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The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs


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@halbarad

No need to make it more complex than needed. :)

  1. DO NOT connect ANYTHING to the cable adapter.
  2. Plug it in a USB port.
  3. Do a loopback test.

Two possibilities:

  1. If it works, it means that it is powered form the USB.
  2. If it doesn't you need to supply power to VCC+GND

As often happens the seller has published incomplete, wrong or deceiving information. :(

jaclaz

Thanks, I emailed the seller and he confirmed that the cable is self powered. Also as GAG said, when I plugged in the cable it was recognized and installed as a USB to COM adapter. I tried the loopback test yesterday whith the HD connected but there was no response, I'll try again today without connecting the HD. All of my questions arise from the fact that yesterday I started the procedure with the board disconnected from the HD and the 3 cables (RX TX GND) connected to the board, but Ctrl+Z wasn't giving me any prompt in Hyperterminal :(

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Having a look at the PL2303 datasheets, the adapter should be recognized as

a USB-COM bridge, but (depending on the actual convertor design) the Vcc

provided by the USB-port doesn't have to be connected to the RS232-driver. :no:

The IC has a VDD_325-pin to power the RS-232-driver and may be powered

with a supply between 1.8V and 3.3V and it wouldn't surprise me this is where

this fourth wire is for :unsure:

Greetz,

Peter.

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Having a look at the PL2303 datasheets, the adapter should be recognized as

a USB-COM bridge, but (depending on the actual convertor design) the Vcc

provided by the USB-port doesn't have to be connected to the RS232-driver.

The IC has a VDD_325-pin to power the RS-232-driver and may be powered

with a supply between 1.8V and 3.3V and it wouldn't surprise me this is where

this fourth wire is for

Greetz,

Peter.

Which sums up in two steps to:

  1. I originally posted before actually connecting properly brain to fingers :blushing:
  2. I now try desperately to find a reason not to admit that I may have been wrong in this case :ph34r:

:lol:

It is just a guess, as much as mine, and, most probably, just like this:

Thanks, I emailed the seller and he confirmed that the cable is self powered.

The general Rule is NEVER trust anyone, CHECK YOURSELF! :realmad:

http://www.housemd-guide.com/characters/houserules.php

It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.
You want to know how two chemicals interact, do you ask them? No, they're going to lie through their lying little chemical teeth. Throw them in a beaker and apply heat.

To the above you add incomplete, deceiving or plainly wrong information supplied by anyone (possibly in perfect good faith) and you have the 100% probability (certainty) that until you have checked yourself, you cannot know the truth.

Just an example, this comes from the pl2303HXD datasheet:

RS232 VDD. The power pin for the serial port signals. When

the serial port is 3.3V, this should be 3.3V. When the serial port

is 2.5V, this should be 2.5V. The range can be from 1.8V~3.3V.

and this comes from the pl2303HX one:

RS232 VDD. The power pins for the serial port signals.

When the serial port is 3.3V, this should be 3.3V. When

the serial port is 2.5V, this should be 2.5V.

Now the added sentence "The range can be from 1.8V~3.3V." can be any of these:

  1. a "generic" explanation, optional, that applies to ALL pl2303 chips
  2. a "generic" explanation, optional, that applies to ALL circuits designed to work in a 2.5 to 3.3V range but 1.8V tollerant
  3. a "specific" recommendation, ONLY valid for pl2303HXD AND NOT for ANY other pl2303 chip

Instinctively, I personally tend to read it as "there are two power levels allowed, 2.5V and 3.3V.", all the rest being nonsense.

VideoRipper has read it as "anything between 1.8 and 3.3V will do (depending on the level of the serial)" and applied the sentence to BOTH the pl2303HX and pl2303HXD (since there is no way to know WHICH pl2303 is inside the stoopid cable adapter).

