Looks like Solid-State drives will be keeping us busy. Got in a 160GB SSD with a blown diode and was able to recover. Same for a 64GB. Then, I just got in a 256GB one that is completely dead as well. It's a Crucial drive, and they apparently are having a ton of problems with these just dying out. I haven't found the dead link in this particular drive yet. Still working on it. Anyone else starting to get in SS drives? yep they are failing bigtime these new solid state drive infact they fail more then the normal hard drives. parts over heat and bang goes the diodes gtd4242 wrote: Got in a 160GB SSD with a blown diode and was able to recover. Same for a 64GB. Then, I just got in a 256GB one that is completely dead as well. It's a Crucial drive, and they apparently are having a ton of problems with these just dying out. I haven't found the dead link in this particular drive yet. Still working on it. Anyone else starting to get in SS drives? What symptoms do you have with the blown diodes? So far I have seen a 32GB SSD Expresscard, shows ID but no access to data, recovered this by removing NANDs - it has simple UT163 controller, 2 Samsung SSD drives, 64GB and 128GB, both fail to ID but customer requested these back before I could work with them, and a 128GB Kingston SSD. This shows ID but no access. Will work on this one today or tomorrow. This would be a good topic for closed discussion ________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. hddguy wrote: What symptoms do you have with the blown diodes? So far I have seen a 32GB SSD Expresscard, shows ID but no access to data, recovered this by removing NANDs - it has simple UT163 controller, 2 Samsung SSD drives, 64GB and 128GB, both fail to ID but customer requested these back before I could work with them, and a 128GB Kingston SSD. This shows ID but no access. Will work on this one today or tomorrow. The diode issues seem to result in no access to the drive at all, and I mean no drive ID or anything. On the first couple of cases I got in, I just sat down with my multi-meter and tested each component. My customer on this Crucial 256GB drive is getting impatient, so I may not have time to figure out exactly what the problem is there. Same thing though, drive is not recognized. It will recognize when I flip the switch to flash the firmware, but even then it's not recognizing properly, just the raw id from the ROM. drc wrote: This would be a good topic for closed discussion Agreed :) ________________ ??????? If you can keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs, maybe you don't understand the situation. ========================================================================================== reinstalling xp causes other hard drive problems I have four western digital hard drives and decided to format and reinstall windows xp on the boot drive. I applied all of the xp updates before doing anything else. After all that when I looked over the hard drives in "my computer" I noticed that the letter assignment had changed on one and the "capacity" and "free space" columns were blank on another. I used to have to manually configure support for large hard drives and install a driver for my Promise 100tx controller card however when I went to do this a box came up telling me windows had installed a better driver. The drive with empty capacity and free space numbers is showing up as "raw" and I am asked if I want to do a format. On the drive with the letter change I am able to browse the entire directory structure however most of the files are corrupt. Some of the video files will play random segments from other files, others will lock up programs and a few are just fine. Chkdsk /r did not change anything. The third drive is totally fine. It is as if reinstalling widows has corrupted the fat. I have not been able to find any ideas of a good way to reconstruct the fat on these other drives after an XP reinstall or why this problem occurs. BTW, chkdsk /r hangs at %2 on stage 3 of 4 ouch! stay away from chkdsk till you know whats going on. Disconnect the 3 drives, reformat the system drive and reinstall xp - no updates, only those drivers you know that worked previously. Then reconnect one of the 3 other drives one at a time and see what you have from there. Correct - make it a practice to disconnect all drives on system before installing windows on the master drive. Have seen this with clients systems many times and plus if you search there is some old News on this subject you can read on. