For Joseph’s birth, we bought what was then a nice and not inexpensive video camera, the JVC Everio GZ-HD620BU. Three years later, the camcorder was bust, probably due to a broken connector to the flip-open display, which caused both the display and the laser touch controls to malfunction. Because of that, the videos on the internal hard disk could no longer be transferred to the computer, and it was looking like the videos of Joseph’s third birthday were lost – on a functioning, but inaccessible, hard drive.
I wrote JVC’s service partner in Switzerland about my problem. Yes, they replied, if the display’s broken, and the laser touch is broken, you can’t get the videos off the hard disk, because the device only connects with the PC if you pick the right menu option, and there’s no picking menu options if the laser touch is bust. Ok, I replied, but can I open up the videocam, unmount the hard drive, and read it out via an adapter? We don’t know of any readily available adapter, they said. We only use the original JVC adapter to read out the hard disk, and besides, it’s a pain to get to the hard disk in this model, anyway.
I finally dared to unscrew the casing. 19 screws and some prying later, the shell came off, revealing a small hard drive. Toshiba MK1234GAL – I googled for adapters, for information, but found it hard to come up with something useful. Most search results were of people selling MKxx34GAL drives for iPods; most adapters I found didn’t specifically mention the MK1234GAL model. I took my half-disassembled video camera to STEG, where the sales guy looked at the device, did some image googling, confirmed that it was a ZIF connector, but also confirmed that they had no such adapter. However, I’d seen a website address during his search that looked promising, and that was easy enough to remember: http://www.adapter-king.ch/. That’s where I went looking back home.
There isn’t much out there in the way of ZIF adapters, and finding the right one took a little sleuthing. In the end I found a comination that looked reasonable: a case that fit 1.8″ hard disks into a 2.5″ shape factor and a more standard IDE connector, coupled with an IDE-to-USB converter, should do the trick. Unfortunately, the adapter case showed a red traffic light, which I figured might mean out of stock, but no harm in trying: I ordered the pair, but mentioned in the comments that if the case wasn’t available, the order was to be cancelled.
I placed the order after 11pm, and got a reply before midnight saying that in that case, the order was cancelled. With a reply that quick, I figured asking for help in finding an alternative might prove fruitful. Indeed, over the course of a few e-mails, Mr. Poell came up with an adapter that should serve my purposes: the KingSpec ZIF case for SSD and HDD. I ordered one, figuring that it was worth a 38-Franc gamble – I was 95% certain the adapter would fit, but unsure whether JVC might have used an unusual file system. Two hours later, I had an e-mail from Mr. Poell informing me that I’d get it the following day.
We were outside with the kids this morning when the mailman (actually, woman) came, so I couldn’t immediately drop everything and see if Santa had brought the goods. Once I got to the mailbox, though, it was clear he had. During naps, I disconnected my drive from the Everio, connected it to the case with the flat cable that came with it, and plugged the USB into the computer. Lo and behold: there was the usual USB device message, and a few seconds later, there was a new drive in Windows Explorer. My hopes soared, and after a bit of clicking around, I found the .MTS files and copied them to the computer. To be sure to be sure, we watched them all.
Now, why JVC designed the device so that access to the hard disk is impossible without the menu I don’t know. I’d think that there must be enough klutzes out there that would break the flip-open connector for this to be a known issue, but maybe they all send them in to JVC to have the data restored. I didn’t ask JVC if that was possible – perhaps they offer that service. But I’m happy to have my data and my hard drive, too, and pronounce this another triumph of an agile small business over a big player that’s not quite as flexible as the customer might like.
Don’t bug me just yet about uploading those videos, though. I’ll have to figure it out with new software, so that will take some time…
Added on February 11, 2014: a picture of all the parts, after total disassembly.
Are you certain the display was broken? I have an issue where the display went black. But I found that by turning the display fully around and then as you close it, it comes on. Right now it is the only way to use the camera which is rather awkward as it is so easy to “touch” the buttons…… Thanks for the info if needed in the future.
After taking it apart, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the actual display that broke, but the connector to the display. It’s a flex cable, and the design is pretty nifty: the cable is rolled around both axles with quite some give, so that opening the display or rotating the display just change how much give there is, but don’t put undue tension on the cable. I suspect that little hands opened the display with enthusiasm and pushed a little too far, which probably tore the cable a little bit. By the time I took the camera apart, two or three connectors had been ripped. I can diagnose a torn cable, but I can’t fix it. I’ll add a photo of the dissected camera to the post.
With my very limited understanding of electronics, my guess is that you’ve got a connector problem, too.
Yes, I believe you are correct. I can no longer see the display, However, it will still turn on and record by hitting the record button. So I assume I can get photos as well. However, getting them off seems to be the issue. I tried downloading the PDF from JVC and my ‘old’ Windows 7 version would not open it (not that reading it will do my any good). However your post is great. I would be interested in some close up photos of the cabling system to which you refer. After exploding the camera, did you notice any easier access to this connector?
I just took a video of this posting with the camera for the fun of it. In the event that I find a fix, I will let you know. I may just buy another camera like this one. It is the greatest night lighting camera I have seen yet and its quality is great. I use it several times each month to take progress videos of my construction projects, music festivals/ jams, and family gatherings.
