I have made some tests with the serial cable of the image above, trying with both settings for Marvell and Samsung chips, like from the link provided from Spildit.

Hardware Flow Control tested with: None – Xon/Xoff – Rts/Cts – Dsr/Dtr

I always see garbage characters like from the Putty screen below



Now, after few seconds the clicks disappears and the Hdd motor spin down.

I'm not going to get involved in your overall problem, but to answer your question:


No! It won't work correctly (incompatible voltages) and using that might have damaged the drive's electronics.

Can I buy any TLL adapter, Usb or Com version ? They cost nothing on Ebay

Or should I buy some particular model ?

You've just sent +- 12 on expected +3.3/0 ...

Now the HD spin down after some clicks, I hope it's not related to this...

Anyway, I'll buy an Usb TTL and not the com version, so that I can use it on modern laptop with no com port.

It should create a virtual com port.

Any suggestion on TTL device is welcomed

@BlackST,

Yes, exactly - perhaps not +/- 12V, especially if it was a laptop serial port, but at least +/- 5V.

@glhd,

I don't understand exactly what you are now asking about regarding "suggestion on TTL device", but perhaps someone else understands / cares.

Maybe "something" has died completely OR the PCB was screwed during these attempts.

Is all this "just for learning" or data has still an importance ?

Recent laptops do not have serial port anymore since some years, anyway even if it was a laptop it's far more than +5/-5 ....

It was a desktop serial port...



On Ebay I've found TTL device for 2 dollars, so I'm asking if one of these ultra cheap device will work or if is better to buy something better

True, and that is why I keep using my older Toshiba - sometimes a serial port is useful.


Not the ones I have measured, which were using +/- 5V signal levels on the serial port. YMMV, of course, and that is why I said perhaps it was not +/- 12V. None of us actually know the exact TxD serial port voltage on the OP's serial port, but we certainly agree it will be outside the limits of what the drive expected.

Most of the data was backed up, but if I can recover something is better, so it's not only for learning.

Unfortunately you are making it difficult to help you, as "TTL device" is too vague to give an answer. If you supply a link to whatever you are talking about, that will probably help.

All I will say is that you have to take responsibility for your decision to do DIY. I don't know how anyone can tell you if something from Ebay will "work", or not. It could be broken, or you might connect it wrongly, or X other possible problems. Or perhaps you are describing the right adapter and it works, but your drive has already been damaged by your decision to attach the drive to a PC serial port, and so whatever you get from Ebay might appear not to work (although there are tests you can do). The point is that IMHO you are asking a hypothetical question, which is not possible for someone else to answer with confidence. Of course another member here might have a different view.

As I said a while ago, I was just trying to help by answering your earlier question. I could already see from the earlier part of the thread that there would be communication problems, so I'll stop here. Good luck

Sorry but English is not my language so sometimes I express myself in the wrong way.

Obviously I’m not asking if the Ebay seller will send a functional or broken device, but if any TTL device can be suitable for hd troubleshooting.

And last...

Good luck to you

The Putty screen dump seems to suggest that the "TTL" interface may be very tolerant. Perhaps there are latchup protection diodes on the GPIO inputs, in which case the inputs may have survived. For example, Microchip's PICs are designed to tolerate RS232 signal levels, provided there is sufficient series resistance.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

The label on the hd says that the power specification are +12V /+5V

I completely ignored that the TTL interface used different voltages

Also the Putty output was always the same between differtent tests

I'll buy one of these based on availability:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-USB-2-0-TT ... 3a731c735c

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-CP2102-USB ... 1c32b76de7

They are based on the CP210x chip with good driver support for many OS.

The GPIO pins would be powered from the onboard Vio supply. That's usually +3.3V, or maybe +2.5V.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

When this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-USB-2-0-TT ... 3a731c735c

device arrives, I have any chance of fixing something, or I can only have a better diagnose of the problem ?

Thank you

IMHO only better diagnosis - perhaps - depending on what the terminal output shows.

close to zero.