Hello!

I have an issue with my Seagate 7200.12 drive, ST31000528AS on firmware CC38. It disappeared and I really need the files there. I have set up a terminal, logged in sucessfuly & this is what I get:



I have found many topics how to fix 7200.11 & commands list, so first I checked if in my drive all is the same, with Q command on level T. The commands are attached to this post. The SMART reset command looked the same, so I did it (N1 on level 1), as well as m0. However, after getting m0 this is what I got:


Is there any way I could get my data back? I would really appreciate your help here.

Hi,
it was not a good idea to insert command m0,2,2,,,,,22.
7200.12 hdd are not the same as 7200.11, with that command very likely you have killed the NRG list and now you have limited sector access.
7200.11 doesn't have NRG list so you can give m0,2,2,,,,,22 command but on 7200.12 that command is dangerous.

Please explain better what were the initial symptoms, you wrote "It disappeared" !!
What do you mean?
It disappeared just in windows or also in the BIOS?

Is it now detect in the computer BIOS?
Does the drive produce abnormal clicking sounds?

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI#MxP2J6ZNqXDcrX40I8MoQQ

Thank you for the reply!

The command description looked almost identical in 7200.11 & 7200.12 that's why I took the risk. I've followed stuff on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18907&start=20

At the beginning the whole computer died, it turned out that due to a PSU failure. I've inserted a new one & all woke up except the drive, so I would eliminate hardware issues. It was visible in the Win7 disk management tool, but with an exclamation mark & 0MB size. The drive had never fall or experienced physical damage.

Computer BIOS sees the drive number & make correctly, however with a wrong size (33MB).
Te sounds are normal - I have another 2TB Seagate drive which sounds similar.

Can you imagine my bad luck: I bought a second drive, started the migration. I've copied biggest files, like 100GB of my pictures etc., but left documents and important stuff thinking "it's late at night, I will finish tomorrow". Unplugged the new drive, did 5 min web surfing, checked emails and went to seep. Next morning - computer is dead & can't access for example my amost finished dissertation...

I think your drive has bad sectors with some pending sectors.
Due to this translator got corrupt, for this reason you didn't have no more access to the drive.

After you inserted command m0,2,2,,,,,22 you regenerated translator, for this reason now the drive is again accessible in the BIOS but with limited sector access (because of NRG list not taken in account).
On a 7200.11 drive would been ok to use m0,2,2,,,,,22 command because there isn't a NRG list, but not good for 7200.12 with pending sectors.

If i'm right, now your drive can't access anymore to some sectors (limited sector access), you might confirm this by using MHDD.
Download the ISO and write on a CD
http://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/

In mhdd try to do a surface scan by pressing F8 twice, if you see errors stop the scan and do a picture to the screen, then post the pic here.
If it's as i think i might help you to recover data by repairing NRG list and cloning data on a new drive.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI#MxP2J6ZNqXDcrX40I8MoQQ

Thank you for the reply - I do not have any CD reader to plug-in & boot from. As soon as I get one I will try to proceed with the scan.

IF YOU HAVEN'T CLEAR the G-List (And Non-Resident G) Do this :

on F3 T> issue

m0,6,3,,,,,22

press enter and wait for it to finish. Do not power off the drive untill it finish and drop again to F3 T>

Then to help with recovery (copy files out) disable relocation by sending the followin commands one by one (press enter at the end of the 22) :

F0A2,00,22

F01E4,00,22

F057C,043C,22

Now try to clone the drive or copy the data out.

If you have cleared the G-List this will NOT help you out as data for the Non-Resident G-List will be gone and you will need special tools to gain full access to the data, like PC3K Fork method or to fix the issue manualy with the "Leonardo Method".

Hopefully if all that you have done was to re-gen translator with the WRONG command but the non-resident G-List is still intact, using the correct command will regen the translator taking intro account the non-resident G and you will gain access to the data / user area again.

Hi, thank you for the info - ALL I did was what I worte in the initial post - does it mean that the G list is still there?

In the initial post you wrote that you gave command m0,2,2,0,0,0,0,22
This command it's dangerous on this drive if you had entries inside NRG list.

