Hello and thanks for reading this.

Please, I most humbly want to communicate with someone who has successfully used loader.exe and pcmx_dsp.exe to repair the Maxtor Athena problem.

I have loader.exe. I have pcmx_dsp.exe. I have the needed .ldr and .ram files. I know how to put the drive in safe mode. I know I have to repair the G and P lists.

Since this is always asked, here are the details of my problem:

Maxtor model 2B010H1
Code WAH21PB0
20GB capacity
2B010H1110651 KMBA

I used Ghost 2004 to image the drive. Next I wanted to format the drive and use it for another task, since the original function was migrated to another computer running Windows XP.

The drive had an 8GB partition because it had Windows NT installed.

Next I used Windows XP Disk Management to 1) delete the 8GB partition then 2) create a 20GB primary partition.

Then I proceeded to format as NTFS.

Formatting went to 100% then reported that formatting had failed.

I rebooted to DOS and tried to use Fdisk. Fdisk reported 'can not access drive'.

Next I rebooted then entered computer setup. BIOS recognized the drive as Maxtor Athena.

I contacted Maxtor, but they declined to help.

During the course of my web research I saw many posts related to the Maxtor Athena firmware corruption problem. Those who managed to solve the problem always stated that it was simple and easy-- once they got the needed utilities and files and figured out the Russian language menus.

I tried the SalvationData software, but it failed with the message 'firmware has been changed'.

What is frustrating is that because no one will help, no one will help. Thus a vicious circle of negativity is perpetuated, fueled by the greed and egos of hard drive repair techs who feel their income will be reduced because of minor problems like the Maxtor Athena issue.

I saw long lectures about spending months and years learning about hard drive technology, that low level drive repair can cause more problems if the operator is not knowledgeable, the software is expensive, just buy a new drive it is the simplest and cheapest thing to do, yadda yadda yadda.

The Maxtor Athena problem is a simple problem to fix. What is the big deal? No one will lose any business or money since Maxtor has merged with Seagate and will not support the drive anyway, no one is willing to pay hundreds of $USD for a pro drive recovery service to fix such a simple problem.

Again, I have the Russian language version of loader.exe and pcmx_dsp.exe.

First, I have to configure my computer to display the Cyrillic menus properly. Next, I have to use my Russian language text book and translate the Cyrillic menus. The translation will be even more difficult since my text book probably does not include technical Russian terminology.

So I humbly ask for help. In return, I will help others from the privacy of my web site for FREE.

I guess I have started down the road to learning Russian, writing my own HDD repair util and opening a data recovery business.

Hello,

Do U call using stolen SW U don't want to pay for an opening of DR business?
Again I ask the question: Why people think others work for sh.t?
Things have their price, that's life.
I usually like helping people, but I won't share any info about how a stolen piece of SW should be used.

sorry if I was too straightforward.
regards,
pepe

bad, bad, bad - banned - bye

SalvationData software should help. Just read carefully the instructions.

Good luck!

Good studies!

I was....

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