Platter damage. Unrecoverable?

[Gints Ērglis]

First time I get such a damaged disc (WD5000BPVT). Is this scratch on service area? Is it unrecoverable?

[IT LAND]

From my experience in the last 3 years i never managed to recover from similar cases.

Even if you'll swap heads and try hot swap etc. the new heads will die again very quick.

[Hans Ameel]

I have never been able to recover from this kind of damage. Even -less- visible damage is unrecoverable as far as I know.

If you visually see the glass substrate, as you do, it means the magnetic top layes has peeled off.

The particles have flewn around and have most probbabely caused damage all over.

More so, you can not visually inspect the other sides of the platter... chances are there is damage there too.

There is one kind of elusive technology called "seawire", that could possibely recover -some- of the data in the non-damaged areas.

However, that would be extremely expensive, and I did not have any client that saw it fitting to pay the costs that sending the disk to the recovery shop that advertised that ammounted to...

On Sat, Feb 15, 2014 at 10:10 PM, Gints Ērglis <gints....@wunderkraut.com> wrote:

First time I get such a damaged disc (WD5000BPVT). Is this scratch on service area? Is it unrecoverable?

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[Gints Ērglis]

Thanks guys for sharing the experience. Want to learn more about that "seawire" technology.

[Hans Ameel]

If you find out any details, let us know !

[wayne horner]

not recoverable....

unless you have millions to spend...

seawire apparently has something to do with fish farming...

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  
"Cleanroom Data Recovery of RAID, VMware, Network Attached Storage, Linux, Tape, Disk, Forensics"

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[Crackou]

Hello

 

Reader some informations about that :

 

UPSCRATCH technologies can do the work :  http://www.recoveo.com/experiences/disque-plateaux-rayes.php

 

At the end of the page : Began at 20 000 € ….

 

Scared me J

 

Good Luck

 

 

Cordialement,

 

William SIMON – Le Louya – 35290 GAËL - France

Dépannage Informatique – Récupération de Données

www.agdi.info  / Tel : 06.65.63.06.93

www.facebook.com/AGDInformatique

http://www.google.com/+AgdiInfo

 

 

 

 

 

 

De : datarecovery...@googlegroups.com [mailto:datarecovery...@googlegroups.com] De la part de wayne horner
Envoyé : dimanche 16 février 2014 20:17
À : datarecovery...@googlegroups.com
Objet : Re: Platter damage. Unrecoverable?

[Frank]

Have you taken the heads out and examined them under a microscope?

If there are two platters, there are 4 surfaces, if only the top surface is scratched, then there may be a possiblity to recover some data. The SA is located under heads 0 and 1.  If these areas are not damaged, then you could try washing the platters in 100% alcohol in an ultrasonic cleaner, get some new heads and cut the top one off.  Then you could disable the top head and image what you can with the other functional heads.

If this is only one platter then as everyone else stated it may be gone.

I am currently working on a Seagate, where the top platter is pretty much dull from being scrapped by the top head, but I have finally managed to gain access to the other three platters and am now imaging them. Very slowly, but still it is imaging.

If you are going to do this, then I would recommend that you fix a price with the customer for the attempt regardless of the results and another price if you can recover data.

Good luck

Frank

[Gints Ērglis]

Yes, Frank, heads are examined. I provide the pictures of heads.

[IT LAND]

Hi frank, if i may ask, what kind of technique/procedure do you apply to clean the platters with the IPA?

[Frank]

Hello Gints

Thank you for the pictures. It looks as if the dust got in everywhere. That is the one problem that I have been trying to overcome is to actually see surfaces 0, 1. 2 on a 2 platter drive. if you look at the outer edge of platter 01 is it scratched or is it shiny like a mirror?

For WD you would have to read the SA from either surface 0 or 1 to get the SA information.

IT Land

I disassemble the drive (remove the heads and PCB) then dip the drive verically into IPA (ultrasound) and then slowly turn the platters by hand. Then I stand the drive up vertically in the clean chamber and try to spin the platters so as to remove any droplets that formed on the platters. The purer the IPA the better off you are. (I learned this cleaning from Dai Shimogaito who does amazing work)

[Gints Ērglis]

 The outer edge of platter 01 is shiny.

[Frank]

Depending upon your customer and what they are willing to pay, There may be a probablilty you can recover the SA (or data for that fact) with new heads.  You would have to clip the top head so that it does not create more platter dust.

Frank

[IT LAND]

Hi Frank, thanks for your reply, i didn't completely understand your technique, 

1. "I disassemble the drive (remove the heads and PCB) then dip the drive vertically into IPA (ultrasound) and then slowly turn the platters by hand."

    Do you dip the drive vertically including the motor inside or motor is outside the liquid IPA? 

    Do you just dip it and turn the platters by hand without wiping it with clean room wipes? just turning it?

2. "Then I stand the drive up vertically in the clean chamber and try to spin the platters so as to remove any droplets that formed on the platters."

Also during this stage you don't wipe it at all with clean room wipes?