Now you have to check with mhdd if you get access to all sectors (from LBA 0 to LBA 1953525167), if you get errors on all sectors since a determined LBA until the last LBA then we will know that command m0 destroyed NRG list.
If so then we need to fix NRG with special equipment to get again access to all sectors.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI#MxP2J6ZNqXDcrX40I8MoQQ

Greetings !

If i'm understanding correctly you attempted to clear S.M.A.R.T. and then you created a new translator for the drive, not taking intro consideration the defects present on the non-resident G-List.

If you didn't reset the growing defect list, then making the translator but this time taking intro consideration the defects on the non-resident G-List should take care of the partial access problem that you are facing, assuming that the drive doesn't have further problems like damaged heads.

m0,6,3,,,,,22

Hi,
thank you all for contribution.
Now I would like to summarize the topic:
- currently the drive is visible in BIOS properly with correct size, detection is like on the other healthy drive, no unusual clicks etc.
- first partition is visible (63, NTFS), but only partition because:
- up to LBA16910 surface scan is perfect, after that point all are UNCR so the data is not accesible (00).

I've tried what Spildit-Temp and Madoka suggested: m0,6,3,,,,,22 but it didn't help.
I also put commands to disable reallocation to speed up the backup process if the data will be finally accessible.

Is really this NRG list destroyed or is it something else? Is it possible to fix it somehow? Can it (NRG list) be manually populated?
One thing keeps bothering me, when issuing the m0,2,2,,,,,22 command among other I got that result:


I've never seen such answer in terminal when going through other topics.
Also when command m0,6,3,,,,,22 was issued I got something similar with one difference: 11% instead of 5% completed.
Maybe this is a clue?

I'm very sorry to ear that the m0,6 command didn't solved the problem.
At the moment all leads me to believe that the drive is stuck with the "partial access problem" because of the damaged translator created without taking intro consideration the non-resident g-list entries, that probably are gone as well.

To fix this issue you will need specialized tools like PC-3000 UDMA/Express, the Salvation Data tool, or lacking those you can try the "Leonardo Method" but chances for recover the drive using the mentioned method might not be the best.

The idea of the "Leonardo Method" would be to re-create the translator by tanking intro account the defects that were once on the Non-Resident G-List; but we are assuming that the "translator" problem is the only problem with your drive. There might be further issues, that is why you should really consider to send the drive to a pro with the correct tools to diagnose and gain access to your data.

If you want to attempt the "Leonardo Method" you might want as well start by re-activating the relocation again :

F3 T>F,,22

Thanks Madoka but this didn't help either.

After bad sector is added to V4 list and then regeneration is issued I see the NRG list (V40) is growing and V4 is emptied.
But the problem is not resolved, the same LBA and following after restart are UNCR, also when issuing the m0,6,3,,,,,22 I'm getting this again:

I also checked V1 - user slip defect list - how large this list should be? On this drive is endless: 18F8 etries and 19CEA slips
V40 counts 8A entries
and V8 counts 7B for all heads

You need to use "fork" function in pc3000 or the "OneKey fix" in HD Doctor.
You can't fix this via terminal, sorry.

_________________
My firmware database:
https://mega.nz/folder/O01DkBRI#MxP2J6ZNqXDcrX40I8MoQQ

Understood, OK I will try to look for someone in Poland with that equipment.
I will be checking this topic for next few days, if something comes to your mind please let me know in this thread.

Once more, thank you all for contribution and help.

Go here, ask for Aviko, they will help you:
http://odzyskamy.to/pl/p/odzyskiwanie-danych

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Hi ,
Learned a Lot Today For The F3 Family .I would like to learn a lot more as this is the only drive family i do not have much knowledge about due to 2 or 3 years absense from DR field

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

I have identified UNC errors on deepspar4, H D Doctor for Seagate,PC3000udma, and on Dolphin dfl frp.
My hard disk with partial access issue ,fails to recover data by any of the methods described as above.All the tools start well. DFL--- It shows complete in 2 minutes Signifying either there is a bug in DFL or the translator is badly broken,Seagate continues to add lba s but the time taken is infinite, may be 3 days,same with the case of PC3000, using the fork method.
Is it normal for drives with partial access to take much time to recover from partial access issue?

_________________
Aroara M P Singh.
Data Recovery Factory India.