EXCELSTOR ES3220

[boerge]

Hi,

i got this drive with following symptoms:

Drive spins up without the typical head-clack-clack, then spins slower-faster-slower-faster... and stays busy or spins down after 20sec.

There is no tool in PC3K for these models, so what can i do? Customer changed PCB before - with this donor-PCB (different FW) the drive spins up and make clicking noises.

Does anybody have a donor drive with the following specs:

DCC: ES3220B-000
SiteCode: 133200
FW Rev.: ES6CA024
PCB: E00093C2 Rev D

Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards, Boerge

[fzabkar]

I notice that there are no cover screws. This would suggest that the idea was inherited from Conner Peripherals.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/ES3220.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conner_Peripherals

In the mid-1990s, just prior to their buyout by Seagate, Conner Peripherals started using a cost-saving measure on its low-end drives. Instead of bolted-down, cast aluminum lids with rubber gaskets, Conner Peripherals came up with a design that used a thinner stamped aluminum lid, and a thick adhesive tape seal along the perimeter of the lid, where the lip of the lid meets the base casting. This design used no screws to hold on the lid — just cutting the tape could permanently damage the drive by making the lid come off. This design was kept well after the Seagate buyout, and was discontinued in 1999.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExcelStor_Technology

ExcelStor Technology was established in 2000 as a small hard disk drive manufacturer and has evolved into a contract manufacturer and a system integrator. ExcelStor bought the bankrupt Conner Technology PLC, its products and factory.
...
In 2002, ExcelStor signed a deal with IBM to manufacture and sell the 40 GB version of IBM's Deskstar 120GXP series under the ExcelStor brand name.

The ES3220 doesn't look like a Deskstar 120GXP ...

[boerge]

I notice that there are no cover screws. This would suggest that the idea was inherited from Conner Peripherals.

Right, the design looks like Connor. But there are two screws in the middle left+right under the sticker.

Here are the pictures:

Attachments

[pcimage]

Doesn’t look like a refurbished drive of any make, unlike other Excelstor products. So I would expect proprietary/defunct technology.

I probably have one in the deepest depths of my spares stock, I’ll take a look....

[boerge]

I probably have one in the deepest depths of my spares stock, I’ll take a look...

Thanks!

[boerge]

Maybe it does have terminal port ... That would provide more info / terminal log like with Seagate/Connor.

the terminal port interface looks like PC3K-Seagate-Adapter (2x3Pin) - but if this Terminal-Adapter is plugged in the drive won't start/spin up.

I'm sorry I don't have any of those drives with me so i can't help you out. As a matter of fact i did never saw / had any of those. The FEW EXCELSTOR drives that i did had the chance to play with were ALL refurbished from other brands. The one you have is something different that i did never saw ....

No problem - i never see such drives before also, just branded IBM/Hitachi drives. My hope is to get a working drive with same Firmware/DCC for hotswap - otherwise the only thing i can try is a headswap from customers donor with no warranty.

[SarxUK]

Hi - so my work mate asked me to work on some drives last week and long story short it turns out I may have exactly what you are looking for.

I've never seen a HDD with a lid that wraps around like this before. Granted, I'm still fairly young to this but here's the PCB board:

E00093C2 Rev D
other sticker says PBA03QC5

now the drive itself was bust because it was dropped and the header took damage. The PCB board however did power the drive no problem.

I'm new to the forum so how does this usually work as far as getting this rare pcb to you if you still need it?

(I can't post a picture as my phone just died but if you reply i will get one for you along with the lid of the HDD which I intend to use as a cooking plate while wild camping )

also just so you know I'm not noobing around making this up, here's the details from the lid:

ExcelStor 20G
----------------
S/N:KF10X50
Model: ES3220
DCC: ES3220B-000
Site Code: 133200
Firmware Rev: ES6CA024
Date Code: 20020226

[fzabkar]

I can't post a picture as my phone just died but if you reply i will get one for you along with the lid of the HDD which I intend to use as a cooking plate while wild camping :D

I find that a CCD (not CIS) scanner produces much better images than a camera.

[boerge]

Thanks SarxUK,

customer won't wait and got the drive back. Case closed.