Seagate Archive HDD Failure. No Crash, No Spin, Silent.

[NeedsPractice]

Another question:

I bought this hard drive as an external usb storage device. It has failed. I took the hard drive out of the enclosure and put a Donor Board PCB on the hard drive without swapping out the PCB Firmware Rom Chip.

I did this in order to see just how bad the damage was on the drive before sending it off to a “professional recovery service”. It appears to be in great shape and spins up nicely however, windows see’s the hard drive but cannot access the data.

My main question is can I swap out the PCB Firmware Rom Chip from the original PCB Board with a rework station myself or do I need professionals do it(because I connected the drive without the correct Firmware Rom Chip; First)? Does advance programming or something else need to be done besides replacing the Firmware Rom Chip.

Please advise and explain why/why not.

[NeedsPractice]

I will be geting my rework station tomorrow. May I ask what heat setting is best for removing this PCB Board Firmware Rom Chip? It has a digital setting with three numbers on it so I would assume I could set it to the exact setting. I need both settings one for the soldering device and one for the heat gun part. It has two settings.

[Lardman]

The ROM contains some drive specific metrics to read/write properly but the rest of the pcb is essentially generic. Which is why it spins now but you can't read it in windows.

Best to start around 370-380c and around 60% air until you understand how things behave, the quality of the station will determine the actual temp and air flow. Most of setting values on the cheaper ones are a joke in terms of accuracy.

[NeedsPractice]

The ROM contains some drive specific metrics to read/write properly but the rest of the pcb is essentially generic. Which is why it spins now but you can't read it in windows.

Best to start around 370-380c and around 60% air until you understand how things behave, the quality of the station will determine the actual temp and air flow. Most of setting values on the cheaper ones are a joke in terms of accuracy.

Sad Update. I replaced my bios chip on two new donor boards with no luck on both of them. However, I don't think I was placing it right because I could never get a solid connection. It would always pop right off. Hopefully, I didn't destroy the chip because I know it will be party over if I did.


I have sent the pcb board and bios chip to a repair facility for them to install the bios chip for me and send it back. Hopefully they still can but they might not be able to. The pins are still in great shape however, you can't read the numbering anymore therefore don't know which side to face the chip. yikes.


I already contacted gilware and they said don't bother sending us the drive if the bios chip is fried. crazy huh. Aren't these companies suppose to be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat? I know its expensive and all.


My question is i know i did everything wrong and its all my fault. Are there any options left? Can someone read the rom off the platters and reprogram a new bios chip and install it for me? Can someone do a platter swap in a clean room?


Please Advise without kocking my head off preferably. Be somewhat gentle.

[Lardman]

Sound like you didn't get the soldering right, not to worry If you've sent the stuff off to be soldered they'll sort it.

I already contacted gilware and they said don't bother sending us the drive if the bios chip is fried. crazy huh. Aren't these companies suppose to be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat? I know its expensive and all.

We do on a daily basis... If it comes to professional recovery find a good independent there are lots of members here from the US who offer mail in services.

My question is i know i did everything wrong and its all my fault. Are there any options left?

You've not tried any options yet - wait and see if it works when it's been soldered properly.

You're going to have to accept it's industry standard to lambast DIY attempts - It's a perk of the job.

Whatever you do - Do not open the drive !

From what you've said if the drive turned up here it would entry level and less than 300 usd to to recover or a workshop labour charge to swap your rom and return, which would have been done in less time than it took me to type this reply.

[NeedsPractice]

Sound like you didn't get the soldering right, not to worry If you've sent the stuff off to be soldered they'll sort it.

I already contacted gilware and they said don't bother sending us the drive if the bios chip is fried. crazy huh. Aren't these companies suppose to be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat? I know its expensive and all.

We do on a daily basis... If it comes to professional recovery find a good independent there are lots of members here from the US who offer mail in services.

My question is i know i did everything wrong and its all my fault. Are there any options left?

You've not tried any options yet - wait and see if it works when it's been soldered properly.

You're going to have to accept it's industry standard to lambast DIY attempts - It's a perk of the job.

Whatever you do - Do not open the drive !

