Strange old looking HDD with BTc

[Vvang]

My friend claimed that his older brother have some leftover BTC in a HDD( he claimed it should be around 0.3BTC), I volunteered to help and on getting to my place I was given this strange looking HDD that doesn't look like anything I have seen before, it has weird looking connection and he claimed to have tried to find the cable but nothing worked.

I had some PCs but none have the cable that this HDD slot has



There you go, what is that strange cable port there? All I know is SATA cable and four pin power plug, anyone have a clue what to do? I've tried some computer shops closer they don't have that cable.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

It is called an IDE cable. Easily available but any PC less than maybe 15 years old will need an IDE adapter card to use it. Because the SATA spec is much much faster mobo's rarely directly support IDE spec anymore.

[Stalker22]

You are looking at a completely standard PATA/IDE drive from the 90s or 2000s.  If your motherboard does not have an IDE controller (no corresponding connector), you can try to get a cheap IDE to SATA or IDE to USB adapter at your local electronics store or order online via Aliexpress or Ebay.

But to be brutally honest here: if you have never even seen an IDE drive before, you are completely out of your depth.  I suggest you seek help from someone at least a little more experienced before you do more damage to that drive and completely destroy the data.

[PrivacyG]

But to be brutally honest here: if you have never even seen an IDE drive before, you are completely out of your depth.  I suggest you seek help from someone at least a little more experienced before you do more damage to that drive and completely destroy the data.

I disagree.  I could make a long list of connectors you have probably never even heard about and that does not mean you are stupid or 'out of your depth'.  It is simply a Hard Drive.  Your level of Bitcoin knowledge is is in no way influenced by knowing Hard Drive connectors in detail or not.

Hell.  Even I could not remember the name at first.  It has been long enough since I last saw one that I could not remember the name properly.  If anything I would really not rely on the 'help' of someone 'experienced'.  Give that Hard Drive to anyone else and consider that Bitcoin lost because if they ever sweep it from the Drive you do not have any way of proving they were the ones who stole it.

[BALIK]

Around 12 $ at Aliexpress

This hard drive looks like an IDE/PATA drive from late 90s. How did your friend leave something so important in this condition for so many years?

I am pretty sure that 0.3 BTC could be gone forever. Because if you leave these drives for too long, the files get corrupted.

Don't try any cables. Buy a cheap IDE to USB adapter as Stalker22 said. Connect it carefully, if possible it would be better to connect it to an old PC. And before trying to access the wallet, you can clone or backup the entire drive. If you don't have experience in this line, you can take help from a friend who understands hardware.

[Stalker22]

But to be brutally honest here: if you have never even seen an IDE drive before, you are completely out of your depth.  I suggest you seek help from someone at least a little more experienced before you do more damage to that drive and completely destroy the data.

I disagree.  I could make a long list of connectors you have probably never even heard about and that does not mean you are stupid or 'out of your depth'.  It is simply a Hard Drive.  Your level of Bitcoin knowledge is is in no way influenced by knowing Hard Drive connectors in detail or not.

Hell.  Even I could not remember the name at first.  It has been long enough since I last saw one that I could not remember the name properly.  If anything I would really not rely on the 'help' of someone 'experienced'.  Give that Hard Drive to anyone else and consider that Bitcoin lost because if they ever sweep it from the Drive you do not have any way of proving they were the ones who stole it.

You are completely missing the point here, and honestly, I think you are giving some pretty dangerous advice.  Its not about insulting their intelligence; but about basic competence.  If someone gets a 20-year-old drive with a legacy wallet on it and cant even identify the interface in front of them, its a dead giveaway that they have zero experience with this kind of tech.

If you dont even know what interface you are looking at, how are you going to safely image the drive, handle bit rot, or extract the wallet file without corrupting the data?

Besides, there is a massive difference between "seeking expert help" and "blindly trusting a stranger."  You can consult someone with technical expertise to figure out the hardware interface, set up a write-blocker, or walk through an air-gapped data recovery process without ever giving them access to the actual wallet file or private keys.

[BitMaxz]

New motherboards nowadays seem to have no slot  for IDE cable; you don't have another option here but to use the adapter or enclosure as suggested above.
If you willing to recover something, the above cheap adapter would work unless the drive itself is not working properly. You would need an expert here to recover all data from that drive. The issue might be  something inside the the control board or the pin itself.

Before buying an enclosure, I suggest choose the one that includes a power supply to power the drive because most of the adapters nowadays seem not to include this power supply.

