Whatever happened to FireWire?

On 4/29/2015 1:21 AM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:


I've found this ad that seems to be for an identical PCB to mine,
though if you look the stuff in the DESCRIPTION tab, including the
video clip, they also seem to be in the recovery business. So ...
I'd like to hear your take on it.

http://www.donordrives.com/wd800bb-00fja0-2061-001130-300-ad-wd-ide-3-5-pcb.html?gclid=CPfauqa5msUCFdSTfgod_TQAYQ


There goes another long link. ;-)

Well, I don't work for WDC, so I don't know their exact practice.

I try to view these things in terms of the "necessity" of doing
things a certain way.

AFAIK, the controller only contains bootstrap code. That bootstrap
must be able to operate the arm, the read channels, well enough
to read out the service area. Then, the code in the service area
can take over.

On the one hand, you have a couple of identifying numbers for the
PCBA (PCB and assembled set of components). Such could include
a particular instance of firmware. If we got two boards with the
same identifying numbers, one would hope that the identifiers are
enough for an employee to match a PCBA to a disk drive.

I could understand, if we were mixing the wrong PCBA from the
beginning of the production run, maybe there could be some
justification for mixing and matching bootstraps with PCBAs.
Swapping chips, using a JTAG header or a bed of nails, to
reprogram the hardware. I thought, based on the 12 character
identifier on some of these chips, that the code loaded in
them was write-once (ROM mask maybe). While they could be
EEPROM, if they were EEPROM based, I would have expected to
"read more tales" of people screwing with that aspect of
the drive.

So while on the one hand, I want to believe that donordrives
has my best interests at heart, that they're just angling for
a more expensive (data-recovery-like) service charge. Who
knows whether they changed anything or not ?

It makes no sense to "wed" the HDA and the PCB to one another.
Like exchange keys. It would be important for the PCBA to
know how to operate the electromechanical items inside the
HDA. Maybe there could be a production change requiring a
difference to be programmed into a PCB. But I would think
for a high-volume company, it would be insanity to be doing
this sort of thing all the time.

If I had to do what you're doing, I would have to be
content matching the numbers, and taking my chances.

I tend to lean to that direction, too. Especially now, that they wrote
me back that I could return the PCB within 30 days for refund.
Here is what I wrote to them:
------------
I am interested in buying the WD800BB-00FJA0 PCB from you to replace the
identical, but defunct PCB on my 80GB WD hard drive.
Your Web link is detailed enough for me to guess that this PCB might
work with my HD without any additional fix, but I am still held back by
the fact that the above link does not show the more important component
side of the PCB that would show me that all the chips on it are also
identical to those on my old PCB. Could you, please, include a photo of
the other side, too, or at least send it to me as an email attachment?
I also wonder if I could return the PCB for refund if it turns out not
to be a perfect match for my HD? Since my HD does not hold absolutely
essential data for me, it would not be worth for me to order an
expensive data retrieval service beyond just buying this replacement PCB.
-----------------
This is what they replied:
-------------
The main factor in determining PCB compatibility is the PWB number. As
long as this matches, this product will be a compatible PCB donor.
Unfortunately, I will let you know that for Western Digital PCBs a
direct swap almost never works because there is a small chip with the
ROM information that needs to be adapted to the new PCB. This chip
contains information that is completely unique to your HDD, similar to a
key for a lock, allowing your computer to correctly identify the HDD and
gain access to its data.

We do provide this service for $60; this price includes the cost of the
PCB as well. If you are interested in sending your media for this
service, please see the link below and follow the steps to complete the
project request.
http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/submit-service/step-1/

If you would prefer to purchase the PCB and attempt the swap yourself,
we do offer full refunds for items returned within 30 days from the date
of purchase.
----------------------------
The promise of refund is a good thing, though I am a bit ****ed that
they are not willing to show the component side of the PCB. I might even
go for that $60 deal but I have no intention to send my hard drive to
them. I don't trust them that much!

