Seagate ST31000340NS Barracuda ES.2 1TB

[brunoaduarte]

Hi,

My Seagate ST31000340NS 1TB HDD suddenly stopped working.

ST31000340NS G005 (BIOS INFO)
P/N: 9CA158-268
F/W: G001
Barracuda ES.2
PCB 100466824 REV C

Now all i get is S.M.A.R.T Status BAD on boot. Device is recognized by BIOS but it doesn't detect on Windows.

I can hear it spin up and some clicking noises.

I tried the SeaToolsBootable tool from Seagate website, but all of the tests fail.

On the "Long Generic Test" i get

Code:

Starting test: Long Generic Test - SN: xxxxxxxx
Test information: First LBA: 0
Test information: Last LBA: 1953525167
Test information: LBA: 0
Warning: LongGeneric::execute() - returned: Error for SN: xxxxxxxx - Bad LBA = 213504
Warning: LongGeneric::execute() - returned: Error for SN: xxxxxxxx - Bad LBA = 213505
...


The PCB central square area (16 dots) heats up very quickly once i turn the HDD on, is it normal ? (I guess so cause it seems to be the heat dissipator for the main ST chip)

Can someone point me to the right directions to recover this HDD data please ?

Should i replace the PCB (already found a supplier with the exact same model) ?
Should i try one of those terminal unlock methods (short read channel / lift PCB) and try clearing the SMART sector + reconstruct partition ?

Just want to make sure what's the best method for my case so i can avoid losing all my data.

Any help is appreciated, thanks !

Attachments

PCB 100466824 REV C

[pcimage]

“Clicking” normally means physical issues (bad head(s) for example), so if your data is important stop messing with it and seek pro assistance.

The more you let it click, the more damage is being caused!

[brunoaduarte]

“Clicking” normally means physical issues (bad head(s) for example), so if your data is important stop messing with it and seek pro assistance.

The more you let it click, the more damage is being caused!

Ok pcimage, thanks

Physical damage to HDD is possible even if did not suffer any impacts or falls ?

I've attached a audio recording of the HDD startup and shutdown

ST31000340NS_CLICKING.zip

ST31000340NS_CLICKING.m4a

(244.12 KiB) Downloaded 385 times

[lcoughey]

Hopefully it is in better shape than this ES.2 that I received for assessment today.

[brunoaduarte]

Only option is to send the drive to a reputable data recovery firm ...

Here :

Warning: LongGeneric::execute() - returned: Error for SN: xxxxxxxx - Bad LBA = 213504
Warning: LongGeneric::execute() - returned: Error for SN: xxxxxxxx - Bad LBA = 213505


To me this means that you did start at LBA 0 and it did read up to 213504 without error so PCB is OK, firmware is OK and you have either bad sectors / bad spot on platter or entire head is gone / damaged (most likely).

Only option that is viable is to send the drive to a reputable data recovery firm with HEPA 100 aseptic room as the drive does need head stack replacement (clean room work) and can't be done by yourself without tools and experience.

TTL (terminal) and tricks like that are for drive with bad firmware. Drives with bad firmware will report LBA 0 or will be stuck on BSY, etc ... On your case the drive did iniialize and you were able to read some LBAs so firmware should not be the problem (assuming you didn't mess with it) and of course PCB is fine otherwise you wouldn't read a single LBA .... Of course there are exceptions like WD Tornado PCBs, etc ... but on your specific SEAGATE F3 ARCH DRIVE PCB is fine.

Ok, i'll do that, thanks !