[PrivacyG]

You are completely missing the point here, and honestly, I think you are giving some pretty dangerous advice.  Its not about insulting their intelligence; but about basic competence.  If someone gets a 20-year-old drive with a legacy wallet on it and cant even identify the interface in front of them, its a dead giveaway that they have zero experience with this kind of tech.

If you dont even know what interface you are looking at, how are you going to safely image the drive, handle bit rot, or extract the wallet file without corrupting the data?

Besides, there is a massive difference between "seeking expert help" and "blindly trusting a stranger."  You can consult someone with technical expertise to figure out the hardware interface, set up a write-blocker, or walk through an air-gapped data recovery process without ever giving them access to the actual wallet file or private keys.

OP is clearly asking for help and I believe by that the first right step was taken.  The next right step in my paranoid mind would not be to give that Hard Drive to a stranger, even if they are offering 'expert help'.  If OP is silly enough to try and recover the old wallet on their own then I suppose they may also be silly enough to receive 'expert help' from an Indian promising immediate recovery through AnyDesk.

[coinlary]

Around 12 $ at Aliexpress

This seem to be a perfect fit for he wants , and at a cheaper price.

This hard drive looks like an IDE/PATA drive from late 90s. How did your friend leave something so important in this condition for so many years?

Not his friend directly , he mentioned "elder brother" in the OP.

I am pretty sure that 0.3 BTC could be gone forever. Because if you leave these drives for too long, the files get corrupted.

You can't be too sure about that. It's worth giving it a try before reaching a “lost forever” conclusion, and that's only if there's no other way to revive it.
He should clean the dust and wipe those gold pins clean before plugging it into the adapter.

Connect it carefully, if possible it would be better to connect it to an old PC. And before trying to access the wallet, you can clone or backup the entire drive.

He doesn't need an old PC,  it's an HDD connected to an adapter

[Outhue]

New motherboards nowadays seem to have no slot  for IDE cable; you don't have another option here but to use the adapter or enclosure as suggested above.
If you willing to recover something, the above cheap adapter would work unless the drive itself is not working properly. You would need an expert here to recover all data from that drive. The issue might be  something inside the the control board or the pin itself.

Before buying an enclosure, I suggest choose the one that includes a power supply to power the drive because most of the adapters nowadays seem not to include this power supply.

Some enclosures don't have separate power? I have two different enclosures for SATA and IDE and they come with their own power bricks, OP need to make sure to buy a better enclosure with power brick, it should work since he will be connecting it back to a PC, every files will be visible unless something bad is already wrong with that HDD.



Something like this will work, it's what I am currently using, don't buy enclosure without that power brick or you will have to hunt for one that will work with the enclosure,same position I found myself two years ago, I had to use a old router power bring and unexpectedly it worked.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

He doesn't need an old PC,  it's an HDD connected to an adapter

Agreed.

I'm no tech expert, but even I know there's a way to connect that hard drive to your PC with an appropriate adapter, and as long as the drive is handled carefully it shouldn't get damaged in the process.  That said, I would suggest OP listen to members here who are tech heads and know what they're talking about.  There are plenty of them even if they're disagreeing with each other initially (lol).

Before buying an enclosure, I suggest choose the one that includes a power supply to power the drive because most of the adapters nowadays seem not to include this power supply.

For what it's worth, you can buy adapters that aren't enclosures and can be plugged into a standard outlet for power.  I've got one of those, it works perfectly, and it was fairly inexpensive too.

Good luck to you--that's no small amount of BTC these days.

[Pterosaur]

I have that cable, I am very sure that my Pentium 4 pc that I left in my store used the same Data cable, where are you from OP? I can help send you one, oh wait, you will then need a old PC to even use that cable, it's not going to work I guess.

The only option is buying a external enclosure for IDE, I'm still wondering where you are from because if truly you get down to a computer store nearby they should be able to tell what to do even if they don't have the cable available.

People don't use pentium and core 2 duo pc anymore, which is where such connection exists, the only solution left is enclosure, follow the lead of what others told you.

[CryptoYar]

From the pictures it looks like it is older IDE (PATA) connector instead of SATA. They were common in drives prior to around 2007-2008 before the switch to SATA was made. Obvious sign is wide flat ribbon cable connector.

