4TB WD External Drive

[Philip Shaw]

Good afternoon. I received a 4TB MyPassport WDC (WD40NDZM-59A8KS1) recently which won't show up on any computer. I don't have an unlocked PCB so I am reading it through the PC3K USB option with some success. The drive originally shows nothing but when I imaged and scanned the Catalog file I got a very nice folder structure. Unfortunately, the first sectors were pointing at garbage and they were useless. I ended up doing a raw recovery and I've gotten about 2,500 videos but I am only about half done. It appears one of the heads is weak and when it hits that head things slow to a crawl. I went back today and found that four or five of the folders (out of about 25) actually have good data. I am saving them off now in the folder structure but I don't understand why some of the files are good but most are garbage. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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[t...@desertdatarecovery.com]

When you say ‘garbage’ what do you mean?

Are you sure the drive is still reading data and not zeros?

 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

t...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

 

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[Philip Shaw]

While the folder structure looks good the files are garbage except for the four or five that work for some reason. I have saved off about 2,500 videos through raw recovery so far so the heads seem to be working fine except for one which I suspect is weak. I was just wondering if there is a different way of getting a folder structure that might be more productive.

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[Alandata Recovery]

those drive frequently stat well

then at some poin the translator gets corrupted and all you get is zeros

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[David - Blizzard Data Recovery]

I know Tim and Alandata and a number of others already know this, but I'm putting this out here for anyone that doesn't work much with Spyglass, Charger or Palmer drives. If you don't make it a priority to backup module-190 (at least) then you are putting the customer's data at extreme risk. If they have the slightest media damage or weak head(s), these drives will almost always corrupt or reset the secondary translator while reading. There is an option in PC3000 to lock user area writing which can help. Having an original module-190 can restore reading in most cases.

You should check in the utility if everything is now reading as zeros. You might have read some good data at first and then it started spitting zeros once the secondary translator was reset.

[Philip Shaw]

Thanks, I am aware of the potential issues and I had discussed it with the customer and they didn't want to spend the money to send it off. Surprisingly, it is hanging in there and still reading perfectly but deliberately.

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[t...@desertdatarecovery.com]

I am not getting at you here Phil, I am sure this is applicable to a lot of people.

Can I suggest you buy a few unlocked PCBs.

They are much less expensive than they used to be.

As David says you can then block UA writing.

Make a backup of the SA.

Create a T2 file.

Set up a task in DE.

Build a head map using 190 or T2.

Then ideally convert the USB PCB to SATA and continue to image in DE with the head map.

SATA is far more stable and faster to image than USB via Windows.

Or use a USB Stabilizer.

You can continue to image via USB, just swap the head map to the new USB task.

I cannot stress enough that the dive may appear to be imaging, but can suddenly start reading zeros at the drop of a hat.

And with no backup of 190 there is no going back.

It doesn’t sound like it needed a head swap.

But by doing this you are gambling with the clients data.

If the client approved the ‘gamble’ then fine, but that’s different to not wanting to send it away.

Sorry for the preach, but like I say its meant as overall advice rather than targeted at you.

 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

t...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

 

From: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com <datarecovery...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Philip Shaw
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2022 6:42 PM
To: DataRecoveryCertification <datarecovery...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: 4TB WD External Drive

 

Thanks, I am aware of the potential issues and I had discussed it with the customer and they didn't want to spend the money to send it off. Surprisingly, it is hanging in there and still reading perfectly but deliberately.

 

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