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini UPDATE-- As part of the troubleshooting process I disconnected all of the HDs except for the boot. I then reconnected them one at a time to the slave part of the primary ide cable from the motherboard, bypassing the promise 100tx ata pci controller card. I actually removed the promise card entirely. I just tested the HD that had mostly corrupt and broken files. It has a few totally unreadable files, however the majority that were corrupt though the promise card are in perfect condition when using the motherboard cable. I am guessing the unreadable ones were made that way by running chkdsk. Just as a note, everything, all HDs and the promise card, were working perfectly under a fully updated windows XP before I formatted the boot drive and reinstalled XP. It is my guess that when reinstalling and putting in all the updates somewhere along the way XP (SP 2?) put in a driver for the promise card that is bad, or at least screws up large disk access LBA support. After all the updates I tried to install the promise driver from the WD web site but windows wouldn't allow it because it "had a better driver installed", yea right. It did not even give me an option to overwrite the windows version. By installing the promise driver on my original installation, before SP 1 or 2 were available, I must have declined or not been offered Microsoft's "improved" promise driver. So now my question is, is there any way I can force XP to install the older driver, or do I need to do another full reinstall of XP? If I do the reinstall how can I be sure to prevent XP from overwriting the promise driver if it is buried in a service pack? ======================================================================================= Problem with WD My Book 320gb Hi, about 2 weeks before I connected my WD My Book 320 gigabyte with Samsung LCD to wath my wedding in full HD quality (34 gigabytes). About three days later a connected my disk to PC again. My Bokk started to behave strange that the operation started and switched off. It is doing always now - the biggest problem is that file (with wedding) I cant download to my PC because the HDD it still turning off/swithing on and after about 30 seconds this process it turns off completely (but still is light on the control on) and I have to restart the entire computer. The power source is not the problem - I tried to use different - it is the same. USB cable is not problem as well - I bought Firewire cabel, and it also doing the same stuff. Do you have any suggestion on this? Sometimes when I download the 3 gigabytes of photos it goes without any problem and sometimes I cant download file of 2 megabytes because of this problem. The second question is - if there is any software which could I use to download this file to my PC as a resumable download. Thanks for the advice. Hi, the best you can try is to dismantle your external drive and conect it directly to the pc. Regards Bosse Yes, agreed. Your drive is probably dying and the bad/weak sectors are causing these issues. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk mr_spokk wrote: Hi, the best you can try is to dismantle your external drive and conect it directly to the pc. Regards Bosse Yes, I was thinking about this too, but I dont want to lose the warranty. But there is no other option I think....thank you. Any followup? I have the exact same problem with my WD MyBook 500GB, and I did pull it out and tested on a PC, but the drive cannot be detected at all, and still has the same constant click/spin down problem. 95% heads. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) ================================================================================= Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320gb Main Chip Burnt Out Hi, Forgive me for being a newbie, but I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320gb, which stopped spinning recently. When I opened it up I noticed that what looks like the main chip has burnt out. The chip is marked down as:- ST(logo) MV08BB 100404195 V470BB16ETR 96604009 AA179 TWN 99 6?? I have included a couple of photos. Is the chip the real problem (that is, if that chip is gone one the disk wouldn't spin?) Is it possible to get a replacement chip and solder it in? Or get a new board? If so, where is the best place to get this? I only really want to be able to get the data off, I'm not bothered about a full repair. Thanks in advance, Sass that is the motor controller IC chip. Yes this will cause your drive not to spin up _________________ Iorana Haraharaini Hi, No, that is the microprocessor ASIC. Apart from that probably other components and maybe the preamp is also damaged. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery poehere wrote: that is the motor controller IC chip. Yes this will cause your drive not to spin up funny answer. it's MCU chip! 8) i have this PCB in stock. please contact me by email or MSN messenger if need it. _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com I can help with a recovery in UK, should be reasonable price if the drives not been tinkered with. PM me if interested. