hd electrical shock

[fetuchin]

while re-assembling my computer (4 hds) ia did not remembered one of them was mounted "upside down" so that the molex connector was at left instead of being at right. Well, I did it as per usual without paying much attention and i tried to connect that molex to the right... and as soon as i touched the hd with the molex, a spark was produced... and my beloved hd became "nothing" to the system. It does not detect it not even at bios level so i just suppose it means that i "fried" the electronics.
My question is: Is that electronics a "standard" so that i coud disassemble an old ide hd and bein able to recover my data? (i only intend to recover my data, not to use the hd as it was before).
If the answer is "no" as i suppose, is there any other feasible way of recovering that data?

 

[Roguestar]

Yes. But it's not a guarantee. If you have another drive by the same manufacturer (same model ideally) you could try and replace the IDE board. It'd be hella tricky but even spending the cash on another drive to try and scavenge its parts for your rescue is cheaper than a professional data recovery company.

 

[fetuchin]

and what if the model is no longer available? would it be enough with another disk from the same manufacturer? Well, it is a seagate barracuda 7200.9 pata 250 gb. and dunno wether it's still at the market.
Any clue of possible compatibility would be of great help.

 

[PottedMeat]

Not just same model, but same firmware and controller board revision probably. It's also possible that the shock destroyed any ICs inside the drive and the heads. The drive may be totally fscked.

 

[fetuchin]

how do i get that information?

 

[fetuchin]

i mean firmware and controller board revision.

 

[PottedMeat]

On a seagate? On the label I guess, here's a sample picture:

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2803

2nd Picture From the Top I think.

Firmware: 3.AAC

 

[fetuchin]

thnks PottedMeat.
Anyway, any other piece of advice that you all find useful, please let me know.
Now i go out for a while, so i will be offline for a couple of hours.

 

[goatjc]

Well, the info you've gotten so far seems pretty on. You'll be paying thousands for a professional place to rebuild / recover your data. Link: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=2031740

 

[fetuchin]

any other clue before i try it? For instance:If i try it with a different controller / firmware or with a different brand of hdd, am i havin risk of damaging data or is it just the risk of not recovering them. In other words, could i try it without risk or should i be SURE before doing so. I just imagine that trying to access writes nothing relevant, but i must confess i know NOTHING about this and would like to know.
Thanks again in advance.

 

[Cr0nJ0b]

I've done this before on a drive that stopped spinning up. I had two of the same drives, same model type and just removed the PCB and swapped them. It worked fine. I didn't check the firmware and other details...In fact I'm pretty sure they were different PCB revisions...but it worked...for a while...the drive died again a few weeks later. I would say go for it. Buy a cheap one on ebay with matching model and very close specs...I doubt that you will get two identical...but it's possible. It's unlikely that you will do more damage than you have already done.

If you want to take it another level (assuming you fired you motor). I think it's possible to pull the platters out of one and move them to another...that's what they do at the professional places...but they have clean rooms and lots of experience. I would say this would be last ditch only and you're chances are 1 in 20. I've never done this, so do some reading first. It's something that I might try for data that was important, but not $1000 important.

 

[chusteczka]

Just like the repair rule to reduce electrical spark potential by touching the metal frame of the computer before manipulating any electrical gear, hopefully this lesson has been learned:

Always unplug the power supply before manipulating any internal electrical components. At the very least, switch the PSU off first. School is expensive.

I am not trying to be an ass. I just hope the lesson has been learned so this is not done again.

Good luck with the repairs. Your best bet is to change out the circuit board with one from another drive. You have received excellent advice from the guys here.

 

[fetuchin]

thanks alot to you all.
i know that i have been an idiot. Just an idiot without any kind of limitations. But you know that silly things are just the most potentially dangerous just because they are so simple and your're so used to doing them that you don't pay the attention you should. Anyway, once i have assumed i have acted in sucha silly way, i have to assume it and try to get the most i can get from the remnants of my hd. Don't think data are thousands of bucks worth, but you know that there are so many personal things that you would really like to recover... you know, documents, photos, even some work-related matrials... Well. I really promise you that next time i'll follow the rules i should have followed, even if exerience had shown me that most (really most) of the times nohing happens.
Well i'll try it all.
thnkx.