Need DR professional help with Samsung HM100UI/UZ4

[simon84]

Hello all,

first of all, I'm not a DR professional just enthusiast.
I have a 2,5" disk here which started to make wheezy noises and intermittent shutdowns.
It is a Samsung HM100UI/UZ4 from July 2010. I think it came out a Macbook.
It does not appear to be mechanically damaged other than a little dent on the case.

While trying to perform a backup on OS level with dd_rescue the drive failed completely from OS perspective,
it still spins and powers up but after a while it powers down by itself.

What I have done so far:

- Unmount and Inspect PCB for any obvious burns or bad connections.
I found some white liquid residue (Milk?) on the inner side (visible only when unmounting) of the PCB.
Other than that no smells or burnt components. I cleaned up this with ethanol and mounted PCB back on no change.

- On a flowbench (similar to a mini clean room, maybe not as good though) in the laboratory
I opened the drive cover and checked for any signs of optically visible (magnifying lens) debris or scratches on platters.
I didn't see anything suspicious, everything looked sound. But again, I'm not a professional.
After reading more here, that may not have been a good idea but I realize that now and unfortunately have no time machine.
Flowbench was set to full power and running for a while when I opened the drive and I do not think I have introduced any particles.
I have not touched any servo/heads or the platters and had ESD strap on my wrist.

- I have plugged hard drive to Serial TTL console and observe the following output (below)
I have no clue whats wrong here and this is definately beyond my own scope.
Only thing that sticks out to me is the "RRO1xCheckPwrOn Fail and CalFail"

I'm looking for a DR professional to help me and provide with a quote based on the problem description/serial log if it is of any help.
You can contact me directly through PN function here or by email.

I'm in no hurry if its of any help the work can also be performed over the next weeks/months.
I can provide recovery media and do not require file level recovery, image file would be fine I can do logical recovery myself.
If any more than 70-80% of the data can be recovered I'd already consider that a success.
I'm willing to ship world wide with no problem, but Europe would be preferred.

Maybe someone here on the board is interested or has already experience/parts required for this drive ?
Would be happy if I don't have to send this one in to one of the "Big Ones" ....

<Serial Output>

S_0????..????...@..@..............?.........?..................@.........???-O?-???-???K?Io??????K?????Z?K?I??/Ik?K ..VID=0008 PN=0000 Rev=0006
U
S_0SSC EN
SO_1
SSC EN
IS=5
CLA #36/135
Handoff RPM=384
SPOK
SR:67 SS:00000280
mS1 00000003
A1O=5 A1G=428
O=518 S=4
SK C: 8400 H:0
Loaded FIT ( 0: 0: 1)
CalibTable Loaded. Rev:0x1B
ResoTable Loaded. Rev:0x01
RRO1xTable Loaded. Rev:0x01
Fw Active 0000
Ovly loaded to 0x00014D00
Ovly loaded to 0x1002E300
FdtTable Loaded. Rev:0x02
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000A
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000E6
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000075
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000006
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007B
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000007
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FE
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000073
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005E
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000A
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000E1
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000071
| 19 | RLIST | 2 | 0 | 128 | 1340 |
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FD
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000008
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006E
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000091
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008B
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001C
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000E5
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000086
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FE
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000A
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008D
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000090
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008B
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008F
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000E7
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000007
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006F
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000E4
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008F
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001D
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000092
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000083
| 19 | RLIST | 2 | 1 | 128 | 1140 |
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FC
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000005
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007E
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007E
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000000A
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007C
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000F1
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000073
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000001
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005E
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000083
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007E
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007B
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000000C
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007C
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000F8
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000072
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000F0
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000006
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000F7
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007B
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007D
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000000B
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007E
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000F4
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000075
| 19 | RLIST | 2 | 2 | 128 | 1340 |
Reading Serial Num Pass
Up MC

PwrOn RRO1x @ H0
Table) cos = -446464, sin = 655360
Coeff) cos = -69509, sin = -3977

DiskSlip : 97 [SrvTrk]
DiskSlip : 94 [SrvTrk]

PwrOn RRO1x @ H2
Table) cos = -447488, sin = 652288
Coeff) cos = 85611, sin = -108729

