pompolus

thank you for the detailed answer, I'll get over it :\

Did you really read the Read-Me-1st? Doesn't it say there you should also read the FGA? Have you? Yes I did, but not the FGA, I was searching info about the DIY process as I was pretty sure (or I hoped) I was afflicted by the common bsy or lba0 issues, mea culpa. But, the question still stands... Could I communicate with the PCB completely removed from HDD, even if it is in the click of death state? I read this state often is not due to pcb issues, but sometimes is, so the fact I can't get the prompt upon pressing ctrl-z, could be meant that my issue depends from a fried PCB? And if this is the case, is there a chance to repair the hdd in some way avoiding the data recovery services?

Well, before killing yourself, you might want to take a nice walk outside, maybe you change your mind about this. In any case, often (but not always) a professional may be able to recover the data (with a cost that can be *anything* between €250 and € 1,000, not exactly "cheap", but still IMHO more affordable than suicide ). jaclaz well, I already have the rope, so a suicide would be cheaper for sure But what I wondering is why I can't communicate through putty with the pcb completely removed form the hard drive? I could get the prompt even with hard disk detached, right? So, the problem could be PCB related and swapping it with a new one could recover my data or it is just my ignorance talking?

oh, I'm very glad to know it, I'm going to kill myself... btw, just tried to remove the pcb and clean contacts, same result : \

I have read it, I swear! My question was aimed to know if my hard disk needed some different voltage than the other types, I'm not very familiar with these electronic stuff so I'm sorry if my question is silly, but I found many people reporting to get nothing after hitting ctrl z when trying to recover my hdd type... You are probably right saying my problem is what you are talking about, my hdd does clicking sounds during boot, but the procedure to trying to resurrect it is partially the same, at least up to the time to send the commands to pcb through ctrl-z, right? By the way I'm trying to remove the pcb and clean the contacts, I'll let you know, thank you for your time

I have already read that, it is very useful thanks. Of course I swapped rx and tx several times with no luck, I'm going to try in some minutes to completely remove the PCB, do you suspect the card over the contacts is not isolating very well?

Hi all, I'm havign troubles with a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5 TB. The hard disk is not recognized from bios, sometimes it appears in windows as a 3.86 GB hard disk (uninitialized) and with a different serial code. So I'm trying to resurrect this little boy with the "paper under PCB trick" with no luck. And with no luck I mean that i can't get the prompt on console. I'm using putty on windows 8.1 (tried also with hyperterminal on windows xp, same result), configured in this way: Baud 38400 Data Bits 8 Stop Bits 1 Parity none Flow Control none I've used a usb to UART TTL (http://www.ebay.de/itm/USB-2-0-to-UART-TTL-6PIN-Module-Serial-Converter-CP2102-/370532286388?pt=PCC_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item564571ffb4) and a cable like ca-42 (not the nokia original one). The result is the same with both the cable and the adapter:- Power on the hdd with a sata cable- I wait for the motor spins down- connect the rx to tx, tx to rx and gnd to gnd- open putty, select the com port in use from adapter, open connession- press ctrl+zand nothing. Everything I type is not shown, and even less I get the "F3 T>" line, all I see is a blank window. Tried to do a loopback test with both the devices and when tx and rx are connected between them, I can see what I type, so I'm pretty sure the devices are operational and driver correctly installed. So, what could I'm doing wrong?I've googled around and found several people with my hard disk not seeing the prompt when pressing ctrl+z.I found a guy that says he had succes with ST31500341AS after he has tried 6 different cables, so the only idea I have is that for my hdd a different voltage than the usual 3.3v is needed, is it possible? Anyone knows something about this s***ty 1.5TB hdd? Any help or hint would be very appreciated, I'm lost, thank you