Western Digital 2060-701444-004 PCB Data Recovery

At Zero Alpha, we specialise in Western Digital 2060-701444-004 PCB data recovery, helping you recover important files from drives with damaged or faulty circuit boards. This specific PCB model is commonly found in WD external and internal hard drives and can fail due to power surges, physical damage, or component failure. Our experienced technicians can repair or replace the PCB and recover your data safely. We also offer a mail-in data recovery service Australia-wide, making it easy to get started no matter where you are.

The Infamous 2060-701444-004 PCB

Designed and used between 2007 and 2010, the Western Digital 2060-701444-004 PCB gained notoriety for a design flaw related to its soldering. Possibly relating to the RoHS lead free rules. A move towards tin solder shows high signs of corrosion. This flaw resulted in a high failure rate, leaving many users facing data loss and significant frustration. The PCB was commonly employed in 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB WD hard drives, amplifying the impact of this issue across various capacities.

A Unique Recovery Challenge

Recovering data from the 2060-701444-004 PCB presents a unique and intricate challenge. Unlike most PCB failures, this model lacks an external ROM/Bios chip, making the usual recovery process impractical. This missing chip is crucial for interfacing with the drive's firmware, complicating the data recovery efforts significantly.

Our Expertise in Data Recovery

With nearly 15 years of experience, our data recovery team has honed its skills in handling the Western Digital 2060-701444-004 PCB. Throughout the years, we have amassed invaluable knowledge and expertise in resolving the complexities associated with these problematic hard drives. Our track record speaks for itself, as we have successfully retrieved critical data from numerous drives afflicted by this notorious issue.

2060-701444-004 PCB Data Recovery Case Log

If ROM can't be restored via donor firmware then this case below was solved by cleaning the pcb in an ultrasonic cleaner for 30 minutes at temperature with special electronics solvent cleaner. Other solutions is to uart and jtag the faulty pcb or mcu swap to a working pcb.

Family:................................. : Tornado 2D
Techno mode key......................... : Ok

HDD Status sector....................... : Ok

RAM:
System controller (SoC)................. : 88i6745B1 0x(42B1)
HDD Info reading........................ : Ok
Heads number............................ : 3
Cyl Count............................... : 128

ROM:
Read ROM................................ : Ok
ROM Data size........................... : 192 Kb
Flash ROM dir reading................... : Ok
SA regions address...................... : by default
SA regions address (RAM)................ : by default
Module 02 access........................ : Granted

SA SPT.................................. : 857

SA Translator loading................... : Ok
SA defects assigned..................... : 1
Reading by ABA may get wrong data

ROM Modules:
ROM version............................. : 58.A3D
Module 4F F/W version................... : 005800A3
Overlay F/W version..................... : 58.A3D
Servo F/W version....................... : 01.0L

Heads configuration..................... : by map
Heads number............................ : 4
Heads number in use..................... : 3
Switched off heads...................... : Yes
Heads map............................... : 1,2,3

Relocations............................. : 0 (1 465)
Read ROM DCM............................ : Ok

Power up log reading.................... : Ok
Power up load dir data.................. : Yes
Power up load permovl................... : Yes
Power up load CFG data.................. : Yes

WD5000AACS-00ZUB0 Data Recovery Case Log

03Jul24: This hard drive would not spin up. We changed the pcb to a new one. The drives is responding very poorly and sometimes clicks. We we're able to read some data but the drive started clicking again. We used another new pcb and after 2 attempts got the drive to spinup again. Reading is very bad so we changed from reading via the utility and got a consistent speed of up to 5 mb/s.

Original pcb: 2060-701444-004 REV A
Donor working pcb: 2060-701444-004 REV B

WD5000AAVS-00ZTB0 Data Recovery Case log

27May25: The customer has two of these identical hard drives from a raid system. Both share the same 2060-701444-004 Rev A pcb. Both drives originally spin up and then down but now they just show red lights and no spinning.