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Thread ID: 107285 2010-02-11 07:43:00 ST3500820AS required for spare part to fix external hard drive craigzgurl (15622) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
857241 2010-03-02 03:33:00 Given I'm not that 'techie', I did see that they pulled the case apart and attached some sort of port directly to the green board (if that makes sense)? He said it couldn't be seen. He then replaced it with a ST3500320AS board, and while it couldn't be seen through Windows, when he ran his program through it, it could pick up a drive but couldn't "see" what was on it (was that the BIOS?).... Hope this makes sense... Do you think there's hope? craigzgurl (15622)
857242 2010-03-02 08:40:00 Yeah, if it's the famous Seagate firmware bug it's fixable with some basic parts and a serial port... IF that is the problem here

I had success unbricking a seagate 500GB using this method at the weekend so it does work.

Mine was a SD25 firmware which isnt supposed to be effected, but I took a punt and it worked
custom (14911)
857243 2010-03-02 09:54:00 Given I'm not that 'techie', I did see that they pulled the case apart and attached some sort of port directly to the green board (if that makes sense)? He said it couldn't be seen. He then replaced it with a ST3500320AS board, and while it couldn't be seen through Windows, when he ran his program through it, it could pick up a drive but couldn't "see" what was on it (was that the BIOS?).... Hope this makes sense... Do you think there's hope?

Yeah, they bypassed the external case and connected to the drive directly, obviously the drive is faulty as that didn't get anywhere as you said.

Though I question their ability... Swapping boards with obviously different model numbers sounds like a rather strange idea - unless they are actually very good and know that should work for that particular model of drive (it wouldn't surprise me, although it doesn't seem likely)

Finding out what happened would be key to determining how hopeful the situation is (or rather, how much you would need to spend)

Some Seagate drives had a firmware bug: when the bug 'activated' the drive goes into a 'safe mode' to prevent data loss. Unfortunately this also has the effect of the data then becoming inaccessible until the firmware is fixed.

Fixing the firmware is not a hard task, so if that is indeed what happened - someone who knows about this problem should be able to fix it quickly and cheaply (In fact, Seagate themselves may do this if you pay for postage which I think is about $45)

However if the drive suffered mechanical\electrical failure, say, a faulty head amplifier - it would require replacement of the head stack which is a very delicate and therefore expensive job...

I think there is a way to determine if the problem is caused by the firmware issue. One of the links Wainuitech posted probably refers to it
Agent_24 (57)
857244 2010-04-11 06:53:00 Hi SpeedyGonzales,
I have been meaning to contact you for ages. I finally got my hard drive back (issue still not able to be fixed)... if I bring it to Mt Eden, is your offer to take a look at it still open?
Thanks
craigzgurl (15622)
857245 2010-04-11 06:59:00 Well, since the guys who made the program I mentioned earlier, replied to me an in email (saying it wont work), if windows or the BIOS cant see it. I doubt it'll work. The only other way you'll be able to fix it, is the link I posted earlier in post #11 Speedy Gonzales (78)
857246 2010-04-11 07:16:00 Yeah of course you can't recover if BIOS won't see it...

But if BIOS can't see it, it might be the Firmware bug, which is actually pretty easy to fix, apparently.
Agent_24 (57)
857247 2010-04-11 07:52:00 Yup the link I posted will probably fix it. Once you get all of the parts to do it Speedy Gonzales (78)
857248 2010-04-11 09:56:00 What is the data worth to you? If the answer is quite a lot, then you could always send it to data forensics. http://www.datarecovery.co.nz/

Not cheap, expect $750+ bill.
Alex B (15479)
857249 2010-04-11 13:06:00 If Seagate have an offer to recover data for free and all you have to do is pay the postage then this would be the way to go. Going by the link posted already it states Seagate will do this for free. berryb (99)
857250 2010-04-12 09:58:00 I just checked out the Seagate free recovery. Looks like they stopped it a couple of months after they announced it. I presume it was costing them too much money. craigzgurl (15622)
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