DiskSlip : 97 [SrvTrk]
DiskSlip : 121 [SrvTrk]
SoUL!
PK_2 C: 67 H:4
A1O=5 A1G=429
O=518 S=5
UF5 1SE
SK C: 5312 H:5
AP:3 C: 68-> 5315 H:2->5 AP Cnt: 1
SoUL!
PK_2 C: 78 H:4
A1O=6 A1G=431
O=516 S=1
UF5 1SE
UF5 1SE
UF5 1SE
SK C: 5238 H:1
AP:3 C: 5312-> 5244 H:4->1 AP Cnt: 2
SoUL!
PK_2 C: 87 H:4
A1O=6 A1G=431
O=516 S=2
UF5 1SE
SK C: 5232 H:5

PwrOn RRO1x @ H4
Table) cos = -450560, sin = 652288
Coeff) cos = -119334, sin = 23064

DiskSlip : 97 [SrvTrk]
DiskSlip : 104 [SrvTrk]
RRO1xCheckPwrOn Fail
TgtCyl: 832
#ZoneRty : 1
#ZoneRty : 2
#ZoneRty : 3
#ZoneRty : 4
CalFail

SVCAL(0080,0001)-->PASS
BF
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000C
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000D2
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000071
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005C
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000075
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000A
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000DD
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000C9
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FD
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000075
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000B
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000D1
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000072
| 167 | DRM | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1340 |
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000D
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000B3
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000088
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000084
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000080
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001C
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000C
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006E
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000088
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000E9
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000082
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000B
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006E
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000088
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000F4
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000081
| 167 | DRM | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1340 |
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FB
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005B
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000005
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000DE
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000073
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005B
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000006
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FD
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000070
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005B
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000018
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000E3
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000007A
| 167 | DRM | 28 | 2 | 0 | 1340 |
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000DC
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000B
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007A
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000E6
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000072
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FE
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005E
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000009
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007B
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000071
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000005D
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000079
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000000B
Zh:0000003D Curr:0000007C
Zh:0000003D Curr:000000E6
Zh:0000003D Curr:00000070
| 55 | SMRT | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1140 |
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000E0
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000D
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000DB
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000088
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008C
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000EF
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000083
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000D
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006F
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008B
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008B
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000089
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000F2
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000082
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000000C
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000006F
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008B
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008A
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000088
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000001E
Zh:0000004F Curr:0000008C
Zh:0000004F Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000004F Curr:00000084
| 55 | SMRT | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1340 |
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005B
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000006
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000D8
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000071
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005B
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000AB
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000076
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000074
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000007
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000075
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FF
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000071
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FE
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000000
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000005C
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000078
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000000F
Zh:0000003B Curr:00000077
Zh:0000003B Curr:000000FE
Zh:0000003B Curr:0000006D
| 55 | SMRT | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1340 |
RecordValid Fail : 4107645D 0107E41D
EPOK
AP:3 C: 5237-> 5245 H:4->5 AP Cnt: 3
SoUL!
PK_4 C: 20294 H:0
Software unloading!
PK_4 C: 20294 H:0
LED 1A04
LED 1A04
[...]

[Doomer]

Doesn't look too bad so far
Although there is a possibility(high) that HSA might need to be replaced
Any DR company that could work with internal issues should be able to recover data from this drive, although nobody likes previously opened drives.

What you see in the log could indicate writing heads failure as well as reading heads instability. I suspect that heads(HGAs) are slightly bent(don't try to go and look again on them, because you wouldn't know what to look after anyway) this usually happens when the drive experienced mechanical shock (most common is a dropped drive or a laptop/box with the drive in it). If you continue to force drive to work with original HSA it could lead to media damage and then all data or big part of data would be impossible to recover.

[fzabkar]

It appears that your drive has problems reading the SMRT module from the Maintenance Cylinders (MC) on the platters. According to the following thread, the "LED 1A04" problem is often the result of a damaged A-List (defect list) but in your case clearing SMART might be the solution. That said, I don't yet know of a DIY method for doing this.

How to fix the "LED 1A04" problem:
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?f=116&t=197

I don't know whether anything can be done to circumvent the "RRO1xCheckPwrOn Fail" and "CalFail" errors. In fact I have no idea whether these are even a stumbling block. I believe that "RRO" refers to Repeatable RunOut, in which case it would appear that the drive is assessing the eccentricity (aka "disk shift") of each platter (notice that it tests the even heads 0, 2, 4 -- ie one head per platter). If the servo tracks are not running true, then the servo system can inject a sinusoidal compensation signal into the servo loop to counterbalance the runout. That's probably what the sine and cosine values represent.

