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The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs


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The photos, screenshots and instructions that are on the lower part of that e-bay page are pretty comprehensive as far as the hook-up is concerned. All you have to do after that is to follow the steps as given in this thread. :yes:

Juergen

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The photos, screenshots and instructions that are on the lower part of that e-bay page are pretty comprehensive as far as the hook-up is concerned. All you have to do after that is to follow the steps as given in this thread. :yes:

And applies perfectly to point #1 of the list just posted. :whistle:

Yep, but the idea (in order to simplify) is:

  1. forget (temprarily) anything read anywhere else :w00t:
  2. read the read-me-first
  3. if you have questions, they are likely to be Frequntly Asked ones, thus probably you will find the answers in the FGA's
  4. follow the recommended tutorial (and NOT anyone else)

The instructions in there are all OK :) but the idea is to avoid the risk of a newbie following anything else but what is known and re-known as "working" and avoid confusing him/her.

Before connecting the hard disk a loopback test is strongly suggested :yes: , and though the instructions seen on first post of this thread are essentially the same as in the guide by CaterinCanada (the now recommended guide) this latter is much more clear and complete (hence "recommended").

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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OK, sorry to nag again, this time I read the readme first and other posted links, I scratched my head and tried to put things together, but one thing is not clear. The final command is it:

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

like here http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html

or is it

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

like here (first page of this thread) ?

Thanks again.

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It's good to see how people actually listens to advice. :thumbup

If you are told to do EXACTLY what is in here:

http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html

and NOT do anything else read anywhere else, HOW the heck you can have this doubt? :unsure::w00t:

For the record, the commands are the same, if you omit the 0 (implicit 0) or if you type it (explicit 0).

Personally I find easier to count the 0's, omitting them is good to type it fast (which is completely UNneeded in this case as you should type slowly and double check and triple check everything before sending the command), the command is made of 8 (eight) comma separated values, if a value is omitted, it is parsed as if it was a 0 (zero).

Try quickly counting how many values are in this string:

m0,2,2,,,,,22

and how many in this one:

m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

:rolleyes:

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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It's good to see how people actually listens to advice. :thumbup

I did. I checked the cable, performing a loopback, following the tutorial. It works like a charm, i get the response on the on-screen HyperTerminal. :thumbup

If you are told to do EXACTLY what is in here:

http://www.mapleleafmountain.com/seagatebrick.html

and NOT do anything else read anywhere else, HOW the heck you can have this doubt? :unsure::w00t:

Well, reading the first post of this thread.

For the record, the commands are the same, if you omit the 0 (implicit 0) or if you type it (explicit 0).

Personally I find easier to count the 0's, omitting them is good to type it fast (which is completely UNneeded in this case as you should type slowly and double check and triple check everything before sending the command), the command is made of 8 (eight) comma separated values, if a value is omitted, it is parsed as if it was a 0 (zero).

Try quickly counting how many values are in this string:

m0,2,2,,,,,22

and how many in this one:

m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22

I didn't know that. For a person who never got involved in this type of things before, the two lines are pretty different. Good to know that are the same. I wouldn't want to give the wrong command, since it was a very important one. For other commands, I could recover somehow, but this last one is very important.

Despite all the :angrym: towards me, at least there's something you should like. I am taking a very careful approach to the whole procedure, asking around, risking some rotten eggs being thrown towards me.

OK, now I have all the information needed. LET THE UNBRICKING BEGIN ! (or the total destruction)

I got the torx, I got the working cable, I got the tutorial steps, only one minor thing I don't get. How on earth could I fry the board with my screws if I'm not careful ? I don't think I can do that even if I wanted to.

Wish me luck. Hope to be a http://www.pluslicens.se/images/P1ItsHappyBunny.jpg by the end of the day.

A bit of an update: I removed the PCB and looked at the contacts. They look pretty dirty, a wonder if you ask me how those metal endings make contact on the motor and heads. Do you recommend me cleaning or leave it as it ?

Edited by Phaenius
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I got the torx, I got the working cable, I got the tutorial steps, only one minor thing I don't get. How on earth could I fry the board with my screws if I'm not careful ? I don't think I can do that even if I wanted to.

Don't worry :w00t: , even if it was impossible Murphy's Law would apply :ph34r: . (actually it is possible, rare, unprobable, but perfectly possible)

Well, reading the first post of this thread.

Yep :yes: , the one you were advised explicitly to (temporarily) forget about :whistle: in order to ONLY follow the CarterinCanada guide (in order to simplify and avoid doubts).

A bit of an update: I removed the PCB and looked at the contacts. They look pretty dirty, a wonder if you ask me how those metal endings make contact on the motor and heads. Do you recommend me cleaning or leave it as it ?

Having them clean is always better, see here:

jaclaz

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Jaclaz, a bit of a help pls. And please with sugar and cherry on top. I am stuck at one point. I did everything fine, but after I pulled the card and disconnected the HDD, when I reconnected the power, after I press CTRL-Z, I can't get to F3 T> It stays at F3 >1 What shall I do ? I am sure I did everything right so far. Everything went fine up until this point. Shall I close and re-open the terminal ?

OK, It seems my Hyperterminal froze when I disconnected power and reconnected. I had to close it and now it says it can't connect, since another program is using it ? What shall I do now ? Thanks.

