Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS SD15

[Basco]

Hello,
i've a Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS with firmware SD15.
The drive could not be detect in bios, and in terminal i had errors when i did the spin up comand.
I changed the pcb and did the flash rom swap, but still not detect in bios, perhaps now i do not have anymore the spinup error (so it means something was bad in the pcb).
With the new pcb i did the busy fix in terminal and now the drive is again detect.

Then i did the surface scan with Seatools for DOS to search for any bad sectors, but when it reached about 50% the program hanged and buzzer of my pc did a long sound "BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII".
Until that point seatools had found 3 bad sectors at this LBA's:
3929546
3931274
3936456

I fought maybe if i update the firmware to SD1A it will work good with seatools, so i writed the bootable iso on a cd and did the update, "firmware update succesfull" then i powered off the computer.
I powered on again but the bios still see firmware as SD15 version, so i turned off, turned on again but with my bad surprice it's not detected anymore in the bios.

So i tryed again with the terminal procedure, but when i give the N1 comand (smart reset) i get this error:
LED:00000047 FAddr:04290100

May i be able to update firmware with st_mem ?
Please help me, thanks.

[labtech]

Updating the firmware is not a fix. Likely, will make things worse, if anything.

[Basco]

How can i fix it now?

Code:

F3 T>/2

F3 2>Z

Spin Down Complete
Elapsed Time 0.145 msecs
F3 2>U

Spin Up Complete
Elapsed Time 6.429 secs
F3 2>/1

F3 1>N1

LED:00000047 FAddr:04290100
LED:00000047 FAddr:04290100
LED:00000047 FAddr:04290100

[labtech]

Use the search function in the forum. Lots of info on this.

[Basco]

i searched for "FAddr:04290100" but i can't find nothing, please can you help me?

[Basco]

Code:

F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22

Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 14, Max Certify Rewrite Retries = 00C8
User Partition Format   0% complete, Zone 00, Pass 00, LBA 00003EBA, ErrCode C4090081, Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs       
Error 1008 DETSEC 0000500D
User Partition Format Failed - Elapsed Time 0 mins 05 secs       
R/W Sense 00000002, R/W Error 00000084, File Error 00001002
Blk Addr 01080001, Blk Addr Type D0, Cyl 00010000, Hd 61

Any idea of what can be the problem?

[labtech]

After power on, does the drive spin down? Or does it spin down after the r/w error displays?

[Basco]

No it doesn't spin down.
When i power on it does sone CRRRRR noises (not clicking) and after few seconds gets normal sound.
But it doesn't spin down.

I thing it just can't load the SA

Before the firmware update (which did not work) was detected in bios and had no strange sounds.

[BlackST]

Math doesn't add up. There's something missing in the story, to me. In any case, the drive is seriously messed up now.

[Basco]

BlackST you where right, something missing in the story...
I saw the label was a little bended and pulled up on the top right corner (where there is the hidden screw).
So i asked to my friend if he opened the cover, he said yes. He opened the cover only for few seconds but he didn't touch nothing inside, then he closed it right away.
I told him that was a bad idea, because at the beginning it was only a bad pcb, and was repairable (in fact the pcb swap working, but only for few minutes).

If i shake the drive when i power on, it does normal noise as a good working drive, why?
Could it be because the cover was opened? There is a way to close properly the cover?

[Vulcan]

If i shake the drive when i power on, it does normal noise as a good working drive, why?

I don't understand this question, and also it is risky to shake a drive with power on! Don't do that, as you might make the situation worse (or perhaps this has already happened).

So i asked to my friend if he opened the cover, he said yes. He opened the cover only for few seconds but he didn't touch nothing inside, then he closed it right away.

Since you/we didn't see him open the drive, we don't really know what he did when the drive was open. Perhaps he caused a new problem e.g. spinning the platters by putting his finger on them (or something similar) but doesn't want to tell you, because he now understands this was a bad idea...

IMHO, it is useless to attempt any further remote diagnosis of this situation, because it is impossible to know the exact internal status of the (now contaminated) drive, outside of a cleanroom/cabinet. Also, further damage may have occurred (or may occur in future), if there is now internal contamination, so I suggest to stop using the drive. Refer your friend to a professional, if the data is important. However since he opened the drive, that will likely affect the cost of recovery.

[BlackST]

BlackST you where right, something missing in the story...
I saw the label was a little bended and pulled up on the top right corner (where there is the hidden screw).
So i asked to my friend if he opened the cover, he said yes. He opened the cover only for few seconds but he didn't touch nothing inside, then he closed it right away.
I told him that was a bad idea, because at the beginning it was only a bad pcb, and was repairable (in fact the pcb swap working, but only for few minutes).

If i shake the drive when i power on, it does normal noise as a good working drive, why?
Could it be because the cover was opened? There is a way to close properly the cover?

NOW I justify the behaviour of the drive. Anyway, IF it is not screwed beyond recover it's gonna cost you much more than usual - of course we're speaking of professional recovery. My BlackCrystalBall was right...

[Vulcan]

My BlackCrystalBall was right...

If only that vital new information had been given earlier by the disk's original owner, you wouldn't have needed to use your crystal ball

[Basco]

Thank you all, i told him to take it to a pro for recovery.
He want's to know how much does it cost to recover data on this drive now?

[BlackST]

Pay the diagnose and ask for a quote. Sometimes someone doesn't ask diag fee but it's not a rule. I can't help I am too far, unfortunately. Note that tinkering with the drive usually limits the chances of succesful recovery.