Hi,

I sent a Seagate HD away for inspection after the PC suddenly stopped recognising it. They got a file list and wanted 800euro to proceed with recovering the data, so I asked for it back and said I'd give it a shot myself. So I got it back and now the PC is seeing it but only 512bytes capacity. I did a flash of firmware and that didn't work.

It's a Seagate 7200.10 Barracuda 320GB. Has anyone ever come across something like this before?

How is the data size recognised in a HD?

Thanks in advance.

I don't believe I can help you, but would you mind satisfying my curiosity?

Where did you find the firmware?

Where did you send your drive?

If using Windows, can you see the drive in Disk Management? If the drive has a HPA, 512 bytes amounts to only one sector, so you should at least see the partition table.

I'm wondering if the data recovery company repaired your drive to access your data, and then "un-repaired" it when you declined their quotation.

If the drive's capacity has in fact been limited by a HPA, then you can use HDAT2 or SeaTools for DOS to restore the full native capacity.

Did the company elaborate on what exactly the fault was with the drive to justify the quote?

What was the original fault with the drive? What symptoms were showing?

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland

If they got a file list, this likely means they have done most of the work already. When you declined the quote, the easiest thing for them to do is to modify the LBA on the drive to zero.

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland

... or something else

But don't expect many chances to make it work again.

If it has been to who I think it has, we have seen this before....

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland

In any case :

- bad idea #1 : after getting a quote and having file list at hand, data was most probably recovered, at this point maybe an agreement for final price or terms of payment would have been resolutive. The price was not so high for a DR intervention.

- bad idea #2 : apply a FW patch.

In any case, NOW the cost for every recovery would be definitely higher (if still possible) because it is unknown what was the original problem, what was done, and in any case a complete diagnose from scratch is needed, so if the idea was to save $$$ , unless the problem is simple, the costs are definitely higher.
Personally I would not get such case : the maximum I would do is a detailed diagnose and not for free in any case (fixed price) , telling you what exactly is the problem NOW.

Just curious : was the drive physically opened ?

I sent the HD to "Computers Unlimited" in Phibsboro road, Dublin. Originally the Dell PC just stopped seeing it at all. I downloaded the firmware from this website. http://files.hddguru.com/download/Firmw ... s/Seagate/

They said the "severe head stack assembly issues and physical media damage". I have tried resetting the size with SeaTools with no success. Is there a way to change back the LBA?

Yes, the drive was opened.

yeah, guessed as much.

Still can't understand why people choose them and pay a diagnosis fee when we don't? If you'd like a local second opinion on it, PM me.

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland

can you tell there is something fishy going on.. they told you it was physical but yet you can still see that a drive is available...

"severe head stack assembly issues and physical media damage"

What does this physical media damage mean... usually when i tell clients that.. usually means that there is platter damage on the surfaces.. which you definitely not be able to access the drive yourself.

like everyone has said... you are between a rock and a really hard place... your going to have to spend the money if you want to get your data, and depending on what they did you might not be able to get it back

Wrong LBA now is the latest problem, I think.

First look with MHDD if there is a password on the drive.
Second check the jumper settings, sometime it is only a matter of piece of plastic - the jumper who has to be in the right place.
Even if there a damaged to the drive.
Try very carfully to change the LBA with TestDisk.

Have you read the entire story ? This looks very far beyond MHDD "McGyvering"...

Would you expect anything else??

_________________
Data Recovery Ireland