Unlocking(?) a Toshiba *46GSX Hey gurus. I've been searching for answers to this problem for the last ~24 hours straight, maybe someone here will have the heart to help me please :) Okay, here's the deal: I had an '08 Toshiba Satellite with a broken screen. I pulled the hard drive from it and installed it into my new ASUS G60 thinking I could do a quick driverhunt and be on my way. When I powered it on, I was greeted by an ATA user/master password dialog. I certainly never set one, and nothing I've tried seems to make the dang thing disappear. As I mentioned I've done some research and I know that an ATA password can be tied to an individual motherboard or BIOS. But for various human reasons, I no longer have access to the original Toshiba Satellite that spawned this monstrosity (that would be an easy fix for my problem!). I assume the password suddenly showing up when I moved the drive is some kind of vendor 'security feature,' but this is a bit ridiculous. I'm not that concerned with the drive itself, but I need the data on it; there are many personal files that I did not have a chance to back up (I never anticipated this issue and figured I would be able to access the data from my ASUS). Oh, and ironically enough I gave my brand-new Win7-loaded ASUS hard disk away to my family, so I'm currently typing away off an Ubuntu Live Disc :p So here's my question: is there any way -- absolutely any way -- to fix this on my own? I'm willing to get into whatever HDD firmware utilities, manual memory registering and/or hexcode if I have to. Or failing that, what's a reliable service who can remove an ATA password without erasing the data? I don't know if the drive is at High or Max security, since I'm running off Linux and all the scanning utilities seem to be win32 apps, but if that becomes important I'll find some way to check on it. Thank you very much, folks, I hope someone has good news for me =) Edit: The drive is a Toshiba MK1646GSX if that makes any specific difference. Thanks! hmm, there is no easy way to remove the lock from the drive. If you had the original laptop you could just use an external screen. look for a data recovery company in your area to see if they have the capabilities for removing hard drive locks. you could also do some research on A-FF Repair station to see if your drive is compatible with their program. just looking at their site they say they support all toshiba models so that may be your best bet at removing the lock yourself. Cleanroom wrote: hmm, there is no easy way to remove the lock from the drive. If you had the original laptop you could just use an external screen. Yep... :/ if only I'd known this would happen, I would have gone with that option. Like I said though, that one is out of the picture. And I'm not necessarily looking for an easy way (though it would be nice ;)). I'll learn whatever methods I have to. While I'm no HDD Guru, I'm not an average user either. I just want to make sure it's practically possible before I go through the effort... Edit: and thank you very much for that link! I'll make that my backup plan in case it turns out to be impossible. This problem is common and nobody will give you the solution to do this or unlock this drive on your own. Many companies will not unlock this drive unless you can prove that it is yours. You will need to find someone in your area who has the tools necessary to do this work with. I do not mean standard tools I mean professional tools. Try and call a few shops for DR in your area and explain the problem to them and see what they would charge you to unlock this drive for you. Others have tried before and lost all data on their drives. So if you value this data and need it back it is in your best interest to find a shop to do this one for you otherwise you risk the chance of data loss on your drive. ================================================================================ restoring a drive to max capacity part 2 OK I now have the hard drive I spoke about in this thread need-help-restoring-drive-max-capacity-t14529.html in a computer and ready to go. I ran MHDD disk tools and used help, tried a few of the commands NHPA FDISK drv_reset and couldn't accomplish anything. The drive is still showing up as less than 32 when booted in XP. I tried Sea tools for DOS and It did tell me the right size of the drive 163+ GB but when I tried to get it to restore the drive to max capacity it failed instantly. What do I need to do to get this drive to max capacity. I've already got the 2 boot discs I mentioned above and disc wizard samsung disc manager diagnostic tool I'm pretty much lost in DOS. Any help. So now I'm trying the capacity restore tool. IT detects the drive and says it is 163 GB meanwhile windows still says it is 31.4. When I select the drive on the opening screen the pop up says... Quote: This operation will determine factory capacity of the drive . If the device is detected