The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs

[Kelsenellenelvian]

and NO you cannot SWAP a PCB,

Edited November 7, 2010 by Kelsenellenelvian

[jaclaz]

and NO you cannot SWAP a PCB,

Expanding on this:

MOST modern hard disks have a small "ROM" where parts of the firmware AND specific to the single hard disk "tuning" and "factory assigned" DATA is stored.

You CANNOT swap a PCB

on these hard disks does not actually mean:

you cannot swap a PCB

it actually means

you cannot swap the PCB without ALSO swapping the "ROM" chip by desoldering it from the "old" PCB ad re-soldering to the "new" one

but, since we are talking of SMD components, doing this de-soldering/re-soldering (I mean doing it "right", without burning the chip or the board, or both and or "zapping" it in the process) is WELL ABOVE the reach and abilities of MOST people that ask the question:

can I swap the PCB?

Moreover you have to find an EXACT (and when I say EXACT, I mean EXACT match) and anyway it is risky, even if properly done, by an expert professional.

It's a nice Catch 22:

• People that know how to swap a PCB may ask if it is possible to do the swap.
  
• People that ask if it is possible to do the swap CANNOT do it.
  

@BlouBul

I refuse to put in the "read-me-first" such info , following this line of reasoning, I should also put in it :

• DON'T EVEN THINK to use a chisel and hammer if you don't have an appropriate torx screwdriver
  
• DON'T EVEN THINK to open the hard disk
  
• DON'T make a voodoo rite to revive the brick
  
• NO, dropping it from 1.12 m of height on a concrete surface won't help
  
• NO, connecting the mains to Rx and Tx won't work
  
• NO, immersing the hard disk in 12 years old whisky (single malt) overnight won't work
  
• DO NOT insert the Tx or Rx (or GND) terminals of the adapter up your nose or inside your ears
  
• etc., etc.
  

Maybe we could make a separate sticky titled "Things that you should NOT do as they are pointless, futile or potentially dangerous" ?

@momo2011

You didn't even state if you were initially affected by the LBA0 or by the BSY problem.

Easy decisions path:

1. if it is BSY do the BSY fix
   
2. if it is LBA0 do the LBA0 fix (please note that the LBA0 normally means that the drive is FUNCTIONAL)
   
3. if the LBA0 fix doesn't work, try doing the BSY fix first, then MAKE SURE you are in a LBA0 situation and try again the LBA0 fix
   

If #3 above doesn't work, you are most probably in a DIFFERENT situation that is NOT (and will NOT) be covered on this thread, as it is a "non-target" (see point #1 of read-me-first) and most probably well above our heads and experience/knowledge.

jaclaz

Edited November 8, 2010 by jaclaz

[BlouBul]

@BlouBul

I refuse to put in the "read-me-first" such info , following this line of reasoning, I should also put in it :

• DON'T EVEN THINK to use a chisel and hammer if you don't have an appropriate torx screwdriver
  
• DON'T EVEN THINK to open the hard disk
  
• DON'T make a voodoo rite to revive the brick
  
• NO, dropping it from 1.12 m of height on a concrete surface won't help
  
• NO, connecting the mains to Rx and Tx won't work
  
• NO, immersing the hard disk in 12 years old whisky (single malt) overnight won't work
  
• DO NOT insert the Tx or Rx (or GND) terminals of the adapter up your nose or inside your ears
  
• etc., etc.
  

Maybe we could make a separate sticky titled "Things that you should NOT do as they are pointless, futile or potentially dangerous" ?

I agree with your reasoning. It is just that some of the obvious things (like you cannot do a PCB swap on newer hdd's like the 7200.11) are being asked again and again and again and...

Just thought that *might* reduce those questions

[jaclaz]

I agree with your reasoning. It is just that some of the obvious things (like you cannot do a PCB swap on newer hdd's like the 7200.11) are being asked again and again and again and...

Just thought that *might* reduce those questions

We could make another thread with FGA's:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com./jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/fga-not-faq.html

If you can suggest me the most recurring FAQ's via PM, I will try to put together a FGA post...

jaclaz

[BlouBul]

If you can suggest me the most recurring FAQ's via PM, I will try to put together a FGA post...

Thanks jaclaz,

PM sent. You are of course welcome to elaborate and to add a couple more

[momo2011]

Thanks Jaclaz for this precious information, but where is the ROM Chip? On the the PCB Of course, but witch one of them, the big or the small one? I got a air heating soldering station, if its not too small i can transfer it, even if its too small a friend of mine have microscope with all the requirement stuff to do the job (Mobil phone repair), Maybe the next Tutorial will be this one: How to transfer Roms, Any way please indicate me the exact location of this Rom chip, Thanks a lot again

Edited November 9, 2010 by momo2011

[jaclaz]

Thanks Jaclaz for this precious information, but where is the ROM Chip? On the the PCB Of course, but witch one of them, the big or the small one? I got a air heating soldering station, if its not too small i can transfer it, even if its too small a friend of mine have microscope with all the requirement stuff to do the job (Mobil phone repair), Maybe the next Tutorial will be this one: How to transfer Roms, Any way please indicate me the exact location of this Rom chip, Thanks a lot again

I know I am grumpy, but what the heck!

