The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs

[psm321]

And you're sure:

• The drive is really a Seagate 7200.11 drive with SD15 firmware?
  
• When issuing the N1 command, you're in the "F3 1>" menu?

Greetz,

Peter.

Hi,

Yes, it's a 7200.11, model ST31000340AS. The label on the drive says firmware SD15 and I'm pretty sure I never updated it. Once it "died" [spins up fine, no bad sounds, but doesn't seem to exist to the computer] I did go and update the other drives in the set and those were all at SD15 before update.

Yes, I'm issuing the N1 command at the "F3 1>" prompt I get after saying "/1"

Thanks!

Edit: Interesting side-note: probably not relevant to the problem, but I bought these drives as retail kits from the Fry's website, and still have the original retail kit boxes, yet all 4 of the drives say "This drive is manufactured by Seagate for OEM distribution. For product information or technical support, please contact your system OEM." Interestingly, the boxes have 2 layers of model/serial number stickers on them... makes me wonder if Fry's was doing something shady. I foresee a fight with Seagate if I end up having to send the drive in to them for their free recovery.

Edited August 16, 2010 by psm321

[VideoRipper]

I foresee a fight with Seagate if I end up having to send the drive in to them for their free recovery.

AFAIK this is just a myth: at first I sent in the drive for a "Free recovery"

and received a quote for €900 ex VAT.

So in the end I did it myself for under €10 with the help of this thread.

Anyway: weird problem.

The only thing I can think about is that you have a different (revision) PCB

on that drive.

When powering the PCB only (with the platters not connected) you'll enter its

special debug/diagnostics mode (the drive's firmware is on the platters, so

this isn't being loaded at all) and you only have access to the drive using

low level commands over the (TTL-RS232) diagnostics port.

After "Upgrading" the drive's firmware, (to my knowledge) the bootcode on

the PCB isn't changed.

You should be able to find out your drive's firmware revision by pressing

the CONTROL and A keys simultaneously.

When issuing CTRL+L you should get the drive's sign-on message.

I don't have a ST31000340AS myself so I don't know what the replies should be

(and whether the commands would work or not), but you can have a look at that

and copy-paste the results here for others to compare.

Greetz,

Peter.

Edited August 16, 2010 by VideoRipper

[jinjahman]

Hi there,

Quick question: My drive has the BSY error and I'm investigating the fixes on this and other sites;

Will the proposed solution format(zap!) the drive, or will the data (pix, music etc.) be viewable after the fix?

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/4615082/seagate_1tb_bsy_error_fix_7200_11_firmware/

http://howto.starahead.com/?p=61

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

Thanks

jinjahman

Edited August 16, 2010 by jinjahman

[jaclaz]

Will the proposed solution format(zap!) the drive, or will the data (pix, music etc.) be viewable after the fix?

The proposed solution simply "resets" the HD internal log, the one that if reaches certain values, bricks the drive.

Read the read-me-first:

Unless OTHER things went wrong (concurrently or before the bricking), DATA will be AS accessible AS before the bricking.

jaclaz

[GoKart]

Thanks for your reply - sorry I can't count, and thanks for pointing it out.

Yes, you did read my mind .. overnight thinking .. ah ha . easy - just change PCB. So thanks for pre-empting and saving my energy.

In Australia (we can't count downunder!), we have strong consumer protection laws; and hence given the number of people affected by faulty Seagate/Maxtor drives, am wondering if a class action is possible for the cost of data recovery, as it an assessable damage ($) to the consumer.

Also, when the Seagate Barracuda came out of its plasic surround, first noticeable feature was the amount of scratches on the casing... not unlike the condition of a secondhand item.

I have reread my post, and cannot identify the reference to orignal post, which you want me to remove. Can you clarify?

.. off now to grease the 3 wheels of my billy cart.

[jaclaz]

Thanks for your reply - sorry I can't count, and thanks for pointing it out.

Ow, comeon :

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001364.html

In Australia (we can't count downunder!), we have strong consumer protection laws; and hence given the number of people affected by faulty Seagate/Maxtor drives, am wondering if a class action is possible for the cost of data recovery, as it an assessable damage ($) to the consumer.

I guess it is possible, though the drive warranty covers only the drive and not the DATA on it.

Also, when the Seagate Barracuda came out of its plasic surround, first noticeable feature was the amount of scratches on the casing... not unlike the condition of a secondhand item.

That's strange, but AFAIK second hand, so called "refurbished drives" actually coming form seagate sport a "refurbished" NEW sticker on them, maybe it was some "dirty trick" from the dealer or shop where you bought it?

I have reread my post, and cannot identify the reference to orignal post, which you want me to remove. Can you clarify?

Possibly a Mod has already removed it.

Basically instead of "plainly replying" you had quoted the whole initial post.

And you did it again just above your last post, quoting entirely my previous reply....

jaclaz

[psm321]

AFAIK this is just a myth: at first I sent in the drive for a "Free recovery"

and received a quote for €900 ex VAT.