in the system, it will now be removed from the device manager. This is needed to avoid conflicts with the operating system. Then I select "OK", the other option is "cancel." Quote: device is currently in use please remove it from the device manager manually So I uninstall it I disable it, everything requires a restart and the drive is auto detected again and I'm back where I started. Anyone have any ideas? ================================================================================== Recovery of jammed WD1600 Caviar SE - 2 platters, 4 head hsa Ok, here's the continuing story of my attempts of recovery on a Western Digital WD1600 with a seized spindle motor. I'm happy to report so far, so good with my rehearsals on a working WD1600 test drive. My environment seems to be clean enough, as I have had the cover off the test drive on a number of occasions now and have not caused any slow blocks over and above what was initially already there. I have also worked my way up to being able to fully unload and reload the hsa using the v-card technique and only cause 17 bad blocks. I rehearsed and refined my procedure several times on a dead WD1600 before trying it on the test drive. There are a few reasons I can think of why the bad blocks would have occurred. One is the action of sliding the card between the platters and the hsa arms may have disturbed the platter suface on a tiny spot. Another is that the small jiggling of the heads on one spot of the platters whilst inserting the cards, or the initial moving of the heads back to the park position after removing the cards. In any event, the loss of only 17 blocks in a tight cluster near the start of the drive with the first of them at LBA 5795840 and the last at 5816576, is of no consequence to me and if this is the worst that happens I'll be ecstatic!! But....my biggest hurdle still awaits! Can I do all that and have a method of clamping the platters together, remove them, refit them and still have a mountable drive.....stay tuned! :D It's a good start! Can you see any recoverable data on the 'test' drive? Hi Dick, The test drive had been wiped before I got it. The first thing I did was to run a surface scan to have a baseline from which to compare subsequent scans and to drag n drop about 1gb of files and folders to it and to read them back to the desktop noting how fast it did it. All those files and folders can still be read back to the desktop just as quickly as when I first dropped them on the drive. I am guessing that your bad blocks are most likely caused by contact with the platter. There is probably some sort of damage that is not perceivable by the human eye; you can have some fun with a good microscope, and test how much damage different materials actually do on the microscopic level. Regards, would be nice if pictures are included... :) Russwinters wrote: I am guessing that your bad blocks are most likely caused by contact with the platter. I'm sure that is the case Russ, though some blocks have recovered since so it might just be a spot of contamination. I've made up a device to clamp the platters, have tried it on a dead WD1600 [not the test drive] and it seems to work well. Even the spacer ring between the platters was held firm. I have however, had my worst nightmare realized, eccentricity and concentricity of the platters. I put a dial indicator on the edge of the test drive platters and neither condition exits. Both platters are off center to the spindle motor center and off center to each other. The only small saving grace is that they seem to be off center to the spindle motor by the maximum amount possible and exactly opposite to each other - i.e. if the upper platter's high point is at 0 deg. , then the lower platter's high point is at 180 deg. Replicating this is going to be tricky, but not impossible. I can only hope there is some tiny measure of guard band between cylinders and the drive will cope with a small amount of mistracking. abubin wrote: would be nice if pictures are included... :) It shall be done :D Ok, test drive No 1 is a bin job. Because of eccentricity problems, at least with these drives, imo there's no way you'll ever swap platters and still have a working drive no matter how you clamp them. The only hope is to leave the platters locked to the rotor, press the rotor off the stator and change the bearing. So far, I have found that pressing the bearing out of these motors is a piece of cake. Doing it with the platters still sitting on the rotor and not causing them any harm - that will be a mission! ================================================================================== Seagate 320 gb external hard disk malfunction. Hi I have an external hard disk, seagate freeagent go 320 gb. Today, out of the blue, the image of the external disk drive in My computer switched from the familiar seagate logo, to the logo of the local disk . So, currently my pc displays the