I have received a few responses from my article I wrote a few weeks ago, The Trials of Data Recovery, that actually gave me some similar tips.
When the controller board on a hard disk drive fails and is no longer accessible, you can effectively replace the controller board on the hard drive with one from another drive of the exact same make and model. There should be no difference between the two sets of platters, therefore the controller won’t freak out because it’s a different set of hardware.
According to information gathered (note that more information still needs to be gathered), the hard drive needs to be exactly the same so the controller board that is being swapped from one to the other has no issues when accessing the platters. It seems possible to swap the platters and actually have some hope that the data is readable. Swapping would be required in the event that the motor of the heads had malfunctioned and couldn’t spin or read the platters on the failed drive.
Another note is that both drives are condemned; once this procedure is started, you can no longer replace the board and expect it to live out the rest of its life. It will fail eventually; it’s only a matter of time. These methods are more then we typically attempt at Small Dog, save for a possible extreme case. There is no guarantee that these methods will work, and they also void any possibility of replacement under warranty.
Two responses suggested that I start a drive graveyard of dead or dying drives to build up the chances of being ready for one of these situations again. More research is needed for this technician and I’m sure my colleagues might not like the idea of a large box of dead hard drives sitting in the tech room that is already too small, but if this seemingly recurring event continues to happen, I’m tempted to try this little trick.
Of course, the moral of the story is to always back up!