cooper2009

Nope, no compression. Just sparse files. So it is always unclear what the occupation of the partition really is- depending on the program used (even if the explorer sees 0bytes free, chkdsk saw ~2.7G free yesterday; now this is the same, both say ~4.7GB free). I was also able copy small files to the partition, even if explorer reported 0 bytes free... this is real transparency... cooper2009.

Thanks for your reply. All NTFS, TrueCrypt is latest, v6.1a. I do know the ProcessExplorer, but it won't help much if this the filesystem driver is updating the meta-data of the partition (and it can't). Will try the next time the drive is full. Also mounting the full partition as read-only might help. But why should the OS modify the meta data when ~50% is copied?? cooper2009.

Hi there, strange issue on XP, SP2: NTFS, truecrypt container (file) is full, 0% left. Attached via USB. Partition is filled with sparse files. It is having a normal drive letter, chkdsk says filesystem is OK, and states 2.7GB free. Problem: I am unable to copy/move big files from that partition, to the local disk with XP on it. Message 'No space left on device', same with Explorer and a NC clone (SpeedCommander). This is wrong, the target is big enough. ONLY after moving smaller files from that partition, it is possible to move the bigger files from that partition. What is the problem? Why this wrong message? Could truecrypt be the problem? I posted this in the Truecrypt forum as well. BTW, after several other various issues with XP (such as wrong formatting fs-type 6 instead of 7/NTFS, BSOD when attaching these wrong partitions to the PC, another BSOD after log on without these partitions) I finally will move to another OS. Away from Windows. cooper2009.

Hi Shooter2142, very strange. If you see correct characters, it should work. I measured the voltage of signals with an oscilloscope, and my adapter puts out 4.4V peak-peak and about 3.0V RMS. No battery should be necessary. Did you connect ground (the shield) to the PCB of the HD? To repeat and confirm the steps: 1. Connect RS232. Open Hyperterminal. Ensure the COM-port used is set to 38400/8n1/no flow control. Set the same parameters for that COM port in Windows device manager. Switch off the FIFO. I used a laptop for the operation and disconnected power to let the laptop run on battery. This way the ground level does not interfere with the ground of PC with the HD connected. 2. Connect power to HD. 3. You should see nothing, press CTRL-Z. 4. Continue with instructions. cooper2009. Thx for you answer but i didnt work...maybe i have something doing wrong with dku 5 cable??? Did i need a battery 5V???

Hi Shooter2142, just disconnect power, wait, connect power again and CTRL-Z. Message LED: ... seems to come up if the drive is powered for a longer time. Just unbricked my 500GB! Now having a cappucino, listening to my music and then flash to SD1A.... I used a CA42 cable (for Nokia). It was necessary to connect GND (the shield of the cable) to the PCB of the HD, next to TX in post #1 (I got only '->' sign). I skipped G-list erase (i4,1,22). Good luck to Austria.... try it. You won't destroy the drive even if you would use regular RS232 signals (as I did...;-). But FOLLOW the commands PROPERLY. Thanks Gradius! cooper2009

Seagate denies problems with HD's manufacured before November! I just received this (date of the reply is 28.01., my email was sent 18.01.: --- quote starts here --- If you drive failed in September, then it was not in the series of drives that have the firmware issue. The series of drives that had the issue were manufactured in November and December. So your hard drive failure was completely separate issue. Additionally, we are not offering free data recovery. Our data recovery service is applying the firmware for our customers who's drives do not appear in the BIOS. If the firmware cannot be successfully applied, then the data recovery service is offered at regular price. You can, of course, use this same service, but it cannot be offered for free. If you have any further questions, please let us know. Regards, ---End of quote--- (will not quote name of that guy, obviously from the US) My HD was manufactured 01. April and died around 5. August (not detected by SATA controller, after some boots taking quite long, as far as I can remember). My SN is affected, confirmed with Seagate's checker again (which seems to be questionable as well, at least the database behind it). What are they talking about? Do they really know? I think it is time to point them to the charts on the 1st page of this thread. There is another post on page 9 (thanks Dadou), giving hope that i365 will do the job for free. I mentioned that in my email, quoting http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16246 ... However, I will try to fix the brick with the tips from Gradius2's thread myself. cooper2009 Edit: typos+link.

9QM2****:ST3500320AS:9BX154-303:SD15:08394:2008-04-01:KRATSG:2008-05-20:2008-08-05:N/A:cooper2009:Germany:(no detect in bios):XPHome:230W Pls, could someone update the sheet with the mfg/fail dates? I couldn't believe that this is all chance (most failures around xmas).

Hi, did someone have success flashing the firmware SD1A (new) with a VIA6421 or SIL3114 PCI controller? It seems it is IMPOSSIBLE. 2 of the drives ST3500320SA (still alive with SD15, one more is already dead) are just never deteced by SeaEnum, whatever I do. I also tried different SATA ports (the VIA 6421 may not see the drive on the shared PATA port: some XBOX forums). No RAID, no AHCI, it is an old ASUS K7M mainboard. The BIOS of the VIA is not having any settings, except RAID. Disconnected all other drives. Booted from floppy (extracted with 7Z and rawwritewin, since the CDROM is not booted). Both drives are OK with XP! What to do? Am I REALLY the only one trying to flash with the chips above? Ideas welcome.... I might not have many boots left... TNX! EDIT: Solved with adaptor IDE-SATA. Although the BIOS of the m/b detected only 137GB, flashing to SD1A succeeded on 2 of my disks. The 3rd needs to be unlocked... will post my data below.