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Remember not all hard drives of the same model were manufactured in the same country!

Example:
wd-2000
Western Digital MDL: WD2000BB-16DWA0

MDL: WD2000BB
This indicates the Model Number of the Drive and Memory Cache
BB Meaning 2MB there are also JB for 8MB and so on… this needs to be the same if you are ordering parts.

Firmware
Firmware: 16DWA0
This is reference to the hard drives firmware number, this can be used for a PCB Swap but if unsuccessful you will need to physically replace the Firmware chip from the original drives PCB to the Board. See Pick 3

Head Replacement

wd-heads-preamp-old wd-heads-preamp-new
DCM: CVJAA
This is very important when replacing the internal read write heads of a drive. The last 5 digits of the DCM number will need to match the original drive for compatible heads, But most importantly I have found that you can match this DCM number across several models e.g. WD200BB and WD200JB will Work… this is also the same between the silver top WD and  Black top WD will still be compatible. I have also had the odd drive that is larger than the drive I needed with the same DCM and more heads than what I need but I found the extra heads where deactivated and still worked.

COUNTRY: Malaysia
People are not always aware of the fact that same model drives can be made in different country’s and this can also be a factor in sourcing donor hard drive parts

PCB Replacement

PCB: (Printed Circuit Board)
You will need to match the first two sets of numbers printed on the IDE Insert of the PCB This will match the compatibility of the PCB with your drive.
If you can match these sets of numbers to the hard drive Firmware number then you will have a high chance of a compatible part. Of course if this does not work there are more complicated means that the data recovery experts can do.
wd-pcb-info

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