On Nov 7, 10:42*pm, WT wrote:
I am looking for an 80 Gb Hitachi Deskstar hard drive, Model
HDS728080PLA380. *My brother's machine quit with the Hitachi "click of
death" and I am trying to find a working hard drive like his to swap
parts and try to recover their data. *Anyone have one sitting around?
I think his machine is an HP.

* WT

I have had this problem before a few times and have tried changing the
logic board on the drives, NEVER with any success.

Hitachi says this is because you have to find a drive with the same
FIRMWARE (whatever that means with a disc drive!) and in practice you
never will. There are complex pieces of astronomically expensive
equipment designed to re-write firmware, none apparently which do this
to failed drives.

Besides, why are you so sure it is some part wihch can be switched?

The only real solution is to find someone like OnTrack who can take
your drive apart in a Clean Room and read the data on the platters.
The outfits which do this have a lock on the market and know they can
screw users into paying any amount they choose to charge to do this.
(because companies are usually happy to pay any amount to do this).
As you have probably found out. These companies even have intricate
programs which con you into believing that they can do this and are
the only people who can. If it was so easy to get drives working
again, dont you think they would be able to repair your drive?

When you do this, the next problem appears which is that the will send
you DVDs with thousands of numbered directories and tens of thousands
of (numbered, not named) files on them which will take you hundreds of
hours to go through.