Trying to recover data from a Samsung ZIF hard drive

[nate911]

I have been frustrated by a project lately where I am trying to pull a client's data from a potentially corrupted ZIF (zero impact force) hard drive.

I have already purchased and failed with 2 different adapters. I asked the second vendor why I might be having so much trouble and he told me it could be a problem with brand compatibility between the hard drive and the adapter.

1. Do you think brand incompatibility is why they are not working together?

2. I've only tried this in windows, might I have better luck with a program in linux?

3. Have any of you recovered data from a zif hard drive before outside of its original computer environment?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide!

I am including the following specs about the drive in case they are helpful.

MODEL: HS06THB
HDD PART NUMBER: HS06THB/M
REVISION: A
MANUFACTURED IN OCTOBER OF 2008
CONNECTION: ZIF CONNECTOR
HDD PHYSICAL SIZE: 1.8” WIDTH BY ???LENGTH???
SAMSUNG PART NUMBER: 505614-001
CT: 2AMDQ01E1WQ3QM
MANUFACTURED BY SAMSUNG
STORAGE CAPACITY: 60GB

 

[FreeDataRecovery]

It's possible the results you see are because the drive has failed. Try placing the drive back in the original computer and then boot the computer from a Linux bootable CD like Ubuntu. Then open a terminal command window and run: fdisk -l

Does it list your zif drive?

 

[omnipanzer]

What was the original application? Is it from an old ipod or a Zune?

 

[nate911]

It's possible the results you see are because the drive has failed. Try placing the drive back in the original computer and then boot the computer from a Linux bootable CD like Ubuntu. Then open a terminal command window and run: fdisk -l

Does it list your zif drive?

Thanks for the suggestion but unfortunately the original computer is not available to put the drive in as it has been parted out and sold off

I am going to give the linux angle a try though and see if it produces results. Thanks for your advice.

 

[nate911]

What was the original application? Is it from an old ipod or a Zune?

The original application was a windows 32 bit installation on an hp netbook. And as far as I know this hard drive came with the computer oem.

I hope that helps you help me, thanks for your input.

 

[nate911]

"I have already purchased and failed with 2 different adapters. "Did you mean the hard drive can be detected by PC?If so,you can try this way.Put the hdd in a zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Then while it's still cold plug it into the computer and you may be able to view it in 'my computer'. It has worked for me on several occasions so don't laugh just try it.
If it can show up in "My Computer",I would first try to recover the data on it with a data recovery program to avoid lossing them.
Try this one called Tenorshare Data Recovery. It can recover data after deeply scanning your hard drive to look for lost data due to drives crash, physical damage,ect.
http://www.any-data-recovery.com

I am going to hook the drive up again today and see if it is possible to access it with this program you are recommending. My ultimate goal is really only to pull the data off the drive so hopefully this will do the job. I'll let you know how it goes but whether it works or not, thanks for your guidance and advice.

 

[nate911]

"I have already purchased and failed with 2 different adapters. "Did you mean the hard drive can be detected by PC?If so,you can try this way.Put the hdd in a zip-lock bag and put it in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Then while it's still cold plug it into the computer and you may be able to view it in 'my computer'. It has worked for me on several occasions so don't laugh just try it.
If it can show up in "My Computer",I would first try to recover the data on it with a data recovery program to avoid lossing them.
Try this one called Tenorshare Data Recovery. It can recover data after deeply scanning your hard drive to look for lost data due to drives crash, physical damage,ect.
http://www.any-data-recovery.com

I failed to mention in my last reply to you that it was not showing up in windows, at least not entirely..

I tried the demo of tenorshare but it was unable to detect the drive. Somehow I feel like maybe I am missing a driver for the adapter but none were included with it when it shipped to me.

I am connecting this drive using a 1.8" Zif drive enclosure and windows automatically installs drivers "successfully" for both the adapter and the "usb mass storage device" as 2 separate things. Unfortunately though I am not able to see the drive listed at the my computer screen even after refreshing the window. I also tried scanning for hardware changes on the adapter device and the usb mass storage device, both of which produced no changes when I did so.

I also tried to access the drive in ubuntu (run from a flash drive if that matters) and disk utility saw that there was an adapter there and kind of hinted that there was a drive attached but it was not able to display any information about the drive or any of its files.

This enclosure only has the 1 cable going to the hard drive. I take it this must also provide the power? Is that correct?

Thanks again for your help, sorry for the small novel

 

[omnipanzer]

"This enclosure only has the 1 cable going to the hard drive. I take it this must also provide the power? Is that correct? "

^ Yes


Outside of that I'm at a loss for you bro. I've never messed with these outside of MP3 players but now that you mention "net books" that would make sense.

 

[nate911]

"This enclosure only has the 1 cable going to the hard drive. I take it this must also provide the power? Is that correct? "

^ Yes


Outside of that I'm at a loss for you bro. I've never messed with these outside of MP3 players but now that you mention "net books" that would make sense.

Yeah I get the feeling more and more like this is just not going to turn out well for my client who happens to have books on this hard drive that he has no other back ups of.. Awesome way to live on the edge I suppose, hopefully you finish and print your novel before the hard drive crashes, in this case a total piece of junk I think its simply unrecoverable without very drastic measures of reassembly in a more sophisticated environment.

Thanks for your feedback though and your answer about the data/power cable.

-Nate

 

[fzabkar]

FWIW, here is the pinout for a 40-pin ATA ZIF interface for a Hitachi Travelstar:
http://www.hardwarebook.info/ATA_ZIF

ATA / IDE interface connector pinout for desktop PC:
http://pinouts.ru/HD/AtaInternal_pinout.shtml

BTW, ZIF = Zero Insertion Force.