Advice with ROM swap on 2T FireCuda SSHD ST2000LX001 ...

[johnnyBrandom]

I have a 2TB SSHD that has failed after 1.5 years. Seagate wants $600+ to recover data. Can't afford that. Probably a lost cause for DIY with no special tools (i.e. no PC3000) but I'm fairly technical so I'll ask the experts here.

Background: drive gave no warning to failure; no power issues and no physical abuse - laptop hung during normal use and then drive would not spin up.

Removed the drive and installed in external case where drive appeared dead - no power indication. However, there is some life when connected to the diagnostic terminal port:

Code:

Boot 0x80M
           DensityList:0x0000
PrgF
LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x000059D8

LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x000059D8

LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x000059D8

(1Ah)-Serial Port Not Ready


It just keeps printing the "LED..." refrain slowly over and over and reporting "Serial Port Not Ready" on Ctrl-z (or any input).

Purchased a second drive of same type but this "donor" is not identical PCB rev. Failed drive is Rev A and new donor drive is Rev B (see attached photos). I examined the new donor drive from the terminal and discovered that Seagate has locked the port. Not promising. Uncertain if this is also the case on the rev A drive purchased back in 2017.

Just for kicks, I tried to swap the PCB's (I know the ROM must match the platter specs). Here is the terminal session from that (i.e. donor PCB connected to platters from failed drive):

Code:

Boot 0x80M
           DensityList:0x0000
(P) SATA Reset

RAW OFF
PASS
Send Status: COMRESET seen
CSpd= 6Gbps
Set Transfer Mode selected
PIO selected
Set Transfer Mode selected
Ultra DMA selected
Servo Processor Is Reset.
                          Srv DETCR init 0x0000
Spin issued
!
RECOV Servo Op=0195 Resp=0005

Waiting drive spin up
PrgF
(H) SATA Reset
SSPSaveSettings

SSPRestoreSettings

Send Status: COMRESET seen
CSpd= 6Gbps
Set Transfer Mode selected
PIO selected
Set Transfer Mode selected
Ultra DMA selected
Waiting drive spin up

Repeat that sequence.

The last thing I can attempt on my own is to move the ROM from the failed drive to the donor PCB and see if the failed platters will then spin up and mount (joy). My question to you all is, what are the chances of this working? I'm not sure how the diagnostic port lock works - if it comes from the ROM, I suppose there may be a chance the old ROM did not have the lock set but I think I must assume I will not be able to issue terminal commands even after the swap due to the lock. So in that scenario, is it worth swapping the ROMS? I have access to a rework station but not sure it's worth the hassle if probability of success is low.

In any case, I hope the data I'm providing to others here will be of some use. BTW, I have examined both PCB's (front and back) and was not able to find any appreciable difference (by eye) to the traces on top and bottom nor the component fills. So the changes between revs must be very minor.

Thanks for your advice.

Attachments

pcbST2000LX001revBbot

pcbST2000LX001revAbot

pcbST2000LX001revBtop

pcbST2000LX001revAtop

[pepe]

Hello,

your chances for recovery are close to nil without extensive knowledge on the FW and some tool to unlock it...


pepe

[data-medics]

I've got to agree with Pepe here. Even with professional tools, these drives can be a nightmare to work on.

[Doomer]

The last thing I can attempt on my own is to move the ROM from the failed drive to the donor PCB and see if the failed platters will then spin up and mount (joy). My question to you all is, what are the chances of this working?

no, because the problem (at least one of them) is in the NAND and it's logical, bringing new NAND on the new PCB(after swapping ROM chip) will bring lots of new problems, swapping the old NAND will leave the old problem unfixed.

I'm not sure how the diagnostic port lock works - if it comes from the ROM, I suppose there may be a chance the old ROM did not have the lock set

no, there is no such chance

So in that scenario, is it worth swapping the ROMS? I have access to a rework station but not sure it's worth the hassle if probability of success is low.

it is not, swapping ROMs won't fix the drive

Fixing this drive would require extensive knowledge of drive's FW and know-how. I fixed some of those, it's hard.

[johnnyBrandom]

That's what I suspected. Although I had read in this forum of a success with a similar drive by performing a ROM swap and then a nand init. Of course, op had diagnostic port access in that case which allowed the nand to be initialized so that might be a problem for me. Here's a link to that post:

https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35895

Thanks for the advice.

edit: BTW - I should have mentioned in the original post that the platters from the failed drive don't spin when paired with the failed PCB but they do spin when paired with the donor PCB so that was a little encouraging. Just not enough to successfully complete the spin up sequence for the donor controller to be happy (the platters just continue to spin without achieving final spin up).