So in the end I did it myself for under €10 with the help of this thread.

I sure hope not. I did find some posts on the Seagate forums with people having success sending it in. I think I'll give it a try today given my results below.

Anyway: weird problem.

The only thing I can think about is that you have a different (revision) PCB

on that drive.

When powering the PCB only (with the platters not connected) you'll enter its

special debug/diagnostics mode (the drive's firmware is on the platters, so

this isn't being loaded at all) and you only have access to the drive using

low level commands over the (TTL-RS232) diagnostics port.

After "Upgrading" the drive's firmware, (to my knowledge) the bootcode on

the PCB isn't changed.

Interesting... I had assumed it loaded the diag commands off the platter because if I do a Z/U cycle with the contacts still disconnected, and it fails to spin up because of that, then attempting to run the N1 command gives me "Unable to load Diag Overlay".

You should be able to find out your drive's firmware revision by pressing

the CONTROL and A keys simultaneously.

Package Version: MS011B.SDD1.AD090G., Package P/N: 100518333, Package Builder ID
: 3K,
Package Build Date: 05/27/2008, Package Build Time: 12:39:16, Package CFW Versio
n: MS01.SDD1.00075442.3K00,
Package SFW1 Version: B100, Package SFW2 Version: C0FE, Package SFW3 Version: --
--, Package SFW4 Version: ----
Controller FW Rev: 05271239, CustomerRel: SX15, Changelist: 00075442, ProdType:
MS01.SDD1, Date: 05/27/2008, Time: 123916, UserId: 00000761
Servo FW Rev: B100
RAP Format Rev: 0092, Contents Rev: 15 05 10 08

When issuing CTRL+L you should get the drive's sign-on message.

I don't have a ST31000340AS myself so I don't know what the replies should be

(and whether the commands would work or not), but you can have a look at that

and copy-paste the results here for others to compare.

Greetz,

Peter.

TetonST 2.0 SATA Moose Gen 3.0 (RAP fmt 10 ) w/sdff (RV )
Product FamilyId: 27, MemberId: 02
HDA SN: 9Q******, RPM: 7206, Wedges: 108, Heads: 8, Lbas: 74706DB0, PreampType:
47 08
PCBA SN: 0000C8380EPK, Controller: TETONST_2(639D)(3-0E-3-5), Channel: AGERE_COP
PERHEAD_LITE, PowerAsic: MCKINLEY Rev 51, BufferBytes: 2000000
Package Version: MS011B.SDD1.AD090G., Package P/N: 100518333, Package Builder ID
: 3K,
Package Build Date: 05/27/2008, Package Build Time: 12:39:16, Packag
n: MS01.SDD1.00075442.3K00,
Package SFW1 Version: B100, Package SFW2 Version: C0FE, Package SFW3 Version: --
--, Package SFW4 Version: ----
Controller FW Rev: 05271239, CustomerRel: SX15, Changelist: 00075442, ProdType:
MS01.SDD1, Date: 05/27/2008, Time: 123916, UserId: 00000761
Servo FW Rev: B100
RAP Format Rev: 0092, Contents Rev: 15 05 10 08
Features:
- Quadradic Equation AFH enabled
- VBAR with adjustable zone boundaries enabled
- Volume Based Sparing enabled
- IOEDC enabled
- IOECC enabled
- DERP Read Retries

(I blocked out the serial number so Seagate doesn't know I tried to do this myself)

Seeing the SX15 here brings back recollections that the other drives in my set were in fact also SX15 even though the labels say SD15. This matches this guy:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22209346-

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22237565-

who also has a drive labeled SD15 but with SX15, the BSY problem, and the same "Unknown Diag Cmd Failure 12CC4" error message.

Thanks!

[VideoRipper]

I sure hope not. I did find some posts on the Seagate forums with people having success sending it in.

Well, maybe I have to rephrase it:

• Yes, I did send it in and got a new ("Refurbished") drive back absolutely free.
  No, they wouldn't do the data recovery for free and I don't think they would do
  it anywhere else on the planet.

Interesting... I had assumed it loaded the diag commands off the platter because if I do a Z/U cycle with the contacts still disconnected, and it fails to spin up because of that, then attempting to run the N1 command gives me "Unable to load Diag Overlay".

Hmmm, could be... I've never investigated on that any further and reading your next bit:

Seeing the SX15 here brings back recollections

...*could* explain why these commands are not recognized

Greetz,

Peter.

[jaclaz]

Well, maybe I have to rephrase it:

• Yes, I did send it in and got a new ("Refurbished") drive back absolutely free.
  No, they wouldn't do the data recovery for free and I don't think they would do
  it anywhere else on the planet.

Well, maybe I have to repeat that we do have at least one report of the data recovery having been granted for free.

A few posts starting here :

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807&st=2350

jaclaz

[Galirand]

I got a Seagate 7200.11 1GB drive with firmware version SD35. I suspect the BSY-bug since it worked just fine until I rebooted the computer and then the BIOS just didn't find the hard drive at all.

