PC3000 Database PCR update - ST5000DM000

[Omega]

Hello everyone,
I am Nate, a recovery engineer at SalvageData. Currently I have a rather new drive but the PC3000 Express does not have a utility for it.
Is there any way to generate a utility? I need to be able to control the heads on this guy since it has the imfamous DM series head failure issue.

If not, does anyone have a profile or database update for this drive they are willing to provide?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Kind regards,
Omega

[labtech]

I have not worked on that model yet, but I suspect it should be a Grenada drive.

The reason there seems to be no utility support is because the drive's firmware is likely locked.

[Omega]

It is... I need to regenerate the translator on it after doing a head exchange. Is there another way of access terminal on it?

[labtech]

The terminal is locked, therefore have to unlock the drive first.

What makes you think there is a need to regenerate the translator after head exchange?

[Omega]

labtech, I was told by my senior who was overseeing me on the recovery that this is what needed to be done. The drive shows up as a 3.84GB drive instead of being a full 5TB. However, before doing the head exchange the drive did not get ready at all and would click. Now the drive doesn't click and gets ready but I do not have surface access.

[Omega]

Is is maybe something else was going on instead? The drive shows up as 3.58GB instead the 5TB it should be. I cannot open the drive with any of the utilities in the PC3K since it does not support the drive yet. Is there another solution that can be done? Or is it possible there is something far more complicated going on here?

Prior to doing the head exchange the drive would just click. Now it gets ready but it has the symptoms as listed above. I had contacted Ace about this drive but haven't been able to get a resolution yet. Any further guidance or input on this matter would be appreciated.

[labtech]

Sure, you can do so many things:
-post here terminal output when powering on
-tell us what the customer said regarding how the drive may have failed
-did it come from external drive OR not?
-have the original heads been inspected for damage?
-any media damage?
-how about any debris?
-has the PCB been confirmed to be native?
-were the firmware resources from the donor drive backed up prior to using its heads in the patient? If yes, then that should have brought up the "learning how to unlock the firmware" situation.
etc.

[Omega]

Sure, you can do so many things:
-post here terminal output when powering on
Unable to get terminal output when powering on
-tell us what the customer said regarding how the drive may have failed
I have a Seagate 5TB external hard drive. I could see the drive seated on my desktop, but would get a warning that the disk was not ejected properly. I would close the warning and the drive was still there on my desktop. I could access the files etc. I purchased a new drive to back the 5TB up to, and the day it was delivered, the Seagate 5TB would no longer show up. I did have a local data recovery guy make an attempt at accessing the files and he was unsuccessful. It did not make any loud clicking or grinding noises.
-did it come from external drive OR not?
It is an external
-have the original heads been inspected for damage?
Yes they have been. Did not see any signs of damage
-any media damage?
Non that could be seen. Did not see any evidence in the drive
-how about any debris?
No. Drive was clean
-has the PCB been confirmed to be native?
Yes. Serial from PCB matches serial on drive
-were the firmware resources from the donor drive backed up prior to using its heads in the patient? If yes, then that should have brought up the "learning how to unlock the firmware" si

Since drive was unsupported, resources could not be backed up. Tried multiple times in multiple different ways.

Drive is now spinning up, clicks twice, then spins down. I am thinking the heads are not compatible. Then again, even on the donor drive (which was perfectly healthy) I could not get terminal access on it either.

[labtech]

There should still be terminal output on power on.

Seems like this 5TB version is not supported by Ace in terms of unlocking. They should be able to confirm as they start communicating back.

Spin down, yes, likely not compatible or media damage.

The thing is the customer said it was not clicking prior to taking it to "the one guy who took a look at it". Then you said it came in and it was clicking. So, something may have happened there in between.

[Omega]

That is what I was thinking. Guess it is time to go hunting for a another donor. Thanks labtech. I will keep this thread updated if I run into other issues.

[labtech]

Np. Before hunting for another donor though, I would test the donor heads back on the donor to see if they still work.

[Omega]

Okay, will do.

[Omega]

The heads I had used before don't work in the donor anymore. I had another drive on hand and used it as well, the same thing happened there. Looks like the customer's drive has platter damage someplace.

[DataPros]

Just to add, we received one of these today. It spins up, clicks a couple or three times, powers
down and shows Ready in PC3K. When you enter the utility, it shows Model, serial number, but
only 3.86GB capacity. (see attached)

We opened this in our clean room and reveals Very slight marks at the front leading edge of
the top platter. So, an impact is evident, but no major scratches are seen.

Looking for a good donor (for heads) now...

-PP
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Attachments

[pepe]

Hi, this is probably one of the Crawford family. Locked, Fw signed.
Ace currently does not support it afaik, but can be unlocked.

[Omega]

Yeah... I replaced the heads after getting it unlocked... but that did not work. Did 2 head exchanges and tried my best to get the best match. No go. I tried several other things but still couldn't even get SA access. I put the heads back into each of the donor drives and tried them. None of them worked afterwards... Suspecting there was maybe platter damage somewhere.

[grig85]

most likely platter is damaged, or you did something wrong on the swap if the swapback does not work.

[werner]

Yeah... I replaced the heads after getting it unlocked... but that did not work. Did 2 head exchanges and tried my best to get the best match. No go. I tried several other things but still couldn't even get SA access. I put the heads back into each of the donor drives and tried them. None of them worked afterwards... Suspecting there was maybe platter damage somewhere.

Hi @Omega. Did you have any luck with this case? Have one similar. If you want we can chat via private message. But would need you to message me since I'm new here. Thank you

[werner]

Hi, this is probably one of the Crawford family. Locked, Fw signed.
Ace currently does not support it afaik, but can be unlocked.

Hello @pepe. Or do you possibly have some insight on unlocking these Crawford drives? Could use some help with a drive that has crucial data. Thank you!

[werner]

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Last edited by werner on December 6th, 2016, 2:00, edited 1 time in total.