I am completely failing to communicate, evidently.

Try reading AGAIN, the read-me-first, point #1 WHAT is the problem with:

The intended Target:

The scope of a thread about problems of Seagate 7200.11 drives is to try and solve two specific problems:

1. BSY - or "busy" state
   
2. LBA0 - or drive detected by BIOS with size 0
   

that are caused on a specific model (the 7200.11) by a specific firmware bug:

• bricking when drive is booted AND Event Log counter is at entry 320, or a multiple of it (i.e. satisfies the expression: ELaddress=320 + x*256 ).
  

The non-targets:

• ANY other problem regarding this specific hard disk model (Seagate 7200.11)
  
• ANY problem regarding ANY hard disk BUT this specific one (Seagate 7200.11)
  
• ANYTHING NOT listed as "target"
  

I won't transform the present thread in "question time about anything connected to a 7200.11", or next one will be some crazy peep wanting to change the preamp or transplanting a platter.

You missed also the CATCH 22 issue I exposed: if you cannot find yourself this kind of info, you CANNOT replace a ROM.

Maybe I'll make it clearer :

I WON'T DISCUSS IN THIS THREAD ANYTHING BUT THE SUGGESTED METHODS TO RECOVER FROM THE MENTIONED TWO ERRORS ON THE SPECIFIC DRIVE.

Advice:

• start a new thread
  
• go on a dedicated board:
  http://forum.hddguru.com/
  
• learn to search the internet
  
• please stop going OFF TOPIC in THIS thread.
  

jaclaz

[momo2011]

Ok ok you have wright,dont worry i will not ask again out of the target, Sorry

The linkd was GREAT

I've found all what i'm asking for,

One more time Sorry

Edited November 9, 2010 by momo2011

[rmg]

@rmg

See this report:

Thank you very very much.

[higado2]

Woooooo! Just did the "BSY" operation for the 2nd time!! It took the dumb harddrive only 4 months to fall into the BSY state again! I HATE YOU SEAGATE!!! However, since this time I had the experience of the last time I performed the "operation", I was done a lot quicker! Thank God for this forum and all the generous people in it who spent their precious time explaining to us how to revive our damned Seagate hard drives! This time, I WILL update the !@#^*( firmware on the hard drive! ..... just as soon as I make a backup of it to anohter 1TB hard drive (a really idiotic Western Digital that LOVES to make read/write noises when it is idle! it's SOOOOO annoying!).

Anyways, thank you guys for all your help!

*BONUS*!!!: Since I had a really hard time finding an updated firmware for my piece of junk ST31000333AS with firmaware SD35, I uploaded it to Megaupload because the only link available on the internet is on that dreadful Rapidshare! Here you go! It is an .iso image of a boot cd you can use to upgrade the firmware! Make sure to unplug any other hard drives you may have in your computer so that you can be guaranteed that they won't get their firmware "accidentally overwritten! It's happened to people before! This will upgrade your firmware from SD35 to SD3B:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T3NVLGV2

Good luck everyone!

[jaclaz]

Woooooo! Just did the "BSY" operation for the 2nd time!! It took the dumb harddrive only 4 months to fall into the BSY state again!

On average, before the expected six months :

possibly depending on the number of boots/reboots you made, but the "expected" is just a probability of winning throwing a coin....

jaclaz

[scotteo1]

Just fixed my drive ST3750330AS thanks to everyone involved here, it had the unaffected SD81 firmware on it, haha.

Built a common max232 circuit in a pinch, because the CA-42 cable I bought was the wrong version or who knows(driver issue).

Thanks to all for the excellent information and I just wanted everyone here to know this forum is way more helpful than anyone at Seagate!!

[angus212]

someone help plzz.. connected everything and after pressing ctrl+z in hyper terminal, it shows some weird characters. anyone know the fix for it? or am I doing sth wrong?

[BlouBul]

someone help plzz.. connected everything and after pressing ctrl+z in hyper terminal, it shows some weird characters. anyone know the fix for it? or am I doing sth wrong?

See FGA

In Particular # 7

[angus212]

someone help plzz.. connected everything and after pressing ctrl+z in hyper terminal, it shows some weird characters. anyone know the fix for it? or am I doing sth wrong?

See FGA

In Particular # 7

thx bloubul I will take a look at it...sigh now when I press ctrl + z, nothing happen!! about to give up cuz it's driving me crazy