It does however have another symptom. When I start my computer the drive sounds like it's spinning up and then spins down over and over again. This happens even if I put it in another computer. Does this mean my drive is simply broken or could it still be the RDY-bug? Seagate claims SD35 isn't afflicted with any firmware bugs, but I don't know if I can trust them.....

[jaclaz]

It does however have another symptom.

I suspect the BSY-bug since it worked just fine until I rebooted the computer and then the BIOS just didn't find the hard drive at all.

When I start my computer the drive sounds like it's spinning up and then spins down over and over again.

This sounds a lot like a calibration problem/misaligned head and another few possible causes, basically it cannot find the "start" of the recording, or cannot read anything at all....

This happens even if I put it in another computer.

Sure it does the problem is the HDD, not the PC.

Does this mean my drive is simply broken or could it still be the RDY-bug?

It is most probably simply broken.

Seagate claims SD35 isn't afflicted with any firmware bugs, but I don't know if I can trust them.....

Never trust anyone.

Expecially a unknown guy on a Forum.

• If that drive contains valuable data you should start looking for a professional data recovery service.
  
• If it doesn't:
  
  • if it is covered by warranty, RMA it
    
  • if warranty has expired, use it as door holder or open it for the fun of looking inside it, or throw it in the dustbin, there is nothing you can really DIY with such symptoms.
    

If you want anyway to try the BSY fix, it shouldn't do any harm, but it will also most probably NOT do any good, unfortunately.

You can try using Victoria to check it's state, but AFAIK/AFAICR a non-calibrating drive should have BUSY on nonetheless (thus giving NO certain diagnosis):

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=129263

On the other hand, the BSY and LBA0 fixes are a sort of "general reset", that may change the behaviour of the drive even if affected by a completely different problem, so, before throwing it in the dustbin, is something you may want to try nonetheless. (but NOT if you have valuable data on it)

jaclaz

Edited August 16, 2010 by jaclaz

[Galirand]

Thank you jaclaz for your answer, I was afraid the answer would be something like that . But it is good to hear it from someone other than seagate themselves. I guess the 7200.11 series had more problems than just the firmware. It's just so vexing that the data sectors most likely are fully intact, I just can't access it.

[psm321]

Seeing the SX15 here brings back recollections

...*could* explain why these commands are not recognized

Hi all,

I got approval from Seagate to send my drive in to i365 for a free attempt at fixing the firmware. I'll probably be sending it in either tomorrow or the next day. If there's anything else folks want me to try (for identification / attempts to categorize this particular problem) before I send it in, please let me know soon!

After I get the drive back, I'll post a summary of my experience and the results (or would that be off-topic in this thread?)

[tlh1005]

I've got a dead 750G Barracuda built in late '07 for my HP desktop. My issue seems exactly like the busy error. The only thing is, I was not home when this occurred, I came home to the system frozen on the boot screen with HP logo, it never could POST due to the hard drive. Although my CD-ROM is first in the boot order it wouldn't boot from a CD, it would still freeze on the BIOS startup. I couldn't get into BIOS, run setup, or anything else until I removed the hard drive, and now I can get into BIOS etc. and boot from a cd. I never saw any error messages though, which makes me wonder if I really have the BSY problem. Everything else fits the bill though.

My question is, do you have to see the error to know it is the BUSY problem? I had a generic Nokia CA-42 with working drivers... I can pass the loopback test connecting with three different wires. I know I know, this is deprecated, but I just figured I'd try while waiting on a proper cable which I plan to order tonight. I am struggling through trying to find the right wires since two of three will pass the loopback test and either could be RX/TX. I am on my on there I know. My question is, when you connect to the TTL of the PCB, should you see whatever you type or should the screen be blank until you hit Cntrl-Z? Depending on which wire I connect, I can see everything I type except the Cntrl-Z. Cntrl-Z does nothing.

Should I be able to see everything else?

If I order the USB to TTL does it come with a diagram stating which wire is which, similar to the way the SERIAL to TTL circuit has them printed on the board?

Gosh I wish HP and Seagate would just treat us fairly and repair the problem. I'm giving it 1 more week before I start searching for someone willing to unbrick this thing for a reasonable price.

Thanks!

Edited August 17, 2010 by tlh1005

[jaclaz]

After I get the drive back, I'll post a summary of my experience and the results (or would that be off-topic in this thread?)

It would be nice if you could start a new thread reporting your experience, so that other people may find it more easily than navigating the present thread.

@tlh1005

The CA-42 is deprecated not because it won't work, only because it won't work easily (provided you have a "good" CA-42 and not a "bad" one ).

Basically you shouldn't type anything to the terminal once the disk is connected, only Ctrl+Z (mind you Ctrl+Z is NOT Ctrl+z) and get:

F3 T>

The BSY should not prevent booting, AFAIK, but it may depend on the OS you are running, it seems like 7 has this problem :

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=145325

(but that is NOT a BSY)

jaclaz