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The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs


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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.

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You should always ground an unbalanced communications-line.

If anyone states otherwise, he or she is wrong. :huh:

Sure, when a communication-line shares the same power-supply it *might* work, but

technically it's very wrong and can (will!) induce a ground loop. :blink:

Hope this gives you some more insight on the topic ;)

(Just watch the space below me and you'll see Jaclaz confirming this... I hope) :rolleyes:

Greetz,

Peter.

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(Just watch the space below me and you'll see Jaclaz confirming this... I hope) :rolleyes:

I have nothing much to add to what I wrote in points #6 and #7 of the read-me-first, but I can add the following data collection from a statistical viewpoint. (actual data for the "those that did NOT use ground is obviously faked :whistle:, but anyway representative of actual values :unsure:):

Group A (those that did connect properly the ground):

  • Percentage of success 100%
  • Problems with connection 0%
  • Whining about the guide/tutorial 0%

Group B (those that did NOT connect properly the ground):

  • Percentage of success 56.65%
  • Problems with connection 34,35% (of which solved by connecting ground 99.99% +/- 0.01%)
  • Whining about the guide/tutorials 34,35%

In other words, we have NO reports of people having problems with the ground connection, and a significative number of reports about people that had problems with the connection that were INVARIABLY solved once ground connection was established.

Since you have that connector available, and there is NO evidence that it creates a problem, why NOT connecting it? :unsure:

Or, let's put it in yet another way, try without the ground connected, if it works, good :), if it doesn't try again after connecting the ground, and hope that the problem was just the ground :ph34r: .

Grounding is, as said STRONGLY advised, which doesn't mean that is COMPULSORY, not that the stoopid hard disk cannot be revived without a ground connection, it simply means that if I were you I would connect the ground too, with a total surcharge in costs of 0.00 US$ AND no harm done to any living being in the making of. ;)

jaclaz

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Jaclaz,

My sincere apologies for the confusion and opening another thread. My first time here and did not read the rules and regulations first. Bear with me:) :

You didn't tell us what (brand, type of) USB -> (TTL) RS232 convertor you're using. :unsure:

How many "Rs232 shifter SMD" are there around? :whistle:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=449

@maridadi

Check ATTENTIVELY these (about 15 posts starting from here) :

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&st=2326

AND points 6 to 10 in the "reame_first":

jaclaz

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Using a Prolific USB to Serial converter

Jaclaz,

My sincere apologies for the confusion and opening another thread. My first time here and did not read the rules and regulations first. Bear with me:) :

You didn't tell us what (brand, type of) USB -> (TTL) RS232 convertor you're using. :unsure:

How many "Rs232 shifter SMD" are there around? :whistle:

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=449

@maridadi

Check ATTENTIVELY these (about 15 posts starting from here) :

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&st=2326

AND points 6 to 10 in the "reame_first":

jaclaz

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....

I have all components to fix the BUSY state problem. I have connected as follows:

I have soldered jumper wires to the Voltage, Ground, rx and tx ports on Rs232 shifter SMD. Connected from shifter smd to opposite rx tx on Seagate drive and voltage and grnd to power supply from Computer. Made sure that I used only red and black wires for Max 5volts.

Using a Prolific USB to Serial converter

Jaclaz,

My sincere apologies for the confusion and opening another thread. My first time here and did not read the rules and regulations first. Bear with me:) :

No prob :), but then forget anything I wrote about the actual Rs232 shifter SMD, since you are NOT using one. :w00t:

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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i have maxtor diamondmax 23 stm3320418as firmware cc73. bios setup does not detect it. when i connect it to power supply disk spins. when system starts it take a long time to show message "

boot failed ..."

i read this topics but i cant find RS232 - TTL adapter. please help me to build it myself. thanks

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Jaclaz,

I am using a Rs232 shifter smd purchased from Sparkfun..

....

I have all components to fix the BUSY state problem. I have connected as follows:

I have soldered jumper wires to the Voltage, Ground, rx and tx ports on Rs232 shifter SMD. Connected from shifter smd to opposite rx tx on Seagate drive and voltage and grnd to power supply from Computer. Made sure that I used only red and black wires for Max 5volts.

Using a Prolific USB to Serial converter

Jaclaz,

My sincere apologies for the confusion and opening another thread. My first time here and did not read the rules and regulations first. Bear with me:) :

No prob :), but then forget anything I wrote about the actual Rs232 shifter SMD, since you are NOT using one. :w00t:

jaclaz

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Peter,

After powering up Converter (rs232 shifter smd), making sure rx and tx are connected to hdd, and finally powering up HDD i get the follwing message during hyper terminal session.. "unable to open com4. check your port settings". NOte hdd is powered up by the normal sata cable coming from pc power supply.. I made sure that Prolific USB to Serial cable drivers were downloaded and also under device manager, the hardware is shown under ports as Com4. Please advise

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Hi all,

Just wanted to say thanks for the fantastic information in this post. I was able to assemble what was needed and implement the steps successfully. I now have access to the data on my Seagate HD and am busily copying important things off of it onto a safe disk.

FWIW, I followed these instructions initially but the power down after the spin up step (U) was causing an error. By following the instructions on this site (which had the power down/up step later (after the N1)) everything worked well. I also used the grounding wire right off the bat, which the other instructions did not suggest.

Question: is there any hope for this HD after upgrading the firmware? Can it be trusted or should i really just huck this thing in the dumpster and move on?

Thanks again, mission accomplished!

-Exspo

Edited by exspo
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is there any hope for this HD after upgrading the firmware?

Can it be trusted or should i really just huck this thing in the dumpster and move on

I don't know if "It can be trusted" for 100%, but "Our" problem actually is

a small "Log Overflow" like bug in the drive's firmare, which *should* be

fixed in the later SD1A version.

In theory this means that you *should* be able to use it as any other drive

again and in the worst case (if the bug wasn't actually fixed after all) you

would have to perform the same operation again after about 18-24 months.

The hardware/mechanics is not at fault here, it's only the (SD15) firmware.

Albeit, I've RMA'd my drive and got a similar drive with updated firmware back

(this all was free, BTW), but I still had a sourish feeling about it (even after

being a "Certified repaired drive"), so I'm now only using it as a backup drive

that is only used every once in a while; not in a critical environment.

Maybe the "New" drive really is reliable (again) as any other, but I've lost my

trust in it after this ordeal :unsure:

Greetz,

Peter.

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