This drive was formerly a portable drive
WD3200AACS-32ZUBO
Date: 09 DEC 2007 (plus or minus a month)
DCM: HHNCHT2CH
Board#: 2061-701477-600
Most modern HDDs store unique, drive specific “adaptive” information in a serial EEPROM chip. This chip, or its contents, needs to be transferred from patient to donor. In WD drives, this chip is usually located at U12.
The following PCB suppliers offer a firmware transfer service, either for free, or for US$10:
http://www.donordrives.com
http://www.onepcbsolution.com
http://www.hdd-parts.com
I would advise that you avoid those suppliers who don’t tell you that a board won’t work without modification. Often they will attempt to obscure the requirement for a firmware transfer by deceptively describing their products as being “for data recovery only”.
Alternatively, if you are not adept at soldering, your local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transfer the chip for you.
Onepcbsolution.com also offer a firmware transfer service for US$20 if you have purchased your board from a different supplier:
http://onepcbsolution.com/firmware-xfer-without-pcb.html
Some PCBs do not have a discrete serial flash memory chip. Instead they store the adaptive data inside the Marvell MCU (the largest chip). In this case you will need a “PCB adaptation” service.
The following PCB supplier includes such a service for free:
http://www.donordrives.com/services
Your PCB appears to be one of those that require “adaptation”:
http://pcb-hdd.com/images/WD5000AAKS-40TMA0%202060-701477-001%20REV%20A%20PCB.jpg
The company that has the hard drive for recovery says the board is dead and they can not save or copy the EEPROM. They are also looking for a replacement board. Do you say there is a way to copy it by removing it from the board?