Oh, BTW, what is that PWB number they are referring to and what would
that be in my case?

Thanks again for your input.

cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 1:21 AM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:


I've found this ad that seems to be for an identical PCB to mine,
though if you look the stuff in the DESCRIPTION tab, including the
video clip, they also seem to be in the recovery business. So ...
I'd like to hear your take on it.

http://www.donordrives.com/wd800bb-00fja0-2061-001130-300-ad-wd-ide-3-5-pcb.html?gclid=CPfauqa5msUCFdSTfgod_TQAYQ



There goes another long link. ;-)

Well, I don't work for WDC, so I don't know their exact practice.

I try to view these things in terms of the "necessity" of doing
things a certain way.

AFAIK, the controller only contains bootstrap code. That bootstrap
must be able to operate the arm, the read channels, well enough
to read out the service area. Then, the code in the service area
can take over.

On the one hand, you have a couple of identifying numbers for the
PCBA (PCB and assembled set of components). Such could include
a particular instance of firmware. If we got two boards with the
same identifying numbers, one would hope that the identifiers are
enough for an employee to match a PCBA to a disk drive.

I could understand, if we were mixing the wrong PCBA from the
beginning of the production run, maybe there could be some
justification for mixing and matching bootstraps with PCBAs.
Swapping chips, using a JTAG header or a bed of nails, to
reprogram the hardware. I thought, based on the 12 character
identifier on some of these chips, that the code loaded in
them was write-once (ROM mask maybe). While they could be
EEPROM, if they were EEPROM based, I would have expected to
"read more tales" of people screwing with that aspect of
the drive.

So while on the one hand, I want to believe that donordrives
has my best interests at heart, that they're just angling for
a more expensive (data-recovery-like) service charge. Who
knows whether they changed anything or not ?

It makes no sense to "wed" the HDA and the PCB to one another.
Like exchange keys. It would be important for the PCBA to
know how to operate the electromechanical items inside the
HDA. Maybe there could be a production change requiring a
difference to be programmed into a PCB. But I would think
for a high-volume company, it would be insanity to be doing
this sort of thing all the time.

If I had to do what you're doing, I would have to be
content matching the numbers, and taking my chances.

I tend to lean to that direction, too. Especially now, that they wrote
me back that I could return the PCB within 30 days for refund.
Here is what I wrote to them:
------------
I am interested in buying the WD800BB-00FJA0 PCB from you to replace the
identical, but defunct PCB on my 80GB WD hard drive.
Your Web link is detailed enough for me to guess that this PCB might
work with my HD without any additional fix, but I am still held back by
the fact that the above link does not show the more important component
side of the PCB that would show me that all the chips on it are also
identical to those on my old PCB. Could you, please, include a photo of
the other side, too, or at least send it to me as an email attachment?
I also wonder if I could return the PCB for refund if it turns out not
to be a perfect match for my HD? Since my HD does not hold absolutely
essential data for me, it would not be worth for me to order an
expensive data retrieval service beyond just buying this replacement PCB.
-----------------
This is what they replied:
-------------
The main factor in determining PCB compatibility is the PWB number. As
long as this matches, this product will be a compatible PCB donor.
Unfortunately, I will let you know that for Western Digital PCBs a
direct swap almost never works because there is a small chip with the
ROM information that needs to be adapted to the new PCB. This chip
contains information that is completely unique to your HDD, similar to a
key for a lock, allowing your computer to correctly identify the HDD and
gain access to its data.

We do provide this service for $60; this price includes the cost of the
PCB as well. If you are interested in sending your media for this
service, please see the link below and follow the steps to complete the
project request.
http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/submit-service/step-1/

If you would prefer to purchase the PCB and attempt the swap yourself,
we do offer full refunds for items returned within 30 days from the date
of purchase.
----------------------------
The promise of refund is a good thing, though I am a bit ****ed that
they are not willing to show the component side of the PCB. I might even
go for that $60 deal but I have no intention to send my hard drive to
them. I don't trust them that much!

