IBM Data Recovery

With over 25 years of hands-on experience, Coventry Data Recovery is the trusted authority for IBM hard disk recovery in the UK. Our dedicated engineers have recovered data from thousands of IBM desktop and enterprise drives, including HDDs and SSDs, across numerous interfaces and failure scenarios. Whether it’s mechanical damage, electrical failure, or logical corruption, we have the forensic tools and expertise to get your data back safely and securely.

✅ Our IBM Hard Disk Recovery Services

We provide professional IBM data recovery services for:

• IBM internal and external hard drives (HDD and SSD)
• Enterprise SAS and SCSI drives used in servers and RAID arrays
• Personal desktop and laptop drives
• Data centre drives and blade server storage

We support all drive capacities and form factors, including 2.5”, 3.5” and M.2 NVMe-based devices.

💾 Top 20 IBM Hard Drive Models We Recover From

1. IBM Deskstar 120GXP
2. IBM Deskstar 180GXP
3. IBM Travelstar 5K100
4. IBM Travelstar 7K60
5. IBM Ultrastar 36Z15
6. IBM Ultrastar 73LZX
7. IBM Ultrastar 146Z10
8. IBM Ultrastar 15K73
9. IBM eServer xSeries HDD (various)
10. IBM BladeCenter HDDs
11. IBM System x HDD SAS
12. IBM SSD Enterprise Value 2.5”
13. IBM SSD MLC Enterprise 2.5”
14. IBM PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD
15. IBM Storwize V7000 HDD
16. IBM Storwize SSD FlashSystem modules
17. IBM FlashSystem A9000 SSD
18. IBM zSeries SSD modules
19. IBM DS8000 Series HDD/SSD
20. IBM EXP HDD Expansion Units

⚙️ Supported Interfaces

We recover IBM hard drives using all major interfaces:

• SATA
• PATA/IDE
• SCSI
• SAS
• PCIe
• NVMe
• M.2 and U.2
• eSATA
• Fibre Channel (for enterprise IBM storage)

🔧 Top 30 IBM Drive Faults & Our Technical Recovery Methods

Below are the most common IBM drive faults we recover data from, with a summary of our technical approach for each:

1. Mechanical Failure
   Cause: Worn spindle, stuck actuator arm.
   Fix: Drive opened in cleanroom; donor parts matched; heads replaced to access platters safely.
2. Head Crash
   Cause: Sudden shock or fall.
   Fix: Use donor heads to bypass damaged heads, recover readable sectors using imager.
3. Platter Damage
   Cause: Severe head crash.
   Fix: High-precision imager to skip unreadable sectors, rebuild fragmented file systems.
4. PCB Failure
   Cause: Surge or overheating.
   Fix: PCB swap with ROM chip transplant; firmware emulator to access service area.
5. Firmware Corruption
   Cause: Defective firmware modules.
   Fix: Read and correct modules (e.g., SA, LBA translator) using PC3K or MRT.
6. Bad Sectors
   Cause: Media degradation.
   Fix: Sector-by-sector clone using DE with timeout thresholds to bypass unreadable zones.
7. Logical Corruption
   Cause: OS crash, improper shutdown.
   Fix: File system repair (NTFS, HFS+, EXT) using forensic tools; rebuild MFT or inode table.
8. Deleted Files
   Cause: User error.
   Fix: Deep scan to locate orphaned data; recover metadata from file system slack space.
9. Formatted Drive
   Cause: Accidental format.
   Fix: Raw recovery of lost partitions using disk signature analysis and file carving.
10. Unrecognised in BIOS/System
    Cause: Firmware, controller or interface fault.
    Fix: Access via terminal mode; force drive ready state; clone and rebuild partition map.
11. NAND Flash Wear (SSD)
    Cause: Repeated writes over time.
    Fix: Access data using chip-off or JTAG recovery, then rebuild virtual blocks manually.
12. Controller Failure (SSD)
    Cause: Heat, voltage surge.
    Fix: De-solder memory chips, extract raw data, decode file system using ECC correction.
13. Overheating
    Cause: Poor ventilation or workload stress.
    Fix: Clone drive in low-temp environment; recover from thermally degraded sectors.
14. Power Surge
    Cause: Storm or poor PSU.
    Fix: Replace voltage regulators; isolate corrupted preamp circuits.
15. Encrypted Drive Failures
    Cause: OS crash during encryption process.
    Fix: Manual decryption using key dump and forensic passphrase analysis.
16. SMART Failures
    Cause: Aging drive.
    Fix: Clone with retry thresholds; isolate healthy sectors.
17. Partition Table Corruption
    Cause: Malware or formatting error.
    Fix: Reconstruct GPT/MBR manually with forensic editors.
18. BIOS Not Detecting Drive
    Cause: Microcode or controller fault.
    Fix: Rewrite microcode using vendor tools to restore identification.
19. Slow Read/Write Performance
    Cause: Reallocated sectors.
    Fix: Imaging with read timeout and retry strategy.
20. SSD Not Mounting
    Cause: TRIM overuse or controller issue.
    Fix: Extract NAND via chip reader, reconstruct file table.

… (and 10 more including water damage, virus damage, unstable firmware, eFuse activation, EEPROM corruption, SSD RAID misalignment, unstable voltage regulators, ECC corruption, incorrect cloning, RAID member mismatch.)

💡 Why Choose Coventry Data Recovery for IBM Drives?

• 25 years of hard disk recovery expertise
• In-house cleanroom facility for physical repairs
• Recovery from all IBM enterprise and personal drive models
• Trusted by businesses, institutions, and home users
• Free diagnostics with no obligation

📍 Supported Operating Systems

We support data recovery from drives used with:

• Windows (XP to Windows 11)
• macOS (HFS+, APFS)
• Linux (EXT2/3/4, BTRFS)
• Unix (UFS, ZFS)
• VMware and Hyper-V environments
• Custom OS used in IBM enterprise systems

📞 Contact Coventry Data Recovery Today

If your IBM hard disk has failed or is showing signs of corruption, contact our engineers now for free diagnostics. Our standard recovery service completes within 2–4 working days. A 48-hour critical service is also available.