flash
>> that would render the idea non-feasible?
>
> That is why the success rate is relatively low. Depends also on
> the drive, I guess. The thing is that the "high" prices data
> recovery outfits ask are really quite reasonable, in relation to
> effort and expertise needed and the fact that they have to
> keep lot of spare parts in stock. Also the risk of a professional
> recovery outfit actually damaging your drive further, possibly
> beyond recovery, is pretty low.
>
> Still, there is a price range and there are cheaper and more
> expensive recovery outfits. There are also thos that will
> only charge for a successful recovery, but they may not even
> try more complicated cases or have to be more expensive in
> order to stay economically viable.
>
No argument from me about the pricing of the recovery services, Arno, but
just because the files are irreplaceable does not mean that she can afford
to recover them. The data in question has no intrinsic value, it's photos.
The photos cannot be replaced. She and her husband both lost their jobs when
the factory shut down last month, so they are having to balance their
priorities very carefully right now.
Steve S (another one) wrote in news:8xgUj.21058$yD2.12825@text.news.virginmedia.c om
> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup. The drive
> apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for data recovery, but
> this is totally outside her budget. It occurred to me that, assuming she
> wants the notebook working again anyway, she could buy an identical
> replacement drive and try swapping the controller boards over to see it the
> fault was on the controller rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable
> thing to try?
> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in
> flash that would render the idea non-feasible?
"Squeeze" <rubberduck@duckies.au> wrote in message
news:4821ccb9$0$13870$8f2e0ebb@news.shared-secrets.com...
> The other Steve S is a troll too?
>
> Steve S (another one) wrote in
> news:8xgUj.21058$yD2.12825@text.news.virginmedia.c om
>> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
>> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup. The drive
>> apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for data recovery,
>> but
>> this is totally outside her budget. It occurred to me that, assuming she
>> wants the notebook working again anyway, she could buy an identical
>> replacement drive and try swapping the controller boards over to see it
>> the
>> fault was on the controller rather than the mech. Would this be a
>> reasonable
>> thing to try?
>
>> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in
>> flash that would render the idea non-feasible?
>
>>
>>
>> Steve S
Previously "Steve S \(another one\)" <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
> "Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:68dqajF2sd97fU1@mid.individual.net...
>> Previously "Steve S \(another one\)" <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
>>> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
>>> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup.
>>
>> The usual comments about ignoring reality (disks fail) not changing
>> reality apply.
>>
>>> The drive apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for
>>> data recovery, but this is totally outside her budget.
>>
>> If the files are irreplaceable, she will need to pay. Otherwise
>> they will very likely turn out to have been replaceable after all.
>>
>>> It occurred to me that, assuming she wants the notebook working
>>> again anyway, she could buy an identical replacement drive and try
>>> swapping the controller boards over to see it the fault was on the
>>> controller rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable thing to
>>> try?
>>
>> Yes, but the success rate is relatively low, and you need an exact
>> match, which can be very hard to find. Also you may damage the drive
>> further, by _any_ experimantation, which can increase the cost of
>> recovery significantly.
>>
>>> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in flash
>>> that would render the idea non-feasible?
>>
>> That is why the success rate is relatively low. Depends also on
>> the drive, I guess. The thing is that the "high" prices data
>> recovery outfits ask are really quite reasonable, in relation to
>> effort and expertise needed and the fact that they have to
>> keep lot of spare parts in stock. Also the risk of a professional
>> recovery outfit actually damaging your drive further, possibly
>> beyond recovery, is pretty low.
>>
>> Still, there is a price range and there are cheaper and more
>> expensive recovery outfits. There are also thos that will
>> only charge for a successful recovery, but they may not even
>> try more complicated cases or have to be more expensive in
>> order to stay economically viable.
>>
> No argument from me about the pricing of the recovery services,
> Arno, but just because the files are irreplaceable does not mean
> that she can afford to recover them. The data in question has no
> intrinsic value, it's photos. The photos cannot be replaced. She
> and her husband both lost their jobs when the factory shut down last
> month, so they are having to balance their priorities very carefully
> right now.
Very unpleasant situation, indeed. I would advise to store the
drive safely (ESD bag, silica gel, sealed outer bag) and have
it professionally recoverd when/if money becomes avaliable
again. Attempting a board swap is probably a waste of money
and a risk in addition.
Previously "Steve S \(another one\)" <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
> "Squeeze" <rubberduck@duckies.au> wrote in message
> news:4821ccb9$0$13870$8f2e0ebb@news.shared-secrets.com...
>> The other Steve S is a troll too?
>>
>> Steve S (another one) wrote in
>> news:8xgUj.21058$yD2.12825@text.news.virginmedia.c om
>>> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has
>>> irreplaceable files on the drive for which she has no backup. The drive
>>> apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for data recovery,
>>> but
>>> this is totally outside her budget. It occurred to me that, assuming she
>>> wants the notebook working again anyway, she could buy an identical
>>> replacement drive and try swapping the controller boards over to see it
>>> the
>>> fault was on the controller rather than the mech. Would this be a
>>> reasonable
>>> thing to try?
>>
>>> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in
>>> flash that would render the idea non-feasible?
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Steve S
"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote >
> Very unpleasant situation, indeed. I would advise to store the
> drive safely (ESD bag, silica gel, sealed outer bag) and have
> it professionally recoverd when/if money becomes avaliable
> again. Attempting a board swap is probably a waste of money
> and a risk in addition.
>
I reckon you're right. I used to repair HP 7906 drives (10 megs fixed, 10
megs removable) down to component level occasionally. How times have
changed. At least you don't get a hernia lifting the drive these days,
though.
Steve S (another one) <somebody@some.where.net> wrote:
> A friend's 6-month old notebook has failed. Needless to say, she has irreplaceable files on the drive for which she
> has no backup. The drive apparently won't spin up. She's had a estimated price for data recovery, but this is totally
> outside her budget. It occurred to me that, assuming she wants the notebook working again anyway, she could buy an
> identical replacement drive and try swapping the controller boards over to see it the fault was on the controller
> rather than the mech. Would this be a reasonable thing to try?
Yes, particularly if anything else is unaffordable.
The other obvious option is to keep the dead drive until the cheaper recovery
is affordable and trying a controller swap does reduce the chance of success.
> Or do the controllers have stuff like calibration info in flash that would render the idea non-feasible?
A few do, most dont. It isnt calibration data, but it does stop board swapping.
Replacing 2.5 in notebook drive controller. 
Linear Mode