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Its rare to see this chip burn . Yes it is, usually it's the motor chip that burns. Maybe the pins got shorted by mis-handling whilst powered-on? _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk I think it was used in a removable rack and either it got shorted inside, or was plugged to the wrong socket... Data Recovery lab (mumbai) ============================================================================ Maxtor plus 9 firmware problem I have a Maxtor +9, 80 gb drive (Mod 6Y080L...F/W YAR41BW0) I am trying to learn on and am asking for some advice on a direction to continue on. Initial analysis on the Atola indicated that the HSA was damaged. Further analysis lead me to believe it was a firmware issue, and now believe there are bad sectors in the S/A. The G-List (ID 1B), Event Log (ID 5E), and the SMART Attributes Backup (ID 63) showed a read error. Several other modules also showed a read errors. These modules did not provide a description (ID 34, 41, A6 and A7) I overwrote the G-List ( the Atola will ignore back sectors when imaging anyway ) and the SMART attributes. The other modules I overwrote with good f/w from a donor drive. Module 34 shows a Write error when I try to overwrite it. The event log I left as is. At one point I was able to begin an good media scan. I then began an image and copied some data. The drive then hangs up and continually powers off. A media scan then shows all sectors to be unreadable again. I am interested in what the unnamed modules are for on this drive, but more importantly what thoughts you may have on how to proceed. I read this forum alot and understand that answers are meant to learned through research and not given away but a "kick" in the right direction would be appreciated. Thanks for any advice you may have. You might have to fix SA errors, fix modules and then continue. ________________ Don't gamble with your data! =================================================================================== ghost file hard drive formatted well someone might say 'this happens once in a million times'; i wish i had bought a lottery on that day!!! :( i had taken a back up of my hard drive (pc one) on my usb hard drive via norton ghost. kept it for around 7 days, and then i deleted it (dumb me!!) :x something happened, well to be precise i was trying to save one of my other usb hard drives, and accidentally i formatted my hard disk (pc one) :oops: i thought, no worries, i will recover my deleted ghost file, however my employee formatted my hard disk :shock: . how do i regain a ghost file back, and are there any chances of it being worth the effort i have been spending for two days full. can anyone recommend a software which can retrieve ghost files?!?!? i just cant seem to recover them with whatever software i try (no personal issues - i have tried recuva, undelete..............and almost all possible ones, but to no avail) or m i missing something, as all recovery things ask for avi files, exe, word n so on, but for gho files there is nothing, or is there?? :?: you can not recover data when disk was once formatted. You still might have a chance - It just depends how your external drive was formatted: Try one of these Programs - like ... GetData Back for NTFS / FAT (2 Versions) or R-Studio. If the formating was a quick format in Windows and you didnt write to the drive after that - you have good chances. +++ finditsol wrote: you can not recover data when disk was once formatted. yes you can. It is possible and if you can not find a good recovery program I would really consider taking this in to a DR company who have the necessary programs and knowledge to do this one. Good luck _________________ Iorana Haraharaini ================================================================================ pcb swap on wd4000aajs Hey everyone. I did something to stupid to my drive: My Hd is a wd4000aajs-32yfa0 date: 12 sep 2007 dcm: HHNNHT2AHB WWN: 50014EE20085AC33 SN: WCAS80405538 on the pcb itself it has E222034 and a sticker with 2061-701477-100 04p xt 40005 T9wd 6 0002080 8 082 I fried my harddrive using an external powersupply. I put the connector in reversed which put 12v where 5v should have gone. smoke issued from it and i immediately disconnected the drive. a surface mount resistor on the pcb shows signs of cracking (like it was about to burst) id like to test the pre-amp on the HD itself to see if its possibly still good. but I'm not aware of the pin-outs on this device to test out. and if a pcb replacement will do the trick what criteria do i use to search for a donor drive. The 5v tvs would have protected the electronics and opened the 'resistor' [actually 0 ohm link] If this is the case, then it should be an easy fix for someone who knows what to do. Check out search for other News on this subject especially for WD. You will see on WD you either need special tools or soldering skills to change out the pcb board on this one. If this is the case it should be fine to locate a DR company in your area and have them do this one for you. This should not be too expensive of a repair and you might inquire here if someone is close to you and can help you out on this one. It just might save your data cause if you try and mess it up then the price goes up 3x's. Sorry to say this one to you. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini =========================================================================================== Is there any good book? Does anyone know a good guide about rebuilding hard disks? How to change heads, platters, etc. What are the possible solutions to get data and so on. I'm looking for a good manual for techies but have found nothing at all. Because there is none freely available... Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery I don't want it for free :) I would happily buy it if I found one. Why do you not try and work out a deal with Data Recovery lab (mumbai) he is in your area. You might get him to accept you come and work for him for free and learn from him and pay for your training so that you can write your own book that you are looking for. Other than this you will never find one. You will need to get about 200 HDD's and start to tear them apart one by one. Then take your notes and learn from your mistakes in doing this work. That is the only book you will find on this subject and might be the cheapest way of learning on this one. You can take the free information from Internet and see on your own how this can work or not. You will learn in time but this can take you years to perfect the techniques necessary to do this work. No book good or bad can replace hands on experience and knowledge learned from doing this type of work for a living. ________________ Iorana Haraharaini There is also no commercial book for purchase. It's either you get lucky enough to work for a company that will train you or learn the hard way buy spending lots of time in research and testing, and spending money and time, and did I say time :lol: If that's not something that you are willing to do, then Data Recovery is most likely not for you. If it would be easy then everyone would do it. And I must add that a DR expert must be intuitive and have a broad mind. I think anybody can take apart 200 drives and only a few will learn anything from it. So if one wants to learn from book, the basics are completely missing. ________________ - Data recovery I totally agree with Data Recovery lab (mumbai) on this! my experience is good book for me. 8) _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com "How to fix hard drive for dummies" :horse: _________________ http://www.hddpros.com Only for professionals. ;) I´d like to write a book with some custmers sayings ... like: After a successful DR from a real defect 2,5" laptop hdd, I asked whether I should dispose the drive as its for no use any more - he replied: ..."no, I will format it at home and use it for back up of photos...." or the usual reply after you made a first price guess for a DR ..."oh thats too expensive, a friend of mine will have a look onto it..." or any quote for a student (even for 50,-): "... no thats too much - look its only to copy a few files ..... I thought its not more than 20.- ... cant afford more..." standard customer: - nearly crying for lost wedding film of his only daughter ... after quotation for mechanic (cleanroom) repair for about 600,- ".... no its not that important ...." My personal saying is: Self-overestimation (DIY), relativs (son, son in law, friend of daughter), friends, neighbours and collegues from work are the harddisks and datas death... +++ LOL Walter, It's funny but also sad because it's all true! Amazing how "if i don't get my photos back its the end of my life" turns into "it's not that important" once they realise it's going to cost them money. Another favourite of mine is "$200!!! Thats more than the drive cost! You trying to fleece me!" _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Also have you noticed that if they do actually admit dropping an external drive, it's always "drive only fell approx 6 inches onto soft carpet" :-) _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Thats so true !!!!!!!!!!! :lol: LOL agree on that one! _________________ Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. ~ Anton Chekov another one....."I don't understand how its failed, it was working fine yesterday!" :lol: I'm afraid ZenDre was looking for some other book, but to be honest TerraNova's book came to my mind also. :) Anyway, Zen, please forgive us intercepting your topic a bit. There are so many guys out there taking drives apart without knowledge and experience and messing up things for $100 in a moment that such book would be really harmful for customers' data. Basically if one thinks he has some knowledge, it is more dangerous than having no knowledge at all. You need to be aware of your limits and let pros do what you can't. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery pcimage wrote: Also have you noticed that if they do actually admit dropping an external drive, it's always "drive only fell approx 6 inches onto soft carpet" :-) And thats why they always want a "soft" price aswell :D @ ZenDre, here is a 359 pages of good knowledge book for you to start up with: I have this book if you interested of buying, if so send me a Pm. Regards Bosse I think that customers are similar in their minds all over the world, ( UK,Russia,hungary,egypt.. etc ) and they are all saying the same things. Specially this one ( "$200!!! Thats more than the drive cost! You trying to fleece me!" ) I like it the most LOL _________________ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. yeah and happily go out and spend $200 on a night on the town!!! Data Recovery is cheap compared to some services out there... Problem is....They read this forum and think it's easy like boiling an egg, so "Why should I pay $200???" _________________ Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. ~ Anton Chekov guru wrote: Data Recovery is cheap compared to some services out there... Too cheap considering all the knowledge, skill, time and equipment needed, and not to mention the headache from ungrateful customers who fail to see the complexity of what we do.... ============================================================================== Seagate 7200.11 1TB - Spinup, Clicking, Spindown... OS: Windows XP Home Edition, SP3 Model: ST31000333AS FW Rev: SD35 This has been going on for about 5 weeks now, Ive got some free time to look into the problem at this point so here goes: 3 weeks prior: The computer fails to boot with the FreeAgent connected via USB, gets stopped at device detection. After disconnecting the device and booting the computer normally the device is reconnected and it shows in Disk Management and Windows Explorer. Given some time the device will present with an Mft error and fail to operate. Later shut off USB support in BIOS, PC boots fine with drive attatched while Mft errors and operation errors still occur. 2 weeks prior to current: As of late it has completely stopped operating, as the device is powered on (whether connected to the pc or not) the drive begins to spin itself, after 2-5 seconds a clicking sound occurs and continues for approx 10 seconds and then the device shuts itself off. Attempted to view the drive thru SeaTools, device does not show, I can not run any tests or check for bad sectors. Ive got the drive out of its external enclosure (warranty voided), have hooked up to the pc via the serial port, and have sent it a few commands from hypterterminal/putty. The session is as follows: ('.' indicates user typed command, '//' indicates reply from HDD) This is all done with a piece of cardstock between the pcb and the motor contacts for the moment. .Ctrl+Z //F3 T> ./2 //F3 2> .Z //Spin Down Complete //Elapsed Time 0.135 msecs //F3 2> At this point I carefully removed the cardstock and snugged the screws down back into place before continuing in hyperterminal for HDD spinup. //F3 2> .U //DiagError 00006008 //Spin Error //Elapsed Time 19.537 secs //R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 //F3 2> This is where I'm stuck, what does that diag error code and R/W code mean? What can I do to fix it or get around it? Im shooting to run the SMART erase command and then regenerate the partitions to get the drive out of its suspected BSY state... Is anything suspected other than a BSY state? Do I still have home repair options? I dont mind turning my house into a clean room if I have to. Thanks for any help. Ted Hi, The soulution is out there, U have to find it (U already have found it probably, just U are doing something wrong). Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Thanks for the idea, Data Recovery lab (mumbai), but it was unsuccessful. I ran a new hyperterminal session, skipped the spinup command (U), and went straight for the SMART erase command (N1) in level 1 (F3 1>). After entering the N1 command the next two lines appeared: LED: 000000CC FAddr: 0025DDD9 LED: 000000CC FAddr: 0025DDD9 From this point the HDD was not taking any new commands from terminal and continued repeating line by line during what seemed like 1 min intervals until I removed power from the HDD, replaced the cardstock and turned it back on, at which point the HDD was willing to take terminal commands again. Should I just bypass the SMART erase cmd and go straigh for partition regeneration? Am I missing a few steps along the way? Thanks for your help. Ted There are many variations on this particular solution, as it applies to many different drives. Trial and error on your own drive with valuable data seems risky at best. If you are getting a clicking sound then it sounds like you may have an entirely different problem. _________________ You don't have to backup all of your data, just the data you want to keep. Clicking and spindown does not sound like the "regular" fw problem you appear to be trying to fix, it sounds very much like weak/bad heads. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Yea Ive been trying to narrow the field down a bit as far as issues that could be had, apparently Segate tried a new coating on the heads for the 7200.11 series and it has a tendency to flake and screw up reading. So. It all comes down to needing new parts eh? =) The data on it is not completely irreplacible but it is definately going to take time to recovery the abundance of information that was stored on there as a backup resource to my primary 2 160gb drives being formatted... luckily for me it crashed somewhere between halfway and complete backup, so all is not lost. Just a complete inconveinience. Anybody know of any other home-type remidies before I start pricing for cleanrooms and data recovery? Not to say that's the path Ill travel but Id rather know that this brick was not a complete loss you know? Thanks for the help. Ted Clicking and spindown does not sound like the "regular" fw problem you appear to be trying to fix, it sounds very much like weak/bad heads. Hi Friend, You are