The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs

[jaclaz]

UPDATE 2:

Seagate replied that my drive does not need to be updated. Version SD46 and was not affected by the issue discussed in this thread. Amazing... I guess it never happened. It must have been a bad dream.

Ed

Seagate peeps are very often in denial mode.

http://www.essortment.com/5-stages-grief-16816.html

It is also possible that the CAUSE of your problem was not the "usual" firmware problem but *something else* that by pure chance the "general reset" that this procedure implements healed.

This is the idea of last sentence in point #1 of read-me-first:

Set apart the original firmware issue it is evident by the number of posts from people that have "not affected" firmware, that the BSY or LBA0 situation may happen for a number of different causes, and seemingly this procedure fixes a number of these cases of "unwanted effects" even if the cause is not the same.

jaclaz

[jaclaz]

Will try to post pics of hardware later

NO.

This thread is ONLY (as in ONLY) for 7200.11.

As CLEARLY stated n times in the thread AND in the READ-ME-FIRST (point #1):

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"
  

Please start a new thread about 7200.12 solution you found.

This could be very useful, but a post or two inside this UNrelated "megathread" will get NOT the visibility it may deserve.

jaclaz

Edited September 6, 2011 by jaclaz

[paolino75]

I have a failed ST31500341AS. I don't know what happened to it, nobody was using the computer and I found it frozen with a black screen. After a power cycle I heard the hard-disk emitting a mechanical clicking noise, about one click per second, for around 10 seconds. After that, it stops clicking.

It's detected by the BIOS as: "ST_M13FQBL 1117F38F SMART Capable and Status BAD". The motor spins. I have verified the SN on Seagate's website and it says that the firmware (CC1H) is not affected by the bug.

I bought a Nokia CA-47 cable, tested it on a working HDD and got the prompt.

But I can't get any message from the failed drive no matter what I do. Tried insulating the contacts near the disk center or the other ones. Also tried connecting to the PCB when fully detached from the disk. Nothing.

What else can I do? Try harder?

I'm thinking that since the BIOS detects something, the PCB should be working.. so why can't I connect to it? Can I try with a similar PCB? I've read somewhere that the new Seagate drives are tied together with their PCB, so replacing it would not work. Is that true for this model?

Hi everybody.. I have some problem.. Any suggestions / solutions? Maybe.. could to change the PCB be a good idea?

thank you

Paolo

[VideoRipper]

Hi everybody.. I have some problem.. Any suggestions / solutions?

Ask yourself this question:

• Is it a Seagate 7200.11 drive?

If the answer to above question is NO, you're in the wrong thread.
When the answer is YES, carry on to the next challenge:

• Is it NOT detected in the BIOS
  OR
  
• If it IS detected: Does it show up as a 0GB drive?

If any of the above is TRUE, carry on in this thread if FALSE, you're in the wrong thread.

Maybe.. could to change the PCB be a good idea?

One short, but serious, answer: NO

Greetz,

Peter.

Edited September 17, 2011 by VideoRipper

[paolino75]

thank you for your quick reply.

Yes. I have a ST31000333AS Barracuda 7200.11 and it seems affected by the firmware bug. The BIOS sees the hard disk, but not always, and only if it attached not as "SATA 1". When the HD is recognized by the BIOS appears the correct dimension (1 TB). But, in the subsequent window (before the OS start) appears the phrase "capable and status BAD"..

Ok, the scenario is not easy.. maybe the best solution is to send the hd in centre for recover the data (non economic solution.. unfortunately!)

any suggestions?

why to change the PCB isn't a good solution?

ciao

Paolo

edit: I tried with the firmware updating. The tool recognizes the HD, but, the procedure doesn't work. An errorr appears and the PC turn off. sigh.

Edited September 18, 2011 by paolino75

[BlouBul]

Yes. I have a ST31000333AS Barracuda 7200.11 and it seems affected by the firmware bug. The BIOS sees the hard disk, but not always, and only if it attached not as "SATA 1". When the HD is recognized by the BIOS appears the correct dimension (1 TB). But, in the subsequent window (before the OS start) appears the phrase "capable and status BAD"..

