The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs

[shoot2thrill]

Can anyone confirm that this is the case? I would test it myself on her computer obviously but she won't be home until tomorrow.

I am glad that the drive is at least detectable in Windows now so if necessary I can run data recovery software.

No, meaning that it is NOT confirmed (nor will be).

For *any* reason the partition table (or something else) has gone or is invalid, you need to run recovery oriented software to first thing try rebuilding the parition table and filesystem and, should this not be possible, use file-based recovery.

A similar/related thread:

If you need help for the recovery start a NEW thread.

jaclaz

Thank you for the response. That link points me to my exact problem: one partition is seen as RAW by disk management which is why I can't see it. I should be fine following the link you gave me but if not I'll let you know, thanks!

Edited July 22, 2011 by shoot2thrill

[shoot2thrill]

Can anyone confirm that this is the case? I would test it myself on her computer obviously but she won't be home until tomorrow.

I am glad that the drive is at least detectable in Windows now so if necessary I can run data recovery software.

No, meaning that it is NOT confirmed (nor will be).

For *any* reason the partition table (or something else) has gone or is invalid, you need to run recovery oriented software to first thing try rebuilding the parition table and filesystem and, should this not be possible, use file-based recovery.

A similar/related thread:

If you need help for the recovery start a NEW thread.

jaclaz

Thank you for the response. That link points me to my exact problem: one partition is seen as RAW by disk management which is why I can't see it. I should be fine following the link you gave me but if not I'll let you know, thanks!

Using testdisk I was able to extract the important files I needed. Thanks!

I am now attempting to make the drive readable by Windows which can be followed in this thread.

[reddyc]

MY Seagate momentus 7200.4 (ST9320423AS, 320GB) laptop hard drive has BSY problem similar to that of barracuda model 7200.11 ( My drive is not getting detected in BIOS, my drive is spinning fine with no weird noise or ticking sound.i tested my drive in other machines but no use.) .

I bought RS232 TTL converter and tried to fix the BSY error. in the hyperterminal window, ctrl+Z seems to be not working at all for my drive. Do i need to change any other settings for this model hard drive ? can anyone please help me on this. your help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Chandrapal Reddy

[davidiom]

Hi,

Firstly - thank you to all who have contributed - I hope I'm not going over old ground by posting...

I presumed I had the BSY fault on a 7200.11 here - it seemed to fit, so purchased one of these - USB - TTL Adapter

It arrived and all went well - I got it hooked up to the drive using an old ATX PSU for my power source.

I ended up with the 'gibberish' in Hyperterminal, read the forums and figured it must be the GND issue as I hadn't connected the PSU ground to the HDD ground and the ground on the TTL board.

I connected it all up - and the CTRL-Z doesn't work at all. I've tried going back to how it was when I had gibberish and it doesn't work at all!

I've tried it with the motor and head connectors isolated - nothing!

When the PSU is connected to just the drive, the motor spins up.

I've checked the continuity on the TX / RX lines and it appears ok.

I've used the 3.3 line and the 5v line for a power source - when doing the loopback test it appears more responsive on 5v than 3.3v but connected to the drive I get nothing!

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Dave

[jaclaz]

I've used the 3.3 line and the 5v line for a power source - when doing the loopback test it appears more responsive on 5v than 3.3v but connected to the drive I get nothing!

Any thougts?

You've probably have this part "wrong".

There is NO sign whatever on the referenced seller/item page whether this particular adapter:

1. needs to be powered at 3.3 V or at 5 V
   
2. actually outputs 3.3 V TTL or 5.0 V TTL
   

The above two are two VERY different things.

#1 is the power you give to the thingy.

#2 is the signal level that comes out of it.

With the ONLY exception of the specific adapter mentioned in the read-me-first (sparkfun) that actually changes it's output TTL level depending on the level of voltage you power it with, ALL other "conventional" RS232 to TTL need to be powered at 5 V (powering it at a lower voltage may either work or not, but basically it is pointless) OR at 3.3 V (powering it at a lower voltage may either work or not, but basically it is pointless, as well as powering it at 5 V, which could also fry the thingy).

Again, with the same ONLY exception as above, RS232 to TTL are EITHER:

• dual 3.3 V TTL AND 5 V TTL level adapters (and have a switch or jumper or different TX/RX terminals for the TWO different levels
  OR:
  
• single TLL level adapters, which can be:
  
  • 3.3 V TTL
    OR:
    
  • 5V TTL
    

If you have the latter type it simply won't work.