[Doomer]

It appears that your drive has problems reading the SMRT module from the Maintenance Cylinders (MC) on the platters. According to the following thread, the "LED 1A04" problem is often the result of a damaged A-List (defect list) but in your case clearing SMART might be the solution. That said, I don't yet know of a DIY method for doing this.

fzabkar, you desperate desire to be "the good guy" and "show them DR guys them ain't take me money" could result in catastrophic results in this case.
There are 3 unreadable modules (by the log) all three copies of each are dead, since it is very unlikely that all three writing heads die at the same time it could be either high fly writes or physically damaged heads, further investigating could confirm that drive has unstable reading, so chances for physically damaged heads increase

Don't suggest something that you have no knowledge of.

[simon84]

It appears that your drive has problems reading the SMRT module from the Maintenance Cylinders (MC) on the platters. According to the following thread, the "LED 1A04" problem is often the result of a damaged A-List (defect list) but in your case clearing SMART might be the solution. That said, I don't yet know of a DIY method for doing this.

How to fix the "LED 1A04" problem:
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?f=116&t=197

I don't know whether anything can be done to circumvent the "RRO1xCheckPwrOn Fail" and "CalFail" errors. In fact I have no idea whether these are even a stumbling block. I believe that "RRO" refers to Repeatable RunOut, in which case it would appear that the drive is assessing the eccentricity (aka "disk shift") of each platter (notice that it tests the even heads 0, 2, 4 -- ie one head per platter). If the servo tracks are not running true, then the servo system can inject a sinusoidal compensation signal into the servo loop to counterbalance the runout. That's probably what the sine and cosine values represent.

So the RRO (And CalFail?) would point towards a hardware issue which means disk shift is being recognized as out of tolerable limits?
Doesnt sound so good to me.

Even if I can fix LED 1A04 shutdown condition with Terminal commands or clearing "A-List" that wouldnt solve my initial problem that the drive gave out during data recovery, right ? I did get a lot of I/O errors reported up to the OS, so something with the drive is definately wrong.

I'd really be happier to outsource this one to an expert, for those parts of the job I'm not familiar with. As I said no rush and no need for logical/filesystem recovery. I "just" need to get the data off the platters

[fzabkar]

I don't know the reason for the RRO error, but FYI here are just a few patents that talk about RRO and servo compensation (Samsung and Western Digital):

http://patentimages.storage.googleapis. ... 585976.pdf
http://patentimages.storage.googleapis. ... 616276.pdf
http://patentimages.storage.googleapis. ... 141175.pdf

FWIW, some drives have SMART attributes that report "Disk Shift" and "Run Out Cancel", and WD's patent refers to disk shift as one cause of RRO.

As for the other errors in the log, the drive first reads the FIT module from the Maintenance Cylinders. The FIT is a directory of all the firmware modules and specifies their name, size and CHS location.

Analysis of FIT SA module in SpinPoint F3:
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=699

After the FIT is loaded into RAM, the drive then retrieves several other essential modules.

Loaded FIT ( 0: 0: 1)
CalibTable Loaded. Rev:0x1B
ResoTable Loaded. Rev:0x01
RRO1xTable Loaded. Rev:0x01
Fw Active 0000
Ovly loaded to 0x00014D00
Ovly loaded to 0x1002E300
FdtTable Loaded. Rev:0x02

One of the larger modules is MOVLY001 (main overlay). As you can see, the drive has no problem reading these modules from the primary copy. These modules are static, ie they are not updated during normal drive operation. However, the firmware also has several dynamic modules which are updated when necessary. For example, SMART modules would be updated during every power cycle, and defect lists would be updated whenever bad sectors appear. Typically failure modes for all brands of HDD involve firmware damage or corruption, especially when heads become weak. Sometimes a defect list will run out of space, causing the data to become inaccessible.

In your case the RLIST, DRM, and SMRT modules are bad. I'm not a data recovery professional, but if I were attempting a recovery, I would try to rewrite the damaged modules. If this fails, I would write the drive's resources to a compatible donor and then perform a smart hotswap. Hopefully the patient drive still has functioning read heads.

<hard hat on>

[pcimage]

Happy to take a look if you're wiling to ship to UK?

[fzabkar]

One thing that is common to all heads is the write channel. Could the fault have been caused by something as simple as oxidised contacts at the preamp connector?

Another common factor is the supply to the preamp. Normally such a problem would be reported as a fault condition, but what if it were not?

Preamp Block Diagrams:
http://www.alexsoft.org/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=229