Oh, BTW, what is that PWB number they are referring to and what would
that be in my case?

Thanks again for your input.

Printed Wire Board is roughly the same as Printed Circuit Board.
It's a term more popular a long time ago.

There should be a printed circuit board number.
The PCBA is the assembly number, which is a way of
determining what components are soldered to a board.

The difference between those, is the PCB part number
(bare board, no components) can be written in white paint
in the silk screen component labeling layer. Whereas
another means must be used to write an assembly number.
It could be a sticker, it could be a field to the
right of the PCB number. For example, in the silk screen
I could do

PCB 12345678-( . )

and an assembly person could write the assembly number
into the blank field separated by a dot. Maybe the
assembly is 23.1 or something. A pen with a solvent-proof
ink could be used to write the number. Or a sticker could
be used (which could wash off in a solvent shower).

If the PCB has an eight pin DIP, that can be one
of two things. It could be a 2KB serial EEPROM.
Such things are used for keeping configuration
information, and not executable code. Or, the
device could be larger (up to 8MB) and have
a SPI serial interface running at 33MHz. That would
allow the device to be big enough to hold a significant
amount of code. Leaving the Service Area to only
have records of bad blocks, remaining spare sectors,
results of SMART short test, and so on.

It would be a poor volume manufacturing process,
to "key" the PCB to each disk drive. While it's
easy to do (automated machine uses spring loaded
contacts to contact the PCB on the production line
and program something), it fails the "necessity" test.
What purpose does such keying serve ? The assembler
puts the controller board on the disk, and out the
door it goes. There is no need to encode any further
information. The controller board should be ready to
read the Service Area of any disk which has the same
electromechanical controls and characteristics. For
example, the head assembly has to be compatible
with the read channel preamp and decoding. While somebody
could mis-pair a controller with a disk, by the time
the controller board has read the Service Area, it
has *already* had to use every electromechanical
feature of the HDA. So there's really no reason
to "protect" the drive mechanism, when it's already
too late.

Anything is possible. Engineers do strange things.
Extra "process steps" can be added for no good
reason (vendor lockin perhaps). Maybe there
is a good reason to be reprogramming SPI chips.
Knowing what little I do about how these things
work, I just don't see the necessity of doing so.
If other brands can work without changes of this
sort, so could a WDC product.

If the $60 is too much (chip swap), phone a TV-Radio repair
operation, and ask for a quote to change out an
8 pin chip. You'll need to tell them whether the chip
is "thru-hole" (legs go through the PCB) or
"surface mount". For surface mount, they would be
worried about the contacts being hidden underneath
the chip, like in a FBGA package. You use a hot air
rework station for surface mount (if the legs or
contacts are hidden). Some surface mount, I do them
here. I can do 0603 caps with two soldering irons,
one placed on either end of the chip cap.

Doing an 8 pin DIP would be relatively easy, *if*
the replacement chip was sitting in your hand, brand
new. You could cut the old chip off, clean the
installation site with solder wick and isopropyl,
then solder in the new chip. But if doing a chip
swap, one of the unsoldering operations must
remove the chip intact. And that's harder to do.

One participant in the forums here, uses "ChipQuik",
a low temperature solder. You apply "extra" solder
from the tube of ChipQuik. This reduces the melting
point. And makes it easier to heat the work up so
all the legs release at the same time. This stuff
was always expensive, and the emphasis is now on
paste products for surface mount work. The solder
has things like Bismuth added to drop the melting
point. I was not able to find examples of the
original kits, as I guess there would not be
as much call in the market for those kits.

