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 Post subject: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 25th, 2015, 12:59 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
Hi,

I wonder how to interpret Seagate's product numbers (P/N), which are not to be confused with Seagate's model numbers.

I believe that the product number tells much more than the model number.

For instance, for a drive of the same model and production site, with same board number but different MCU, the product numbers can be different.
(For instance 9BX134-505 and 9BX134-511)

From here, I assumed that the 3-digits suffix number might be coding which chips are on the PCB. But I'm really not sure, and my hard drive database is still too small to guess the meaning of each digit.

XXXXXX-YYY
123456-abc

Does one of you knows the meaning of the digits at positions "1 to 6" and "a to c" or are some of you interested in a common effort try deciphering the P/N ?

Thanks.


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 25th, 2015, 19:22 
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Joined: September 29th, 2005, 4:10
Posts: 402
Location: Moscow
Rather, it records the order number.
example:
Code:
P/N   F/W   seria   Famely   ver   Hs   Cennal   Pream   PCB   ID_PwA   N_PCB   Bank
9WS14C-070   0001LVM1   LT012   Yarra1D   YA418A-LVM1-CA0697-0001LVM1   0.1(2)   .01   D0 65   100696151    J  M329PKLG   8C   100696152 B   100693517
9WS14C-070   0001LVM1   LT012   Yarra1D   YA418A.LVM1.CA0712.0001LVM1   0.1(2)   .01   D0 77   100728360    B  K4086X5Q   8C   100696152 C   100710223
9WS14C-070   0001LVM1   LT012   Yarra1D   YA418A.LVM1.CA0697.0001LVM1   0.1(2)   .01   D0 55   100728360    A  M349W5CL   8C   100696152 C   100693517
9WS14C-070   0001LVM1   LT012   Yarra1D   YA418A.LVM1.CA0697.0001LVM1   0.1(2)   .02   B0 44   100696151    L  M3371CS9   8C   100696152 C   100693517
9WS14C-070   0001LVM1   LT012   Yarra1D   YA418A.LVM1.CA0697.0001LVM1   0.1(2)   .01   D0 75   100696151    L  M340H6BK   15   100696152 C   100693517



Last edited by Tomset on March 25th, 2015, 19:34, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 25th, 2015, 19:30 
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Joined: September 29th, 2005, 4:10
Posts: 402
Location: Moscow
delite-


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 26th, 2015, 7:16 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
Thank you,

If I understand correctly above table, the three last digits of the P/N, after the hyphen, would tell the firmware version. Is that so?

Would this mean that the firmware version, which is mentioned below the P/N, would be some kind of pleonasm?

Would this also mean that
P/N 9BX134-505
and 9BX134-511
are totally equivalent when considering a BIOS chip swap and even if different MCU chips are used by the manufacturer for the same P/N, they would be equivalent. Right?


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 26th, 2015, 10:12 
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Joined: September 29th, 2005, 12:02
Posts: 3561
Location: Chicago
SOSdonnees wrote:
From here, I assumed that the 3-digits suffix number might be coding which chips are on the PCB. But I'm really not sure, and my hard drive database is still too small to guess the meaning of each digit.
XXXXXX-YYY
123456-abc

if you are to do data recovery then you can ignore the abc, it is not important. The 123456 is a way to encode a model and it's important.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 27th, 2015, 11:58 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
Quote:
I'm really not sure, and my hard drive database is still too small to guess the meaning of each digit.
XXXXXX-YYY
123456-abc


Thanks Doomer,
Yes, it's basically to recover data.

In the particular case that I'm working on, the drive PCB was in a 12V enclosure and received 19V. The motor does't spin, but if I swap the PCB it spins again. I just hope that the BIOS was not burnt during the overvoltage, but have to try the repair to know.

If I could make the drive work directly by just swapping the BIOS it would be better as it would avoid me the extra work of a data recovery after the BIOS swap, as well as to charge the customer for some useless supply.

Could you explain in which cases are the "abc" digits important?

Could different "abc" reduce the life expextancy of the drive, make it slower or behave unperfectly?
So, should I mandatory clone the data to another drive just after the repair?
The drive itself was a priori sane and only the overvoltage burnt its circuit board.

Thanks.


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 27th, 2015, 12:48 
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Joined: September 8th, 2009, 18:21
Posts: 15440
Location: Australia
SOSdonnees wrote:
In the particular case that I'm working on, the drive PCB was in a 12V enclosure and received 19V.

Remove the 12V TVS diode (in the top right corner):

http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-144375849714 ... 1152-7.gif

See http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 28th, 2015, 7:57 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
Thank you, fzabkar.

I was aware of the trick of removing the TVS diode.
However, in this case, the diode doesn't have burnt appearance and I'm not sure that removing it would suffice.

I had once a case where even replacing a completely burnt diode by the same diode did not make the drive work again.

Removing the diode would oblige to copy the data to another drive, with some risk without the protective role of the diode. Basing on past experiences, I prefer swapping the BIOS chip.

The question is really what the meaning of those 3 last digits from the P/N suffix, if different suffix means problems in the long run, and if differant MCU chips could mean some incompatibility in the case of the Barracuda 7200.11 series.

Thanks.


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 28th, 2015, 8:25 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
@fzabkar : After reading the document from the second page you linked, I believe that the best approach for both budget and security would be :
1) removing the TVS diode
2) test the diode outside from the circuit, because either the diode or the circuit is bad
3) if the diode is burnt, try repairing the drive by replacing it, test the drive and go to step 4 if necessary
4) if the diode is not burnt, do the BIOS swap to the PCB coming from a working drive
Do you agree?

