Hi All,
I am very new here and also to the HDD recovery / repair. I am trying to fully understand the intricacies of hard drives and have read and watched several pro's over the years. I have never attempted a repair on my own until now. I have a 3TB Seagate drive SN: Z1F0F75M, Model: ST3000DM001, PN: 9YN166-302, FW: CC4C, Date: 12303, Site: TK. The dreaded ST3000DM001 which suddenly stopped working. I've spent a good few hours on DFL's forum reading about the many issues with this drive, especially relating to the Firmware. I think this case could be slightly different.
Here is the problem. The drive spins up with no clicking or funny noises but is not detected in the bios, there was no physical damage or power issue as far as im aware. When first powered on it spins up as normal without an issue. When scanned in DFL-SRP it shows the following:

Boot 0x40M

Spin Up[0x00004313][0x00004313]ZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMddddddW

PreampFaultStatus = 0000YW

PreampFaultStatus = 0000YWMMMMMMSxxxxZWZWZWZWZWZWZWZW

I am thinking it could well be bad head's, in which case i will attempt to replace with donor ones. The data on the drive is not that important but i would like to recover it, and it will make for good practice of my new found skill.
Everything relates to getting to F3 >T but its just not possible. I have tried shorting the read pins as suggested in the DFL Forum, I have also sent Liam & Stanley a request message but they are not replying to me so could be on holiday.

My question is,

Could these symptoms indicate a Firmware issue? or is it possibly a fault on the PCB? That seems more unlikely to me. I thought there may be a few things I could try. And any help from you fellow pros's would be fantastic and greatly appreciated.


Thanks for any advice.

Hi jermy,

Thank you for the reply to my problem.

Either im missing the point and if so please excuse my ignorance! or i'm just a lamer. Yeah probably both ha ha.
Im presuming the error shown in the link you posted "https://www.data-medics.com/forum/seagate-f3-terminal-command-set-t901.html" is referring to the section "TCC-001A[0x000042F9][0x000042F9]" which if im correct refers to a SERVO or read fault possibly on the PCB.

My fault "PreampFaultStatus = 0000YW" is not the same as i was presuming its referring to the "Preamp.

Have i missed the point here or is there something im just not seeing. In either case how do i determine if its the PCB or mechanical. Do i require a donor PCB to fix this if it is at all fixable.


Kind regards
Trev

Replacing the PCB is not gonna solve your problem, most likely a physical problem (preamp/heads/media damage)

Hi jeremy,

Thank you for the reply, I originally suspected it was just a Firmware issue as i was originally receiving a different output from the drive. I was unable to get it to F3 >T by shorting the different pins as suggested. I think i might have inadvertently shorted the Preamp (Wrong pins) and it now shows the message i listed above that's referring to the Preamp. I am now thinking a HSA replacement is most likely the only thing i can try in order to resolve this and get my data off the drive.

Would you or anyone reading this know if the HSA from any Seagate 3TB will fit or does the donor have to be exactly the same as the patient drive.

Kind regards
Trev

One thing I would like to comment:
it seems to be your first HSA replacement, so... if the data is valuable to you, than don't Do It Yourself, the chances of success is 0%, especially with your drive (DM series), send it to a DR pro
PS if you insist I wouldn't mind to provide you the details, but I honestly think its gonna be a waste of time and money, not to mention the outcome of making it even worse till losing your data for good.
So again if the data is valuable to you than send it to a pro.

+1

only head-swap wont work, need more work.

_________________
Data Recovery Pakistan

Unfortunately, not any head assembly from a 3TB Seagate will work.
Even if you match the donor as close as possible, high chances that it will still be incompatible.

With modern drives, for a couple of years now, rarely a straight component swap works. The reason being is that with the increase of storage density, significant manufacturing technology advancements and adjustments have taken place to make it possible. As result there are differences at physical and firmware level among various drive components. Why does this matter?

It matters because, in terms of identifying the areas of adjustment, without knowledge of these factors along with the proper tools to implement and perform those adjustments while being mindful of minimizing risk of data destruction and alternatively maximizing chances of files recovery, then there is virtually 0% chance of successfully recovering the data.

_________________
Hard Disk Drive, SSD, USB Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Thank you all so much for your valuable replies.

FYI i have over the years removed the lids of exactly 10 HDD of which 2 were clearly platter damaged. the other 8 we managed to swap parts from donor drives but only 6 had retrievable information. I personally don't think 6 out of 8 is bad for my level of experience. I must point out that the 2 guys i worked with were computer techs, boffins and worked directly for our local council. We also had a makeshift clean room. Unfortunately these guys and I have moved on when the council closed the department and contracted out the works.

I still have a gut feeling that this drive is able to be fixed without opening it? It boots and spins up as a normal drive should do. No repetitive clicking or scraping noises at all, and it does not power down until i remove the power. You hear the drive click when i switch off the power so i presume it parking the heads as normal?

If it was the Preamp then wouldn't it still be possible to get the drive to F3T.