absolutily right As per my data recovery experience if the clicking sound is there than.. thats the physical problem with the read write heads with minor read write head allignment with some great usb microscope support including great experience..and many time the read write heads are bad to replace with same part no... including /Firmware and having clean room facality... As thats not the FW problem.. But I also want to share with the End User as thats not the big amount to recover the data but be assured as that company is having clean room facality or not .... Sorry Friends My English is poor and not good but i am trying to share my vast experiense with you .. Yes, sounds to me that it is not the busy firmware issue associated with SMART and a full g-list. Of the top of my head I didn't think that the SD35 firmware range was effected by that fault, which makes me think you are more likely to have a head assembly failure. All the best, John _________________ Dr. John C. Reid Cheadle Data Recovery 0161 408 4857 http://www.cheadledatarecovery.co.uk/ Sorry, I missed some parts of the OP. I tend to agree with the guys that it is head related. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Bad contact between PCB and HDD. Try again. Hi, I have a ST31000333AS here, Firmw. SD25, with exactly the same symptoms: F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22 DiagError 00001000 ----- F3 1>N1 LED:000000CC FAddr:0025DDD9 ----- F3 T>/2 F3 2>Z Spin Down Complete Elapsed Time 0.137 msecs .. F3 2>U Diag Error 00006000 Spin Error Elapsed time 21.919 msecs R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 F3 2>/1 F3 1>N1 LED:000000CC FAddr:00248153 LED:000000CC FAddr:00248153 The drive starts with clicking sound, and shows than (PC3K) the correct Drive ID and serial number, but wrong Firmware version "ZZ7L" and capacity "MB ()". Also with disconnected spindle motor the drives shows the same IDs, so the wrong values are obviously stored (also) in FLASH-ROM. Has anybody an idea, how to solve that problem? All known Barracuda-Firmware tricks are getting wrong, with LED:000000CC... failure message, see above. Thanks, Thomas _TK_ wrote: Hi, I have a ST31000333AS here, Firmw. SD25, with exactly the same symptoms: F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22 DiagError 00001000 ----- F3 1>N1 LED:000000CC FAddr:0025DDD9 ----- F3 T>/2 F3 2>Z Spin Down Complete Elapsed Time 0.137 msecs .. F3 2>U Diag Error 00006000 Spin Error Elapsed time 21.919 msecs R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 F3 2>/1 F3 1>N1 LED:000000CC FAddr:00248153 LED:000000CC FAddr:00248153 The drive starts with clicking sound, and shows than (PC3K) the correct Drive ID and serial number, but wrong Firmware version "ZZ7L" and capacity "MB ()". Also with disconnected spindle motor the drives shows the same IDs, so the wrong values are obviously stored (also) in FLASH-ROM. Has anybody an idea, how to solve that problem? All known Barracuda-Firmware tricks are getting wrong, with LED:000000CC... failure message, see above. Thanks, Thomas Are you sure, the heads are ok? I don't think, because you sad, the drive is clicking... Janos N.C. wrote: Are you sure, the heads are ok? I don't think, because you sad, the drive is clicking... Janos Dear Janos, hmm, good question. First of all thank you very much for your fast reply. I read a lot of your Newings before, not it is a pleasure for me to have direct contact. The drive spins up normal, but then clicking + "grrr" 11 times. Normally I would say, that the pre-amplifier is dead in that cases. Only 1 head is unlikely, because firmware is stored redundant. But - why sounds spin-up normal? - why is Firmware version "ZZ7L" instead of SD25 stored in FLASH ROM? From my point of view the hdd is working fine, but received some times ago, probably caused by oxidized PCB contacs, wrong information, e.g. adaptive parameters and firmware rev. And than the disc itself stored these faulty information in FLASH -> interlocked. Head check ( F3 7> X ) brings immediately the LED:000000CC failure messsage, so I cannot check. Also making a short circuit at Controller input wires did not help. Kind regards, Thomas Doomer is the right person, who can have proper ideas, but based on my experience, if the drive clicking, at least one head is failing. But about the FW difference + clicking = i can imagine this is alternative pcb. Are you sure about the pcb is the own? Janos I have seen many cases with models STxxxxx333AS where initilisation is impossible and is not clicking but is constant recalibrating and powering off, then attempting to calibrate again. Usually in these cases I am able to isolate PCB and follow standard procedure to clear SMART. Following this FW is usually identified as 'ZZ7L' and cannot be repaired with standard 'm0,2xxxx' and instead needs 'm0,6xxxx' command. But in my experience this error: Quote: F3 2>U Diag Error 00006000 Spin Error Elapsed time 21.919 msecs R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 usually means there is fault with reading head. N.C. wrote: Are you sure about the pcb is the own? Janos The drive comes from a customer, so I cannot