Seagate Momentus 5400.6 Click + no Smart: Firmware or Heads?

[andrea8310]

Hello everyone

I've a "dead" Seagate Momentus 5400.6 500GB, ST9500325AS Firmware : 0001BSM1.

Problem description:
- The Drive, connected to S-Ata on laptop mainboard, is detected by BIOS: name ("ST9500325AS"), NOT size (0 MB)
- MHDD: EID shows information like name ("ST9500325AS"), SN ("5VE66..."), FW ("0002"), CACHE ("8192KB"), NOT size (0 MB)
- MHDD: CANT read SMART attributes (F8) - device error
- When starting, if I stay near the hard disk I can hear it spinning up, then some clicks at regular interval, then it slows down.

Generally speaking, in your opinion is it a bad heads problem or a firmware problem ?

PS (this seagate momentus is not one of the barracudas with defective firmware)

[dmarques]

From what you describe, I would go for heads.

[Doomer]

Agree on heads

[dmarques]

By the way, does it have anything on terminal log ?

[andrea8310]

I've just read about Seagate Momentus that an issue could be also a wrong parking position of heads (from middle part of: http://www.datarecoverytools.co.uk/2009 ... -failures/ ) ... for me is first time that hear about that, have you maybe already experienced this?

"For Seagate laptop Momentus drives, heads stickition to the platter surface is one of the most common problems 2.5 inch HDDs meet. Heads are normally parked on the parking ramp outside the platters, but sometimes due to a fall or abnormal termination they fail to return to their regular parking position and are left on the surface. Immediately after the motor stops spinning they stick to the ideally smooth surface and it becomes impossible to release them without proper tools and experience.

@dmarques: unfortunately I dont have a terminal log now, only MHDD, or did u mean the mhdd.log file? I attach a picture of MHDD screen

[dmarques]

Hi,

In that case you should take the drive into a DR company, so that can make a full diagnosis, if your data is valuable of course.

[andrea8310]

A professional DR company is my next step to read back data from that HD. Generally speaking, and supposing that the DR company gets a right donor HD, by replacing the heads could data probably be read back again? Or heads replacement is a quite risky operation?

[dmarques]

Well, the risk depends on the skills of the technician, but also depends on state of the platters.
Like everything else, of course that has it's risks. But the question could be: what other option do I have?

[andrea8310]

@dmarques: here is how the matter went on, after an analysis in clean room (picture attached): http://forum.hddguru.com/picture-opened-seagate-momentus-clean-room-what-next-t18176.html.

By the way, what would you say about the System Area recovery/rebuilding question in that thread?
(I opened a new thread since the topic seemed to me a new one, so please give your opinion in the new thread above)