[lapc2000]

Well, today I found myself with my Seagate ST3500620AS and HP12 FW (from a Compaq computer) bricked. My PC wouldn't boot until I disconnected that drive, and I suspected that it was the infamous BSY bug. I checked on Seagate page, and of course it was one of the drives with the buggy FW.

I'm not scared to try new things, and although I knew all the stuff regarding the hyper terminal flashing and everything else, I didn't have the tools or the patience to wait an online purchase...

Pretty lucky I have another drive that's the same model but with SD25 FW removed from a customer PC because it started to show defective sectors. I had downloaded the flash tool and HP13 FW from the HP web site, but as my bios didn't show the drive it was useless.

I tried to swap the circuit board from both drives, but as anyone could expect, none of them worked. But then I realized something really interesting: both drives were recognised in the bios.

Well, I thought, let's try flash the board on the other drive... It worked. Surprise surprise!!! After I swapped again the boards to the original drives, both of them work fine (well, not counting the bad sector problem).

My drive works fine and although I lost some time looking for my old 3.5 Floppy drive and attaching it to my test rig, It's been much faster than anything else...

I hope that it helps anyone!!!

Saludos!

This post has been edited by lapc2000: 20 July 2009 - 03:27 PM

[poolcarpet]

Hi all,

I have a set of the ttl adapter and usb-serial cable which I used to fix mine. I don't have any use for it anymore and it's sitting gathering dust, so if anyone wants a set to fix their hard disk, I can sell my set, say for USD10 or equivalent excluding postage. Message me if you are interested. I'm located in KL, Malaysia. Here's a photo of the set, along with 2 cables I salvaged from old PC for connection to the PC power source (use the floppy drive molex adapter) and for connecting to the hard disk TX and RX.

Update: 28/July - sorry the parts are sold. for those who can buy from ebay, try looking there. i bought the key component from ebay, then just get any rs232-usb cable you can get from your local pc shop (cost about RM20 or USD6). a tip, search for "max232" in ebay, e.g.

http://cgi.ebay.com/MAX232-RS232-To-TTL-Co...id=p3286.c0.m14

I bought it from this seller virtualvillage back in Jan 2009. good luck!

Attached File(s)

•  ttl_adapter.jpg (98.92K)
  Number of downloads: 43

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: 28 July 2009 - 07:12 AM

[NainKaigo]

mrtorino351, on Jul 8 2009, 12:58 AM, said:

So does anyone know why it wouldnt be spining?? it used to spin up

I ran into this same issue. What caused it for me is when the drive was spinning down on my first attempt I lost the terminal connection. Every attempt after that caused the drive to generate the LED:000000CE FAddr:0027CF31 error after entering Z. Not sure what the error means. Maybe that the drive is already stopped?

However, I noticed that just by typing in the Z and not pressing enter would spin the drive down. At that point I just backed spaced the Z out and moved on to the next step. I was able to proceed with out any troubles. I did have to run through the complete process; after my first attempt it was still busy. The error isn't a show stopper, just a pain in the neck. I was able to get access to all of the data on the drive.

This guide saved me big time and I am very grateful. This drive was for a client and they didn't have any backups of the data
Remember, ALWAYS make a backup!

[Jhothagondyaz]

NainKaigo, on Jul 21 2009, 05:12 AM, said:

Remember, ALWAYS make a backup!

Good advice and important premise.
In my case the hard drive died without warning, after a reboot and normal
routine.
I had a 80% back up to 20% without saving.
Are many and varied configurations to keep data safe now.
It is not the same company that have data in a particular data disk.
But the value is the same.
My advice:
Of course back up our data regularly.
If the responsible company is not competent, do not purchase their products.
If this company is a mistake, should be debugged.
And, do not conform to only know computers, occasionally need to catch
a screwdriver and a soldering iron.
Greetings.

[J327]

I did it! I am so grateful to Gradius and this board.

I ultimately followed the guide here: http://sites.google....seagatefix/Home which was created by Brad Garcia with the help of this forum.

This three-month old HP computer belongs to an elderly couple. They were heartbroken about their data loss--pictures of the grandkids, medical records, etc. A couple of hours of research led me to the Seagate brick problem and ultimately, here. HP Support was absolutely appalling, as I expected. They denied knowledge of the problem, even though it is well documented on their site. Why they did not at least contact their larger vendors and at least offer a firmware upgrade is beyond me. These computers were sold knowingly with time-bomb hard drives.

I followed the procedure in the above link almost exactly, with one exception: after entering the F3 1>N1 command, I entered F3 1>/ and then the partition code: F3 T>m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22 (enter).

Without that extra step, it kept getting stuck at the end. I never got the "User Partition Format Successful" message, even after waiting for more than 20 minutes and trying a few times. That one bit of code I found here saved the day.