For the record later in the datasheet, there are for BOTH the pl2303HX and the pl2303HXD THREE tables:

  1. VDD_325@3.3V Serial I/O Pins
  2. VDD_325@2.5V Serial I/O Pins
  3. VDD_325@1.8V Serial I/O Pins

Which means that Videoripper was right :thumbup and I was wrong :(, but mainly means that even on strictly technical documentation it is easy to misunderstand, since data is either partial or misleading or badly worded.

The e-bay seller writes in his page:

(sometimes only RX, TX and GND are needed, it depends from the device)

which should mean that the adapter is self-powered from the USB side, and also confirmed it by e-mail to halbarad, but he also writes on the page:

The cable, as you can see in the photo, provides the following pins:

- RX

- TX

- VCC 3V TO 5.5V

- GND

Now, if that wire has "VCC 3V TO 5.5V" it CANNOT be connected to the VDD_325 pin (which ONLY accepts 1.8~3.3 V) it could be connected to VDD_5 (USB Port VBUS, 5V Power) but it would be 5V AND NOT 3.3V or it could be connected to VO_33 (Regulator Power Output, 3.3V) but then it would be 3.3V AND NOT 5 V!

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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Just did this for the LBA 0 error and it totally worked. My drive and files are back!

FYI mine was a seagate 500 gb STM3500820AS, which I bought as an Iomega Prestige external hard drive. (I'm providing all these details in hopes that the next poor soul can find this in a google search).

One day it just stopped being detected in USB, so I took it out of the usb<->sata enclosure and plugged it into my motherboard to discover it was reporting 0 GB. This model and firmware weren't reported as being affected, but I tried it anyway. Glad I did!

I used a CA-42 nokia data cable, as that seemed like the most straightforward method.

Seagate doesn't seem to have a firmware update for it since it is OEM, and Iomega is unhelpful. I guess I'll just keep the cable handy in case it happens again. It worked fine for a year before this happened.

Thanks for posting this!

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@halbarad

No need to make it more complex than needed. :)

  1. DO NOT connect ANYTHING to the cable adapter.
  2. Plug it in a USB port.
  3. Do a loopback test.

Two possibilities:

  1. If it works, it means that it is powered form the USB.
  2. If it doesn't you need to supply power to VCC+GND

As often happens the seller has published incomplete, wrong or deceiving information. :(

jaclaz

Thanks, I emailed the seller and he confirmed that the cable is self powered. Also as GAG said, when I plugged in the cable it was recognized and installed as a USB to COM adapter. I tried the loopback test yesterday whith the HD connected but there was no response, I'll try again today without connecting the HD. All of my questions arise from the fact that yesterday I started the procedure with the board disconnected from the HD and the 3 cables (RX TX GND) connected to the board, but Ctrl+Z wasn't giving me any prompt in Hyperterminal :(

Hi, I'm trying again with this cable, now with the HD connected I press ctrl+Z and I get only a right arrow on the HT screen (echo is off). With the HD disconnected, I don't get any characters I type on the HT screen. To do the loopback test should I connect RX to TX or that should work anyways?

In conclusion, do I have to supply power to this cable or not?

Thanks for your help, I'm desperate :(

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Hi halbarad,

Hi, I'm trying again with this cable, now with the HD connected

Re-read carefully what Jaclaz wrote:

  1. DO NOT connect ANYTHING to the cable adapter.
  2. Plug it in a USB port.
  3. Do a loopback test.

This means: do this loopback-test first, if that doesn't work, there's no sense

in continuing to the next step :no:

To do the loopback test should I connect RX to TX or that should work anyways?

In short: yes.

  1. Plug it into a USB-port
  2. Connect the RX-wire to the TX-wire (effectively creating "The loop")
  3. Find out its COM-port (in Device manager)
  4. Open a new session in HyperTerminal
  5. Make sure Echo is off
  6. Select the COM-port number found in step 3
  7. Type some characters on the keyboard; the same characters *should*
    appear inside the terminal screen while typing.