external drive as a local disk :f.When i try to get access to my external hard disk, the autoplay function is activated and after around 1 minute i get the message that the " f: is not accesible.The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. I downloaded the MHDD file, however is says that primary channel is disabled and slave devices not supported. Moreover, it requests the HDD number. I have a lot of unique data on the external hard disk, and just the thought that i may loose them, is very depressing. Any suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks Panagiotis Stop before you make more damage and take it to a pro for careful diagnostics. _________________ Don't gamble with your data! Hi Thanks for your advice. I am looking for a reliable person to have it fixed. What´s the possible cause? Thanks Panagiotis What are the cheapest - but "reliable" - external hard disk options in the market right now? I'm thinking in particular of 1TB range. Any particular model or manufacturer? _________________ Many people use an external hard disk to store or transport data. ============================================================================== I need help with Seagate ST9120821A, please. Hi all, I need help with Seagate ST9120821A (Momentus 5400.2 120 Gb - 2,5''), please. Model: ST9120821A FW: 3.06 SN: 5PL The PCb is broken and ROM damnage. I find donor with same firmware version but SN: 3PL I try to swap PCB and I have this log: ----------------------------------------------------- Interface task reset 4096k x 16 buffer detected MERC2 - 1_Disk S-10 12 Buzz - -01-06 14:00 Head Mask 0F,01 - Switch to full int. Spin Ready FBA2 D900 0024 9106 DF01 0CA0 0010 0040 0009 F816 9722 80C3 0000 D8F8 0000 C034 00C4 0000 0000 SP=FB0A F718 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F738 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F758 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F778 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F798 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F7B8 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0140 F384 00C0 DC5A 015C 0006 FFB3 0006 FFBD F454 00C0 CF64 F7D8 : 00C0 C4D6 00C0 0000 0000 00C4 0000 4648 0000 0E00 FBA2 D900 DF01 9080 FBA2 45E2 F7F8 : 00C4 080A 2DAE 00C5 F66E 00C7 SP=FA46 F600 : FF1C FFFE 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F620 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F640 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F660 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F680 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F6A0 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F6C0 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F6E0 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 F700 : 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 27D8 00DB C4DA 27B8 C4DA 2322 C4DA 27D8 00DB FCE6 2800 FDE6 0301 4DDC CCA8 FC46 A578 21EA 468E 6B8A 6049 12E1 F2F7 BC58 8EF7 BC52 8EF7 BC53 F4E7 0040 F475 2C0D ----------------------------------------------------- I understand that application code on disk is good but not compatible with serial flash code on ROM. It is impossible to find another donor, I search for 2 months on ebay. There are solutions for this case? Thanks in advanced, Leonardo. _________________ RecuperaDati.it dataDONOR.net =============================================================================== how to unlock seagate_st380012ace hi gurus ;-) i want to unlock a seagate st380012ace U Serie 9 s/n: 5JVEK37L P/N: 9W6022-165 HDA P/N: 100316764 Config: VFI-02 Firmware: 9.51 i try hyperterminal: Interface task reset 1024k x 16 buffer detected ALPINE - 1_Disk M-21 11-25-03 18:53 Buzz - Head Mask FFFF - Switch to full int. Spin Ready 9.51 03-24-04 08:27 (P)PATA Reset Slave T>/2 2>S006b 2>R21,01 2>C0,570 Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected 2>W20,01 2> but the drive is not unlock; what means the error 'Command Inactive - No VALID Cert Code Detected' what can i also try to ulock the drive div standard-passwords via mhdd don't work it's an old drive from a receiver humax_pdr-9700 thx for any help p.s. sorry about my english wotan That script won't work for that drive family. You have to adapt it for U9 (that is, find the correct sa track and sector, and modify the buffers). How can i find the correct sa track and sector? And how can i modify it? I'm a newbie about this! Yeah, this is very sensitive information, I'm afraid nobody will teach HDD unlocking for free... But there are many firms ready to recover your drive once U have a proof of ownership. Data Recovery lab (mumbai) _________________ - Data recovery Data Recovery lab (mumbai) is correct on this one. You can try and find a DR company in your area and take proof of ownership of your drive to them and they can unlock this drive for a small fee. You should know due to the high volume of stolen laptop and computers you will need to prove that this is really your drive and they will unlock it for you. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini HDD's are from old satellite-receivers that were sold with larger HDD's. I'm here about 30 pieces, so now I can throw them away :-( Hi, I was about to build a serial interface (max232) but this seems useless ... since those codes are not generic ... Have you tested other methods ? _________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... hi rzr, which other methods? i try with serial interface (max232) and hyperterminal. atapwd and mhdd with divers master-passwords ___> no chance what about fw update like said at need-firmware-t7623.html#p94811 what are drivers mater passwd ? S....*25spaces ? _________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... hi rzr, give me a fw-update file and i'm feel lucky! I am interested in this. How did it go? _________________ Call Center Outsource Well those fw are pretty hard to find, is there a list of released fw by segate , and where to find them ? then we'll can try to compare them etc ... _________________ -- http://rzr.online.fr/q/ata : Please help to unlock ST3120026A in max security mode , lost all pwd, do not care about data, free help welcome ... ================================================================================== ST336607LC ERRORS.. ??? ?????? ???????????? Probably translator Dobre _________________ Murphy was an optimist Yep same syntomphs, of translator problems 03 31 00 sempre wrote: ERRORS.. SRT can repair just through one-key. can also fix Medium Error of Seagate Hard Drive SRT english demo version Attachments: SRT-ST-ENG-DEMO.zip [2.71 MiB] Downloaded 21 times BTW I decided not to offer help or SW on this, Sorry just my own decision _________________ Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. ~ Anton Chekov =============================================================================== password recovery Does anyone has extended capabilities / datacenter to recover ms office files? I want to recover ms powerpoint file , no one is offering password recovery online. any suggestion welcome What kind of password? ATA password? If ATA password, what it the drive model? You can look into AFF-repair station. It is a file password of MS powerpoint presentation (ppt) If this is your work then you can check on Internet and see there are some password recovery program for Office. I know of some that will work for work and excell you can also try to search for powerpoint. _________________ Iorana Haraharaini If you can provide a proof of ownership for this file, we may be able to help you. MS Office 2007 series file protection password... poehere wrote: If this is your work then you can check on Internet and see there are some password recovery program for Office. I know of some that will work for work and excell you can also try to search for powerpoint. Thanks. We tried using brute force , estimated time required to crack 9 character password was 6 months. A very sophisticated server bank with multiple GPU's may make process faster , so its not practical to crack password with traditional way. Even the most expensive solutions costing US$ 5500 do not support powerpoint. Online password decrypion services like decryptum also do not support powerpoint. Only solution is to know how & where password is stored & somehow decode it. I have been told that MSoffice 2007 uses 128 bit RSA encryption and even all of the worlds computation power is combined , it will take ages to decode it. hddmania wrote: If you can provide a proof of ownership for this file, we may be able to help you. MS Office 2007 series file protection password... thank you so much. If you could decode msoffice 2007 password you are simply great magician. ================================================================================== WD1600 PCB replacement question I'm completely new to data recovery. I have a WD1600JS-00MHBO hard drive that I foolishly connected both SATA power and Legacy power to. Now it will not read in Bios. Bios kind of sees it but not correctly, only 8gb. Windows will not run if I have this connected. I cannot afford the thousands of dollars our local data recovery clean room wants to charge so I'm trying this on my own. I'm hoping I can just replace the PCB and recover the data. First the specs. MDL: WD1600JS-00MHB0 Date: 27 Apr 2005 DCM: HSBHNTJAH PCB: 2060-701335-003 REV A If anyone has this board I'm interested in purchasing it. I've found a similar drive on ebay and at a local recycle shop with PCB: 2060-701335-005 REV A. Is there a chance this is compatible? Also what other problems could be caused by connecting both power connectors? I'm not 100% positive that this caused the problem the system died and when I was trying to recover it by replacing a power supply, I made the mistake. The new power supply did not fix the system and I think the motherboard is toast. It