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The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs


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hello guys,

I'm just writing from my ex-bsy-death 7200.11!!! :thumbup

(i'm gonna cry, i missed my data so much! :blushing: )

I used a cheap CA-42 data cable clone for Nokia phones, bought on ebay (4€). I think it's the best deal because it's already self-powered by the USB and uses a nice 3.3 voltage (i tested it with a volt meter). You can find very useful info about pins and terminal checks here.

I had only one problem: after connecting TX and RX cables i got only a few garbage characters in my terminal window. I figured out connecting a third wire to the HD, the ground! In this way:

[ 1 2 3 4 ] [sata] [power] -> [1=none] [2=GND from USB cable] [3=TX from USB] [4=RX from USB]

I think i needed that because my usb cable was plugged in my netbook while the power plug was from the main computer PSU. I don't know exactly but, anyway, it worked flawless!

Hope this can help someone!

many thanks to everyone who contribuited to make that possible, except Seagate peremptorily censorship and some (very kindly and professional, you should say) people at hddguru forum.

i have to go, it's backup time now!! :P

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I had only one problem: after connecting TX and RX cables i got only a few garbage characters in my terminal window. I figured out connecting a third wire to the HD, the ground! In this way:

[ 1 2 3 4 ] [sata] [power] -> [1=none] [2=GND from USB cable] [3=TX from USB] [4=RX from USB]

I think i needed that because my usb cable was plugged in my netbook while the power plug was from the main computer PSU. I don't know exactly but, anyway, it worked flawless!

I was having the same issue as you. But I didn't know the pin 2 on seagate was gnd :(

If I knew that, perhaps I could be successfull even when I was powering my hdd through an external hdd case.

See my picture on this post:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...st&p=830618

My cable is a nokia DKU-5, but it is pretty much the same as the CA-42.

But I'm glad to know that more people are being successfull with cellphone cables. They're much easier to find.

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Does this procedure to unblock the BSY signal also work on an 7200.11 1TB ES.2? (the ...340NS).

When the PCB is connected, the serial interface seems to work properly since I see the error messages (CC code). When the Ctrl-Z is typed fast enough the prompt is displayed as well. However, when the board is detached from the spin motor contacts, there is no more serial communication possible. I noticed also that there is an additional chip/module on the drive chassis (6 or 8 pins) that makes contact with the PCB, apart from the 4 spin motor connection.

I tried the procedure with the card trick (the module still connected), as well as completely removing the board.

In both cases the RS-232 communication utterly fails, i.e. no prompt at all after Ctrl-Z.

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In both cases the RS-232 communication utterly fails, i.e. no prompt at all after Ctrl-Z.

jov23, did you connect the hdd to the computer psu or to an external power source (ie: external hdd case)?

In my case, I could only see the terminal when I had the pcb connected. When I did the papercard trick, I could see nothing, even after pressing ctr+Z. But after I powered my hdd from the computer PSU, the terminal started to appear after pressing ctr+Z.

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Has anyone determined the pinouts from the PCB to the disk motor? That is which is ground, which is power

and which is probably the switch. I don't know if the number of pins to the motor is the same regardless of

the model # or if it varies.

The reason I ask is that one can take the PCB and attach resistors to these pins to simulate

the loading of the disk motor. Thus, the PCB will think there is a motor connected if the resistor is

across power and ground for the motor. I presume the disk motor is a dc motor and isn't something

more fancier. There probably should be another pin that acts like a switch such that when the motor

reaches the nominal RPM speed that it makes contact and the PCB board electronics then doesn't timeout

and say no disk present. If this is the case, then one could either pulldown to ground or pullup the pin to the power supply voltage

to trick the electronics into thinking that their is a disk with motor present. Then one could just flash the PCB

without connecting it to a drive thus preventing possible damage to either the PCB or disk.

If the pin does act as a pulldown or pullup then a 1K resistor most likely will have to be used vs. a wire jumping it to ground or

power to prevent excessive current from damaging the PCB board.

If one has a digital voltmeter or O-scope, one could monitor their good drives on each pin to determine what each pin does.

:wacko:

Edited by mikesw
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Hey guys, I finally FIXED my drive!!! The garbage characters were gone!!!

I'm so ashamed of myself. The garbage characters were appearing because I was powering on my hdd through an external hard disk case. When I powered it though my computer PSU, I could use a PERFECTLY CLEAR terminal window.

Bsobel, perhaps you're doing the same as me? If so, try powering on through your PSU.

Gradius2, many thanks for your kind help!!! I'm definitely donating to you!!! It'll be a small gratitude for your help since I don't own much, but it's my sincere thanks. I'm not too familiarized with paypal, but I'll manage to do it.

