@just1rob, in your case the HDD appears to be OK. It does seem to be an encryption issue now. As for the “burnt” appearance of the replacement bridge board, if you are referring to the area around the mounting hole, then that’s probably just oxidisation, in which case I wouldn’t be worried about it.
The first thing I would do is to verify whether your data are indeed encrypted. To this end, I would use a disc editor to view the contents of sectors 0 and 1, in hexadecimal mode. (In DMDE, choose Mode → Hexadecimal)
Roadkil’s Sector Editor:
http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=24
HxD - Freeware Hex Editor and Disk Editor:
http://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd
DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery):
http://softdm.com/download.html
If the data are indeed encrypted, then I can see two possible approaches for you. Either repair the original board, or transfer its firmware to the replacement board.
Your photo is difficult to work with, but near the largest IC (Initio INIC-1607E ?) there should be an 8-pin IC, probably with a “25” in the part marking. This chip contains the bridge firmware. If you are not adept at soldering, your local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transfer this IC for you. Whatever you do, don’t damage it.
The alternative approach of repairing the bridge board may not be as daunting as its sounds. I suspect that there may be a device in series with the power input that may be damaged, or it could be that an 8-pin dual MOSFET chip has burnt up. The MOSFET is an electronic switch that supplies +5V and +12V power to the HDD. If this IC is damaged, them we simply remove it and jump its two switches with jumper wires. I can show you exactly what to do, if you provide me with a detailed, close-up view of the board.
