Fixing firmware for Maxtor 4R120L0040611???

[Agent24]

I have a maxtor DiamondMax 16 120GB ATA/133 HDD (model 4R120L0040611) which does not work

Drive spins but it is detected by BIOS as MAXTOR FALCON and is 0MB.

I found via google that this problem is caused by broken firmware. is that true?

Can I reflash the firmware or otherwise load it from elsewhere (floppy/CD?) to allow the drive to run?

I also heard of starting the drive in 'safe mode' how do I do this, is it nessecary?

[pepe]

Hi,

Yes, the problem is probably Fw related, however it is not about just 'flashing' a new FW and everything goes OK.
If U really need the data U'd better take it to an expert, it is easy to mess it up without proper tooling and knowledge.

regards,
pepe

[Agent24]

The data isn't extremely critical, although I would like it back if I can get it.

The problem is data recovery is a bit too expensive for me...

I'm keen to try fixing the firmware, depending on what is involved... can you tell me what procedures/tools/software I would need?

[pepe]

Hi,

If the data is not critical, it is a waste of time.
It is not just by coincidence that DR services are not cheap, the tools are not cheap, knowledge is not cheap and engineering working hours are not cheap. However there are less expensive and more expensive services, as U take a look at the market.
I don't know about free tools capable of repairing this drive, But U can find most of the neccessary info on this forum.

regards,
pepe

[coffeebean]

Hi Agent24,

you wrote

I'm keen to try fixing the firmware, depending on what is involved... can you tell me what procedures/tools/software I would need?

In this case you need the following :

a. Someone who will give you programs for free.
b. Someone who can give you 48 hours of expert time - for free again.
c. Some test drives, maybe even some 4Rxxxx Maxtor drives - for free for sure.
d. Some time by yourself to find out what is the problem and how to fix it.
e. Some expert who can answer the questions you should have in d. above
f. Some time to re-evaluate discoveries made in in e. above.

Still keen ?

[pcimage]

[Agent24]

So it's not possible for me to do it then?

[pcimage]

Not without specialist tools, that cost a lot of money. More than the cost of replacing the drive 100 times over!
And months of training and knowledge.

Other problems like bad sectors and software corruption and so on can be worked around with free tools, but not firmware problems.

If you were a baker, would you try and fix a cars electronic engine management with a rolling pin? No, it can't be done.

Sorry.

[Agent24]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't the firmware located on a flash rom chip somewhere? I mean CD drives, and motherboard BIOS work that way, why not hard drives?

If I was to get a new PCB for the drive (same model, and everything, obviously) do you think this would fix the firmware problem?

I understand that is obviously not a guarantee, but would it be pointless to try?


And how come there are motherboard/video card BIOS and CD/DVD firmwares and associated flashing tools freely available but not for hard drives?

Is this a risk thing? that if you did it wrong you can loose your data? then again, flashing any firmware is a risk if something goes wrong

[pcimage]

You are wrong, and I'm respectfully correcting you.

The firmware is software coding on the platters of the drive itself, in "modules".

The PCB contains ROM information which simply instructs the heads to read this information from the platters and read into RAM.

There is a possibility that a faulty PCB which "may" exhibit similar symptoms as f/w corruption, but frankly unlikely on a Maxtor drive.

F/W on hdd's is much much more complicated than on things like CD-ROM's, mainboards etc. And varies considerably, between models and versions of drives. In fact a lot of firmware modules are unique for the particualar drive itself (such as defect lists, adaptive data etc), so a "universal" f/w update would be absolutely impossible.

So, in a nutshell, if you're not interested in the data, then please don't waste any more of your time. Just go and buy another $30 drive on ebay

Hope this helps.

Sean

[Agent24]

Thanks for giving me the right information, not much use in being wrong about things is there?

I take it then such firmware data is too big to fit on ROM? or is it just not practical for some reason?

I would have thought though, that having the firmware on the actual platters to be a bit - unreliable? in the event of that area of the platter failing, what can you do to fix it?

I mean if the BIOS chip of a motherboard died, you can just pull it out and replace it with a new one, but that sounds a lot harder if the platter was faulty.

Guess I might as well just turn the drive into an expensive (?) doorstop