Hello.

I have a Seagate Momentus ST9750420AS (HP OEM drive)
FW: 0003HM1
The drive BSY status register is stuck
When the PCB is connected to the drive the terminal returns:
... Last line above repeats every 70 seconds or so

When PCB is NOT connected to the drive the terminal returns:
... Last line above repeats every 70 seconds or so

Ctrl-z does not work nor do any of the standard terminal commands that I have tried, even when the PCB is not connected to the drive.
The client states the laptop the drive was in a laptop that was dropped when the drive quit working. The drive sounds like it is spinning up normally - no clicking or any other noises other than the normal spin up of the drive and the heads sound like they read the SA.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

There are definitely defects on the surface, 50/50 that one of the heads can't read properly.
Error the drive stops on can appear due to the defects in the SA.

Should you need an assistance with this job, please feel free to contact me. Considering the info you posted above, I'd say there's a 90% probability that we'll be able to help.

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Thanks for the info. I've worked on many Seagate drives where the drive was failing (failed head / SA damage, etc.) but I could still talk to the board through the terminal. I agree that computer being dropped is consistent with head / platter damage. Based on not being able to get the terminal un-stuck I was thinking there is a PCB issue in addition to head / platter damage. If that was the case I was going to try to work on the PCB issue 1st, before the heads. Can you please explain why can't I get my Ctrl+z terminal prompt, even when the PCB is not connected to the drive?

Thank you very much for your response!

Hello,
Easy case

Regards
Waqas Ali

I do not think comments like this are of any help to the OP or anyone else. If you know the solution, share it!

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I can testify that a room free of pathogenic microorganisms will not be necessary for this case.