Need help with broken Hdd.

Lordofdeath123

Lordofdeath123

Lordofdeath123

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Joined
28 Mar 2013
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45
Hi all.

I have a WD passport ultra 1tb drive, that fell on the ground. After that it was no longer working with one USB hub on the Laptop, but it was still working with an other (I believe the working one was 3.0 and not working one was 2.0, but could be wrong) for 2 days.

After that it no longer works on any PCs. Even Bios will not recognize it. The light still goes on, and there is no klicking, only a silent hum, like on any working HDD.

Question 1: What could the problem be, any ideas that would narrow the fault?

I opened the case (not the drive ofc). Sadly there is no SATA connection there, only the USB 3.0, but nearby there is a 12 pin connector, as seen in this Pic (not mine, but mine looks exactly the same).

Question 2: Anyone recognize what it does? Is it an alternative way to connect straight to the main board?

Lastly, one of the main problems that is making the HDD repair even more difficult, is that it has some sort of hardware encryption apparantly.

Question 3: So lastly, if I buy an identical drive, can I swap out the circuit boards without interfering with the encryption? I.e. does anyone know if all circuit boards have the same encryption?

If anyone has any ideas, I would really appreciate it guys. HDD recovery is so expensive and this kind of added encryption thing will probably make it even more expensive. Way too expensive :/.

Cheers.
 
Did you enable drive encryption?

If not, you should be able to remove the drive from the enclosure and connect it to a PC. See what happens.
 
This worked for me when the BIOS wouldn't recognize a drive from another system:

Connect the drive to your PC and flash the BIOS (to another/latest version). Find out which flash method is safest for your particular motherboard.

I'm way out of my depth when it comes to drive encryption though.
 
As I said, the only way I can currently connect it is through the USB 3.0 connector and that does is not recognized even in the bios.

I will try a BIOS flush if youys think that might do something, but I really dont see what it could accomplish, as I tried to connect it to three different PC and it was not recognized on any of them.
 
Thanks mate, nice find. Sorry for the late replay, you know how it sometimes. I know its a bit rude not to replay after so long, but anyway.

Cheers both. Working on the chip itself is a bit over my capabilities, but it might still be useful. (Maybe if I find a budget recovery service or soemthing like that).

Well, thanks again guys, much appreciate the help.

P.s. if anyone still have some ideas, I will check the thread every so often, so please do feel free to post, but for now I guess we can call it 'finished'.

P.p.s Still do wonder what the 12 pins are for, I mean they are put there for a reason I would assume... but oh well.
 
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