The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs

[Orfeo85]

Hi, I had followed the guide to fix the -busy error... seems to be all OK.

The drive now was recognized by the bios but my raid0 configuration doesn't work...

It's normal, or i can recover it??

A strange thing that apen when i do the m command...

F3 T>/2

F3 2>Z

Spin Down Complete

Elapsed Time 0.140 msecs

F3 2>U

Spin Up Complete

Elapsed Time 6.883 secs

F3 2>/1

F3 1>N1

F3 1>

F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22

Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 14, Max Certify Rewr

ite Retries = 00C8

User Partition Format Successful - Elapsed Time 0 mins 00 secs

The partition format takes under 5 seconds... is too fast, or is the raid that makes this??

Tnx _FLAVIO_

[LAZAROS]

1 You wrote "With the POWER CONNECTED to the PCB board, as well as your TX/RX terminal wires, mount the board back on the HDA case. You must have the power connected when you do this."

Is this dangerous for the PCB ? (why don't unplug fist the PCB and next to connect the power to the HD?)

2. You wrote

"F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22 <<< This command takes a little over a minute to complete!

Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 14, Max Certify Rewrite Retries = 00C8

User Partition Format 5% complete, Zone 00, Pass 00, LBA 00004339, ErrCode 00000080, Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs

User Partition Format Successful - Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs"

What does it doing with this command? Is this to format the HD and lost the data. What does it mean "Partition format"?

Many Thanks

Lazaros

[fatlip]

LAZAROS,

It is dangerous to connect to PCB while power is connected. There are other methods, such as unscrewing the top 2 or 3 screws closest to the Spindle motor and sliding in a card to kill the contacts to the motor, and then starting that way. There is also a method (pretty much the same) where you kill the contacts to the other set of connectors. If you take the PCB board off, you will see that there are two sets.

The partition format is not a data format of your data. It is a format of the user partition stored in the firmware. Just make sure you are patient when this runs and let it go as long as it takes. I have seen anywhere from 5-10 seconds to 2 minutes.

G

1 You wrote "With the POWER CONNECTED to the PCB board, as well as your TX/RX terminal wires, mount the board back on the HDA case. You must have the power connected when you do this."

Is this dangerous for the PCB ? (why don't unplug fist the PCB and next to connect the power to the HD?)

2. You wrote

"F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22 <<< This command takes a little over a minute to complete!

Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 14, Max Certify Rewrite Retries = 00C8

User Partition Format 5% complete, Zone 00, Pass 00, LBA 00004339, ErrCode 00000080, Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs

User Partition Format Successful - Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs"

What does it doing with this command? Is this to format the HD and lost the data. What does it mean "Partition format"?

Many Thanks

Lazaros

[NickJames]

Is anyone selling pre packaged and setup kits to attempt this fix? I am very nervous when it comes to soldering and will probably screw it up.

[eli2k]

Is anyone selling pre packaged and setup kits to attempt this fix? I am very nervous when it comes to soldering and will probably screw it up.

They have kits that already have the pins soldered onto the board. One board I know of is by SchmartBoard - they sell an RS232-TTL converter board that can be used, hooked up via serial cable. In US, I know it's sold at Fry's and Frys.com. And you just need to pick up jumper cables to connect everything, and soldering is not required at all. So this pathway does not use any of the cell phone cables.

- Eli

[sijojamesjohn]

I have created my own RS232 to TTL it works... Wen I connect the hard disk power to hard disk i get the BSOD from windows statin the windows shutdown to prevent damage to ur Hardware

wat am i supposed to do... please Help

[sijojamesjohn]

ok i went past that but gettin no response after m0 command for more than 30 minutes....shud i turn off try again

F3 T>/2

F3 2>Z

Spin Down Complete

Elapsed Time 0.146 msecs

F3 2>U

Spin Up Complete

Elapsed Time 6.482 secs

F3 2>/1

F3 1>N1

F3 1>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

Invalid Diagnostic Command

F3 1>/T

F3 T>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

Then i turned off after another 15 minutes then did it again using aviko. It works will put pics later used my own adapter

Followed Avikos and its fixed thanks to all who have posted in the forum.. I read alost all ur posts.................................Has seagate released a firmware update for ST3500620AS yet.. will updatin to SD1A brick ma 500 GB again

Edited March 15, 2009 by sijojamesjohn

[NickJames]

Is anyone selling pre packaged and setup kits to attempt this fix? I am very nervous when it comes to soldering and will probably screw it up.