http://playstation.hottoyssuperstore...kit-B0019UZP7I

Instead of that, you can also use Solder Wick. That
sucks the molten solder out of each hole, until you
can push the IC leg out of the hole. But that is a
pretty fiddly process. You practice first, on electronics
you don't care about. If I hadn't been soldering
lately, even I might practice a bit first, rather
than ruin something important. For small work,
I like the finest braid I can find, and this one is
0.025" wide. The picture is of a much wider roll
of wick, which isn't as good (Radio Shack will gladly
sell you a roll of very wide, useless wick). You press
the wick down with the tip of the soldering iron, and
excess solder flows by capillary action into the wick.
If you "flatten" the wick, by pushing down on the
wick with a pair of pliers, and sometimes that
enhances the absorption characteristics.

http://canada.newark.com/tenma/21-83...0ft/dp/03M9678

The thing to watch there, is de-laminating the PCB.
Cheap PCBs will not take much heat, and the surface
pads can lift right off. When I changed the voltage
regulator DIP on my 440BX motherboard, I was being
careful, and I still managed to tear off an unused
pad on the surface of the motherboard. (I changed
the regulator, so I could run 1.5V processors on a
1.75V motherboard.)

The PCBs we made at work, by comparison, were bulletproof.
Even my most ham-fisted colleague at work, could
de-solder one of those and never lift a pad. Some
of our PCB blanks, cost as much to make as a retail
computer motherboard. The idea was, the boards
must be repairable - and making good PCBs was
all part of the process. You could replace a large
FBGA on one of those boards, up to three times, and
the board was supposed to take it. It's because the
product retail price was so high, that customers
would feel "cheated" if the product could not
be repaired readily.

Paul

On 4/29/2015 5:27 PM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 1:21 AM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:


I've found this ad that seems to be for an identical PCB to mine,
though if you look the stuff in the DESCRIPTION tab, including the
video clip, they also seem to be in the recovery business. So ...
I'd like to hear your take on it.

http://www.donordrives.com/wd800bb-00fja0-2061-001130-300-ad-wd-ide-3-5-pcb.html?gclid=CPfauqa5msUCFdSTfgod_TQAYQ



There goes another long link. ;-)

Well, I don't work for WDC, so I don't know their exact practice.

I try to view these things in terms of the "necessity" of doing
things a certain way.

AFAIK, the controller only contains bootstrap code. That bootstrap
must be able to operate the arm, the read channels, well enough
to read out the service area. Then, the code in the service area
can take over.

On the one hand, you have a couple of identifying numbers for the
PCBA (PCB and assembled set of components). Such could include
a particular instance of firmware. If we got two boards with the
same identifying numbers, one would hope that the identifiers are
enough for an employee to match a PCBA to a disk drive.

I could understand, if we were mixing the wrong PCBA from the
beginning of the production run, maybe there could be some
justification for mixing and matching bootstraps with PCBAs.
Swapping chips, using a JTAG header or a bed of nails, to
reprogram the hardware. I thought, based on the 12 character
identifier on some of these chips, that the code loaded in
them was write-once (ROM mask maybe). While they could be
EEPROM, if they were EEPROM based, I would have expected to
"read more tales" of people screwing with that aspect of
the drive.

So while on the one hand, I want to believe that donordrives
has my best interests at heart, that they're just angling for
a more expensive (data-recovery-like) service charge. Who
knows whether they changed anything or not ?

It makes no sense to "wed" the HDA and the PCB to one another.
Like exchange keys. It would be important for the PCBA to
know how to operate the electromechanical items inside the
HDA. Maybe there could be a production change requiring a
difference to be programmed into a PCB. But I would think
for a high-volume company, it would be insanity to be doing
this sort of thing all the time.

If I had to do what you're doing, I would have to be
content matching the numbers, and taking my chances.

