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Momentus 5400.6 SATA 500 GB died suddenly?


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Hey there! Thanks in advance for the help.

My girlfriend bought a HP dv6 laptop just over a year. Recently she turned it on, and the laptop started windows 7 as usual, apparently without any problem. She left it a moment while she went to the kitchen (just a couple of minutes.) When she came back, the laptop was showing th following message "A Disk Read Error Occurred Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to Reboot".

Pressing F2 at boot, I can access HP diagnosis tools. Startup Test, Run-In Test, Hard Drive gives the message “FAILED”: Memory Test: PASSED, SMART Check: PASSED, giving too the message "Hard Disk 1 Quick (303)” error.

The hdd is a Momentus 5400.6 SATA 500 GB ST950032 5AS. I connected the hdd to an external case to other PC, and it failed to get drive letter in Win7. Manager also says “failed to initialize”. Hidden icons sees it for safe removal.

Using the Seatools, I’m able to see the hdd as ST950032 5AS, and I retrieve “DST passed” in the test. In information menu, hdd is shown as LBA 0. Generic short test shows “failed”. The disk spins up, and I can't notice any strange noise on it.

Using Hirens boot utilities, testdisk is unable to find and show up the hdd. I’ve tried too with testdisk with the hdd connected directly to the mainboard w/ sata cable, retrieving the same result. HDD Regenerator shows MBR must be fixed.

I’ve been unable to find if this hdd has known firmware problems (SD15??), and if the next step should be to connect the hdd by hyperterminal using a COM port to restore the hdd to it’s original state. I’m particularly interested in getting back the data of the hdd, so I can’t send it to HP because they will replace the hdd with new one but I’ll lose all the information.

I hope you can help me. I'm desperate. Thanks again.

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Using Hirens boot utilities, testdisk is unable to find and show up the hdd. I’ve tried too with testdisk with the hdd connected directly to the mainboard w/ sata cable, retrieving the same result. HDD Regenerator shows MBR must be fixed.

That's actually good, as you shouldn't use WAREZ.

The disk is either in LBA0 status or it is not in it.

You can check this status in the BIOS, when booting go to BIOS setup and try autodetecting the disk, when it is connected through a direct SATA connection.

It will either show the right capacity (or a reduced ones n some cases) or a 0 one.

This said, the SD15 firmware issues and corresponding remedies are specific to the 7200.11 model (and the same kind of "generic" reset has been with alternate success, used with the 7200.12 series too).

There is unfortunately no "known-to-be-working" method (if applicable) for the 5400.6 model, only info we have is here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/158397-invalid-partition-table-on-my-500gb-hdd/

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/155638-seagate-momentus-54006-st9500325as-freeagent-go/

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/150293-unlock-seagate-54006/

The only "vague" report of the method having worked is "very" vague and here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/145751-seagate-freeagent-go-momentus-54006-solution/

If you value the data on it, you shouldn't even think of attempting recovery with this method, as we simply have NO previous validated experience.

jaclaz

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Thank U jaclaz for your quick response. I've verified the capacity of the hdd in BIOS, it shows 0 mb,0 cylinders... 0 of all items. Have I any options of repair it by myself or you think I should send it to a data recovery professional?

Thanks again.

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Thank U jaclaz for your quick response. I've verified the capacity of the hdd in BIOS, it shows 0 mb,0 cylinders... 0 of all items. Have I any options of repair it by myself or you think I should send it to a data recovery professional?

Thanks again.

That's entirely up to you.

If you value the DATA on it between US$500 and US$1,000, go for the pro's (possibly even MUCH more if the issue is damaged heads :ph34r:).

If you don't, or simply do not have that amount of money available, you have no choices but try yourself.

Since we have no validated experiences with that model (and we completely fail to know the "reason why" or the actual cause of the LBA0 situation you are in) I would suggest you anyway to invest a few more bucks - besides the ones needed to buy the TTL adapter - to buy an used (but fully working) similar 5400.6 disk drive and try the commands/routines on this second "expendable" drive.

The commands *should* be the same as the 7200.11 ones, but possibly only some of them need to be issued and the order in which they are issued may be different. :unsure:

IF they work, they shouldn't make any "damage" (if they are correct and correctly executed they are not "destructive" commands) and you could attempt the unbricking of the "real" drive with at least some more confidence.

In any case be ready to have a larger drive ready and the tool/OS tested to make an image of the unbricked drive as soon as you (hopefully) manage to revive it.

These may be of help/reference:

http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?t=18819

http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?t=18645

jaclaz

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