They have kits that already have the pins soldered onto the board. One board I know of is by SchmartBoard - they sell an RS232-TTL converter board that can be used, hooked up via serial cable. In US, I know it's sold at Fry's and Frys.com. And you just need to pick up jumper cables to connect everything, and soldering is not required at all. So this pathway does not use any of the cell phone cables.

- Eli

Is this the correct part? http://shop3.frys.com/product/4717389?site...CH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I also already have this USB to serial adapter. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...9&CatId=464

Will this work? Anything else I need to buy besides the jumpers? I have 400GB of data on my drive that I need to save.

[eli2k]

Is this the correct part? http://shop3.frys.com/product/4717389?site...CH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I also already have this USB to serial adapter. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...9&CatId=464

Will this work? Anything else I need to buy besides the jumpers? I have 400GB of data on my drive that I need to save.

Yep, that is the one I used. USB-serial *should* work, but I did not try it with that method. Hopefully it works? It would be easiest if you could find a friend who has an old computer to try it on.

Lots of people hook up power to the board using the PSU cables and taking out the +5V and GND, but I didn't really want to mess with the PSU, so I picked up a 3V battery (the type of battery is on first page) and a battery holder from radioshack, and used this to power the board. Make sure you have the correct screwdriver for the hard drive, too.

[bbard]

Royally Peed Off....

I have followed this topic from the outset... before the "solution" was posted, in fact. A brief search into the problem seemed to put it squarely in the: 0 LBA error problem area.

1. It seemed simple enough, so I purchased a 'RS232 to TTL adapter'(£8) and a prolific USB-2-COM Cable(£11) from ebay (My machine has no COM Ports). Following the directions given I could not achieve any kind of connection. I posted my wiring diagram, and was assured that I'd set it up ok. Maybe the RS232 to TTL adapter/Prolific COM Port was faulty?

2. After testing the Prolific USB-2-Com port cable and getting no result from the RX/TX crossover I made, I decided to go down the 'easier' route of using a CA-42 Nokia Data Cable.

3. I purchased the CA-42 Nokia cable from ebay. Price: £6 inc. Postage. Result: Nothing, same total lack of response as in 1.

4. I was informed that maybe the drivers for the nokia cable purchased on ebay were incorrect( it might be a cheap, 'knock'off') - So, I bit the bullet, went to the local nokia store and bought a 'genuine' nokia cable(£33.60). Result: Nothing, same total lack of response as in 1 & 3

So, having paid out about £60 so far in bits and pieces - spent at least 7 solid hours trying to connect to the b*stard drive I am now in the same position as when I started... baffled, peed off and frustrated.

Can anyone - and I mean anyone - suggest a simple, quick and easy method of connecting to my drive?

[PS. If anyone living in the UK - Surrey, Sussex area - as managed follow this, can you lend a hand?]

with all 3 attempts, did you check your device manager (in XP) to see if you've a working device?

If not, try this...

1) Open your device manager page in XP and click on the 'Ports (COM and LTP)'

2) attach your RS232 to TTL, or either one of your CA-42.

Does a new device show up as a new "Communication Port (COM#)", # being a number?

(silly question: did you choose the same COM#, as the one shown in your Device Manager? If not, please do and try again.)

If no new device shows up, then your device lacks the necessary hardware needed to do this.

If yes, is there an exclaimation mark "!"?

If "!", it probably means the driver is not compatible with your OS. Under properties->details, look for hardware ID; and google it for driver.

If there isn't a "!", then it should work. Connect the RX and TX in your device (leave the HDD out for this) using a paper clip, open a hyperterminal (choosing the correct # for COM) and type Ctrl+Z... get anything?

Good luck!

[bbard]

ok i went past that but gettin no response after m0 command for more than 30 minutes....shud i turn off try again

F3 T>/2

F3 2>Z

Spin Down Complete

Elapsed Time 0.146 msecs

F3 2>U

Spin Up Complete

Elapsed Time 6.482 secs

F3 2>/1

F3 1>N1

F3 1>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

Invalid Diagnostic Command

F3 1>/T

F3 T>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

Then i turned off after another 15 minutes then did it again using aviko. It works will put pics later used my own adapter

Followed Avikos and its fixed thanks to all who have posted in the forum.. I read alost all ur posts.................................Has seagate released a firmware update for ST3500620AS yet.. will updatin to SD1A brick ma 500 GB again

pls read my post #1010 (page 51)... maybe it's the same situation.