I tend to lean to that direction, too. Especially now, that they wrote
me back that I could return the PCB within 30 days for refund.
Here is what I wrote to them:
------------
I am interested in buying the WD800BB-00FJA0 PCB from you to replace
the identical, but defunct PCB on my 80GB WD hard drive.
Your Web link is detailed enough for me to guess that this PCB might
work with my HD without any additional fix, but I am still held back
by the fact that the above link does not show the more important
component side of the PCB that would show me that all the chips on it
are also identical to those on my old PCB. Could you, please, include
a photo of the other side, too, or at least send it to me as an email
attachment?
I also wonder if I could return the PCB for refund if it turns out not
to be a perfect match for my HD? Since my HD does not hold absolutely
essential data for me, it would not be worth for me to order an
expensive data retrieval service beyond just buying this replacement PCB.
-----------------
This is what they replied:
-------------
The main factor in determining PCB compatibility is the PWB number. As
long as this matches, this product will be a compatible PCB donor.
Unfortunately, I will let you know that for Western Digital PCBs a
direct swap almost never works because there is a small chip with the
ROM information that needs to be adapted to the new PCB. This chip
contains information that is completely unique to your HDD, similar to
a key for a lock, allowing your computer to correctly identify the HDD
and gain access to its data.

We do provide this service for $60; this price includes the cost of
the PCB as well. If you are interested in sending your media for this
service, please see the link below and follow the steps to complete
the project request.
http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/submit-service/step-1/

If you would prefer to purchase the PCB and attempt the swap yourself,
we do offer full refunds for items returned within 30 days from the
date of purchase.
----------------------------
The promise of refund is a good thing, though I am a bit ****ed that
they are not willing to show the component side of the PCB. I might
even go for that $60 deal but I have no intention to send my hard
drive to them. I don't trust them that much!

Oh, BTW, what is that PWB number they are referring to and what would
that be in my case?

Thanks again for your input.

Printed Wire Board is roughly the same as Printed Circuit Board.
It's a term more popular a long time ago.

OK, I placed the order for a hopefully matching PCB. Since it was
apparently manufactured by Foxconn, the same high volume company that
makes the Apple iPhones and iPads, I assume their processes are very
standardized. So maybe I have a better than even chance to get perfect
replacement for my PCB. If not, I just return it for a refund.

Because the component leads are so tiny and tightly packed, I would not
volunteer for any soldering fixes myself. Finding a skilled electronics
repairman is also not easy.

cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 5:27 PM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 1:21 AM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:


I've found this ad that seems to be for an identical PCB to mine,
though if you look the stuff in the DESCRIPTION tab, including the
video clip, they also seem to be in the recovery business. So ...
I'd like to hear your take on it.

http://www.donordrives.com/wd800bb-00fja0-2061-001130-300-ad-wd-ide-3-5-pcb.html?gclid=CPfauqa5msUCFdSTfgod_TQAYQ




There goes another long link. ;-)

Well, I don't work for WDC, so I don't know their exact practice.

I try to view these things in terms of the "necessity" of doing
things a certain way.

AFAIK, the controller only contains bootstrap code. That bootstrap
must be able to operate the arm, the read channels, well enough
to read out the service area. Then, the code in the service area
can take over.

On the one hand, you have a couple of identifying numbers for the
PCBA (PCB and assembled set of components). Such could include
a particular instance of firmware. If we got two boards with the
same identifying numbers, one would hope that the identifiers are
enough for an employee to match a PCBA to a disk drive.

I could understand, if we were mixing the wrong PCBA from the
beginning of the production run, maybe there could be some
justification for mixing and matching bootstraps with PCBAs.
Swapping chips, using a JTAG header or a bed of nails, to
reprogram the hardware. I thought, based on the 12 character
identifier on some of these chips, that the code loaded in
them was write-once (ROM mask maybe). While they could be
EEPROM, if they were EEPROM based, I would have expected to
"read more tales" of people screwing with that aspect of
the drive.

So while on the one hand, I want to believe that donordrives
has my best interests at heart, that they're just angling for
a more expensive (data-recovery-like) service charge. Who
knows whether they changed anything or not ?

