ST500DM002 - media damage?

[cheadledatarecovery]

Hello All,

I’m running out of options for a disk I am working on. Any suggestions are welcome. I have a feeling the answer for this one will be ‘media damage’.

Patient:
ST500DM002-1BD142
Z3T…
KC45
TK

Donor – Match on all of above.
Similar symptoms as per: http://forum.acelaboratory.com/viewtopic.php?t=8273

Drive IDs as:
Model : ST_M13FQBL
Serial : QNR_BFW
Firmware : 03011619
Capacity : 3.86 GB (8 089 950)

Disk stays spinning. Terminal output below.

Work so far:
• Tested patient with donor PCB, no change.
• Attempted shorting read-channel with patient heads inside. Cannot get to T> . When shorting at the ‘correct’ time, drive spins down after a number of clicks, but will still will not provide T> .
• Opened HDD, inspected heads under microscope – no visible damage. In the HDA there are small signs of contamination, hard to see silver coloured fragments (Yes, not good I know!)
• Use of donor heads in patient provide the same results. After swapping donor heads back into donor they still work OK.
• Patient heads in donor drive do not work – they have failed.

If there was significant damage to the platter I would have expected the donor heads to have degraded, and not be functional once they were swapped back into the donor. However, the tiny amounts of silver coloured fragments would suggest some media damage, perhaps to SA? More likely than not media damage on this disks, but trying to exhaust all possibilities.

Any suggestions are welcome on this one.
Thanks,
John

Terminal output:

Boot 0x10M
Spin Up
RECOV Servo Op=0100 Resp=0005[0x00000000]
RECOV Servo Op=0055 Resp=0005[0x00000000]ZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMddddddWWWWMMMMMM
FAIL Servo Op=0155 Resp=0007
ResponseFrame 0000 0000 0000 0000 0020 0000 0000 0000 0F98 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 000Ax
RECOV Servo Op=0155 Resp=0005[0x00025CB4][0x00025CB4]ZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMddddddWWWWMMMMMM
FAIL Servo Op=0055 Resp=0007
ResponseFrame 0000 0000 0000 0000 0020 0000 0000 0000 0F98 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 000A
RECOV Servo Op=0155 Resp=0005x
RECOV Servo Op=0055 Resp=0005[0x0000B319]
RECOV Servo Op=0055 Resp=0005[0x0000B319]ZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMddddddWWWWMMMMMM
FAIL Servo Op=0155 Resp=0007
ResponseFrame 0000 0000 0000 0000 0020 0000 0000 0000 0F98 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 000A
RECOV Servo Op=0055 Resp=0005x
RECOV Servo Op=0155 Resp=0005[0x00030FCD][0x00030FCD]ZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMddddddWWWWMMMMMM
FAIL Servo Op=0055 Resp=0007
ResponseFrame 0000 0000 0000 0000 0020 0000 0000 0000 0F98 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 000A
RECOV Servo Op=0155 Resp=0005x

[Doomer]

judging by the log the heads are not yet dead but SA cannot be read
possibly MD developing

[pepe]

or ROM is not native...

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Well,
Try this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hTEu9bx5A

[RolandJS]

I'm wondering how the word wrap got turned off in the initial post; there is a lot of long left to right scrolling required to read the excellent information provided.

[fzabkar]

I'm wondering how the word wrap got turned off in the initial post; there is a lot of long left to right scrolling required to read the excellent information provided.

A line with no spaces cannot be wrapped.

[MindMergepk]

or ROM is not native...

+1 looks like ROM is not native.

[MindMergepk]

Well,
Try this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hTEu9bx5A

this solution will not work, since drive is not ID properly in case of OP.

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Well,
Try this -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hTEu9bx5A

this solution will not work, since drive is not ID properly in case of OP.

Well,
This is Exactly What That Solution does My Friend .If Native Rom Is Not There Then No Chance Thats Easy To Find Right ?

[Martin]

Too much unnecessary things, guessing what is the problem. First step is to read the ROM and compare serial number from ROM with serial number on HDA sticker. If it is Ok, go further with loader.