is possible that the power supply went out and caused problems along the way. The PCB off my drive looks fine. No burnt chips to the eye. I also found one that is 2060-701335-003 REV B. Better, worse or equally no good? Have you tried powering the drive from each power connector in turn? Also bear in mind, that I have read how others have ended up with a bad ps after falling into this trap. From what I've measured, the 5v and 12v rails of these two connectors are in parallel with each other, so it may have only cooked the copper track[s] on one or the other. I assume this can happen because the sata power is derived from a different ps regulator to the legacy connectors and any voltage difference can cause significant current to flow from one to the other. This being the case, then you could also try buying a sata to legacy power adapter and apply power to both hdd connectors again from the one legacy feed coming from the ps. Well that's exactly what I did. The original set-up that has been in service for the past 4.5 years did not have sata power from the ps so I used a 4-pin to sata converter and connected it to the sata power on the drive. So when I had everything apart and noticed that the 4-pin was not plugged into the drive I connected it, thus powering both sides. I tried both together, just sata and just legacy and nothing works. The drive spins and makes a terrible noise kind of like something is not lined up properly. It repeats the noise a few times then stops. Hmmm....Image these pcb's are probably 4 layer and it may be that an inter-layer link has been cooked, leaving some part of the pcb isolated from power or earth. Either way, it seems your going to have to get the best match pcb possible and try swapping it. If the drive at least spins up without any rude noises, then you'll know your on the right "track" :mrgreen: Ok you said best match. Would that be 2060-701335-003 REV B or 2060-701335-005 REV A to match my 2060-701335-003 REV A, or does anyone have the right one I can buy? I'll leave others more expert than me to field the question of compatibility. Try to match as close as possible!!! I know it may work but I wouldn't go with a different revision... ============================================================================== The noises from my harddrive. Any ideas? Here is an audio file of what my hard drive sounds like. http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_and_karin/audio/hd.wma It is a WD1600JS-00MHB0. I accidentally connected both sata and legacy power. Also possible that power supply failed. Removed PCB and cleaned connections. Nothing looks burnt. Any help would be appreciated. That sounds like head sticktion or spindle problems need to be checked on a clean room i would check spindle phases too , if u dont know how to did that, u know answers i don't think had to open it for process. i have meet one case like it before. 8) _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service sunnydreamspace@hotmail.com awwwww. this doesn't sound good... If you don't need the data, then RMA the drive but if you want to recover the data, send it in to a data center for the diagnostic and estimate!! Most places provide the free diagnostic. Good Luck!!! =========================================================================== WD2500BEVT Hi to all! :mrgreen: WD2500BEVT-60ZCT1 is busy 100%. Bad fw? Sorry, not have experience in wd ... :oops: _________________ ??? ?????? ???????????? do you notice the drive to SPIN. have you try to change the PCB ? to see if the disk spin. and about the ATA register ... _________________ ZeBong BSY all the time?, Did u heard recalibration sound or any sound? zebong wrote: do you notice the drive to SPIN. have you try to change the PCB ? to see if the disk spin. and about the ATA register ... Spin ok!! _________________ ??? ?????? ???????????? beto wrote: 'BSY all the time? Did u heard recalibration sound or any sound? BSY all the time? YES!! Did u heard recalibration sound or any sound? YES SOUND Recalibration... _________________ ??? ?????? ???????????? probably bad heads, i had a desktop drive with exact this symptom, it had bad write element on main sa head. head/mod test and New here. you will get answer soon here _________________ provide entire dirve,PCB,firmware,hard disk accessories. talk to me! Data Recovery service ======================================================================= wd2500bb-55gua0 not seen in Bios but seen by MHDD I have a wd2500bb-55gua0 pulled from a TiVo box that I was trying to reformat to use in a PC. The drive does not appear in Bios. With MHDD I can see the correct drive ID. The drive will scan just fine with no excessively long-reading blocks. However, if I try to do an erase I get: Init drive: [RESET] ! ERROR: Drive not responding or operation canceled [RECAL] ! ERROR: Drive not responding or operation canceled MHDD then proceeds to try to do a fast