Even further edit: I know I am annoying, but that is the least of my intentions. I read and applied the steps, but HyperTerminal freezing was not in it. I disconnected the cables, reconnected and now hyperterminal is responding. Shall I apply now the last command ? (m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22) Now I am at F3 T> Again, thanks.

Last edit: IT WORKED ! :D I'm a happy bunny ! Hyperterminal froze after disconnected the SATA power and reconnected, I had to remove the cable from the computer and reinsert it, then apply the last command. Now, come to think of it, I don't know how on other people hyperterminal keeps connection after removing power and re-apply it. When HDD loses power, connection to hyperterminal shouldn't be lost ?

Anyway, thanks guys and especially jaclaz ! One HDD down, one more to go. :lol:

Edited by Phaenius
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Last edit: IT WORKED ! :D I'm a happy bunny !

Good :).

Just in case ;):

Life is "trying things to see if they work".

You were a bit over-cautious, but I am happy to know that everything went well :thumbup .

Three notable differences between the "canonical way" and the setup you have are:

  1. Windows 7 instead of XP or 2K
  2. Using XP hyperterminal on Windows 7
  3. USB to TTL instead of RS232 to TTL (hence the use of a driver to create a "virtual" COM port)

it is likely that the "disconnection issue" is related to the last one :unsure:.

jaclaz

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Could be. I tried putty, but it's sooooo complicated, I didn't understand a thing. Windows XP hyperterminal did the job fine. At least there is something you could add to the tutorial. Some may get stuck to the point I have. In this case, they may try disconnecting the USB cable from computer, reinsert it and relaunch hyperterminal. Anyway, I don't know how many 7200.11's with this problem are there anymore. The model is quite old, I bought mine 4 years ago.

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Could be. I tried putty, but it's sooooo complicated, I didn't understand a thing.

That's strange :unsure: , probably because most people (and instructions/tutorials about it) use it as a SSH terminal, but using it as a "pure" Serial Terminal is quite straightforward, or at least as straightforward as using Hyperterminal, just in case:

http://www.ciscoconsole.com/networking/how-to-use-putty-as-hyperterminal-in-windows-vista-windows-7.html/

jaclaz

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OK, I unbricked the second HDD as well. This one was very stubborn, it had different symptoms, different clicks were heard at POST and went longer at last command. But it worked. Thanks again to all the guys helping me, especially jaclaz. Now I am a stereo happy bunny. :hello:

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OK, I unbricked the second HDD as well. This one was very stubborn, it had different symptoms, different clicks were heard at POST and went longer at last command. But it worked. Thanks again to all the guys helping me, especially jaclaz. Now I am a stereo happy bunny. :hello:

....and you owe us TWO happy bunny images + one for the initial consultancy fee.... :whistle:

:yes:;)

jaclaz

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Here you go, sorry for the delay.

rabby1cp.jpgbunny11.jpg

cute_baby_bunny1.jpg

However, I'll post a sad bunny too, since after I plugged my unbricked discs to my computer, they are not working as intended and I don't know the problem. They are recognized at POST, they are recognized by Windows, the files are there, unaltered, but if I try to use the discs for some times, they just disappear from Windows, along with one DVD-writter, who suffers from the same problem. Could it be the power supply ? Could it be the motherboard ? Before my discs bricked, I had a Fortron 550 W power supply. Then my power supply exploded and I bought (didn't have enough money) a Corsair 430 W power supply. It's not a bad brand, it's 80% efficiency rated, it has PFC active, all-in-all, it's not a piece of junk. I measured the consumption and it gives me 200 W idle and 330 W full power (well inside the 430 W limit). What can it be ? I am a sad bunny again, until I find this problem too. Can MSFN offer support (on different section of the forum) on this issue either ?

johnnychristopher.tumblr.jpg

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Here you go, sorry for the delay.

No prob, no time constraints of any kind :), nice bunnies. :thumbup

However, I'll post a sad bunny too, since ....

....

I am a sad bunny again, until I find this problem too.

:(

Can MSFN offer support (on different section of the forum) on this issue either ?

Sure :yes: , start a new thread here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/forum/5-hardware-hangout/

jaclaz

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Hi, I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 (Model #: ST31000340AS, Firmware: SD1A) with the 0 LBA bug.

I have hooked up the HDD to my PC using the TX, RX, and GND terminals of a USB-TTL device that uses the Prolific PL2303HX chip. I believe it works and communicates as it should, as indicated by a TX/RX loopback test. The HDD is powered using another power supply (that is connected in a PC/to a motherboard), and I connect a SATA power cable from that power supply to the HDD, then switch on the power supply and press the "ON" button on the PC to power/spin up the drive.

The command "[Ctrl+z]" works as expected, as I am prompted with "F3 T>". The problem I am having is that the next command -- "m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22 [Enter]" -- is taking forever to complete. It has been over 32 hours, and I have not received any prompt indicating the partition regeneration is complete. I am afraid to interrupt the process, since there are many warnings of people saying not to interrupt the partition regeneration process or risk data loss or an unrecoverable bricked HDD.

I read that jclaz instructed another user -- who was also waiting for 2+ hours for the same terminal command to complete -- to wait a little longer, then power off the drive and retry if not fixed. I just want to confirm if I should do the same. If so, should I first close the terminal window, then switch off the power supply, or vice versa (or does it not matter)?

Here is a screenshot of the terminal window that I have been seeing for the past 32 hours:

xx05.png

Can someone advise how I should proceed?

Thanks

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