Good luck!

[email2foo]

Hi, all,

I have a Maxtor DiamondMax22 HD of 1 Tb, model no: STM31000340AS which is experiencing the same problem.

I have acquired the RS232-TTL adapter and connected according to Gradius' instructions. But when I come to the hyperterminal mode, no matter what key I enter, the HyperTerminal didn't respond. Just a cursor blinking at the top left hand corner.

I've double check and triple check all the connections but still couldn't get it to work. Can anyone tell me what's wrong?

Thanks.

William

[pichi]

Hi, all,

I have a Maxtor DiamondMax22 HD of 1 Tb, model no: STM31000340AS which is experiencing the same problem.

I have acquired the RS232-TTL adapter and connected according to Gradius' instructions. But when I come to the hyperterminal mode, no matter what key I enter, the HyperTerminal didn't respond. Just a cursor blinking at the top left hand corner.

I've double check and triple check all the connections but still couldn't get it to work. Can anyone tell me what's wrong?

Thanks.

William

Have you powered the adapter and the hdd?

Connections:

RXD Adapter -> TXD Hdd

TXD Adapter -> RXD Hdd

GND Adapter -> GND Hdd

38400, 8, n, 1, no flow control

[TomD]

Thanks for the guide, I've managed to fix mine.

I have a few troubleshooting tips for those having problems. I used a serial cable and RS232 to TTL converter. If you are not getting any response from the drive at all, you can use a loopback test to test if your setup is working.

Note: The following tests do not need the hard drive at any point!

Start off with just your serial cable. To perform the loopback test, simply connect TX and RX directly to each other, so that anything you send is sent straight back. On a 9 pin RS232 cable this is done by connecting pin 2 to pin 3, I simply used a bit of wire. Make sure the wire has a good connection. Now start up HyperTerminal with the settings required for fixing the drive. Type anything in to the terminal, it should be echoed back (make sure this isn't because you have it set to echo input localy). If this does not work then there is a problem with your cable or serial port.

If the cable functions fine, you can now try connecting it to the RS232 to TTL converter. Hook the converter up to the power supply, whether this be a battery or the PCs PSU. Find the TX and RX connections on your converter and connect these to each other. Perform the test with HyperTerminal as described previously. If you get something back, but not what you sent, then you could have a problem with a poor connection or not enough power.

You now need the hard drive.

If the loopback tests work fine then you can proceed to connecting the TX and RX to the correct pins on your hard drive. You can leave the PCB in place for now, just while you check that you can get a response. Connect TX and RX on your converter to the hard drive, power up your converter and start up HyperTerminal. With HyperTerminal connected, you can now connect the power to your hard drive. Once the hard drive has spun up you should get a message in your terminal about some errors, from the hard drive.

If you got a response from the hard drive you can now power it off and start at the beginning of the guide to fix it! If you did not, check your TX and RX connections, or try swapping them round. If you get a response from the drive with corrupted characters around it, you may have a poor connection or poor power supply somewhere.

A problem I had with mine was that I was using a serial cable, while the RS232-TTL converter required a null modem cable. These are not the same! And just trying to create the crossovers required for the null modem connection with bits of wire doesn't work either! It gave me some results, but in the end I needed the proper cable.

Handy hint: It's not neccessary to remove any screws. I used a thin piece of plastic packaging, and slid it between the PCB and the 3 little wire bits coming from the "circle". This did the job of seperating the PCB and when I had to "reattach" the PCB I simply pulled the plastic out. Beware though, I'm sure there are sensitive electronics under there and poking bits of plastic in it may well break it! But then you might gouge a screwdriver across it.

[tostator]

Problem solved!!!!

Finally I solved my problem with the prompt after pressing CTRL+Z, connecting the gnd pin of the HD to the others (rs232 converter and power supply).

I do not update the firmware because the wholeseller where I bought the HD will change it (I have a friend who can manage it). I'll demand a 7200.10 hd. I dont want any 7200.11 drive anymore.

Thanks to everybody in this forum who help people like me (with a lot of doubts and new in this forum), and specially to Pichi for his help and interest in my particular case.

Best regards

Saludos

Edited March 17, 2009 by tostator