erase but can only operate in PIO mode. Anyone have any suggestions? Is this indicative of one or more bad modules and I need to reload firmware? I'm a HDD repair newbie and don't have advanced tools like PC-3000 available to use on the drive. ============================================================================== Reflash BIOS? Hard Drive Replaced/ Restored still won't boot I have a windows XP IBM T30 laptop, and had a hard drive issue so tried a number of things to fix it. One thing was downloading a "repair" image (from a web site) burning it to CD and booting from it-- I think this CD reflashed some of my BIOS because since then it didn't boot with the same menu screens. I put the drive into an enclosure and could not read from it, got 'getdataback' and got only a small amount of (junk) back. So no biggie, I bought a new drive, formatted it NTFS (vista) and restored my backup copy of the original Hard Drive (13 CDs) onto it. All my PCs can read this new drive easily. It has 3 partions 100 Gb, 50 Gb and 89 Gb. It still will not boot, the Intel Boot agent fails on boot. I never had an intel boot agent before burning and booting the 'repair' cd. ================================================ Intel(R) Boot Agent Version 4.1.07 Copyright (C) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation Intel Base-Code, PXE-2.1 (Build 083) Copyright (C) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent Operating System Not found ================================================= I am told these are network errors- the pc is trying to boot on a network and cannot find it. I never had these before I ran that cd! (I have learned my lesson there). As I just did a fresh recovery/ restore from CD backups to HDD, and can easily read the HDD, I think the issue is getting my BIOS back to the form it was in when this shipped, how do I do that? If you have set up the boot sequence correctly in the cmos setup 1st = cd /dvd drive 2nd = diskette drive 3rd = hdd 4th = network or similar - where the hdd is prior the network, then you have to consider, that a laptop out of 2001 / 2002 has reached the end of its life .... You could try to reset / store the cmos (its data) once again: - change something, store cmos, restart laptop - change cmos back to old value, store cmos, restart laptop Sometimes there is a malfunction in cmos and above helps It could also be a low cmos battery - its a tiny round lithium battery (like used for photo cameras) covered by plastic on a small cable plugged onto the mainboard. IBM usually hide them close to the big laptop battery. Take the big battery out and look for it. If you take out the cmos battery / change it to a new one - you will have to set up all cmos data again - date, time, boot order - the most parts beside this will be done automatically I personally think you should consider buying a new laptop You could put the new harddisk into a usb case - and use it as an external drive. +++ OK, I see the cmos battery underneath the main battery. I'll give it a try. I really love this laptop; I would hate to get a new one; but near the end of the road now so we shall see. =================================================================================== ST 35 00 418 AS - SEAGATE 7200.12 Hi to all, Have this disk when give power it clicks. Change heads with the same pre amp ( and try to match the Data code almost as possible) Patient : 09417 corresponds to 2009 April 17th Donor : BR2-T TIAA-B But it happen the same it clicks. Put the heads back in the donor and they work. the donor works 100% ok. The heads off the patient into the donor, dont clik get DRD DSC but no size ( INFO FROM THE PCB). Anyone have an ideya what i have to match for the heads change in seagate 7200.12 Regards _________________ ZeBong ============================================================================== Painful mistake resulted in data loss - help! Hi gurus, I have drive with os and data on FAT32. The partition has been dropped and put one with NTFS. Then did quick format and installed os. And then... my friend realised, that one small database was there that she didn't backup :x Is it still any chance to recover this file? I didn't deal with such case so far, I have original PC3K but unfortunately without DE. Could anyone from gurus put some light on this darkness? Regards Damon stop using that drive. clone it to another drive, then work on the clone (preferably in read only mode)and you can try different types of data recovery software to see if you can find the deleted file if it has not been overwritten yet. Damon wrote: Hi gurus, I have original PC3K but unfortunately without DE. what? you have original pc3k but cannot do software reocvery? This sounds a bit suss. Thanks cleanroom for hint. I will try it. What if the data has been overwritten? It's finally lost or maybe there is any hope to recover it by pro? To HDD Spaz: You can believe or not, but