guarantee. I'll ask. But the information, comimg from FLASH (on PCB), are showing the same serial number. And, a firmware ZZ7L was never released by Seagate. Typical firmware revisions are SN04, AD 14, SD15, SD25, SD35, SD81, SD1A and SD1B. Thomas hddguy wrote: Iin my experience this error: Quote: F3 2>U Diag Error 00006000 Spin Error Elapsed time 21.919 msecs R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 usually means there is fault with reading head. Hi gents, I agree with you. I replaced the PCB (and FLASH) - same behaviour. PCB is 100% original, the customer confirmed it. One question: normally the firmware is stored on different places: head 0 / 1 typically. Does anybody know, where the firmware is stored in Barracuda 7200.11 series? Nobody knows anything about this strange series, also PC3K and HD Doctor (copied from PC3K...) are really silent since months... I had several discs with defective heads - there I can access everything, except data "under" these head - no problem. But the 7200.11 / ES.2 series have more often sticking spindles than faulty heads... Thanks in advance! Thomas _TK_ wrote: hddguy wrote: Iin my experience this error: Quote: F3 2>U Diag Error 00006000 Spin Error Elapsed time 21.919 msecs R/W Status 2 R/W Error 84150180 usually means there is fault with reading head. Hi gents, I agree with you. I replaced the PCB (and FLASH) - same behaviour. PCB is 100% original, the customer confirmed it. One question: normally the firmware is stored on different places: head 0 / 1 typically. Does anybody know, where the firmware is stored in Barracuda 7200.11 series? Nobody knows anything about this strange series, also PC3K and HD Doctor (copied from PC3K...) are really silent since months... I had several discs with defective heads - there I can access everything, except data "under" these head - no problem. But the 7200.11 / ES.2 series have more often sticking spindles than faulty heads... Thanks in advance! Thomas Change heads and swap platters. Problem solved. HDD Spaz wrote: Change heads and swap platters. Problem solved. Hi, why swapping Heads AND platters? Exchanging heads should be difficult enough. Did you ever swap and adjust platters from modern Seagate or WD drives? I did... And, there are still wrong information (e.g. firmware revision) in FLASH stored. I you have detailled information, how to repair, please let me know. Enjoy the weekend Thomas When ZZnn shows instead of correct firmware version it usually indicates Terminal interface is not accessible. Did this FW rev change after LED fix ? I can repair drives with this problem. PM me if you are interested. I am in the UK .. _________________ ??????? If you can keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs, maybe you don't understand the situation. ================================================================================== Lookng for HD data recovery Hi all, it seems to me that someone out there can perhaps point me in the right direction. My Maxtor external recently gave up for no reason. The disk itself is a seagate barracuda 500GB and i tried converting this into an internal drive, but when i connect it to the mobo, the PC will not start. I remove the offending HD and hey presto, the PC starts up again. This leads me to believe that there is a short somewhere and was wondering if a repacement pcb will do the trick. There are some valuable pics / videos which i would really love getting back. I know that any replacement board must be identical to the one already on the HD. Current details are as follows: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500Gb S/N: 5QM1DT83 P/N: 9BX134-568 Model: ST3500820AS Firmware: SD81 Date code:08382 Would anyone be able to give me some guidance as to 1) whether a replacement board or a full HDD would help and 2) where could i get these? I am currently residing in Gibraltar, Europe Many thanks, Ptah_Gib Check the TVS. Search this forum for further info. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Many thanks. When I finally was able to remove the PCB (the chips and other components were on the other side of the board and were not visible at the outset) I came up with this. Obviously something is fried, as you can see at the top let of the image, which is circled in yellow further down. As a newbie, I have no idea what this is, or how it could be fixed. Any suggestions anyone? Test it and the one below it for continuity. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk i tested the diodes using a fluke meter set on diode test mode. This is what i got: On the 'burnt' diode (top one) i get: 0.001 with a continous beep one way 0.001 with a continous beep the other way On the lower diode (unburnt) i get: 0.454 with a single beep one way 1.392 with no beep the other way Does this help? AT YOUR RISK... Remove the top TVS (ideally desolder, but if not you can carefully snip if off) and fire the drive up, if it doesn't spin up right away then turn it off and seek pro advice. Bear in mind that if you remove the TVS, the drive is unprotected so make sure your PSU is up to scratch. _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk If I do this, and the drive does power up, will it be enough to grab the files I need from it? I don't really mind that I won't be able to use the drive longer term, I just want the data in it. Yes, you will have access to your files, unless there is more damage to your drive. _________________ Don't gamble with your data! harddrivespecialist is correct, assuming no further problems the drive should work long enough for you to copy off your data. Good luck _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk Sorry guys, unfortunately I removed the burnt diode but the drive won't start up. What are my options? Can i get the board replaced or have the drive taken in to a specialist? Who can i take it to, considering that where I live (Gibraltar) there are no such people / firms? try Jose who is part of the forum, he is in Portugal http://www.datarecoverylab.jacf.pt/en/ or ship to the UK to PcImage. both will do you a good price and get the job done. Unfortunately this case now requires pro help, either myself or Jose should be able to sort it out for you for a reasonable price. PM me for details.WD3200AAJS Firmware I urgently need a firmware for WD3200AAJS-00B4A0 DAte: 06 May 2009 any more information needed let me know. I have tried a few HDD's from the same model, but it did not match. ROM or BLA? _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net WDC WD3200AAJS-08B4A0 01.03A01 WD-WMAT11568582 I have this. add me by MSN if you need. thanks. _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com I had to check with my boss, he is the one looking for it. We need to repair a module on the hard drive. The firmware on it is 000500BR and the Rom Ver. is 05.BRE Need that exact one to retrieve data. If anyone has it. I am willing to pay. It's URGENT Thanks. i have same hard model :WD3200AAJS-00L7A0 the proplem tht there was no power on board of it so they give me new one on shop and finally i can hear power coming from my hdd but :( they say they cant find soft or something like tht for tht model ,any help and do they mean by soft =firmware ? thx and be patient ,iam new here :) rka wrote: I had to check with my boss, he is the one looking for it. We need to repair a module on the hard drive. The firmware on it is 000500BR and the Rom Ver. is 05.BRE Need that exact one to retrieve data. If anyone has it. I am willing to pay. It's URGENT Thanks. hi, i have firmware you need. please contact me by email or MSN messenger. thanks. _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com I have added you. I sent you a message also. get back when you can. =============================================================================== URGENT: How can I get my disc FreeAgent go 880 after a fall URGENT: How can I get my disc FreeAgent go 880 after a fall to the ground? Due to an oversight, I have been dropped to the floor my external drive. On the outside seems to have no damage, however when connected to my computer can not be read. Does anyone have any idea who can help me? The external light is flashing, you hear a very faint sound of an engine. The sound is a Beep. The laptop sees it as an unknown device Thanks.!! Sounds like a spindle motor problem, very common issue when a Seagate falls. Unfortunately this is not a DIY job, you will need assistance from a professional. The sound you hare likely hearing is the motor trying to spin. If you are lucky, the heads just bumped out of the park position, causing some stiction to take place. If you aren't so lucky, blow has caused damage to your spindle, making for a much more complicated recovery. In short, if your data is valuable to you, at all, you should take the drive to a professional data recovery lab before trying DIY procedures. _________________ Luke Recovery Force - Canadian Data Recovery Services Thanks very much for your responses. In this case the data contained in de HDD is not critical for me, but recover the hardware is the most important because i don't have $200 for replace it. :? Do you have any idea for recover my external hard disk? Thanks... No, don't waste your time on this one. It's not going to be repairable within your budget. Why not just RMA it? These have a 3 year warranty AFAIK ================================================================================= ST3250310NS HPG1 FIRMWARE PROBLEM Hello everybody! I've tried everything, I was reading all the New about it and I couldn't repair this hdd: GB0250C8045, ST3150310NS, P/N: 9CA152-783, HPG1 I follow the tipical procedure for this hdd, ES.2. Without insolation, PCB and hdd, I did the short-circuit when I'm in the terminal, then I turn on and off the Hdd and the CTRL+Z and apear F3 T> then /2 and Z. and then instead of LED 00000000CC apear LED 000000CE. Why?? Thanks!!! This could be beyond your scope to repair this drive. You should check in your area for a good DR shop and take it there to have them do this one for you. Should not be too much to have this done and might save your drive and data to have an expert do this one for you. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini poehere is correct _________________ PC Image Data Recovery www.pcimage.co.uk