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The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs


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You should NEVER EVER open a harddrive, EVER!

You will only damage the drive and make it completely useless!

The dust particles are too big and will damage the heads on the reading arm

making the harddisk a piece of junk. If it will still work, you´re one lucky guy!

The chances are that it is damaged from dust and particles.

He said he took precautions. When I read that I was also surprised, but maybe he actually knows what he's doing.

I wouldn't ever dream of opening a hard drive I still want to use x_x

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Hi! I want just to thank you all.

One month ago my Seagate stopped working and, when I realized that was not a software's problem, I tried all kind of "stupid" method for a miracle repair (freezer, punches...).

In the end, the day before changing it in warranty, I heard about the "barracuda 7200.11 problem". In a few minutes I found this thread, ordered all necessary on internet (I think that this object is the best solution for this problem, even if a little expensive) and waited.

Yesterday I tried the precedure and in 5 minutes without any problem my HD brought back to life! :thumbup

Vittoriaaaa!!! Evviva! :D

Grazie!

Umberto from Genoa

P.S. Now backupping............... :P

Edited by dragonyt
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To: jaclaz and valkyrio

Well, it wasn´t directly to fasthands but more general.

Most people don´t know how fragile harddrives really are.

Especially when you punch it or put it in freezers. :)

And i think i have heard somewhere that harddrives have vacuum inside, and

that is pretty hard to accomplish at home. Could be mistaken on this though.

To: Fasthands

Are you sure that your USB-to-serial have TTL-signals?

Because the PCB on the harddrive uses TTL-signals to communicate.

They are usually found in cellphone cables like Nokias CA-42 or DKU-5

and even in the cheaper generic cellphone-cables.

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And i think i have heard somewhere that harddrives have vacuum inside, and

that is pretty hard to accomplish at home. Could be mistaken on this though.

Regarding this, you heard "wrong", generally speaking.

Inside it there is just common (rather clean) air and unlike what some people may believe a hard disk is NOT normally airtight/waterproof, there is usually at least one (smallish) hole on the cover of most hard disks. (and please understand that there may be airtight hard disks and even hard disks "filled" with vacuum or nitrogen or whatever)

Mind you I will NEVER suggest that opening a hard disk is "advisable", nor that it is "possible", .... but it is "possible" ;) (KIDS, DO NOT do this at home!), given that you take some time to build/create a proper set of "tools".

Some hints (which nor you, nor anyone else should never even think to follow):

http://www.forensicfocus.com/index.php?nam...opic&t=4536

Please note that the idea in this kind of topics is NOT to "repair" a hard disk, nor to guarantee it a "new" life of several years, it is just to (hopefully) get all the data you can from it, and immediately after throw the drive in the dustbin.

jaclaz

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I have taken the precautions. What I want to know is, how to confirm what is the problem with my HDD? also, does the DB9 converter need power or does it power using the USB? Why dont I get any response to CTRL+z in the hyperterminal window?

Yes the HDD needs power in addition to the USB.

I didn't see any response either to the control z, the terminal did not display it, but then hit enter and see if you get the right response.

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Hi All,

I am lost here. I dont know if I am doing something wrong, or its just that my HDD has decided to screw my life. I have tried using a Nokia CA-42 cable, and the USB to Serial (DB9) converter from BAFO. The device name is BF-810.

The approaches I have tried are as follows:

Connected three wires to the DB9 converter. The RX,TX & GND is pin no.s 2,3 & 5 respectively. I do not get the F3 T> command, thought it shows as connected. I also tried theconnection and powering on the drive with the PCB completely connected, no cards between PCB and HDD connectors. It gives me a = sign on the Hyperterminal and the drive keeps spinning up and down.

I tried with a Nokia CA-42 cable. The cable did not come with a plastic cover as shown in the thread, but moulded rubber. I had to cut through the rubber to get to the connections, just to know which was TX, RX and GND. The funny part was, after getting to the connections, I saw that its just wires connected to 4 lines, no mention of TX, RX, etc. What I had was Black, Green, White, Red wires connected to four lines in the usb head, which inserts in the USB port on my laptop, and there was no IC in it also.

I also opened a Nokia CA-53 cable, but again, it was the same as the CA-42 cable.

I read in some post that USB to serial wont work, so the DB9 converter is out.

I am sure I am missing something. Please someone help!!!

Edited by fasthands
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The drives spins up and down continuously or just once?

Continuously might be another problem than the BSY or 0mb bug.

Do you use a original CA-42 cable from Nokia, if so, did you detect the cable in windows or it was undetected?

If it was undetected, apply +3.3V to the RED cable and the gnd to the black cable. That will make windows detected it.

The original are "made in thailand", check post 1834 @ page 92 for details.

My CA-42 had also a moulded rubber casing, when removed, revealed a white plastic coating, protecting the IC.

The generic CA-42 often "made in china" are detected when you plug them in. As far as i know!