I have original one. I can put my license numer on Your pm and You can check. It's a long story why I don't have DE, but generally I feel VERY dissapointed on Ace, because when I was buying PC3K, they promised new releases of software and free tech support. Now we all know reality, that there were no upgrades since v.2.26 and tech support (even read forum!) is not free anymore. Of course, when they want to sell me UDMA upgrade, they know my e-mail adress VERY WELL. Can You add something useful for me with my case? Damon I can't believe you purchased Pc3k before performing software recovery. You should learn to walk before you attempt to run. Clone the disk then run GetDataBack or R studio on the clone. And do not forget it should be GDB for Fat. _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net Thanks guys, I will try! It seems that I failed to recover this files. Let put more facts: The disk had 2 partitions. Only 1st one was reformatted from FAT32 on NTFS and then there was installed fresh OS. Unfortunately on this partition were DB files. It seems that this data is already overwritten :( Is here any solid pro from Poland, who is still believing in chance of recover this files? PM me with offers. Thanks Damon r studio or GDB will do a fine job on your case. The former is harder to use but generally gives more (but not always better) results. Don't be surprised to see the results quite fragmented and jumbled. Use either of the two's search functions to recover what you need, rather than everything. Its really quite easy, try again! I would guess you should be able to recover at least 80% of your files. Depends a lot how hard use the disk had before, and if you ever defagged it. You need to do a RAW recovery and select the database files to go into a specific folder. Then you have to try each file one by one and see if you get lucky. That's the only option you have left, I think! I find On Track data Recovery very good for this kind of raw recovery. Good luck cos you will need it! ======================================================================= Problem with G-List and Translator after swapping heads I had a WD400BB-75JHC0 come in clicking. Checked everything out on the PCB and determined the head had failed. I didn't have an exact match drive, but I did have an 80GB drive that was suitable (WD800BB-00JHA0). 5th and 6th letters for both drives were YT on the DCM. The 80gb drive simply had an extra head that would be rendered inactive by the system area. The head swap went fine. After aligning the head, the drive calibrates, and comes ready without any problem at all. However, when I go into check the modules the G-List (mod 34) and the Translator (mod 32) are both unreadable on copy 0 and copy 1. Everything else reads just fine. I ran a head test to just to make sure everything was cool with that, and it passed as well. Any ideas on what can be done to clear up the issues with the G-List and Translator in order to gain access to the data? I think SMART mod's (21,22) are unreadable too, ? _________________ 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. unknown20010 wrote: I think SMART mod's (21,22) are unreadable too, ? No. They are fine. Self Scan E1-E5 and E9 modules are yellow however. Check u PM Nevermind, I got it working now. Just needed to use a little common sense. :lol: ============================================================================ ST3500320AS - Intermittent buzzing, no spin up, no detection So I came back from a weekend away to find my PC on a BSOD. My ST3500320AS now makes a quiet .5 second buzz every 2 seconds when powered, doesn't spin up, and isn't detected by the BIOS. It delays booting as the BIOS tries in vain to find it before timing out. Checked cables/power. What's the verdict? How are my DIY recovery chances? Thanks, Nox Spindle seizure or heads sticking to the platters. Not a DIY, sorry. DobreMurphy was an optimist Thanks, I figured. It doesn't sound like any HD failure noise I've ever heard. Buzz is low and constant in frequency and volume. Should I try the freezer and physical abuse methods of recovery before I send it in for RMA? Also: Room might have been a bit chilly when it failed. there is many methods for this model to get data back. (im talking pro only) freeze it if you dont want you data back. Freezer Method Success. Since I could live without my data I decided to try the freezer method. 2 days at -26º celsius in a ziplock freezer bag. It's so cold my hands are sticking to it. Plug it in, power on, and I hear it quietly start to spin up very slowly. My data's back. nox wrote: Freezer Method Success. Since I could live without my data I decided to try the freezer method. 