atc

Hello again, today this little usb-ttl-p2303-adapter-thing arrived i had to remove the connectors and put some tape instead. installed a driver, the adapter is detected as COM4. connection with hyperterminal (38400-8-no-1-no) worked with the loopback test (i can only see the written text in ht when rx and tx connected) but when attaching to the HD, pushing ctrl-z after a while (i also tried ctrl-y because sometimes z and y are switched, depending on keyboard layout) nothing happens. the expected F3 T> prompt just doesnt appear. i somewhere read, reason might be a switched tx and rx, so i switched them but still the same. doh in the hyperterminals status bar it says there is an connection anyway. hmmm... any ideas?

Thank you for the answers, i just ordered the adapter i mentioned and hopefully get data back soon What confuses me about the ground is that following the readme-first-thread there should always be something attached to the HDs GND pin. but neither in this http://www.kwikpiks.com/files/18/MSFN%20Seagate%20topic/fix04.jpg nor this http://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/ http://lh5.ggpht.com/_iEh-WLXnVwk/Sasqhl13ZeI/AAAAAAAAAL0/2fJ65SIzz2I/s800/Seagate%20Fix%20036.JPG i can see that in the shown pictures. there are just 2 cables to hd, which i guess are tx and rx Furhtermore i read in http://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/: "You can also use a 3V battery, or 2 or 3 AA's in series, etc. If using a battery, you must also connect the RS232-to-TTL adapter's ground pin to the hard drive ground pin, or it will not work. The two devices must share a common ground in order to communicate. If they're powered by the same power supply, then that will insure that they share a ground." Im not much of an expert but i think if that statement is corret that it is also valid for the usb-ttl-adapter i mentioned.

ok after several months of ignoring this non-working maxtor basics 500GB external hd, i decided to open it and see if it works as a internal hd. of course: no success. yesterday i checked for the first time what hd was inside, a-ha: seagate barracuda 7200.11, google.... and ooh my see what fancy HD i got there! that so many people seem to love and try to put it back to work, giving solutions how to fix and so on.. you all know better than me. but that just gave me the courage to try it myself now! so far i figured out, that i seem to have the BSY one cause its not detected in my BIOS. next step, i read a lot threads and walkthroughs and have a slight idea of what is going on... so now i need equipment. luckily i have a T6 but i still need some kind of adapter and there is now my questions: did anyone try THIS ONE and can recommend it? seems like it is the way of minimal work and money im just about to buy it but wonder two things: 1. the power comes from the usb and gives 3.3V so i wont need the gnd cable or battery or anything, right? 2. do those 2.54mm plugs fit into the 7200.11's RX and TX? thx for any help