From what you've said if the drive turned up here it would entry level and less than 300 usd to to recover or a workshop labour charge to swap your rom and return, which would have been done in less time than it took me to type this reply.

I will definitely not open up the drive because I feel this drive is in perfect shape. I just think it needs the right pcb board and rom firmware.

Yes, you are right, the chip might still be okay if solder properly, I did not feel comfortable so I shipped my chip and pcb board right out. I just hope I didn't fry it. I don't think I did.

Are you saying that you could still pull a rabbit out of a hat? Meaning that if my board comes back and the BIOS chip is fried.

Can you recover this hard drive with a fried BIOS chip? Or are you betting on the bios chip still working?

Thanks so much for all of your help. It is greatly appreciated.

[Lardman]

Can you recover this hard drive with a fried BIOS chip? Or are you betting on the bios chip still working?

I doubt it's fried unless you really, really cooked it - I've never heated one up to death. I may try an experiment tomorrow and see just how much abuse a seagate rom will take

[NeedsPractice]

Can you recover this hard drive with a fried BIOS chip? Or are you betting on the bios chip still working?

I doubt it's fried unless you really, really cooked it - I've never heated one up to death. I may try an experiment tomorrow and see just how much abuse a seagate rom will take

Awesome. Well that gives me hope that I did not fry it and I just didn't solder it on the pcb board properly. My hands were shaking all over the place because I was so nervous. I was like F this. Well at least I tried. Thank you so much for all of your help. I will report back after I get my pcb board back. I think they will install it properly and I hope all will be well.

Thumbs Up!

[NeedsPractice]

Can you recover this hard drive with a fried BIOS chip? Or are you betting on the bios chip still working?

I doubt it's fried unless you really, really cooked it - I've never heated one up to death. I may try an experiment tomorrow and see just how much abuse a seagate rom will take

Another Update:

Okay I got my ROM back. Well, I got my ROM back that is a New ROM. They said that my original ROM was too damaged, but they were successful at transferring the ROM information from my Original ROM to this NEW ROM. They checked twice that it was transferred over successful.

Well of course it did not work. The drive is seen in windows but barely. It is doing the same thing before like the original problem. Completely and 100% silent. (I think all windows recognizes is the bridge that it is connected to).

This is the weirdest part. I ordered some more PCB Donor Boards and if I put any of those on this hard drive the drive comes to life. It boots up twice or tries to read the drive twice and gives up.

What dose all this mean? Did some how the original ROM get corrupted and is permanently damaged?

Long Shot

They suggest the file system could be corrupted and that this is almost 100% fixable. Connect PC Max 3000 and either get lucky and extract the data by bypassing the software lock because the drive is in defensive mode or rip the data off raw but will take a while (same as bypassing the locked codes).

Recap:

1-Original PCB Board with Original BIOS in perfect shape (something happened):

-Drive would not boot up, completely silent, not moving or humming at all. OFF.

2-New PCB Donor Board with random bios that is already on the board (Testing):

-Drive boots up and tries to read but gives up and fails.

3-New PCB Donor Board with Original BIOS (I installed it myself, botched it up)

-Drive would not boot up, completely silent, not moving or humming at all. OFF.

4-New PCB Donor Board with New Rom (Installed by professional, bios information transferred over)

-Drive would not boot up, completely silent, not moving or humming at all. OFF.

…

What does all this mean? Something is corrupted with the original bios? How does the drive power up and try to read with a random donor board with whatever BIOS that came with it; but when it is connected with the original bios its dead as a door nail?

I will be getting back my original pcb board and original bios/rom. I’m sure the ROM is in ruff shape but the information has been transferred over to a new ROM. So that is good at least.

What are my options at this point? Is my data lost forever?

[pepe]

I would not say it is surely lost forever, but for me, i would need a really encouraging sum to touch such a mess. It's not just me i'm afraid. Many of us are tired of cleaning up the sht after others.

pepe

[NeedsPractice]

I would not say it is surely lost forever, but for me, i would need a really encouraging sum to touch such a mess. It's not just me i'm afraid. Many of us are tired of cleaning up the sht after others.

pepe

I understand. I apologize for all of us idiots.