It seems like some who are trying to use USB-type connections are having scattered success. I used the RS232 to TTL adapter from AllDav, and actually soldered. I was scared to death. I have never soldered before. Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can. I managed to burn my finger, but it worked perfectly.

Luckily I had an old PIII sitting in the closet to cannibalize wires and such. I did not use a battery. I used molex to SATA for power on the drive and it worked fine. I cannibalized a hard drive enclosure to get power to the RS232 to TTL adapter. I know nothing about electricity, and I had my fingers crossed big time when I turned it all on.

I used Putty instead of Hyperterminal. It worked great.

 Wierd_Science.jpg (164.36K)
Number of downloads: 58


Again, thanks so much. It felt really good to be able to help these people. Their computer is up and running perfectly!

This post has been edited by J327: 21 July 2009 - 10:27 AM

[darkparadox]

Im running into a bit of trouble. When I do all this, I connect all the wires and connect the circuit to the rs232 and open up HT then put all the settings in. When I hit ctrl+z I get no response. Ive switched the tx and rx around and still nothing. Ive tested the connections and they all come back in good standings. I dont know what im doing wrong or if I have to update something?

[jopan]

I will be trying to unbrick my HD later using a ca-42 or dku-5 cable...hopefully all goes well. Question though, what's the tx & rx color for these cables? thanks!

[darkparadox]

Well, im back again.

Ive got my other problem fixed it was the tx to rx connectors.

But now another problem pops up.

Heres a pic of the error

If someone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Just post back if you need some more info.

Attached File(s)

•  LED...Error.JPG (66.68K)
  Number of downloads: 38

[stech]

Today my hdd wouldn't boot .

Seems to spin up then just stop doesn't detect at BIOS. I am looking to do this procedure since I don't have any other options.

What I am wondering is I found this and wondering if it is suitable for the connections

-----------------------
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CP2102-USB-TTL-RS23...93%3A1|294%3A50

USB Function Controller
- USB Specification 2.0 compliant; full-speed (12 Mbps)
- USB suspend states supported via SUSPEND pins
Asynchronous Serial Data BUS (UART)
- All handshaking and modem interface signals
- Data formats supported:
- Data bits: 5, 6, 7, and 8
- Stop bits: 1, 1.5, and 2
- Parity: odd, even, mark, space, no parity
- Baud rates: 300 bps to 1 Mbits
- 576 Byte receive buffer; 640 byte transmit buffer
- Hardware or X-On/X-Off handshaking supported
- Event character support
- Line break transmission
Virtual COM Port Device Drivers
- Works with Existing COM Port PC Applications
- Royalty-Free Distribution License
- Windows Vista/XP/Server 2003/2000/98SE
- Mac OS-X / OS-9
- Linux

A packet which includes:
1X CP2102 USB-RS232 Serial Convert Communication Module
1X Mini USB Cable

-------------------

It seems to have rx/tx, usb/serial connection and 3.3v/5v.

I am located in Australia and it seems a fairly cheap option as some of the others cost a lot more to post here. (my local shops don't seem to have any parts either ).


Any help would be great

Thanks, Matt

[jaclaz]

stech, on Jul 23 2009, 04:17 PM, said:

What I am wondering is I found this and wondering if it is suitable for the connections

It's strange, that appears as a USB to RS232 converter, TTL does not appear in the product manual, on the other hand it seems like having TX and RX ports both for 3.3 and 5V level.

If it's only a USB to RS232, it would ADDITIONALLY need a RS232 to TTL converter.

This is a "normal" USB to TTL converter, it seems to me that this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PC-USB-Serial-to-RS...=item4147957318
was already used successfully

Or one of the "Nokia" cables discussed at length in the thread.

jaclaz

[Mr.Shaky]

My drive is under warranty and I could get them to send me a new drive before I return mine.

Would it work to just take the board off the new drive, put it on my old one and get the data off it?

[jaclaz]

Mr.Shaky, on Jul 25 2009, 02:26 AM, said:

Would it work to just take the board off the new drive, put it on my old one and get the data off it?

NO.
And you also have some probabilities to break BOTH drives.

jaclaz

[FluntCaps]

Does anyone fancy selling me their recovery cable that they are now finished with? I've had 2 abortive attempts at making one, first with a Nokia CA-42 cable that I bought off eBay, which proved to be the wrong version of the CA-42, and then with a DKU-5 cable which was useable by Hyperterminal the first time I tried but has failed to work since.

I'd be happy to pay £15 (having already forked out as much on my 2 abortive attempts thus far ) using paypal and am UK based. Once my drive is recovered, I'd be happy to return the cable to it's original owner or recycle it into the community as the seller sees fit.

Here's hoping...