In conclusion, do I have to supply power to this cable or not?

We don't know (yet) since the seller isn't too clear about that. :unsure:

But if the loopback test failed it *might* need an external power supply

(or it *might* also be defective, we don't know yet).

If you have (or can get your hands on) a multimeter, it's easy to determine:

just measure the voltage between the Vcc-wire and the GND-wire, while it's

connected to the USB-port:

  • When it's 3.3V - 5V the wire is supplying power and you *shouldn't* need to
    apply external power to it for the RS232 driver.
  • If there's no power coming out, it's either broken or (more likely) it needs
    an external power supply.

If you can't get hold of a multimeter, you can do a poor-man's job by using

a bicycle (6V) lamp and see if it lits when you connect it to the convertor's

Vcc and GND-wires.

(warning: only do this briefly and use a low-power (Wattage) lamp or you will

overload the convertor!)

When there's no power coming out of the convertor apply two 1.5V batteries in

series (making 3V) to the Vcc and GND-terminals and redo the loopback test.

Greetz,

Peter.

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To do the loopback test should I connect RX to TX or that should work anyways?

Sure, a "loop" that is not closed is not a "loop". ;)

See here:

By now you should know it by heart, however, read again point #8 AND links within it.

You shouldn't be "desperate" check point #14 of the said read-me-first. :whistle:

Don't worry, don't panic, :).

jaclaz

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Hi

After following command sequence i am getting following errors.

please guide me for this

ASCII Diag mode

F3 T>/2

F3 2>Z

Spin Down Complete

Elapsed Time 6.015 secs

F3 2>

ASCII Diag mode

F3 T>/2

F3 2>U

HighPowerMode

ExecuteSpinRequest

Spin Up Complete

Elapsed Time 3.624 secs

F3 2>/1

F3 1>N1

Init SMART Fail

I cant proceed further

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I cant proceed further

Well, try again.

Take power off from everything, connect the HD normally, see if it has changed it's LBA0 state.

If yes, try getting your data back, first thing.

If no, try the procedure again from start.

It is possible that your drive is suffering from another problem....

jaclaz

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ASCII Diag mode

HighPowerMode

Erm... one question: what firmware version does your harddrive use

(and what type of drive is it)?

I've never seen those responses with SD15 firmware :unsure:

Greetz,

Peter.

Edited by VideoRipper
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Hi guys,

I have a Seagate Barracuda HDD with the following specifications:

Seagate 160Gb 7200.12

Model : ST3160318AS

FW : CC38

No detect

I have tried with dku5:

F3 T>/1

F3 1>N1

F3 1>N1

Init SMART Fail

LED:000000CC FAddr:0024E2DB

LED:000000CC FAddr:0024E2DB

LED:000000CC FAddr:0024E2DB

LED:000000CC FAddr:0024E2DB

LED:000000CC FAddr:0024E2DB

what means this message?

someone please help me?

Edited by cuudulieu
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I have a Seagate Barracuda HDD with the following specifications:

Seagate 160Gb 7200.12

Compare with point #1 and #2 of the Read-me-first:

Pretty much a non-target!

I see that you have then double-posted, so discussion (if any) continues here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=145646

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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Hello fellas,

Been trying to debrick my terabyte 7200.11 drives (have two, both of them not showing in BIOS) with no success so far.

I bought this

http://alldav.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=21

from this guide

http://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/

So. I soldered four wires to all four access points, and when I connect the RX to TX (loop test, just these two wires), it works. I see my typing in the terminal. So the product works, and is powered if I understand the last few posts prior to my own post. So I do not need to plug in the GND or the 5V+ wire to anywhere on the HDD, just the RX and TX. So.

I then plug the RX (PC) to TX (HDD) and vice versa for the other wire and plug the power (sata from PSU). The PCB heats up, meaning it gets power. But Ctrl + Z does not work. It just remains blank.

Please help.

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