Joel W Shea <jwshea@gmail.com> wrote:

I've recently procured a WD Passport 1TB USB3.0 disk that needs some
data recovery.
I'm fairly certain it's a hardware related issue, either the PCB, or
the read/write heads.

TL;DR – Can anyone recommend a reputable, reliable, and trustworthy
Australian data recovery service, that has been successful for you or
someone you know?

(Please, no lectures on backing up data, which has already been given
to the owner of said data, incidentally not me)

Background information follows;
* The end-user reported that the drive started making some "unusual"
sounds, and the filesystem wasn't readable.
* Advised the owner to safely eject the device and not power it up again.
* Connected it to my linux machine with the intent of creating a
'ddrescue' image to work with.
* It detected the USB device, an
 d I
could hear it spinning up, with a
(somewhat louder than usual) head seeking sound.
* But wouldn't mount, as it could only intermittently read block data,
a few I/O errors, and/or not detect a block device.
* Though I was eventually able to recover the partition table with 'dd'
* When I next powered up the device to perform a ddrescue, the drive
started with the "clicking of death" along with some beeping from the
PCB,
then eventually goes offline.
* Since then, haven't been game enough to power it on, or try any of
the more drastic measures such as freezing or "accoustic maintenance",
in fear of making professional recovery more difficult.
* So short of replacing the PCB myself, or performing surgical
recovery/transplant, I've done all I can.

I'm hoping someone could recommend a reliable and trustworthy recovery
professional, that I can engage to perform the work on my behalf.

--

 Joel
Shea <jwshea@gmail.com>

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