It makes no sense to "wed" the HDA and the PCB to one another.
Like exchange keys. It would be important for the PCBA to
know how to operate the electromechanical items inside the
HDA. Maybe there could be a production change requiring a
difference to be programmed into a PCB. But I would think
for a high-volume company, it would be insanity to be doing
this sort of thing all the time.

If I had to do what you're doing, I would have to be
content matching the numbers, and taking my chances.

I tend to lean to that direction, too. Especially now, that they wrote
me back that I could return the PCB within 30 days for refund.
Here is what I wrote to them:
------------
I am interested in buying the WD800BB-00FJA0 PCB from you to replace
the identical, but defunct PCB on my 80GB WD hard drive.
Your Web link is detailed enough for me to guess that this PCB might
work with my HD without any additional fix, but I am still held back
by the fact that the above link does not show the more important
component side of the PCB that would show me that all the chips on it
are also identical to those on my old PCB. Could you, please, include
a photo of the other side, too, or at least send it to me as an email
attachment?
I also wonder if I could return the PCB for refund if it turns out not
to be a perfect match for my HD? Since my HD does not hold absolutely
essential data for me, it would not be worth for me to order an
expensive data retrieval service beyond just buying this replacement
PCB.
-----------------
This is what they replied:
-------------
The main factor in determining PCB compatibility is the PWB number. As
long as this matches, this product will be a compatible PCB donor.
Unfortunately, I will let you know that for Western Digital PCBs a
direct swap almost never works because there is a small chip with the
ROM information that needs to be adapted to the new PCB. This chip
contains information that is completely unique to your HDD, similar to
a key for a lock, allowing your computer to correctly identify the HDD
and gain access to its data.

We do provide this service for $60; this price includes the cost of
the PCB as well. If you are interested in sending your media for this
service, please see the link below and follow the steps to complete
the project request.
http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/submit-service/step-1/

If you would prefer to purchase the PCB and attempt the swap yourself,
we do offer full refunds for items returned within 30 days from the
date of purchase.
----------------------------
The promise of refund is a good thing, though I am a bit ****ed that
they are not willing to show the component side of the PCB. I might
even go for that $60 deal but I have no intention to send my hard
drive to them. I don't trust them that much!

Oh, BTW, what is that PWB number they are referring to and what would
that be in my case?

Thanks again for your input.

Printed Wire Board is roughly the same as Printed Circuit Board.
It's a term more popular a long time ago.

OK, I placed the order for a hopefully matching PCB. Since it was
apparently manufactured by Foxconn, the same high volume company that
makes the Apple iPhones and iPads, I assume their processes are very
standardized. So maybe I have a better than even chance to get perfect
replacement for my PCB. If not, I just return it for a refund.

Because the component leads are so tiny and tightly packed, I would not
volunteer for any soldering fixes myself. Finding a skilled electronics
repairman is also not easy.


Make sure to test the drive with a non-damaged IDE master device
when you get it put back together. You can also try a power-only
test using a known good source of +5V and +12V, then listen for
spinning sound effects.

Paul

On 4/29/2015 9:46 PM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 5:27 PM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:
On 4/29/2015 1:21 AM, Paul wrote:
cameo wrote:


I've found this ad that seems to be for an identical PCB to mine,
though if you look the stuff in the DESCRIPTION tab, including the
video clip, they also seem to be in the recovery business. So ...
I'd like to hear your take on it.

http://www.donordrives.com/wd800bb-00fja0-2061-001130-300-ad-wd-ide-3-5-pcb.html?gclid=CPfauqa5msUCFdSTfgod_TQAYQ




There goes another long link. ;-)

Well, I don't work for WDC, so I don't know their exact practice.

I try to view these things in terms of the "necessity" of doing
things a certain way.

AFAIK, the controller only contains bootstrap code. That bootstrap
must be able to operate the arm, the read channels, well enough
to read out the service area. Then, the code in the service area
can take over.