Ok, the scenario is not easy.. maybe the best solution is to send the hd in centre for recover the data (non economic solution.. unfortunately!)

any suggestions?

The "good" news is You do NOT have the BSY or LBA0 bug. With this bug, once your drive is bricked, it stays bricked until you unbrick it. There is no "now it's bricked and now it is not bricked". The bad news is I do not know what is wrong with it. As already advised by VideoRipper, start a new thread and see if someone can help you. Also try putting the hdd in an external USB housing and see if you can access it like that.

@VideoRipper: Welcome back

why to change the PCB isn't a good solution?

1. Start with FGA #1.

2. Then continue to this sticky.

3. If still not sure start at step 1

Edited September 18, 2011 by BlouBul

[bagheera12]

...and after SATA 2 : cannot be found, SATA 3-4-5-6 : cannot be found. So i try to connect my hard disk external on the sata 3, and it's the same : CANNOT BE FOUND

So ? it's a Busy error ?

[BlouBul]

Hi lmartinpicard,

Welcome to MSFN

...and after SATA 2 : cannot be found, SATA 3-4-5-6 : cannot be found. So i try to connect my hard disk external on the sata 3, and it's the same : CANNOT BE FOUND

So ? it's a Busy error ?

Sounds like,

Try the fix

Edited September 19, 2011 by BlouBul

[BlouBul]

LOL i started to write in french ^^

OK. I'll end writing in French so you can understand better

So : i must install the last firmware ? Yes ? because on the website of seagate, i don't find : "No firmware download is available for this serial number"... yes i typed correct serial number and reference

NON!!! See Read-me First

If the above wasn't explicit enough, DON'T EVEN THINK of attempting a firmware upgrade on a drive that shows 0LBA or BSY symptoms, in the best case, it will do NOTHING, in the worst case it may put the drive in an "undefined" state from which it may be EXTREMELY difficult to get it in a "fixable" state again.

Just DON'T do it!

Or, if you prefer

Lisez-moi d abord'

Si ce qui précède n'a pas été assez explicite, Ne pensez même pas de tenter une mise à jour du firmware sur un lecteur qui présente des symptômes ou des 0LBABSY, dans le meilleur des cas, il ne fera rien, dans le pire des cas, il peut placer le disque dans une "undefined" l'état d'où il peut être extrêmement difficile del'obtenir dans un "réparable" Etat nouveau.

Suffit de ne pas faire!

First fix,Then Upgrade firmware

Fixer d'abord, puis mettez à niveau du micrologiciel

Edited September 19, 2011 by BlouBul

[gariarto]

Another successful recovery !! ST31000340NS Firmware-RS01

After carefully familiarizing myself with the procedures and hardware options I went the USB CA-42 Nokia cable route.

(Cheap Thailand version with 5 internal wires)

I spent about an hour in total, making up the cable and setting up a secondary PSU etc. It all worked perfectly. After the initial

setup and connections I had the drive unbricked in mere minutes.

If you want a video tutorial of the correct method using the above hardware then you can't go wrong watching this guy..

His video is directly based on this threads teachings and gives credit as such.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg-yVfD55tY&NR=1

Just have your head full of this thread's tutorials cause he has a heavy Lancashire, UK accent and takes a couple of things for granted.

So with all that behind me now I'm extremely grateful to all those who made this recovery possible. A heartfelt thanks for all the research

and untold hours of your lives dedicated to a great deed and a job well done. If I sound a bit melodramatic then, well, perhaps, but the drive

I unbricked was from my wife's PC carrying all the pictures of our children since birth. Like an a** I trusted a brand new so-called Enterprise

class Seagate 1tb drive. Backups ? Yeah, like most of us.. Tomorrow, tomorrow. So now I have it backed up OK !!?

So once again, to all those who made this possible. THANK YOU !!

To those just setting out to unbrick their drives. Do just like you're told. Best of luck. It works.

