[The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs]

After you connect the cable to the PCB's hdd you can type Ctrl+z

If the connection is well the hdd responds F3 T>

That's the point. Nor PuTTY, netterm, ponderosa, and other terminal softwares made ctrl-z work. In fact, I don't even know what ctrl-z does on hyperterminal, so I didn't know how to "start" on these programs.

[The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs]

well... since nobody answered me about "DataPattern" on SD1A, i decided to unlock the drive using AD14

Many thanks to everyone... it did very well. The hardest part was to get hyperterminal for windows vista.

Unbricked my drive and now backing data up on several dual layers dvd... soon I may get rid of this hd.

Info:

I used CA-42 with drivers taken here (a zip file with one executable). For people not getting it on vista, try running the installer on compatibility mode. Works like a charm.

I used an old CDROM analog audio cable to connect the pins.

I used a sata power cable adaptor cause my psu only has 2 and they are 10cm away on the same wires, so the adaptor made one free extension to a wire with 3 molexes.

I did not use the 3dr pin (GND) since the whole system is the same (i'm not using a notebook).

I unbricked it using AD14 firmware, and sequentially flashed the drive with SD1A.

I tried putty, netterm, and many other softwares for COM port communication, but none of them seemed to make the CTRL-Z work.

[The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs]

That is a good thing to keep in mind; for their shortcomings- they do exhibit an unusual resilience

Sorry for my bad English, but, I really didn't understand what you meant.

Anyway... I saw somewhere a discussion about "empty values" versus "0" (zeros)... since I'm considering to fix my drive using sd1a, the command goes:

1 )) - m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22, ---->(DataPatern = "")

2 )) - m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22,0 ---->(DataPatern = "0")

3 )) - m0,2,2,,,,,22, ---->(DataPatern = "")

wich one of them is right? In case of item 2, isn't it dangerous to use 0 on DataPattern?

[The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs]

I don't understand why you guys are shelling out extra money for the serial to TTL converters, battery packs, and whatnots. the CA-42 cable works like a charm, cost less than 6.00 with shipping, and eliminates so much guesswork. i posted the ebay seller i used on the previous page, so you know where to get one that works for sure.

36 pages deep and it still sounds so complicated - when really it is not once you know what needs to be done.

This was my choice... I'm still waiting for my CA-42 arrive...

I have one ST3500320AS - SD15 that:

1 - Bought on july/08

2 - Started to cause a lot of bsods since november/08

3 - Caused IO error on my last usable windows session (4 days ago)

4 - After one last BSOD, started to show 0MB on bios setup (several tests on hiren's-boot-cd hdd tools)

5 - Got updated to SD1A via cd-r, still 0MB

6 - Got downgraded to AD14 via floppy, still 0MB

7 - Got updated to SD1A via cd-r, still 0MB

8 - Got downgraded to AD14 via floppy, still 0MB

9 - Got updated to SD1A via cd-r, still 0MB

and stuff like that several times...

My only concern is all the data inside it...

If I get data back, I'll back it up in several blank dvds and sell this "500G floppydisk" to the first " " that I can.

As I'm waiting for my cable to arrive, I wonder: Did I mess the data by flashing the firmware that many times ?