Seagate ST3000DM001 Spins, no data access. Please help.

[kilbert]

Hello all. I have a Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001, Spins, but that’s about it. No beeps or grinding noise, actually sounds like a normal drive. I have it out of the PC and will try to mount it via USB. I am hoping to pull some of the data off in any way I can.
Thanks in advance.

Pic of the drive: http://imgur.com/a/YTDV4


JOhn KIlbert

[kilbert]

I removed the PC board and tested the 0 ohm resistors, they check out. I know I likely lost all data on the drive, but I would like to try to fix it. (hey I may learn something).
Thanks.

[HaQue]

just curious, were you transferring a large amount of DAT in one go anytime recently? Such as 100GB or more at once?

I have had a few drives fail when doing some large data transfers, and I am beginning to think a sustained read/write for long periods is detrimental to heads or some other components

[Jano952]

HaQue: It is possible.... many computers have bad cooling and whole HDD will overheat.

What about trying connecting it to terminal ? It might give us some ideas what happened

[kilbert]

To hook to terminal do you mean this: http://files.hddguru.com/download/Datas ... 32%20Port/

or maybe this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FTDI-7200-11-Se ... 1192229108
?

No I was not transferring data. at the time, but I did recently (within a week) move a huge chunk of data from that drive.

[Jano952]

Yes first link is terminal for classic COM Port (RS-232), It converts RS-232 voltage levels to TTL (I call it UART ).
Second link is USB <-> TTL level voltage terminal, both should do the same.

BUT ! If you really need data take it to pro DR. If you want to DIY I think there is only small chance of getting data, because there is no visible damage (could be internal, heads, or just missing voltage) and terminal might not say anything... dont buy any terminal things for now, it was just my idea, be patient, wait for more ideas

If you really want to DIY, you will have to check all voltages first, fzabkar will have more ideas what to do

[Jano952]

I was thinking a bit more about it, do heads move ? If heads were damaged, would not it click ? Maybe it is FW problem and terminal output will help us determine if it is DIY fixable

[kilbert]

I really do want DIY help. Unfortunately, I have no money to use a pro (I was laid off for a about a year some time ago, and am still playing catch up with my finances) and this is just my home computer, nothing of real value here anyway. Looking for voltages sounds good, if I knew where to measure.
I do not think the heads move. That sound when turning on is missing.. So I figure I have nothing to lose, why not learn something. I think it would be interesting to see how to hook a drive up in console mode/search for voltage and see what it says if it would shed some light on the failure.
Thanks.

[hhddrec]

Hi kilbert!

Most probably FW problems, but must be Heads problems too or other problem

If your data is important the best is to contact with a DR Pro.
If FW problems will be cheap probably, if heads the amount will be bigger.

[kilbert]

I ordered a FT232 uart usb-TTL adapter & related wires. I hope it is a firmware issue. Another symptom is: the drive is not recognized by the BIOS.
Hopefully someone can help me through how to use the console connection of the drive. Thanks.

I would like to check the tvs diodes, is there a tutorial on how to access/measure them (the board mounts so the components are facing down)

[fzabkar]

If the drive spins, then the TVS diodes are not a problem.

[kilbert]

OK, that makes sense thanks. Is there a tutorial I can read while I wait for the adapter on using the console tool with the drive?

[Jano952]

Actually it directly depends on what happened to your disk. You can read some basic tutorials about using hyperterminal, or connecting it to HDD. At first you will just watch what it writes, I think it is waste of time to learn commans you might not ever use .