Tracking down old hardware

[Dean C]

I need to buy a specific revision of an old hard-drive, used or new, manufactured by Western Digital. Does anyone know of any forums where I might have some luck? I've tried buying direct off them but they are having none of it, and I can't find anyone selling one on google.

The model # is WD3200JD-22KLB0, on the off chance that someone here has one

[Chousho]

Well, it would appear that haygood2 had one from http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...9664931/inc/-1

You may be able to get in contact with him to find a location to buy a new one at.

If you have the meddle to mettle with some metal, you could even check out http://www.pricebat.ca/WD-Caviar-SE-...rive.p_134458/

There's a link in there to an eBay auction featuring this "parts" hdd.

[Dean C]

Well, it would appear that haygood2 had one from http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...9664931/inc/-1

You may be able to get in contact with him to find a location to buy a new one at.

If you have the meddle to mettle with some metal, you could even check out http://www.pricebat.ca/WD-Caviar-SE-...rive.p_134458/

There's a link in there to an eBay auction featuring this "parts" hdd.

I'd already found those links. The former is a wild shot and the latter is similar on many other sites on google. Note how it's only lists the first part of the model #, and not the latter

[Chousho]

Note how it's only lists the first part of the model #, and not the latter

Actually I wasn't pointing to the main item on that page~

If you have the meddle to mettle with some metal, you could even check out ...There's a link in there to an eBay auction featuring this "parts" hdd.

I was pointing to the eBay link on that page:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WD3200JD-22KLB0-WD3200JD-22KLBO-for-Parts-only-AS-IS_W0QQitemZ350075141738QQcategoryZ158826QQcmdZViewItem

which is a "parts" item, but may have working what you have broken.

However this would seem to be a sort of last resort, anyway. Then again, looking at the luck from the latest search results~ it appears it might have to come to that unless that diamond in the rough can be found.

[Dean C]

Actually I wasn't pointing to the main item on that page~

I was pointing to the eBay link on that page:

http://cgi.ebay.com/WD3200JD-22KLB0-WD3200JD-22KLBO-for-Parts-only-AS-IS_W0QQitemZ350075141738QQcategoryZ158826QQcmdZViewItem

which is a "parts" item, but may have working what you have broken.

However this would seem to be a sort of last resort, anyway. Then again, looking at the luck from the latest search results~ it appears it might have to come to that unless that diamond in the rough can be found.

The part that is defective on that drive, ironically, is the part I need it for

[David Grove]

You might try hunting for it at your local computer repair shops that might keep broken drives around for spare parts. But there are a few caveats here. If you want to change the PCB, be aware that even if you find the exact same revision of the HDD, the PCB may not be compatible. This is due to the fact that the hard drive stores information about bad sectors etc in the firmware, so if you swap out the PCB it might not be compatible with your drive, even though it has the same model and revision number. If you're trying to recover valuable data, you might give it a try though. Another option might be to test out some of the components on the PCB and see if there's something simple that can be changed like a thermal cutout switch that got fried etc. Depending on the value of the data on the drive, there are data recovery companies that will test and repair the original PCB for you.

[Dean C]

You might try hunting for it at your local computer repair shops that might keep broken drives around for spare parts. But there are a few caveats here. If you want to change the PCB, be aware that even if you find the exact same revision of the HDD, the PCB may not be compatible. This is due to the fact that the hard drive stores information about bad sectors etc in the firmware, so if you swap out the PCB it might not be compatible with your drive, even though it has the same model and revision number. If you're trying to recover valuable data, you might give it a try though. Another option might be to test out some of the components on the PCB and see if there's something simple that can be changed like a thermal cutout switch that got fried etc. Depending on the value of the data on the drive, there are data recovery companies that will test and repair the original PCB for you.

Thanks for the reply I tried getting in touch with one data recovery company in my area, and they were charging £250 per 20gb recovered. That's verging on extortionate....