2 days at -26º celsius in a ziplock freezer bag. It's so cold my hands are sticking to it. Plug it in, power on, and I hear it quietly start to spin up very slowly. My data's back. Bollocks! :lol: Thumbs up! This thing works 1 to 100 at least. So you are the lucky one)) _________________ Good Luck http://www.datarecovery.net Just registered as I have exact same drive/issue. I even made an audio recording if anyones interested. http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/1 ... d-wma.html May try the freezer method. r3712 wrote: Thumbs up! This thing works 1 to 100 at least. So you are the lucky one)) Absolutely. So for anyone who finds this these methods are only worth a shot if there's absolutely no way you'll spend the 1k+ to recover your data. Consider it lost before trying this. My Process: -Have HDDGurus identify the cause of the failure as "Spindle seizure or heads sticking to the platters." This method won't work for other types of failure. I think I had a stuck head (very rare issue) because it didn't sound like a melodic spindle seizure, but I'm no expert. -Store the HD in an airtight freezer bag in your freezer at its coldest setting. I did 3 days at -26 celsius, mostly because I didn't have time to try earlier. -Prepare/connect a drive that you can transfer the whole contents of the old drive to. -Remove drive from fridge. DO NOT LICK. It'll be cold-sticky. My drive was cold enough to cause physical pain. Apparently metal sucks heat away more quickly than frozen food. -Lay on flat surface, plug in, power up immediately. -(optional) Pray, cross fingers, throw salt, sacrifice goat, etc. -If you are very lucky, start copying data immediately. Do not expect high performance. My frozen drive lasted 24 hours before getting stuck again. It had been partitioned into system and data. The primary system partition had some issues, but the data one was fine. I had time to save my data and low-level format the partition, which makes me feel better about RMAing it. Why was I being held for moderation? I've seen quite a few Seagate 3.5" with motor bearing failure. It takes considerable force to free the platters, and the remaining mechanical resistance prevents the drive from spinning up without a lot more work. I simply don't believe freezing a Seagate with stuck motor bearings will get the drive going again. One person Newed that your chances are about 1 in 100. I'd say he's an optimist . . . Sometimes - in a limited number of cases (& not including Seagate bearing issues) - the "freezer trick" can help. But I suspect it probably signs a death warrant for more drives than it resurrects. Here's a little experiment. If you've got a junk Seagate, Maxtor, Samsung, or Hitachi hard drive, put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Then remove the top cover when you power it on in a regular room. You'll see water condensing on the platters; sometimes you can even see it spiral out of the air like a planet aiming for a black hole. Condensation on platters is not good. A hard drive is open to the outside air, even with the cover sealed in place. I know a lot of visitors think that people who recover drives for a living and tell people not to put their gear in a freezer are selfish and greedy tricksters, hoping that they will get a new client instead. But the fact is that the "casual experimenter" usually ends up tossing out the drive if the experiment fails. Or in some cases he / she will send it to a pro, who will have to work 10X harder to get the data back. nox wrote: ... -Remove drive from fridge. DO NOT LICK. It'll be cold-sticky. My drive was cold enough to cause physical pain. Apparently metal sucks heat away more quickly than frozen food. -(optional) Pray, cross fingers, throw salt, sacrifice goat, etc. ... Damn... thats where I was going wrong. I threw some salt around and some landed on the frozen HDD. Goat then tried to lick the salt and ended up licking the drive... drive got stuck on goats tongue... goat started shaking head furiously and hard drive ended up been thrown against the ground. Next time I'll leave my goat out of it :) Hopefully I'll have better success I'm curious to know why you bother with a zip lock bag? When you take it out of the bag, do you open the drive in a room of equal temperature or is it warm environment with moisture in the air? The problem is with the condensation forming, both on the PCB and the platter surface. I commend you for getting your data back, but I would not trust the drive any more, nor would I recommend this method to anyone that values the data on the drive. Your attempt to save $500 could cost you thousands. This reminds me of those who swear by SpinRite...until the run it against a drive with failing heads. I had one client start with a drive that detected with some read errors and come to me with a drive where the heads had eaten through the platters... literally. With all that being said, I'm happy to hear that you were successful nox. Be sure to backup your data and thoroughly test your hard drive before putting it back into production. _________________ Luke Recovery Force - Canadian Data Recovery Services