Question on PC-3000 with WD Passport USB 3.0 Drives

[datahaze]

I received a WD My Passport USB 3.0 into the shop today which as you know only has a USB port on the board. I know I can swap the PCB for a SATA board and swap the ROM chips, but I would like to avoid this if possible. I can't figure out how to get COM/Terminal access on this drive.

I am a little confused as to how the PC-3000 USB Adapter works. I have an "ADAPTER PC USB PWR" which I assume is for turning the drive on/off. The SATA power from SATA0/1 on the PC-3000 plugs into one side, the Female USB A port plugs into a cable which goes to the drive, and then the USB B port (square) goes directly into the machine? This seems wrong, I tested it with a non-data-recovery drive I have and the drive just shows up in Windows as normal, which I don't think is how this is supposed to work.

I also have my regular USB UART bridge (PC USB Terminal 2) which I assume I should use with the PC-WD 2.5 adapter I have, but I can't seem to get terminal/com access this way and I've tried every orientation/pin combination and the Samsung and Toshiba adapters.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[pclab]

Post a photo of your PCB.
I read the ROM using the Toshiba ROM adapter and work perfectly.

 

[Blizzard]

...I am a little confused as to how the PC-3000 USB Adapter works. I have an "ADAPTER PC USB PWR" which I assume is for turning the drive on/off. The SATA power from SATA0/1 on the PC-3000 plugs into one side, the Female USB A port plugs into a cable which goes to the drive, and then the USB B port (square) goes directly into the machine? This seems wrong, I tested it with a non-data-recovery drive I have and the drive just shows up in Windows as normal, which I don't think is how this is supposed to work.

This is correct, PC-3000 utility can now power the device off/on. If you can't power it off/on with PC-3000 utility then something is wrong. You will be accessing the drive/data via Windows. If it's in pretty good shape you can still use Data Extractor for recovery but I recommend reading the ROM and swapping the PCB for a compatible SATA model.

 

[datahaze]

...I am a little confused as to how the PC-3000 USB Adapter works. I have an "ADAPTER PC USB PWR" which I assume is for turning the drive on/off. The SATA power from SATA0/1 on the PC-3000 plugs into one side, the Female USB A port plugs into a cable which goes to the drive, and then the USB B port (square) goes directly into the machine? This seems wrong, I tested it with a non-data-recovery drive I have and the drive just shows up in Windows as normal, which I don't think is how this is supposed to work.

This is correct, PC-3000 utility can now power the device off/on. If you can't power it off/on with PC-3000 utility then something is wrong. You will be accessing the drive/data via Windows. If it's in pretty good shape you can still use Data Extractor for recovery but I recommend reading the ROM and swapping the PCB for a compatible SATA model.

Doesn't this mean that when you plug in the USB drive to Windows, that it might automatically run a chkdsk and end up wiping a bunch of valuable data from the drive? Seems like a better route would be to have a SATA -> USB adapter so one could plug into the PC-3000 directly instead of having to go through the Windows disk controller...

 

[datahaze]

Post a photo of your PCB.
I read the ROM using the Toshiba ROM adapter and work perfectly.

Thank you! In trying the various configurations, I assumed I had to fill all the pin holes in the adapter, it wasn't until I saw your picture that I realized not all of them were full and now I have terminal access!

I think I'm going to go the PCB swap route with this one, thanks for your help!

 

[datahaze]

Question on PCB swaps, I have the following boards and based on my research they can be swapped with the following boards:
Board 1 2060-771801-002 REV A -> 771823
Board 2 2060-771961-001 REV B -> 771960, 771939, or 771959

My question is: Does the 001/002 or the REV number matter for donors? Anything I should be looking at aside from the middle set of numbers?

 

[pclab]

Question on PCB swaps, I have the following boards and based on my research they can be swapped with the following boards:
Board 1 2060-771801-002 REV A -> 771823
Board 2 2060-771961-001 REV B -> 771960, 771939, or 771959

My question is: Does the 001/002 or the REV number matter for donors? Anything I should be looking at aside from the middle set of numbers?

Usually you just need to match the middle number.

Enviado do meu MI 5s através do Tapatalk

 

[datahaze]

Thanks!

 

[Jared]

Of the three boards to use to replace the 771961 I'd personally recommend you use the 771959 board. It seems to have the best compatibility. I've occasionally seen issues with the other two boards. Usually, they'll work, but sometimes they don't. The 771959 usually always seems to work.

 

[datahaze]

Good to know thanks Jared!