HappyBear

Hello diddlyd, I have 1 TB ST31000340AS P/N 9BX158 on my table (apart two 750s affected by the BSY error I mentioned above:-) and a few days ago this hdd suddendly stopped to boot Windows and it started to report size = 0. I didn't have time to analyze the problem in depth, but -- in accordance to some post on Seagate's forum -- I tried the very common Seatools for DOS program which has an option "set drive capacity to maximum" (or something like this, I don't remember the exact wording) and after that the hdd -- to my big surprise -- started to boot Windows again as usual. The disk size displayed in BIOS is still strange ("0.002" instead of "1000" or so), but the hdd works without any problem at the moment... Maybe it worths a try... Regards, HappyBear

Hyperterminal was innconet this time I think, the controller card (Kouwell 222NE BTW:-) was really half-dead and it cheated both Hyperterminal and me for two days... I work in IT for fifteen years and I've met many incredible faults during all these years, but this one was unique... Have a nice weekend. HappyBear

For EddyDel5 & Claudius84 (who tried to help me yesterday): My problem was quite simple at the end: Wrong serial ports controller in PC -- both ports could receive data, but didn't send anything out... I replaced the controller and both disk were alive again within five minutes -- many thanks to Gradius (& others) who found out the process and posted it here... HappyBear (more happy than ususal at the moment:-)

Claudius84, you've hit the nail on the head and you've moved me one step forward, thanks a lot. The messy bytes that surrounded the error message (LED:000000CC FAddr:0024A051) in the BSY state (the PCB connected to the HDA) have disappeared, BUT... ...when I disconnect the PCB from the HDA (either by inserting a business card and/or by removing the PCB) I still can't enter the terminal and get the "F3 T>" prompt. :-( When exactly shall I press CTRL+Z? Or what could cause that keys/commands aren't sent to the HDD? Did I miss some special Hyperterminal setting? Any idea? Thx.

Eddy, thanks for your effort, but -- as I wrote in my post -- I get some output from the drive (but only in the BSY state and maybe a bit strange), so I suppose the wires are OK as like as the TTL board communicates with Windows. I spent several hours on this problem yesterday and I also tried to swap TX/RX wires but I get really no response if I do that so I belive the problem must be elsewhere -- I only can't find our where is it... :-(( Has anyone any other idea please? See the original post #787 for details... Thanks a lot. HappyBear

Good afternoon, I have two ST3750330AS affected by the BSY error on my table so I tried to resucitate them according to directions posted here, BUT... ... i/ if I connect the drive to PC (via RS323toTTL board etc.) with the PCB _connected_ to the HDA (= norma state of HDD), I got in HyperTerminal something like this: ¯ïíïííííïímïíïíïïí­ïí¯ï­íïíïíï¯í¯íííí¯ííïïíííïííïíïïíýïïí­íï­­ííïíííííïííïíïïïíí ííííïííïíííïïí­íïïïíííïïïíïíïííííïïïïïïï¯íýíïíííííííý­ïï¯ýïïïíïïmÿ¯ïíý¯ïïï­ííïí LED:000000CC FAddr:0024A051íí­ííïííí LED:000000CC FAddr:0024A051íí­­íííí­­íí­íïïïïïí­ííýïïíïííííïííííïííï¯íïýïííÿ¯¯¯í ﯯí¯ï¯ïï¯íïoïýíïýï¯ííïíïííï¯ííío­ýííïïïíïííï¯íïíí¯íííí¯ýíííïííííííí¯ïíïí¯ïïí¯íí íïííííímíííïímïoíííïííí­}mí}ïmïíí­ïííííí­­íííïí­ïï­¯ííííííííïííïíïíÿ­¯míïïïïíïí¯ This is not exactly what I would expect, but the error message ("LED:000000CC FAddr:0024A051") seem to be "correct" so I think the RS232toTTL board and all the wires around work fine, BUT... ... ii/ if I try the same with the PCB disconnected from the HDA (as described in directions) I can't get any response from the drive / enter the terminal session, neither Ctrl+Z nor any other of "online commands" work and the "F3 T>" prompt doesn't appear. :-(( Does anyone have any idea what could I do wrong? Many thanks for any help. HappyBear