[Doomer]

edit: BTW - I should have mentioned in the original post that the platters from the failed drive don't spin

yes, because the problem is in the NAND and drive does not have a chance to spin up

when paired with the failed PCB but they do spin when paired with the donor PCB

yes, because donor's NAND does not have that problem

so that was a little encouraging. Just not enough to successfully complete the spin up sequence for the donor controller to be happy (the platters just continue to spin without achieving final spin up).

yeah, there is very big "not enough" thing that prevents drive from working

[unknown]

@ OP
In a nutshell : you are trying to fix a drive ( without proper tools and knowledge ) that even some DR professionals ( with proper tools and knowledge ) can't.

If data is really important, stop what you are doing and seek for a professional help near you. ( and I believe they are a lot )

Good luck

[ddrecovery]

These are indeed tough drives to work with.

[johnnyBrandom]

This is very helpful. On another forum, someone reported that these SSHD's are Rosewood drives and that not even PC3000 has diagnostic port unlock for this particular model of Rosewood (others, however, they do have). Can anyone confirm that for me?

Thanks.

[pepe]

I personally do not use pc3k unlock feature most of the times (use my own ways instead). Pc3k should be able to unlock it in theory, but the same mods alone they use on normal RW drives are not enough, so one might need other fixups to make it work.

pepe

[pcimage]

$600 sounds very reasonable for one of these things, have done a few and they aren’t easy!

[Doomer]

This is very helpful. On another forum, someone reported that these SSHD's are Rosewood drives and that not even PC3000 has diagnostic port unlock for this particular model of Rosewood (others, however, they do have). Can anyone confirm that for me?

Thanks.

I think there is no automatic unlock in PC3000 for this model right now but the drive can be unlocked in manual mode by AceLab tech support. However this particular drive won't be unlocked because it requires the drive to spin up and read FW from platters to complete the unlock procedure.
Right now there is no solution for this problem in PC3000, however if you are to submit your drive for recovery to Seagate they should have a solution, because they don't use PC3000 or other commercial tools for recovery.
If you looking for something cheaper that $600, you probably won't find it, $600 is already very cheap

[pepe]

$600 is already very cheap

+1
pepe

ps: OP wrote 600+, which can be any figure between 600 and infinity

[ddrecovery]

$600 is already very cheap

+1
pepe
ps: OP wrote 600+, which can be any figure between 600 and infinity

Seagate in the US generally charge $550-$650 for their own drives. They do however take an eternity. Last client I spoke to who contacted them was quoted 4 months.....

[fzabkar]

Right now there is no solution for this problem in PC3000, however if you are to submit your drive for recovery to Seagate they should have a solution, because they don't use PC3000 or other commercial tools for recovery.

Are you referring to the OP's case or all cases? IIUC, Seagate offer physical recoveries for all brands, not just their own. If that's true, then how would they recover a WD drive, say?

Is it true that Seagate's acquired a private data recovery service, and if so, would they not have been exposed to third party tools as a result?

[ddrecovery]

Right now there is no solution for this problem in PC3000, however if you are to submit your drive for recovery to Seagate they should have a solution, because they don't use PC3000 or other commercial tools for recovery.

Are you referring to the OP's case or all cases? IIUC, Seagate offer physical recoveries for all brands, not just their own. If that's true, then how would they recover a WD drive, say?

Is it true that Seagate's acquired a private data recovery service, and if so, would they not have been exposed to third party tools as a result?

Seagate recover from all drive manufacturers, but they give customers a significant price break for Seagate drives.

[Doomer]

Right now there is no solution for this problem in PC3000, however if you are to submit your drive for recovery to Seagate they should have a solution, because they don't use PC3000 or other commercial tools for recovery.

Are you referring to the OP's case or all cases? IIUC, Seagate offer physical recoveries for all brands, not just their own. If that's true, then how would they recover a WD drive, say?

Seagate Recovery Services have in-house tools for all HDD manufacturers

Is it true that Seagate's acquired a private data recovery service, and if so, would they not have been exposed to third party tools as a result?

Acquisition happened 15 years ago or so, so all THOSE tools are pointless already.

[fzabkar]

Seagate Recovery Services have in-house tools for all HDD manufacturers

This would imply that Seagate has either reverse engineered their competitors' products, or acquired the reverse engineered work of others, or obtained the information (eg VSCs) in some other way. I wonder if the HDD manufacturers share their VSCs (eg to avoid accidentally using the same codes)?

[Doomer]

Seagate Recovery Services have in-house tools for all HDD manufacturers

This would imply that Seagate has either reverse engineered their competitors' products, or acquired the reverse engineered work of others, or obtained the information (eg VSCs) in some other way. I wonder if the HDD manufacturers share their VSCs (eg to avoid accidentally using the same codes)?

nobody can neither confirm nor deny this knowledge

[ddrecovery]

I would imagine Seagate have produced there own version of PC3000 with the inside knowledge they must have. Reverse engineering must be pretty easy for them, and I am sure they have been picking apart all the new drives on the market as they are launched.