BlouBul

Yes, worst case hyperterminal will take a long time to respond. if that happens just power down again, establish connection and do last steps.

BSY is a sudden occurrance. If the hdd started to act funny, but sometimes still worked, it is not BSY. The rest of the things , however, does sound like BSY. You might have more than one problem (or one big one that is not within the scope of this thread) No harm in trying the fix once more to make sure you did it right the first time.

Another thing I learned in high school physics was the concept of significant digits. When taking measurements, available precision depends upon the tool or method used to measure. Exactly. The question is how close do you want to get to the answer? Even if you say one billion significant digits (which in most real world applications application will be closer to one than 1 itself ), you can just add one billion and one 9's and you are in spec again.

As I see it, 0.999... = 1. Proof: 1/3 x 3 = 1 .333...x 3 = .999... =1 Hope this helps to clear any misunderstanding. Edit: I see a similar proof to my proof is in the original also. Still I learned in physics (long ago, not sure about current mathematical theory) that it is exactly equal to one (due to above proof) and not less than. Wikipedia agrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0.999...

The random characters were probably caused when the GND wire touched something. It shouldn't have broken anything. Just try the whole process again, making sure the wires are secure and not touching and make sure you do all the steps carefully.

Glad you managed to fix it ...and you are welcome

Continue the fix from after the "optional" power down which you did belatedly. See guide here http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html

Unplug your hdd, and start again from the beginning, making sure you follow all the steps.