So what would even be a plan of attack on this? Do I send this off to a data recovery service. Or Can I hook this up to PCMAX3000 and rip the data off RAW. Lol.

[NeedsPractice]

Also, what other options do I have? I don't mind paying. Can I send the pcb board off to someone and they program the correct codes for this drive into the rom in order for the o/s to read it?

[Lardman]

Well, I got my ROM back that is a New ROM. They said that my original ROM was too damaged, but they were successful at transferring the ROM information from my Original ROM to this NEW ROM.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is a genuine case.

If the ROM was stable enough to clone it was stable enough to use. I hope they returned the original ROM to you. Did you just ask them to solder it on ? what were they doing messing with anything else. Who knows what is what now and it what state they have left things in.

I understand there's a 300 USD recovery company who deal with the less problematic cases very quickly, and his youtube videos suggest that to be true.

Pepe is correct - it's annoying cleaning up DIY mess, but we really hate cleaning up computer store mess, which is always more damaging and they should know better.

I can think of a number of US/Canadian members who can help regardless of the complexity but it isn't going to be cheap if you need to use them.

[NeedsPractice]

Well, I got my ROM back that is a New ROM. They said that my original ROM was too damaged, but they were successful at transferring the ROM information from my Original ROM to this NEW ROM.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is a genuine case.

If the ROM was stable enough to clone it was stable enough to use. I hope they returned the original ROM to you. Did you just ask them to solder it on ? what were they doing messing with anything else. Who knows what is what now and it what state they have left things in.

I understand there's a 300 USD recovery company who deal with the less problematic cases very quickly, and his youtube videos suggest that to be true.

Pepe is correct - it's annoying cleaning up DIY mess, but we really hate cleaning up computer store mess, which is always more damaging and they should know better.

I can think of a number of US/Canadian members who can help regardless of the complexity but it isn't going to be cheap if you need to use them.

They are sending me my original bios back and my original pcb board back. I hope it is in the same shape that I sent it to them. We shall see. They said the bios chip was too damaged to put it on the board. I do not know why this is the case. I could even put it on the board.

Well I think they said they kept getting that the board was dead and not active when they put my original bios/rom chip on a new board. When they copied the rom on a new board and chip it board was active. However, when I plugged their new board and chip in my hard drive. Nothing.

I don't even know how to get organized at this point.

When I get my original bios back, my original board back. And I have a copy of my bios. What do I do from here? I mean if someone has this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/172766769197?s ... 1438.l2649

Are they able to extra a copy of my rom so we can evaluate it for errors and re upload it? I'm trying to get my rom information for another person on another forum.

What can someone in the states do for me now?

[NeedsPractice]

Or

https://www.acelaboratory.com/pc3000.Express.php

Lol.

[Lardman]

If you want your data get your original stuff back, put all the original bits together and send it to a DR pro most if not all have pc-3000 or similar to fix firmware issues.

Not only do you need the tools but you need to know how to use them. Look up the company I mentioned on youtube and watch the live stream videos.

[pepe]

Or

https://www.acelaboratory.com/pc3000.Express.php

Lol.

to embark a bit on sarcasm on my side too, one needs brain first then tools.

pepe

[NeedsPractice]

If you want your data get your original stuff back, put all the original bits together and send it to a DR pro most if not all have pc-3000 or similar to fix firmware issues.

Not only do you need the tools but you need to know how to use them. Look up the company I mentioned on youtube and watch the live stream videos.

I must have missed the video link, can you re-send? You are right, I wouldn't even know how to enter one command into PC 3000. Lol.

[NeedsPractice]

Or

https://www.acelaboratory.com/pc3000.Express.php

Lol.

to embark a bit on sarcasm on my side too, one needs brain first then tools.

pepe

I don't even know how I have the brains to be typing this to you right now.

[NeedsPractice]

I would not say it is surely lost forever, but for me, i would need a really encouraging sum to touch such a mess. It's not just me i'm afraid. Many of us are tired of cleaning up the sht after others.

pepe

How much is this encouraging sum? I would love to have a beautifully working rom on a brand new donor board working properly booting up my hard drive. How do we figure this out?