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 Post subject: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 9th, 2017, 14:55 
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Joined: August 9th, 2017, 14:38
Posts: 3
Location: Norway
Hi!

I have an old firmware bricked 7200.11. The computer doesn't recognize the HDD and it produces a sound that's hard to explain. People that seemed to have the same problem used this guide and had their HDD work again: https://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/

I started watching this TY vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P90g52qm1mY

Bought a Nokia CA-42 cable. In the video it said throw away the connector part (this part: http://imgur.com/eINfpSn), which I did, since the USB part was supposed to look like this: http://imgur.com/XgdEX0k

But when I opened my cable it looked like this: http://imgur.com/k41QtX5
So now I can't see what cable is RX/TX etc.
And the colors of the cables is not the same either. My cables look like this: http://imgur.com/30EpFpW

Do I need to buy a new cable?

Thanks a lot in advance!


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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 9th, 2017, 18:08 
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Joined: August 9th, 2017, 14:38
Posts: 3
Location: Norway
The sound wasn't what I remembered. I just plugged it in and recorded the sound: https://soundcloud.com/user-869102898/031a

Pics of the HDD:
http://imgur.com/JhgHgFM
http://imgur.com/TMTyQ0k


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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 9th, 2017, 19:44 
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Joined: October 16th, 2013, 13:21
Posts: 713
Location: Brazil
Do you still have the connector part ? With that you could trace the wires to match the correct colors and pinout. Or get a CP2102 / CP2104 adapter from the usual chinese sources.


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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 9th, 2017, 20:36 
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Joined: September 8th, 2009, 18:21
Posts: 15461
Location: Australia
Can you scrape away the coating to reveal the markings on the IC?

Can you puncture the coating and make contact with each of the IC's 8 pins? Needle point probes would be ideal for this purpose. We could then use a multimeter to perform continuity checks with each of the wires.


Attachments:
CA-42_IC.jpg
CA-42_IC.jpg [ 133.61 KiB | Viewed 7459 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 10th, 2017, 8:46 
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Joined: August 9th, 2017, 14:38
Posts: 3
Location: Norway
rogfanther wrote:
Do you still have the connector part ? With that you could trace the wires to match the correct colors and pinout. Or get a CP2102 / CP2104 adapter from the usual chinese sources.


No, I threw it away a couple of days before.

fzabkar wrote:
Can you scrape away the coating to reveal the markings on the IC?

Can you puncture the coating and make contact with each of the IC's 8 pins? Needle point probes would be ideal for this purpose. We could then use a multimeter to perform continuity checks with each of the wires.


To start. I'm a complete noob. I do have a multimeter at home though.
I was able to scrape away the coating with a knife, but I also scraped the IC a little bit (just the tiniest bit, it barely made a mark). Does it matter?

What did you guys make of the sound the HDD makes?

Thanks!


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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 10th, 2017, 16:45 
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KarambaBread wrote:
I was able to scrape away the coating with a knife, but I also scraped the IC a little bit (just the tiniest bit, it barely made a mark). Does it matter?

No, it's only packaging material.

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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 10th, 2017, 18:38 
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Joined: October 16th, 2013, 13:21
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Location: Brazil
In Windows, how is the cable recognized ? Which are the names of the drivers / hardware strings it is detected ? That chip *could* be a PL2303SA


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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 10th, 2017, 20:25 
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Location: Australia
rogfanther wrote:
That chip *could* be a PL2303SA

http://prolificusa.com/files/DS_PL2303SA_d20120504.pdf

I suppose that's possible, but ISTM that the PCB layout would be much more logical if the chip were rotated 180 degrees. The way it is now, the USB pins (5 & 6) are on the "wrong" side (ie facing away from the USB connector), and the TxD/RxD pins (2 & 4) are facing away from the TTL cable.


Attachments:
PL2303SA_pinout.gif
PL2303SA_pinout.gif [ 7.2 KiB | Viewed 7366 times ]

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 Post subject: Re: Old problem, Seagate 7200.11, connecting CA-42 cable
PostPosted: August 12th, 2017, 11:10 
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Joined: August 4th, 2017, 20:56
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Location: London
I am currently attempting to use terminal with my own drive, however, I used a different adapter (my own board for FT232R, not recommended) but have experience with the CA-42 cables as I used them years ago for my own projects. Their drivers aren't very stable, and they are generally unpleasant to work with.

It seems the adapter you have has been potted in epoxy, best not to scrape it away, not only does that take a very long time, you risk destroying the circuit underneath. You can work out what pins are ground, Tx and Rx using a multimeter, or at the very least and LED and a resistor. I would guess that black is GND/0V, with the green and white being Rx and Tx, but you must check this before plugging them into the drive - I don't know if the drives pins have input protection.

What would be quicker, easier, and cheaper if you don't have a multimeter or access to electronics, is to buy a CP2102 module as recommended. With that said, I have seen PCB's on ebay specifically for use with hard drives - they have the 2mm 4-way socket with the right pinout, 1.8V TTL voltage levels, and the CP2102 has a more stable driver than PL2303x or the FT232R. The CH340 based adapters will also work well.

One base don the FT232R (not ideal but should work):
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FT232BM-BL-Se ... SwNRdX29I7

Another CP2102:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seagate-7200- ... Sw~AVYpu4W

Note, both the above work on 3.3V IO. You will have to check what the IO voltage is on your drive. Older drives were 3.3V (same as adapter) but newer ones are 1.8V. This will still work with an FT232R-based adapter but you will need to add resistors in series with the Tx and Rx lines.


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