| September 30, 2025 |
Breakthrough in Data Recovery: ACE Lab Announces Full Support for WD/HGST Helium Drives with New HGST CCB Adapter |
For years, data recovery specialists have faced a significant challenge with modern high-capacity WD and HGST helium-filled hard drives. These drives, prevalent in servers and storage systems due to their massive density and efficiency, utilized a new and complex internal architecture known as HGST CCB (Command Code Based). This architecture presented a formidable barrier, making traditional data recovery methods ineffective and leaving these drives largely unrecoverable in a professional lab environment.
After several years of research and development, ACE Lab is proud to announce a complete solution fully integrated into the PC-3000 technology, starting with software version 7.7. A key component of this breakthrough is the new specialized HGST CCB Adapter for the PC-3000 Portable III and PRO systems.
This adapter is engineered to provide a correct communication pathway with the drive's firmware, which is essential for the data recovery process. It enables technicians to work with Hitachi GST drives of the CCB architecture (including WD HGST Helium and Atmosphere models) in a full technological mode on Portable III and Portable PRO.
The new HGST CCB Adapter provides a suite of powerful functions essential for successful recovery:
- Direct access to the Service Area (SA): Read and write the drive's critical service data.
- Translator management: Recalculate the translator to regain correct access to user data areas.
- Background process control: Stop the drive's internal background activities that interfere with the recovery process.
- Building a logical head map: Create an accurate map for the Data Extractor utility to efficiently image the drive.
- SMART parameter reset: Clear S.M.A.R.T. attributes for diagnostics and repair purposes.
To use the HGST CCB Adapter, PC-3000 Software version 7.7.19 or higher is required.*
This announcement marks a pivotal moment in data recovery. For the first time anywhere in the world, recovery experts can confidently handle the latest generations of WD/HGST helium drives.
Ready to tackle Hitachi GST CCB drives with confidence? Enhance your data recovery toolkit today and overcome what was once impossible!
* The adapter is required only for Portable III / PRO to work with WD/HGST CCB drives. PC-3000 Express, UDMA and SAS have native WD/HGST CCB support starting from software version 7.7.19 without any additional adapter.