For step 4, my question concerning different P/N suffix and different MCU remains.
Quote:
XXXXXX-YYY
123456-abc
Quote:
if you are to do data recovery then you can ignore the abc, it is not important. The 123456 is a way to encode a model and it's important.
Do the "abc" become important when planning to use the drive on the long run after the repair?


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 28th, 2015, 16:25 
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Joined: September 8th, 2009, 18:21
Posts: 15440
Location: Australia
SOSdonnees wrote:
@fzabkar : After reading the document from the second page you linked, I believe that the best approach for both budget and security would be :
1) removing the TVS diode
2) test the diode outside from the circuit, because either the diode or the circuit is bad
3) if the diode is burnt, try repairing the drive by replacing it, test the drive and go to step 4 if necessary
4) if the diode is not burnt, do the BIOS swap to the PCB coming from a working drive
Do you agree?

Yes. You will probably find that the 12V diode will be shorted, in which case you would only need to confirm whether the short on the PCB goes away after removing the diode. I would test the board on its own before reinstalling it on the drive. If you wish to be thorough, I would test for shorts on the load sides of each of the onboard supplies (Vcore, Vio, V-), and I would confirm that each supply is present after powering up the PCB.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: March 28th, 2015, 17:15 
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Joined: April 3rd, 2011, 0:19
Posts: 2003
Location: Providence, RI
I won't pretend I fully understand the Seagate part number system, it's still a bit of a mystery AFAIK. However I will say that any drives with the same P/N will always have compatible PCB (after ROM transfer of course). Really the only number I look at for PCB swaps is the actual number printed on the PCB (not the sticker, but the number in green on the board). If you're hoping to cold swap the PCB you are out of luck, it'll never work without ROM transfer even if everything matches.

I do try to match the P/N on Seagate drives for head swaps if I can, but even then they often are different. Usually always the same headmap, but different preamp and even different sliders as seen under a microscope.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: April 1st, 2015, 13:34 
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Joined: July 7th, 2014, 6:44
Posts: 192
Location: Switzerland
Thanks, fzabkar and data-medics.

@data-medics : Sure that cold swap doesn't suffice.
Quote:
Really the only number I look at for PCB swaps is the actual number printed on the PCB (not the sticker, but the number in green on the board).
Assuming that you mean the number in white on the green board, do you mean that you don't even match the P/N when doing a PCB swap?
Then, I assume you use a reballing station or equivalent to swap the large flat chips or I'm wrong?
Would swapping the BIOS between two PCB with same number suffice even if the P/N is completely different?

In my example of P/N 9BX134-505 and 9BX134-511, the boards are same, but the MCU is different. So I assume that the three last digits might be used to remember which combination of chips is on the PCB, but this would really need some investigation.

When doing a BIOS swap, do you also care about the chips (at least the main one and the motor control chip) or just the PCB?

When you tell about matching P/N, do you mean the whole P/N with the 6+3 digits or just the first six ones ?

The last three digits are sometimes difficult to match and lead to purchase drives or PCB which can sometimes be quite expensive.
For a BIOS swap, did anyone try matching just the first six numbers of the P/N (as well of course as the PCB board number)?


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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: April 1st, 2015, 15:06 
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Joined: April 3rd, 2011, 0:19
Posts: 2003
Location: Providence, RI
Yes, I'm sure that you can't cold swap. That may work in about 1 out of 100 cases, but it's very rare. You almost always have to transfer the ROM code. As for the number printed on the PCB it is usually in green like you see in this picture:
Attachment:
PCB Number.jpg
PCB Number.jpg [ 661.66 KiB | Viewed 31136 times ]



It is best if the motor control chip matches, however I've found that even if it doesn't it often works if the PCB number is the same. I generally don't physically move any chips over except in rare cases. I just use PC-3000 to read the ROM code and program it to the replacement PCB digitally. However if you don't have any tool capable of this, you can move the ROM chip over (assuming it has one).

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: April 1st, 2015, 15:17 
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Joined: April 3rd, 2011, 0:19
Posts: 2003
Location: Providence, RI
However like Fzabkar mentioned, you should really just test for continuity on the TVS diodes. If either of them are shorted, just remove it and give it a shot. You won't always see a burn or any outward indication, but a multimeter will quickly determine that. If the PCB still doesn't work, look to see if it has a ROM chip that can be moved over. It'll most likely look just like this layout:
http://ep.yimg.com/ay/yhst-144375849714 ... 1152-7.gif

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 Post subject: Re: Interpreting Seagate's P/N ?
PostPosted: February 5th, 2018, 8:33 
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Joined: February 5th, 2018, 8:13
Posts: 15
Location: Tel aviv
Guys i need help desperately.
I have seagate which model no:ST2000DM001 PN:9YN164-306 is bad head. When power applied head click 10-11 times and power down by itself and bios is not recognised hdd. So i learn i need to replace head a donor drive. I buy a a hdd which same model number and PN:9YN164-500 and open it but WHAT

9YN164-306 : 3 Disc and 5 Head reader (Not working)
9YN164-500: 2 Disc and 4 Head reader (Donor)

So what am i going to do? Which PN i need? All same or what?
Sorry for my bad language and thanks for all help.


Attachments:
IMG-20180117-WA0010.jpg
IMG-20180117-WA0010.jpg [ 93.58 KiB | Viewed 26957 times ]
IMG_20180116_234318.jpg
IMG_20180116_234318.jpg [ 3.66 MiB | Viewed 26958 times ]
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