[BlouBul]

Another successful recovery !! ST31000340NS Firmware-RS01

Glad you managed to fix it

Only strange thing is the ST31000340NS is an ES.2 and NOT a 7200.11 which is suppose to use a slightly different procedure

Link to ES.2 fix: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/129551-unlocking-terminal-of-seagate-es2-in-bsyled000000cc-state/page__p__833568#entry833568

[gariarto]

Another successful recovery !! ST31000340NS Firmware-RS01

Glad you managed to fix it

Only strange thing is the ST31000340NS is an ES.2 and NOT a 7200.11 which is suppose to use a slightly different procedure

Link to ES.2 fix: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/129551-unlocking-terminal-of-seagate-es2-in-bsyled000000cc-state/page__p__833568#entry833568

Indeed ? My drive showed none of the problems Jonmars method got around so I went directly to the main 7200.11 method.

I figured since the command sequence is identical I would give it a shot. Happily it worked perfectly. Last night I cloned the Seagate

to a WD1001FALS (1 tb Western digital Black Ed') and all is well right now. Oddly though I did encounter a small problem.

I had Seagates firmware update burned to CD for this drive which I tried to apply before the clone and it refused. It was crazy !

Stating that the wrong drive was found ST31000340NS. Drive expected ST31000340NS. Wha ??? Did the bsy fix do that ?

(Before you ask, both my kids PC have the SAME drives in there which I previously updated the firmware on). Anyway, I went ahead with the

clone and since it was successful the Seagate is now in the trashcan so I don't care. Just happy this whole episode is over.

All our childrens pics and video footage returned and now backed up. I've been a Seagate fan for quite a few years, I switched from

Western digital after a series of premature failures on their stuff. Now I find myself migrating back to WD praying they have their

act together on the Black series. Jeez guys ! What and who in the heck can we trust our data to any more ? I read that SSD has

higher failure rates than traditional drives ! Lord help us all..

Just for the record here's my affected drives numbers.

Serial Number: 9QJ1YV59

Model Number: ST31000340NS

Part: 9CA158-271

Firmware: RS01

Date code: 09086

Site code: KRATSG

[orangenschuettler]

Hi all,

well I guess I have a different problem to most of all the other affected ones. Maybe someone can help me.

I bought a HDD some time ago (ST31000333AS, Firmware: CC4H) which has been working pretty well for the last almost 1.5 years. Two weeks ago, my computer all of a sudden wasn't able to recognize the HDD. Although it appears in the BIOS, the S.M.A.R.T test is showing some kind of mistake and there is no way to get an error code from it or with Seatools. Once the computer is turned on, you cannot see it in the explorer. It only appears as a drive in the device manager, bit as three partitions which are not readable. I have tried a lot of things (changing the ports, using it with an extrernal-USB-Adapter) and then I stumbled upon the thread - nice work by the way - and I started reading most of all replies. And first I thought that it's maybe the LBA-error, but I'm not quite sure. And I hven't found anyone posting something similar.

Apart from that my attempt to conncet via serial port hasn't worked so far, because I don't manage to get a connection. The loopback test works, but once I connect, nothing happens when I press Ctrl-Z.

Anyhow, my question is more about if there's anybody with a similar problem? I admit not having read all replies but I think most of them. And I have used the search function without any success. But I will keep on searching ...

[BlouBul]

well I guess I have a different problem to most of all the other affected ones.

Well maybe you are in the wrong thread then

Although it appears in the BIOS, the S.M.A.R.T test is showing some kind of mistake and there is no way to get an error code from it or with Seatools.

As what size is it detected in Bios? If 0 MB, then you are in the right thread, if not, start a new thread and let's see if someone can help you.

[jaclaz]

Hi all,

Apart from that my attempt to conncet via serial port hasn't worked so far, because I don't manage to get a connection. The loopback test works, but once I connect, nothing happens when I press Ctrl-Z.

You mean serial port+proper TTL adapter, I hope?

jaclaz