Test loopback first so you know the cable work. Loopback test is done by connecting Rx and Tx to eachother.

However, the pinout from my post 1834 will tell you what pin is doing what!

Edited by KlingKlang
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Hi KlingKlang,

Seems you are online. Thanks for all your help. Please let me answer your queries one by one.

Do you use a original CA-42 cable from Nokia, if so, did you detect the cable in windows or it was undetected?

If it was undetected, apply +3.3V to the RED cable and the gnd to the black cable. That will make windows detected it.

The original are "made in thailand", check post 1834 @ page 92 for details.

My CA-42 had also a moulded rubber casing, when removed, revealed a white plastic coating, protecting the IC.

Fasthands > I am not sure if this is a original cable, but yes, it did have the Made in China mark on it. The cable was detected as an unknown device, and When I introduced the drivers manually, it did not take the drivers. There was no IC, just 4 wires connected to 4 connectors.

The generic CA-42 often "made in china" are detected when you plug them in. As far as i know!

Test loopback first so you know the cable work. Loopback test is done by connecting Rx and Tx to eachother.

Fasthands > I tried. The cable is not recognised on its own, but when connected to the HDD, it detected as an unknown device.

However, the pinout from my post 1834 will tell you what pin is doing what!

Fasthands > Checking page 92 now.

Edited by fasthands
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To fasthands.

Post a picture if possible of both the usb-connector and the phone-connector (also known as fastport).

The usb end should show the circuit if any or the cables that are soldered to the usb-contact.

The other picture should show the phone-connector with the cables visual.

If your cable is similar to the pictures at post 1702 @ page 86 then i think it might be a straight-thru, which won´t work i´m afraid.

However, the continuously spinning up and down still puzzles me.

I´m not sure using this fix will help, but it maybe doesn´t hurt trying.

Edited by KlingKlang
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Hi Everyone.

Can someone please help me. I followed the guide on how to fix my hdd using terminal. I got the 0 LBA problem. Everything worked well. I put the drive back into another PC and booted it up (did not load the new firmware). Windows showed my hdd with its 2 partitions. I could get all the data on the 1st partition. However the second partition still seems to be bricked (0 LBA) :blushing: Windows says there is an device I/O error. Can anyone please tell me how to fix it. Most of my data is on the second partition.

Thanx in advance.

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Hi Everyone.

Can someone please help me. I followed the guide on how to fix my hdd using terminal. I got the 0 LBA problem. Everything worked well. I put the drive back into another PC and booted it up (did not load the new firmware). Windows showed my hdd with its 2 partitions. I could get all the data on the 1st partition. However the second partition still seems to be bricked (0 LBA) :blushing: Windows says there is an device I/O error. Can anyone please tell me how to fix it. Most of my data is on the second partition.

Thanx in advance.

The hard disk firmware know NOTHING about the partitioning of the drive, partitions are at a "higher level" than firmware.

In other words, the WHOLE disk is either bricked or not.

It is possible that something got corrupted.

The next step would be to use TESTDISK on the drive:

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

If you need support in using it, start a new thread, your problem shouldn't be connected (not anymore) to the firmware issue.

jaclaz

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Hello!

Sorry if I missed anything, but I couldn't go through all 95 pages to see if it's been done before.

I have a Seagate 7200.11 blocked in the BSY state (no BIOS detection). HDD powers-up, spins-up and then, nothing.

I cannot buy the RS232 to TTL/CMOS adapter because there is no shipping to my country so I decided to build one.

I bought a MAX232 MCU, five 25V 10uF capacitors, an input COM connection and the PCB will be made by a friend who is into electronics. He'll also do the soldering and stuff.

What I want to know is if this DIY adapter is gonna work?

Has anyone tried making one before?

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I bought a MAX232 MCU, five 25V 10uF capacitors, an input COM connection and the PCB will be made by a friend who is into electronics. He'll also do the soldering and stuff.

Do you or your friend plan to just solder those components in a random way or are you going to follow a schematics?

What I want to know is if this DIY adapter is gonna work?

My crystal ball is in the shop for tuning at the moment, cannot say. :(

Has anyone tried making one before?

Yes. :)

http://homepages.tesco.net/J.deBoynePollar...no-answers.html

Comeon, get real, how can one possibly know the answer to your questions?

SET /A Willwork=0

IF the schematics is a correct one SET /A Willwork=1

IF the components are good SET /A Willwork=%Willwork%+1

IF the assembling/soldering is done properly SET /A Willwork=%Willwork%+1

IF %Willwork% leq 3 (ECHO IT WILL WORK) ELSE (ECHO IT WILL FAIL)

Seriously, if everything is done correctly, the final result will be a working RS232 to TTL converter :), exactly like the ones you can buy pre-assembled.

Once you have done it, a check wiht a multimeter and some loopback tests will quickly show whether it is working properly or not.

jaclaz

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