It requires two cables to connect, molex 4-pin power cable and an IDE ribbon cable. There are also IDE to USB adapters which would be the easiest option, they are known as IDE/SATA to USB adapters and support both types of connections. They are available from some computer repair shops but are easier to find online.

I do have the cable and a PC to use with it, but sadly I guess you're too far away for that.

[m2017]

My friend claimed that his older brother have some leftover BTC in a HDD( he claimed it should be around 0.3BTC), I volunteered to help and on getting to my place I was given this strange looking HDD that doesn't look like anything I have seen before, it has weird looking connection and he claimed to have tried to find the cable but nothing worked.

You must have felt like Indiana Jones with this artifact in your hands. I hope to see the continuation of this story (and you will be able to successfully “extract” bitcoins). To be honest, I myself would volunteer if I were you, purely out of curiosity and the opportunity to “touch” the past era of bitcoin.

I had some PCs but none have the cable that this HDD slot has

Because the legacy IDE interface has long been abandoned by motherboard manufacturers. It's also a bygone era.

So, this is what modern treasure chests (with bitcoins) look like.

There you go, what is that strange cable port there? All I know is SATA cable and four pin power plug, anyone have a clue what to do? I've tried some computer shops closer they don't have that cable.

It's not a strange port, but an outdated one. Of course, you probably won't find something in your local stores that hasn't been used for a long time.

[Agbe]

From my computer knowledge. This is a desktop computer pentium 4  or other versions system harddisk. Now if you are trying to see what is inside that hard drive, you have to remove the jumper from the mother slot to the slave and connect or attach the harddisk to a perfect working desktop and boot it on and you will see the files inside if only the harddisk is still working and not damage yet. And quickly transfer the files from the program files or check around the folders. But before taking those steps, you ha to test the disk to know if it is working by connecting the harddisk to computer and boot it to see the writings on the screen. Update every step you take here for more direction. That cable CA be getting in computer shops, and those have been repairing computer for a very long time.

[tabas]

Looks like legit with that old HDD and that cable that everyone talked about the old IDE. I wonder what's the update now OP if ever you've already found the cable for that HDD. You've been trusted by your friend and his older brother to retrieve it on that hard disk. I hope that you won't just pass it on to any technician that has an idea about retrieving wallets and old files through it because the password of the wallet might be in the files for it. Do it alone with some guidance since they've entrusted you that hdd and, good luck.

[Vvang]

Thank you all, it's going to be a long wait since I can't get the enclosure very fast, it's going to take few weeks to get here, no one deals with IDE connectors anymore.

As for those who are talking about the cable, I can't even find a pentium computer too, people don't use them anymore, computer stores all said the same thing, no one use them anymore, they don't move in this country.

They are outdated, enclosure will work and I've already ordered for one, on the way to my location soon
I choose this one due to affordability..

[NelaKo]

That's just an old IDE (PATA) drive. They were everywhere before SATA took over, so it only looks strange if you've never had to deal with older hardware. I wouldn't keep trying random cables though. Just get an IDE-to-USB adapter with its own power supply and see if the drive is detected. They're pretty cheap compared to what's potentially on that disk.

If it does spin up, I'd make a full copy of the drive before opening anything. Old HDDs can die at the worst possible moment, and having an image gives you a second chance if something goes wrong.

Hope there's actually a wallet on it. 0.3 BTC would definitely be worth the effort. Good luck dude!

[OgNasty]

This thread makes me feel incredibly old. Not just because apparently IDE cables are something that people today don’t even recognize, but I actually have the exact same style hard drive with a burnt fuse that also holds ~0.4 BTC on it. A strange coincidence I guess. One of these days I should fix mine too.

[Outhue]

This thread makes me feel incredibly old. Not just because apparently IDE cables are something that people today don’t even recognize, but I actually have the exact same style hard drive with a burnt fuse that also holds ~0.4 BTC on it. A strange coincidence I guess. One of these days I should fix mine too.

I'm guessing that when a HDD ended up with a burnt fuse the disk won't spin anymore or it won't receive power, that fuse must have blew to protect the drive I bet, what were you doing before that event took place?

It might not be that easy to get it fixed if it's a shorted related outcome, like you breached components together? Hope you understand what I am trying to say, I have 10s of HDD with, some are dead and I have experience with HDD very well.

You will need multimeter to figure out which diodes are dead, this is the very first thing to look out for, avoid going for the fuse as if nothing happened,fuse don't just blew up for no reason on HDDs.

Hope you are good with soldering iron too, good luck