Thanks for the good post.
Your selection of video projects sounds fascinating! What kind of music festivals do you tape?
Anyway, I wish I could help with a better photo, but I didn’t think to take any more than this one spread. I think it’s the cable in the middle toward the right, off the shutter mechanism, or else the one off the oval on the far right middle.
I don’t remember it being easy to get to anything. It took me a lot of time to disassemble the thing, and only the larger connectors (e.g. to the hard drive) were reasonably easy to remove.
We ended up going with a Sony video camera. It was cheaper and has a few drawbacks: half-baked video management software (PlayMemories), manual lens cover switch, and no time lapse. But its strength is the memory card: I can remove it and use a regular card reader to import the videos. I then use Tencoder to convert to MP4 and upload to youtube with the mass upload function.
I’m getting the impression that video management software isn’t ever particularly good. PlayMemories made uploading to youtube difficult, as I recall, and was annoying enough for other reasons I deleted it entirely (file naming, or sorting, I believe). Adobe Photo Organizer doesn’t let me upload more than one film at once (but otherwise, it’s great, and it’s what we use for photos). Everio Media Browser (came with the JVC) won’t let you import an entire file tree, just individual directories – but by default saves videos into different directories all the time. And if you back up to an external disk, it won’t recognize its own file structure.
You are a life saver. First night of revival at our Church and I couldn’t get the video off the recorder until I tried your trick. Thank you and God bless you.
Hi Mike,
I’m glad you found something helpful here and I hope the revival went great!
Hello,
I’ve had the somewhat of the same issue over the past years and have held onto my (2) yes, 2 devices that I broke both with water getting into the camcorder. As you, I also have much footage of my first and only child being born and the first years. I will cry if I can’t figure out how to get this info off the hard drives. I also had a JVC and contacted them and they said there is nothing they can do. Plus, my husband doesn’t want me giving our footage out to just anyone to fiddle with b/c we believe to recall there may be some more personal “adult” footage on there as well, lol. I went to the site you recommended but I have no clue what to look for because everything is in German so I’m uncertain what adapter I would require or if they even carry it. If I contact them, will they be able to speak English?
Thanks for your great story, it sheds a bit of light on my hopes.
Weird: it looks like I already replied to part of your post with my year-old comment below. Be that as it may, I’d try writing Mr. Poell. He deals in electronics, so he likely has contacts with overseas manufacturers and knows enough English to hold a conversation on adapters. The question is whether he’ll ship overseas, and whether you want to pay for it: Swiss postage can be pretty brutal.
flex on my everio is broken.. will try to solder each pin with a standard cable and see what happens
Good luck – you must be more skilled than I am with electronics! Let me know if it works.
Hello,
I have the same issue as you with my JVC Everio. I ordered an adapter, it came in today, but the interface is just completely different. The KingSpec ZIF case just doesn’t seem to be available anymore.
Do you still have the KingSpec ZIF case?
Best Regards,
Roy Coumans
The Netherlands
Roy and I had some private correspondence, and it seems like the KingSpec case I got is no longer available. This one appears to have worked for Roy: https://www.amazon.de/Informatique-Externes-Aluminium-ZIF-Festplatte-ZIF-Flachbandkabel/dp/B00C3JM81K/ref=psdc_1626220031_t1_B001FBT644.
For converting the files, Roy used Handbrake.
Hi, I have the same issue.. Broken screen cable. Not beong overly Tech Minded, I am in the process of purchasing another camera (2nd hand) and hopefully will be able to put my hard drive in the casing as get my 10 yeras of cips that way. Any thoughts?? 10 years of clips – I am prepared to almot try anything..
Hi Kerri,
I’m not quite clear on what you hope to do with the second camera, whether you just want to have it so you have a “new” device you are familiar with or whether you intend to use it for the data salvage process. The latter doesn’t seem wise to me: there was no way I would have been able to put the camera back together again after extracting the hard drive. I’d definitely recommend using an adapter like this: https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B01H8HDMWK/. Then all you need is someone who can take apart the camera. Good luck, let me know how it works!
I left my camera in the rain a few years ago and tried to dry it out I could not get it to turn on so I tried taking it apart to see if I could dry it more, only I ended up tearing the ribbon cable in half. I tried to search online for days where the hard drive was in this mess but could not figure it out. I ended up putting it all in a box and thinking I would get back to it. Could you tell me or show me what part you took apart to get at the memory storage unit or whatever its called and how you connected it into the case you got? I would so greatly appreciate it.
Hi Lisa,
It’s been nine years since I did that, so I don’t properly recall. I think I mostly looked for screws and unscrewed, and then fiddled with plastic bits until things opened or loosened or came apart.
Good luck trying!
Do you remember what the hard drive looks like? I have no Idea what Im even looking for, the whole camera is apart but I can’t figure out where the hard drive is.
Thank you so much for replying, Lisa
Do you remember what the hard drive looks like? the whole thing is apart and I can’t figure out where or what it looks like. I tried looking online but couldn’t find any schematics on my camera or any similar ones. I want to get my videos off of it.
or does anyone know what it looks like and where it’s located?
Thank you so much for replying Lisa