On the one hand, you have a couple of identifying numbers for the
PCBA (PCB and assembled set of components). Such could include
a particular instance of firmware. If we got two boards with the
same identifying numbers, one would hope that the identifiers are
enough for an employee to match a PCBA to a disk drive.

I could understand, if we were mixing the wrong PCBA from the
beginning of the production run, maybe there could be some
justification for mixing and matching bootstraps with PCBAs.
Swapping chips, using a JTAG header or a bed of nails, to
reprogram the hardware. I thought, based on the 12 character
identifier on some of these chips, that the code loaded in
them was write-once (ROM mask maybe). While they could be
EEPROM, if they were EEPROM based, I would have expected to
"read more tales" of people screwing with that aspect of
the drive.

So while on the one hand, I want to believe that donordrives
has my best interests at heart, that they're just angling for
a more expensive (data-recovery-like) service charge. Who
knows whether they changed anything or not ?

It makes no sense to "wed" the HDA and the PCB to one another.
Like exchange keys. It would be important for the PCBA to
know how to operate the electromechanical items inside the
HDA. Maybe there could be a production change requiring a
difference to be programmed into a PCB. But I would think
for a high-volume company, it would be insanity to be doing
this sort of thing all the time.

If I had to do what you're doing, I would have to be
content matching the numbers, and taking my chances.

I tend to lean to that direction, too. Especially now, that they wrote
me back that I could return the PCB within 30 days for refund.
Here is what I wrote to them:
------------
I am interested in buying the WD800BB-00FJA0 PCB from you to replace
the identical, but defunct PCB on my 80GB WD hard drive.
Your Web link is detailed enough for me to guess that this PCB might
work with my HD without any additional fix, but I am still held back
by the fact that the above link does not show the more important
component side of the PCB that would show me that all the chips on it
are also identical to those on my old PCB. Could you, please, include
a photo of the other side, too, or at least send it to me as an email
attachment?
I also wonder if I could return the PCB for refund if it turns out not
to be a perfect match for my HD? Since my HD does not hold absolutely
essential data for me, it would not be worth for me to order an
expensive data retrieval service beyond just buying this replacement
PCB.
-----------------
This is what they replied:
-------------
The main factor in determining PCB compatibility is the PWB number. As
long as this matches, this product will be a compatible PCB donor.
Unfortunately, I will let you know that for Western Digital PCBs a
direct swap almost never works because there is a small chip with the
ROM information that needs to be adapted to the new PCB. This chip
contains information that is completely unique to your HDD, similar to
a key for a lock, allowing your computer to correctly identify the HDD
and gain access to its data.

We do provide this service for $60; this price includes the cost of
the PCB as well. If you are interested in sending your media for this
service, please see the link below and follow the steps to complete
the project request.
http://outsourcedatarecovery.com/submit-service/step-1/

If you would prefer to purchase the PCB and attempt the swap yourself,
we do offer full refunds for items returned within 30 days from the
date of purchase.
----------------------------
The promise of refund is a good thing, though I am a bit ****ed that
they are not willing to show the component side of the PCB. I might
even go for that $60 deal but I have no intention to send my hard
drive to them. I don't trust them that much!

Oh, BTW, what is that PWB number they are referring to and what would
that be in my case?

Thanks again for your input.

Printed Wire Board is roughly the same as Printed Circuit Board.
It's a term more popular a long time ago.

OK, I placed the order for a hopefully matching PCB. Since it was
apparently manufactured by Foxconn, the same high volume company that
makes the Apple iPhones and iPads, I assume their processes are very
standardized. So maybe I have a better than even chance to get perfect
replacement for my PCB. If not, I just return it for a refund.

Because the component leads are so tiny and tightly packed, I would
not volunteer for any soldering fixes myself. Finding a skilled
electronics repairman is also not easy.


Make sure to test the drive with a non-damaged IDE master device
when you get it put back together. You can also try a power-only
test using a known good source of +5V and +12V, then listen for
spinning sound effects.

Will do.