This said, if you had initially one behaviour and now you cannot reproduce it with the EXACT same settings it may mean:

1. the adapter is toast ( I have rarely seen this happen because of UNDERvoltage, nor because of accidental shorts or the like, so I doubt it)
   
2. the actual HD PCB is toast (as well highly unlikely unless it died for "natural causes as supplying it a 5 V TTL signal instead of the 3.3 V one was NEVER a problem, apart that it won't "talk" with the PC)
   
3. you did not repeat in the same EXACT conditions as when you initially had the garbage, try again, make sure, double sure and triple sure you have correct baud rate,parity, etc.
   (please note that if - without the ground connected - you get gibberish BEFORE accessing the HD terminal with CTRL+Z it ONLY means that you are getting gibberish because you did not GROUNDed properly and it is in NO way a sign that the terminal was accessed, if you prefer it could be that you didn't get to the HD terminal BEFORE and had the gibberish and you cannot get to the HD terminal NOW but see nothing as the gibberish is prevented by the ground, i.e. exactly the same failure, one showing gibberish and one showing nothing)
   

Suggested course of action:

1. make sure the TTL adapter sends (and receives) signals at 3.3 V TTL level (and NOT at 5 V TTL level) - like ask the seller for the manual/datasheet/whatever
   
2. make sure that the particular item you got is functional (you will need an oscilloscope or a poorman's one made from an audio card)
   Example:
   http://www.zeitnitz.de/Christian/scope_en
   

IF everything is as it should be, check again the PCB, try with it completely detached (just to get to the terminal).

IF anyhting it is not, your best option is to get a "proper" TTL 3.3 V level interface (if this is 5 V) or trywith another adapter.

jaclaz

Edited July 29, 2011 by jaclaz

[BlouBul]

I've checked the continuity on the TX / RX lines and it appears ok.

Did you try switching Rx and Tx? You probably did if you read the stickies, but thought I'll throw that also into the mix for the unlikely scenario that you forgot.

[davidiom]

Thank you all for your feedback, I'll let you know how I get on shortly!

Dave

[reddyc]

Jaclaz

I need your help in fixing my laptop drive(seagte momentus 7200.4, 320 GB). i thing my drive is affected with the BSY error( drive is spinning but not detected in BIOS).

i bought a USB to RS232 cable to communicate with the drive from hyperterminal.

Here is what i have done :

1) Removed the PCB and covered the head contacts with a business card and tightened the PCB back.

2) Identified the RX, TX, GND signals from the serial port of the USB TO RS232 adapter.

3) with the tutorials gone through, assumed the terminals just beside the SATA port of the hard drive are RX, TX , GND ( in the same order) & connected the RX TO TX and TX to RX and GND TO GND.

4) opened the hyperterminal and made the settings to 38400/8/N/1/N and entered into the hyperterminal console.

5) Here ctrl+z does not work at all. i tried typing all the characters but the console keeps dumb. ( i could do the loopback test with RX & TX)

am i doing anything wrong? how to diagnose the problem with the hyperterminal and hard drive communication.

please help me jaclaz, i have read your posts and you gave brilliant solutions. hoping you would help me too!!

Thanks

Chandrapal Reddy

[jaclaz]

Jaclaz

I need your help in fixing my laptop drive(seagte momentus 7200.4, 320 GB). i thing my drive is affected with the BSY error( drive is spinning but not detected in BIOS).

i bought a USB to RS232 cable to communicate with the drive from hyperterminal.

A good start would have been actually READING.

This thread is about 7200.11 ONLY.

You ALREADY started a new theread, here:

continue there.

jaclaz

[coplan27]

i bought a USB to RS232 cable to communicate with the drive from hyperterminal.

By the way. You need not a USB RS232 adapter, but a RS232 or USB<=>TTL adapter.

RS232 is +12/-12V

TTL is 0/+3.3 ou +5V

You'll burn your HDD if not TTL.

Edited July 30, 2011 by coplan27

[enigma34in]

plzz help my 500 gb is dead. i unbrick it & update its firmware. suddenly after some days its stop working now when i try to communicate with hyperterminal there is no response. the hard drive is spinning.

plzzz help me my important data is on HDD.

[RDO48]

I'm glad to see this thread is still active. I have a ST3500620AS with HP24 firmware. First the drive disappeared from BIOS completely so started attempting the BSY fix with a CA-42 cable and using paper between the data contacts. I could sometimes get to F3 T> but then nothing I typed would show in Hyperterminal. After some more research I ordered a USB to TTL adapter, but same result. So on a whim I reinstall the drive, and BIOS sees it now but with 0 byte capacity. If I connect to Hyperterminal tho with no paper separation I do get the LED:000000CC FAddr:0024B5A5 over and over which leads me to believe the hdd is actually in BSY state. Or do I have 0 LBA? I seem to have both symptoms - maybe I'm missing something?

More reading and I found the Maple Leaf site, where he separates the drive motor contacts as opposed to the data. So I tried that, and instantly I'm at F3 T>, /2 works, Z spins down very quickly since with no motor cotact to the PSB the motor never really spun up, and then I enter U.... nothing......still nothing..... the drive seems stuck with symptoms just like vitya in his post. The small tick tick concerned me that maybe I have a physical error instead of a fimware problem, but didn't remember that noise with the data contacts separated so did that again and the tick disappears (just motor spinning) so I don't think so.

I've been tempted to try the F3 T>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22 (enter) 0 LBA fix with the motor contacts separated since that's the only way I can seem to communicate with the hdd, but am very scared I'll mess something up since I believe that some of the firmware is on the platter itself and the fix won't get there without the drive motor spinning.

