PC-3000 Forum

Won't autodetect and can't block SA.
Does this model still require an unlocked PCB to be able to work with the SA?

This is palmer - you will need unlocked pcb for this

Appreciate the response.... I've seen them online for $500 USD. Seems a bit excessive.
How did these needed PCB's become unlocked? Did someone unlock them and then put them up for sale or are they from a different model drive already in an unlocked state?

osity wrote:Source of the post Appreciate the response.... I've seen them online for $500 USD. Seems a bit excessive.
How did these needed PCB's become unlocked? Did someone unlock them and then put them up for sale or are they from a different model drive already in an unlocked state?

You can buy unlocked PCBs for about $75 now.
Most of these PCB come from countries that do not allow encryption/blocking of hard drives.

d_d _recoverym, I'm having trouble finding one that doesn't take 3 months to get here from China. Do you know any source that can get me one sooner than 90 days

We get ours from China (we are in the US) and it takes 2-3 days.

d_d _recovery. I just purchased one from china and paid double it's cost on shipping to get here much sooner than 90 days.
Comes out to around the price you mentioned. The vendor says I need to "brush the code" and they recommend a professional.
What does 'brush the code' mean? Does that just mean ROM transfer?

For Palmer you do not need to transfer the ROM, you can rebuild it from SA via non-native ROM that will be installed to the unlocked PCB when you receive it

Aj2008, that method applies to most WD hard drives doesn’t it? With all drives I usually physically move the chip because I’m more used to it and takes me about a minute. Will that still work with this family? It sounds like this is just business as usual like all other jobs. Is this the case ?

Most you can restore from SA, but families like fblite and shrek you cannot, also Charger does not have adaptive info in ROM as such but access to SA with non original ROM is not simple like Palmer.

you can move the ROM, this will always work, but with the cost of the unlocked PCB I just assumed you would not want to incase of any damage to it which can happen over time.

I hear ya. I saw a very familiar retailer of donor drives selling an unlocked PCB for 500USD!! It's insane. Fortunately much cheaper options surfaced. As you state, I might make more sense to dig up the old Ace blog post that explains the rebuild procedure from SA. I've put it off long enough lol


Why is it that FBlite and Shrek are different?

osity wrote:Source of the post I hear ya. I saw a very familiar retailer of donor drives selling an unlocked PCB for 500USD!! It's insane. Fortunately much cheaper options surfaced. As you state, I might make more sense to dig up the old Ace blog post that explains the rebuild procedure from SA. I've put it off long enough lol


Why is it that FBlite and Shrek are different?

I can give you the steps for restoring it if you need, just let me know and I'll be happy to send them.

As for Shrek etc, they use adaptive parameters in ROM module 4F (I used to believe they relate to dual actuator but I am not so certain now) and without native 4F access to SA cannot be made so no option to restore from SA copy of ROM

AJ2008 wrote:Source of the post For Palmer you do not need to transfer the ROM, you can rebuild it from SA via non-native ROM that will be installed to the unlocked PCB when you receive it

Steps for restoring ROM like this would be much appreciated!

I'm assuming this is what we're talking about. Has anything changed sine ROM v.6.X?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knKMKleODSQ

It is similar, but we need overlays loaded and also we need to take into account changes in dir addresses in 0B/20B. I have emailed you, hopefully the steps I sent will be clear