3. "The purer the IPA the better off you are. (I learned this cleaning from Dai Shimogaito who does amazing work)"

i use only IPA 100%, i saw Dai Shimogaito describing his technique in somewhere but didn't get to the bottom of it.

4. Roughly how many times you spin it on first and second phases?

Thanks mate,

Oded

[IT LAND]

Also do you use ultrasonic cleaner at all in the process?

if so for how long and temperature?

[Gints Ērglis]

Frank, thank you for response!

[Dejan Kraljevski]

This is very interesting topic. I have plans to buy a ultrasonic cleaner, here I can find only 96% alcohol not 100%.

How this will affect this process of cleaning platters.

--

[Hans Ameel]

The IPA shoule primairely be free of any contaminants.

Alcohol and water is an azeotrope mixture. 100% can not easely be attained.

And if it where attained, it would absorb any watter in the air instantely....

Some mix IPA with solvents or other chemicals to reduce the water content... a lot of different mixtures exist.

Regards,
Hans

[Frank]

Hello Oded

I dip the drive vertically into the IPA.  I only go in as far as almost to the spindle. I do not submerge the motor...

I use the Ultrasonic cleaner and set it for about 4 minutes.  I then very slowly turn the platters. What is slow, I turn the platters at a speed where the IPA does not bead up on the platters (easer said than done)  I do not wipe, for I could never get in between the platters.

I have 99% IPA and it worked for me. If you can get 100% that would be great.

In the ultrasonic cleaner with the IPA I do not use (have not tried it) the heating element. I have very little hair on my head and would like to keep what is left, since IPA is very flamable.

[IT LAND]

Thanks Frank, that is interesting i'll try it out.

So i guess you have to work with the ultrasonic top open in order to rotate the platters while it works.

I use this IPA:

http://www.chemtools.com.au/index.php/bulk-chemicals/isopropanol-ipa-100-pure

Did you find that this method works good without wiping the platters at all?

In my attempts i did wipe the platters using a solid business card covered with clean room wipes and rotating the platters but it didn't work that good for me.

[Frank]

Hi Oded
I just cleaned it with the Ultrasonic cleaner for 4 minutes. The top platter was extremely scratched and I am actually quit surprised that the other platters did not also get scratched. So I think the long slow clean did the trick and I have only used 1 set of heads for this job.

With the Seagate, when I first started it it took about 1 minute before it became ready. I have been playing with the settings on the PC-3K to optimized the reading.

Have fun
Frank

[IT LAND]

Hi Frank,

I'll surely try it out.

Thanks Buddy, enjoy your day,

Oded

[Tony]

 amazing concept, 

[Rui]

How are you guys cutting the offending head off? I'm my past experiences I just managed to bend/warp the arm by using side cutters.

What tool?

[Frank]

I use very small side cutters to snip the head off (as close to the arm as possible).

[Alandata Recovery]

surgical snips

On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 7:06 AM, Frank <frank....@gmail.com> wrote:

I use very small side cutters to snip the head off (as close to the arm as possible).

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[Rui]

Frank,

When you say you are snipping the heads do you mean just the actual sliders & connecting wires where the heads reside? Or are you cutting short the thinner extended aluminum part back a bit further on the arm  (Heads Gimbal Assembly) (missing like it is from the factory on a 3 head drive.)

?

[Frank]

Hello Rui

 Looking at this diagram Fig1 (a), cut immediately after 1, which is the suspenstion for the slider.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11249-010-9672-7/fulltext.html#Fig1

[Rui]

Thanks for the clarification frank. I believe that section is called the hga.
Apparently I need to upgrade my cutters.

[Frank]

HGA I think that name is better then the thingy-thing at the end :)

[Rui]

If the scratch is on top platter, has simply removing the top hga ever allowed your device to come ready? I've tried on a couple now and no luck.. Perhaps I'm missing something.

[Frank Meincke]

Hello Rui

With the HGA removed, ensure that the Headmap has also changed.  If we removed head 3 then the head map should be similiar to this

00 01 02 02 

Then when I turn it on, the drive will click for a bit (about a minute or so) and then show DRD DSC. 

Not all drives will go to DRD DSC, because there could also be damage on the other platters which damage the functional heads.

Frank

[Rui]

I have forgotten but do you start counting heads from the bottom up? 0 being at the bottom and the last head being at the top of the drive?

Also, by headmap do you mean the headmap function by using f9 on WD's on the DDI? If so, I'm not dealing with a WD.

[Frank Meincke]

Hi Rui

You count from the bottom up.

It is the Ctrl+H Build Heads Map function under Imaging.  I have the PC-3000 so if I do head work (clipping a head off) then I do it on the PC-3000. 

Frank

[Rui]

Ah, I don't have a pc3k yet. So maybe that's why I haven't got it to work yet? You just disable the cutoff head? Does it let you disable heads for all brands or just WD like the DDI??

[Rui]

Frank, have you ever used ultrasonics to clean heads/ head stacks? If so how long