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Too much unnecessary things, guessing what is the problem. First step is to read the ROM and compare serial number from ROM with serial number on HDA sticker. If it is Ok, go further with loader.

Exactly ,
Finding If ROM is Native Or Not Is Not Hard In This Series IMHO

[cheadledatarecovery]

Thank you for the suggestions. I have been trying to bring this one to a conclusion this afternoon with a few checks and re-checks.

Tests conducted:
• Checking whether having head-map adaptives imported into patient ROM aid initialisation. No change on boot. Donor HDD is a very good match in all respects.
• Disabling individual heads in the ROM / changes of head-map. No change.
• Heads from donor still have functionality when placed back in the donor.

Inspection of the HDA shows that there is an increased amount of silver colour fragments. I’ve seen worse and the drive has been recoverable, but the fact that there is more contamination than there was to begin with would suggest to me that there is damage to the platter which is just getting worse. Images below.

Regarding the possibility of a non-native ROM:
In this case the donor HDD was supplied by the customer. Both PCBs were present, and the donor PCB initialises the donor correctly.
The job is from a regular customer, who is reliable, and not someone who I associate with swapping over components (that cannot be said of some the regulars). Therefore, it seems unlikely that a non-native PCB is on the patient. I will make a final check with the customer though. Perhaps there is a second ‘donor’ drive that I have not been made aware of. It seems unlikely though. Assuming that a PCB is not missing, I think it is most likely to conclude that this drive has media damage.

Best regards,
John

Initial opening. Minor contamination. Silver fragments highlighted with arrows.

After head-swap. Additional contamination. Silver fragments highlighted with arrows. Suspected media damage.

[cheadledatarecovery]

Just spotted the 'word-wrap' issue. No idea what has caused that!

J

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Respected John ,
May i ask you what tool you use to swap heads on this drive .Because i have seen small nicks and pits created by tools .Only a few tools in the world can actually swap heads without any nicks and pits

[cheadledatarecovery]

Head tools used for headswap are made by HddSurgery.

J

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Head tools used for headswap are made by HddSurgery.

J

Well,
I Was Seeing The Photo of Your HDD Workbench And Could See Its Made By HDDsurgery .In That Case Head Swap Damage Is Virtually ruled Out .Thanks For The Feedback

[MindMergepk]

cam you upload both patient and donor ROMs here ?

[Martin]

Thank you for the suggestions. I have been trying to bring this one to a conclusion this afternoon with a few checks and re-checks.

Tests conducted:
• Checking whether having head-map adaptives imported into patient ROM aid initialisation. No change on boot. Donor HDD is a very good match in all respects.
• Disabling individual heads in the ROM / changes of head-map. No change.
• Heads from donor still have functionality when placed back in the donor.

Inspection of the HDA shows that there is an increased amount of silver colour fragments. I’ve seen worse and the drive has been recoverable, but the fact that there is more contamination than there was to begin with would suggest to me that there is damage to the platter which is just getting worse. Images below.

Regarding the possibility of a non-native ROM:
In this case the donor HDD was supplied by the customer. Both PCBs were present, and the donor PCB initialises the donor correctly.
The job is from a regular customer, who is reliable, and not someone who I associate with swapping over components (that cannot be said of some the regulars). Therefore, it seems unlikely that a non-native PCB is on the patient. I will make a final check with the customer though. Perhaps there is a second ‘donor’ drive that I have not been made aware of. It seems unlikely though. Assuming that a PCB is not missing, I think it is most likely to conclude that this drive has media damage.

Best regards,
John

ST500DM002 Initial opening.JPG

ST500DM002 additional contamination.JPG

Writing this text is longer than read and compare SN from ROM with SN on the HDA sticker.
P.S."The job is from a regular customer, who is reliable, and not someone who I associate with swapping over components...." - Everybody lies. (C) House M.D.

[cheadledatarecovery]

Patient and donor ROM attached for reference.

J

Attachments

ROM Patient.zip

(214.78 KiB) Downloaded 585 times

ROM Donor.zip

(214.38 KiB) Downloaded 678 times

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Patient and donor ROM attached for reference.

J

Well,
Donor Serial No is " Z3TC8SCM " , Patient Serial No is " Z3TKNZEY "