Hopefully I'm missing something really easy. Does anybody have any ideas?

Edited July 31, 2011 by RDO48

[jaclaz]

Hopefully I'm missing something really easy. Does anybody have any ideas?

You have to lookl at it "historically":

1. The original procedure was to completely detach PCB and re-mount it "live/hot"
   
2. Then someone thought about the piece of paper/cardboard/plastic on the Head contacts
   
3. Then someone verified that (for UNKNOWN reasons) the trick worked with the motor contacts instead.
   

If you prefer the #2 and #3 are two (more practical) sub-sets of the original #1.

So, if #2 didn't work for you, and #3 worked only partially, go for #1.

But remember that this is not the "fix all problems" trick, it is well possible that your drive suffers from "something else".

jaclaz

[RDO48]

Hopefully I'm missing something really easy. Does anybody have any ideas?

You have to lookl at it "historically":

1. The original procedure was to completely detach PCB and re-mount it "live/hot"
   
2. Then someone thought about the piece of paper/cardboard/plastic on the Head contacts
   
3. Then someone verified that (for UNKNOWN reasons) the trick worked with the motor contacts instead.
   

If you prefer the #2 and #3 are two (more practical) sub-sets of the original #1.

So, if #2 didn't work for you, and #3 worked only partially, go for #1.

But remember that this is not the "fix all problems" trick, it is well possible that your drive suffers from "something else".

jaclaz

Thanks jaclaz

I just tried remounting the PCB "hot" with the same results as #3 - the paper between the motor contacts. I type U (enter), and it just repeats a faint double-click over and over - about a second apart. I can hear the drive spinning as well.

You may be right when you suggest my drive may be suffering from something else, but from what I've read it's certainly showing the proper symptoms. Having said that, I will qualify it by saying that literally everything I've learned about this problem I learned from people like you on sites like this one.

The click worries me, but as I said in my previous post it does not occur when the data contacts are separated by paper. This leads me to believe that the problem is on the PCB itself, and the heads are perhaps recieving some bogus instruction from the PCB and parking and reparking over and over. I'm wondering if there is a way to fix the "theoretical" problem on the PCB (0 LBA error?), and then go through the entire BSY solution again from the top. I don't know though if the m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22 format works at the PCB or disc level, or both. I've also wondered if the following suggestion from another forum might help, though it's for SD15 firmware and I have HP24 (same thing maybe with an HP brand?):

Type F712 and press enter. It should say.....

Byte:0712: RealTimeUpdatedFlags = 00 00

Byte:0712: Bit:0, HPA_SET_BY_SETMAX = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:1, HPA_SET_BY_SETMAX_EXT = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:2, DCO_SET_ACTIVE = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:3, CONGEN_READ_FROM_MEDIA = 0 <- configuration not loaded from surface

Type F,,22 and press enter. It should say Drive Configuration restored to defaults.

Type F712 and press enter. It should say.....

Byte:0712: RealTimeUpdatedFlags = 08 00

Byte:0712: Bit:0, HPA_SET_BY_SETMAX = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:1, HPA_SET_BY_SETMAX_EXT = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:2, DCO_SET_ACTIVE = 0

Byte:0712: Bit:3, CONGEN_READ_FROM_MEDIA = 1 <- done

If either one of these would fix the theoretical communication problem with the disc, I might be "golden" - or I might permanently brick my drive if it isn't already...

It also occurred to me to try a new PCB, but I've only seen a couple of examples where that worked and it seemed to me they "lucked" into it. I've found far more warnings against it, including the READ ME FIRST on this site.

I realize that I'm grasping at straws here, but aside from sending to a pro for data recovery I don't know what else to try at this point. The USB<==>TTL seems to be working fine, the drive just won't spin back up. I've cleaned all of the contacts but no difference.

Thanks for any help!!

[jaclaz]

If either one of these would fix the theoretical communication problem with the disc, I might be "golden" - or I might permanently brick my drive if it isn't already...

It also occurred to me to try a new PCB, but I've only seen a couple of examples where that worked and it seemed to me they "lucked" into it. I've found far more warnings against it, including the READ ME FIRST on this site.

I realize that I'm grasping at straws here, but aside from sending to a pro for data recovery I don't know what else to try at this point. The USB<==>TTL seems to be working fine, the drive just won't spin back up. I've cleaned all of the contacts but no difference.

Thanks for any help!!

If you are going to a "professional" (remember to choose wisely :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/quotes?qt=qt0357926

Grail Knight: But choose wisely, for while the true Grail will bring you life, the false Grail will take it from you.

trying the F712 thingy won't make much of a difference, the pro's have many, many more tricks up their sleeves than we "amateurs" can imagine (or actually afford )

The PCB swap is perfectly doable by an "advanced amateur", but due to it's complexity (de-soldering and re-soldering a tiny SMT component is not really easy-peasy), and to the number of things that could go wrong (wrong "new" PCB, overheating, and what not) it is not really "advised".

That, IF it goes wrong may add a considerable amount of $$ to the money the "pro" will ask you for the (hopefully succesful) recovery attempt.

jaclaz