Im a pc tech trying to recover data off a drive for a friend..
The drive is an old Samsung 160GB..
It spins up and sounds like its going ok but it's not regognised by the BIOS.
My understanding is its a firmware issue..
What I am trying to find out is if there is a way to update / fix the firmware on a dead drive..
If it cant be recognised by windows, how does one go about updating the firmware on it?
Any thoughts please?

What's the history of the drive? Anything unusual happen just before this problem started? Was it an external drive?


That is one of a few possibilities - but in any case, for DIY recovery it doesn't really matter which of the potential problems you have, because IMHO none of them have a realistic, low-risk liklihood of DIY recovery.


Note: "update" and "fix" are two very different things with disk f/w, due to the huge number of ways that disk f/w can require fixing. Have a read of this article for some more info:

diy-what-the-big-deal-t12671.html


As explained in the above article, you don't "update" firmware with the symptoms that you describe. What is needed is a detailed diagnosis, likely using specialist equipment at a suitable DR company and, if there is a firmware problem, then the specific problem with that drive needs to be fixed, by someone who understands the (complex!) inner workings of that type of firmware.

Sorry those comments are unlikely to be what you were expecting, judging by your comments. Depending on the answers to the questions I asked, the likely issue might become clearer, although remote diagnosis can't be expected to be perfect. All IMHO.

Perhaps the DR pros experienced with those Samsung drives will be able offer more specific comments...

Hey thanks for the reply...
I dont know the history of the drive...
Just got passed it to try to see if I can get the data back but its not being recognised in the BIOS..
Sounds like if fixing the firmware issue is specialised and in need of specialised equipment I will just tell the owner its a no go...
The owner doesnt have the $ to throw at getting it done proffessionally unfortunately..
I'll give her the bad news... Thanks again for the advice... much appreciated..

Almost certainly is a FW issue, not DIY I'm afraid.

May be able to point you in the direction of a "friendly" DR company in NZ if she is willing to spend a few $$$

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No fixing by firmware upgrade, but Samsung has diagnostic interface similiar to Seagate.

Hi, not sure I understand this post.. can you clarify please?

Search "terminal"

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts

no need to, I did understand that part..
This is what I didnt understand..
"but Samsung has diagnostic interface similiar to Seagate"

I just couldnt see the sense in running diagnostic software over a hard drive that cant even be seen in the BIOS..

With the right tool and knowledge you can see and do things in terminal, even if your drive is not visible by Bios

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Drive booting process is reported to the diagnostic interface, so you can copy/paste to the forum. ATA interface (what you see normally see during BIOS boot) is different things, it can activated or disabled depends on firmware boot stage or condition.
You need specialised tools like RS232 or USB to LVTTL converter ($10) and terminal application like Windows Hyper Terminal.
What do to with it, is a different story, I can't help, I am more familiar with Seagate commands. At least you can copy/paste HDD firmware boot process (with ATA plug disconnected) and provide more information about device. More chance to receive professional advice.

cheers for that guys..
Sorry labtech, when you said 'search terminal" I thought you were reffering to the state of the hard drive.. lol

cheers again for the help everyone..

No problem, we all learn something new daily. Some more, some less, but we all do.

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Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD, SATA, NVMe, etc), USB Flash Drive and RAID Data Recovery Specialist in Massachusetts