WD with no access to the user area

[Fraser Corrance]

Hello folks, 

I have a western digital drive that I am having a hell of a time getting access to the user area. I have full access to the SA and all the heads test good. I have applied the slow fix, rebuilt the translator and repowered the drive,....and I still can't read any of the user area. 

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.  

Fraser

[Claude Barras]

What model ?

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Suricate Solutions sàrl

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E-mail     claude...@suricate.ch

[Desert Data Recovery]

Change head map in RAM to read from one head only. Ie 0000. Then try to image from H0. Rinse and repeat with all heads. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/CAJQ9nFN64TvX8NThxXitQ-AGy%3D5j2s-OWANgHLCpUS3zCBNFGw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Fraser Corrance]

So the drive has 2 heads, 0 and 1. I set both heads to 0, 0 in RAM and do a soft reset, mapped the heads in data extractor, and turned off head 1. When I try to read any sectors, it cant seem to ready anything. I get the same result trying to read them in the utilitie's sector editor. 

Am I missing something here?

Fraser

[Fraser Corrance]

Yah I suppose that would be helpful info. 

Model : WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0
Serial : WD-WCC3FKDZDCUV
Firmware : 01.01A01
Capacity : 1 000 GB (1 953 525 168)

Tresselb family. 

[Fraser Corrance]

So I changed the head map in ram to 0 0 (the drive only has 2 heads), did a soft reset, mapped the heads in data extractor, and I can't read anything using the sector editor in the utility nor can I read anything in DE. 

Am I missing something here?

On Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 12:09:59 AM UTC-7 Tim - Desert Data Recovery wrote:

[Fraser Corrance]

Changed the headmap in RAM to 0 0 (the drive has 2 heads), soft reset, and still no access to the sectors in the utility nor in DE.. 

Am I missing something here? 

On Wednesday, August 20, 2025 at 12:09:59 AM UTC-7 Tim - Desert Data Recovery wrote:

[Fraser Corrance]

uggg,....not sure why the form did this but I tried multiple time to post my response yesterday and it kept deleting my post. Today I came in and it posted those responses all at once. Oh well,...that's technology for ya....lol

[Alandata Recovery]

Have you compared the wwn in the rom with the sticker on the drive? 

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

www.alandata.com   www.alandataRecovery.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/f3349e29-2d2f-42d7-bf06-a65cadbaf1b1n%40googlegroups.com.

[Fraser Corrance]

I searched through the entire ROM for the WWN and there are no matches. 

[wayne horner]

weird

I have a rom same version

search hex for 50 01 4e

found wwn

WDCMarvell\Tresselb\WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0-01-01A01-WD-WCC3FK7YA3N1

heres my rom

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  

"Cleanroom Data Recovery of RAID, VMware, Network Attached Storage, Linux, Tape, Disk, Forensics"

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/eace8300-ee62-4d1f-9ded-ced9d1d5063dn%40googlegroups.com.

[Fraser Corrance]

Sorry for the late reply but I had a few client emergencies that tied me up. 

Is the part you highlighted part of the WWN? ...just trying to understand what you are showing me here. 

f.

[wayne horner]

wd drive wwn number starts with 50 01 4e

I searched the rom for this signature

50 01 4e 

I am showing you the hit

the wwn number is

50 01 4e e2 60 0d 7a 14

This should match the number printed on the drives label

If it doesnt then this is the wrong rom, wrong board

Sometimes computer shops swap boards attempting to recover their data

and mix them up

In that case the customers board is probably in the computer shop

they might be able to use the wwn number to find the drive with the customers board.

You can also see the model number in the rom

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

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/c3348879-1576-4647-a149-eaccb42a5146n%40googlegroups.com.

[Fraser Corrance]

The WWN and part number are correct in ROM.

[t...@desertdatarecovery.com]

It might be encrypted?

I can take a look tomorrow if you like.

 

Tim Homer - Lead Engineer

Desert Data Recovery

+1 (602) 686 2622

t...@desertdatarecovery.com

www.desertdatarecovery.com

 

From: datarecovery...@googlegroups.com <datarecovery...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Fraser Corrance
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2025 5:47 PM
To: DataRecoveryCertification <datarecovery...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: WD with no access to the user area

 

The WWN and part number are correct in ROM.

 

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at 1:28:02 PM UTC-7 waynehorner wrote:

wd drive wwn number starts with 50 01 4e

I searched the rom for this signature

50 01 4e 

I am showing you the hit

the wwn number is

50 01 4e e2 60 0d 7a 14

This should match the number printed on the drives label

If it doesnt then this is the wrong rom, wrong board

Sometimes computer shops swap boards attempting to recover their data

and mix them up

In that case the customers board is probably in the computer shop

they might be able to use the wwn number to find the drive with the customers board.

 

You can also see the model number in the rom

 

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

www.AlanData.com   www.AlanDataRecovery.com

 

On Wed, Aug 27, 2025 at 12:59 PM Fraser Corrance <fraser....@gmail.com> wrote:

Sorry for the late reply but I had a few client emergencies that tied me up. 

 

Is the part you highlighted part of the WWN? ...just trying to understand what you are showing me here. 

 

f.

On Friday, August 22, 2025 at 1:54:35 PM UTC-7 waynehorner wrote:

weird

I have a rom same version

search hex for 50 01 4e

found wwn

WDCMarvell\Tresselb\WDC WD10EZEX-75M2NA0-01-01A01-WD-WCC3FK7YA3N1

heres my rom

 

 

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[Fraser Corrance]

@ Tim

That would be great.

Could it be that head 0 is too weak to read the UA but can read the SA just fine due to the lower SPT count of the SA? I can read parts of the drive, like the end of it, but not the front. 

[t...@desertdatarecovery.com]

Ahh…. you didn’t say that certain parts of the drive are readable. The details are important…. In that case its weak heads or media damage.

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