[sizr]

My HD died 4 days ago. I see that on all internet only you people here got some real suggestions on how to get it done. I'm from Croatia and if anyone else is, and has managed to fix his seagate please PM me. I would also like to buy the stuff that I need.. it is very hard for me to find all I need. Congratulations to everyone that succedeed.

[KlingKlang]

Hi there people!

I just bought a Nokia "CA-42" cable.
It seems like there is working and non-working CA-42-cable.
I would be grand if someone could help me to determine if my
cable will work. It is a genuine Nokia-cable, Made in thailand.
I´ve read somewhere on this thread (page 79 i think), who managed
to recover the data with this cable.

However, the questions are:
1) How do i know which cable is the working one? Mine isn´t recognized
when inserted in the usb-host as a new device, could it need extra power
from a battery to work?

Yes, use a 3V battery or other power source and the CA-42 cable is detected
in windows as a "Nokia Parent Phone Modem". Connect +3V to pin 5 and battery negative
to pin 1.


2) Where are the power supposed to be connected to if necessary, what pin?
The 3.3v should go in on pin 5, if you counts from the middle of the pins.
Thats is the second longest pin, that are surrounded by pins.

Apperently there are different colors on the wires, so cut the cable at the phone end and
use a multimeter to figure out which pin is connected to which cable.

Correct pinout for the Genuine Nokia CA-42 is:
Pin 1 = Ground (Black)
Pin 2 = Tx (White)
Pin 3 = Rx (Blue)
Pin 4 = ??
Pin 5 = +3.3v (Red)
Pin 6 = ?? (Yellow)
See post #1583 for further details!

Regards, KlingKlang

PM me if you need any more help with this cable..

Thanks Gradius2, Fatlip, pichi and all the rest of you who made this guide!

This post has been edited by KlingKlang: 30 July 2009 - 06:18 AM

[Pedr0101]

I Thank you who ever came with this fixed. What worked for me was the RS232 to TTL adapter which I got on eBay for like 5$ Canadian, a RS232 cable which I got from my local electronic store for 4$ Canadian, to power the drive and the RS232 to TTL adapter I used the 5 volt of my external hard drive adaptor which is a Molex connector for IDE hard drive. And to connect the cables I used a CDROM audio cable.

At first I had issues powering the adapter since the specs on eBay says that it can be powered by 3.3v or 5v so I used a battery holder for 2 AA battery which power the RS232 to TTL adapter but was not enough to work cause I wasn’t getting anything at the HyperTerminal software when I was typing the first command which was CTRL+Z. after being frustrated for hours I try powering the RS232 to TTL adapter form a 5V current and it worked like magic. Than I had a second problem when I was reaching at command F3 2>U it kept failing. I was about to give up then I remember from another post some one mention to clean the contacts which I did when I try it was like music in the air...

I was so trying to have this issue resolved that I try replacing the PCB board from a working hard drive of the same model and that didn’t work instead I was getting knocking sounds from the drive which I worried it mess-up something inside.

I’m a programmer and I practically save everything on this drive and never thought of backing up my files, this time I’ll do it everyday!!!!

[shahroseamir]

hi guys. i need help with my HD. I have BSY error. I made all the connections. I didnot see com 2 port when running the hyperterminal. I tried com4 port which seems to be working . The problem is that once i establish connection via hyperterminal. the hyperterminal window goes crazy. It will start showing me different symbols, letters, greek letters and so on. it will keep running and ctrl z wont do anything. I am not sure why i am not getting the same screen as all other participants in this forum can see. Any help will be appreciated.

shahrose

[sizr]

can someone tell me will this one work it? I tought it is convinient cause it has the cables...

http://cgi.ebay.com/RS232-Serial-Port-To-T...id=p3286.c0.m14


And this RS232 cable...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-USB-TO-RS232-SERIA...id=p3286.c0.m14

Wich Terminal application is best to use on Vista 64?? please help.

This post has been edited by sizr: 28 July 2009 - 04:58 AM

[jaclaz]

shahroseamir, on Jul 28 2009, 07:33 AM, said:

hi guys. i need help with my HD. I have BSY error. I made all the connections. I didnot see com 2 port when running the hyperterminal. I tried com4 port which seems to be working . The problem is that once i establish connection via hyperterminal. the hyperterminal window goes crazy. It will start showing me different symbols, letters, greek letters and so on. it will keep running and ctrl z wont do anything. I am not sure why i am not getting the same screen as all other participants in this forum can see. Any help will be appreciated.

shahrose

Most likely you have incorrect speed of the connection or, more probably, GROUNDing problems, check here:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...807&st=1547
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...807&st=1661
Do loopaback tests BEFORE coonecting the disk drive.


jaclaz

[sizr]

Can anyone tell me will Putty work on Vista 64?? Please... if not what should I use then?? Thx to everyone...