Cheers (domo arigatou gozaimas***a - I can speak a little japanese too since I'm a japanese descendant :) )

Nice to know you managed to fix it and is working perfectly now.

Thanks for donating, it will helps with my hosting expenses, believe it or not, it will be the 1st one so far. :blushing:

Hello, yes I was powering drive through a ext power supply i will try your method...thanx...

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Hi Fatlip thank you for the answer, how can i select my drive in the program? the victoria for windows is running, but i dont see any list with my drives, even the drive i'm runnin the O.S. in, I have set to PIO mode, it says port 170h There are just so many options!

Triskel,

Download "Victoria for Windows" When you switch it to "PIO Mode" in the top right, and select your non-functioning drive, you will see the light status stuck on "BUSY" at the bottom. If it is in this state, then yes, this fix will most likely help you.

G

Im not sure wether this is the appropiate topic or not (i mean, the solution).

I have a $eagate Barracuda ST3500320AS, (500 GB), that suddenly a morning when powering on my computer would be as not detected by the bios, the problem is that the same day this happened i had shortcircuit in my home that cause the computer to shut down, so initially i though the overvoltage might have damaged my hadr drive, but by doing some research over the internet, it seems that this might be due to the firmware issue.

My drive is not being detected, but i can hear the plates spinning, i mean, ITS ALIVE, although i dont know if the interface is working or not, or its the firmware issue... I tried to contact Seagate but not reply so far... I live in the f***ing spain where theres not even Seagate support, so even in the unlikely event that they might give free data recovery i couldn't apply...

so my question is, with the steps in this tutorial, could i make my disk work again? Id like to boot from it directly since all my files are in NTFS and i cant access them from outside the logged user, i would have permissions if the disk were used as extenernal.

what can i do? I would be gladly to pay to anyone who could help me out with this BIG issue.

thanks in advance guys!

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Has anyone determined the pinouts from the PCB to the disk motor? That is which is ground, which is power

and which is probably the switch. I don't know if the number of pins to the motor is the same regardless of

the model # or if it varies.

The reason I ask is that one can take the PCB and attach resistors to these pins to simulate

the loading of the disk motor. Thus, the PCB will think there is a motor connected if the resistor is

across power and ground for the motor. I presume the disk motor is a dc motor and isn't something

more fancier. There probably should be another pin that acts like a switch such that when the motor

reaches the nominal RPM speed that it makes contact and the PCB board electronics then doesn't timeout

and say no disk present. If this is the case, then one could either pulldown to ground or pullup the pin to the power supply voltage

to trick the electronics into thinking that their is a disk with motor present. Then one could just flash the PCB

without connecting it to a drive thus preventing possible damage to either the PCB or disk.

If the pin does act as a pulldown or pullup then a 1K resistor most likely will have to be used vs. a wire jumping it to ground or

power to prevent excessive current from damaging the PCB board.

If one has a digital voltmeter or O-scope, one could monitor their good drives on each pin to determine what each pin does.

:wacko:

Probably will not works, when you turn on the HDD, the firmware will read some bytes on service area and then report an error or not. It doesn't matter if HDD is attached to a PC or not, its a firmware thing. This is why when you disconnect the spin motor, you won't get an error (this happens on BSY errors) at start, so you just skip this stage by disconnecting the motor, and re-connecting after couple commands.

Edited by Gradius2
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@spellcasterbr : I used a direct computer power suppy - 4-pin Molex to SATA power converter (no 3.3V, 5V only), no external HDD enclosure. Do you think this would make a difference?

If you're using a power converter, perhaps it could be the cause. I guess the problem with garbage characters on terminal have something to do with a bad GND connection. I think the best way to power on your hdd would be with the computer PSU with no converter.

Take a look at this post, perhaps it could be useful:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...st&p=830732

By the way, what are you using to connect to your hdd? Cellphone cable or RS232->TTL adapter?

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In the Victoria Tool: I've found a drop-down list that says Port (in PIO mode) with the options Primary, Secondary and Custon, when i choose primary it doesnt let me to select it, it would set itself again to Secondary, when i click secondary it would showthe next info in the "console" below: Select secondary PORT : BASE= 170H, ALTERNATIVE =376H, and when i click custom, it would show the busy button in green and like an infinite loop in two black boxes on the bottom right, attched pictures:

post-229320-1233071694_thumb.jpg

post-229320-1233071711_thumb.jpg

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Computer serial (or USB) port to which cable is connected and HDD must have common ground (GND). Otherwise you get garbage on wire. Thus problems with external powered HDD's and no GND connection. You can use Ping2 on HDD or GND power cable (black wire). When everything is connected to the same computer in most cases thereis already common ground.

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