Kind regards
Trev

Well,
DFL Claims To Provide The Best Support in The Industry Which i Have Never Experienced Myself ,When They Took Your Money Then They Were Not On Vacation Am I Right ,Write Here in This Forums So That They Give You Support I For The Matter Have Stopped Asking For Help From Them .

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

Hello Amarbir,

Yes DFL were on holiday this weekend just gone, including Monday & Tuesday. They set up my account but i had no permissions to access their forums so i had to look at alternative locations. I have spoken to Liam on Skype just a few hours ago and he still seems to think the drive should go to F3T and that im just not shorting the pins at the right time or im shorting the wrong pins? (Believe me i have tried for many hours and different combinations) This is why i think i may have shorted the wrong pins in the process.

I was interested in other user's thoughts and experiences as its difficult to communicate with DFL due to the time zone difference and my work commitments. I just wondered if anyone had experienced the exact same fault and if there was a way to circumvent it.

It does seem that a lot of members are keeping their cards very close to their chest? and i can fully understand why.


Kind regards
Trev

Auch, you wanna tell me that the terminal log you have posted above is while trying to short the read channel ?
if so, please upload a log that's done naturally (without trying to short anything.

I could be wrong, so please, any DFL users correct me.
A while ago, I had the opportunity to play a little on DFL. And I remember that quite often on pin shorting, the ZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMZ message would come on. Not sure why this was happening, but it did. While on PC3K it did not.

_________________
Hard Disk Drive, SSD, USB Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

Hello Jermy,

Yes the above is what im getting without shorting the pins.
This is the output from Log using the DFL-SRP also without shorting pins.
............................................... Model :
............................................... Serial :
............................................... Frimware :
............................................... Capacity :
............................................... Sector size :
............................................... Heads number : Obtain failed

............................................... FW info : Obtain failed

............................................... Modules list : Obtain success
===================================Init. completed===================================.
............................................... COM open success
............................................... (Baud Rate:38400;Data bits:8;Parity:0;Stop Bit:0)

............................................... Attempting to go to boot mode
............................................... Boot mode failed, try to short the PCB.






Before i attempted the procedure at the very begining this is the log i was getting.

Boot 0x40M
Spin Up[0x00026F7C][0x000273E8][0x00027854]
Trans.

Rst 0x40M
MC Internal LPC Process
Spin Up
(P) SATA Reset

MCMainPOR: Start:
Check MCMT Version: Current
MCMainPOR: Non-Init Case
MC Seg Disc and Cache Nodes: 40125B28 40122F00
Seg Write Preamble VBM start: 0000204A end: 00002091
Footer - start: 00002093 end: 000020DA
Seg Read Preamble VBM - start: 000020DC end: 00002123
Footer - start: 00002125 end: 0000216C
Reconstruction: MCMT Reconstruction Start
Max number of MC segments 0A61
Nonvolatile MCMT sequence number 00084922
[RSRS] 00BF
ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 0000000000009B50 Sense Code=40000087
InitiateMarkPendingReallocateRequest for disc_lba: 0000000000009B50!

[SW] 0002
Reconstruction: EXCEPTION: Seg Read Fail: Status = 0000
Continuing after error
ReadFooters (Forward): Segment 00C0 StartLBA 000000000004DA00 Starting Footer L
BA 000000000004DA48
SeqNum 00084924 TotalUserBlocks 0000
ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 0000000000009B50 Sense Code=40000087
InitiateMarkPendingReallocateRequest for disc_lba: 0000000000009B50!

Footer Status = 0000
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Footer Status = 0001
Reconstruction: EXCEPTION: Segment Overall Sequence Number Mismatch, No Valid Fo
oter 00084924 20000406
Reconstruction: ProcessIncompletelyWrittenSegment


This is why i think i shorted wrong pins, or more than one fault on the drive!

Any help would be fantastic.


Kind regards
Trev

You probably (most likely) shorted other things than read channel
now, (if you getting tha log like the original post) 99.9% preamp is goner I'm afraid

Hi Jermy,

I thought as much in terms or shorting something other than the correct pins.

Do you think it possible that i have blown something on the PCB (Diode or IC Chip of some kind) controlling the Preamp? and thus the actual Preamp on the HSA would not have been killed.
Im just wandering if a PCB swap and putting the original ROM chip on the donor would work? i think even if the Preamp was swapped, i may have blown something else on the PCB.

Do you think this will work.


Kind regards
Trev

Jermy ,
Correct Me If i Am Wrong Initially i Think It Was Just a SMP Media Cache Fault

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

maybe, need to start taking some measurements or replace PCB
HSA is already replaced ?

depends on what sysfile is @ 0x9B50...
definitely make sense.
need to fix preamp issue first, then the OP will answer that.

And that's why you guys are true professionals!

Readings are what i need to do indeed.
Would anyone know what the voltages should be. A circuit diagram for this model would be fantastic.

As for a donor PCB, I have found one here "http://donorpcb.com/" would you guys happen to know anywhere in the UK that sells donor PCB's.


Kind regards
Trev