Data recovery and disk repair questions and discussions related to old-fashioned SATA, SAS, SCSI, IDE, MFM hard drives - any type of storage device that has moving parts
September 18th, 2010, 14:49
Good evening All,
I hope you can help me. I have Seagate ST 3250310NS (250GB SATA) PCB problem (couldn't be seen from the BIOS ).
I bought new one with same model ,same P/M ,same firmware ,same date code and same site code.
I changed PCB with the new but BIOS detected st_m13fqbl 8.4 gb .
Is this mean head problem or firmware problem ?
Pls any advice
Thank you
September 18th, 2010, 18:59
You can't simply swap the PCB on these drives. Just because it cannot be seen in BIOS, does not necessarily mean it's a PCB fault. Could be SA or weak heads, etc.
You need to diagnose fully, have you access to terminal?
September 18th, 2010, 23:33
What is the firmware version of your drive?
It may be that your drive has fallen victim to the 7200.11 BSY bug that also affected ES.2 models. If that is the case, then Seagate offers free data recovery. Alternatively, you may be able to apply an easy DIY fix.
The reason that the drive is being identified as ST_M13FQBL is that it is unable to read a reserved area on the platters, in which case it reverts to identifying itself with the generic information stored in the serial EEPROM on the PCB.
September 19th, 2010, 7:13
fzabkar wrote:What is the firmware version of your drive?
It may be that your drive has fallen victim to the 7200.11 BSY bug that also affected ES.2 models. If that is the case, then Seagate offers free data recovery. Alternatively, you may be able to apply an easy DIY fix.
The reason that the drive is being identified as ST_M13FQBL is that it is unable to read a reserved area on the platters, in which case it reverts to identifying itself with the generic information stored in the serial EEPROM on the PCB.
Hi Fzakbar
Firmware version is HPG1.If i use the update firmware software from Seagate it possible to fix the problem and data can be save ?
Thank you
September 19th, 2010, 21:30
HP provide firmware updates for your drive.
Advisory: (Revision) HP SATA Hard Drives - FIRMWARE UPGRADE REQUIRED to Prevent Erroneous Drive Failures on Certain HP SATA Hard Drive Models:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/Te ... =c01612429However, you need to repair your drive before you can apply the update.

See this thread for an easy DIY fix:
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/ATA-and-Se ... 036#M19464Here is the appropriate Seagate tech bulletin:
http://www.expreview.com/img/topic/seag ... Update.pdf
September 20th, 2010, 4:24
Hi fzabkar
Thank you very much for you advice.
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