[mythtv-users] Help with a semi-busted hard drive (with all my recordings)

[Calvin Harrigan]

Brian Wood wrote:

>On Feb 5, 2006, at 4:17 AM, Mark Oliver wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Brian Wood wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>An impedance bridge is not something that a lot of folks have at
>>>home, plus you would have to remove the component from the circuit in
>>>order to measure its capacitance.
>>>
>>>Fortunately, most capacitors in digital circuits are not all that
>>>critical in terms of value, and a lot of them are simply for de-
>>>coupling. Probably anything even reasonably close in capacitance
>>>would work. Be careful that you have not damaged the extremely tiny
>>>lands on the PC board, and remember that a lot of those boards are
>>>multi-layer, once damaged they can rarely be repaired, so be very
>>>careful.
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>All the more reason for me to pass this along to someone who knows  
>>more
>>than I do.  Thanks for the info and the words of caution, though I  
>>have
>>no intention of doing anything other than transporting the drive
>>somewhere.  The drive is still in its original packaging, so as  
>>long as
>>I do not drop it...
>>
>>I am not sure what dave (my brother-in-law) has or has access to,  
>>which
>>means that this may end up in the hands of one of his friends, so the
>>time aspect for getting an answer may well be more like a week or two,
>>if it is even possible.  I guess I will find out more later today or
>>tomorrow.
>>    
>>
>
>The "traditional" method of getting data off a drive with bad control  
>electronics (and the one most commercial data recovery outfits try  
>first) is to obtain an identical drive and swap out the control  
>board. In fact, most commercial recovery companies maintain a  
>collection of control boards for this purpose.
>
>This probably isn't what you want because it can be expensive and I  
>think you want the drive to run again, but it probably would allow  
>you to recover your recordings. It would likely be cheaper than  
>sending the drive to one of the commercial outfits though.
>
>Sounds like letting your BIL have a go at it first makes sense  
>though, bet be aware that no matter how talented and equipped he is,  
>a little luck is required in matters like this :-)
>_______________________________________________
>mythtv-users mailing list
>mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>  
>
This might seem obvious, but isn't the value wrintten on the capacitor?  
The value is encoded, but not encrypted.
example:  103  =  .01uf

see:
http://beamdream.solarbotics.net/Tutorials/CapGuide.htm
http://www.radiodaze.com/capacitor_ID.htm