Hi Guys.
I got a Seagate HDD salvaged from an old HP Server case. When I connect the disk to my PC's SATA port, it is not shown in Windows' disk management console. When I check in the device manager, I see an unknown device (yellow exclamation mark) named FB160C4081. (This device is definitely this HDD because it disappears when I remove the disk.)

When I double-click it and look at the VID/PID values, it says /SCSI/FB160C4081.
When I connect the same disk to my PC with a cheap Chinese USB-SATA cable, the PC detects the disk without any problems. It shows the files in it.

Why can't I access the disk when I connect it directly with a SATA cable? Can I fix the problem by flashing Generic Seagate firmware to this disk?

Is it detected correctly in the bios?

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

Bios detected as FB160C4081. CrystalDiskInfo detected this disk, and shows Smart information.

Looks correct to me. HP are using a custom model name for this model.

_________________
Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

Can DMDE detect the drive after CrystalDiskInfo returns the SMART data?

https://dmde.com/

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A backup a day keeps DR away.

Thank you @fzabkar.
I have no problem accessing the data on the disk. I can access the data with a cheap Chinese USB-SATA cable. Thanks for the advice though.

Thanks @Zero Alphe for the suggestions. We have provided information on how to access OEM drives that have these. But I am investigating whether I can turn it into a retail Seagate ST3160815AS by changing the firmware.

Yesterday I tried another method. I right clicked on the FB160C4081 device that was shown as an unknown device in the device manager and said update driver. I continued by saying I will select the driver in the window that appeared. I unchecked the Show compatible drivers option and listed all the drivers. Then I selected the driver named disk driver and said install it. Windows warned me that it might be incompatible, I continued by installing it anyway. It said the driver update was completed successfully.

Now my device appears in Windows Explorer and I can access it.

Frankly, I have a P4 Titan case that I use for its serial and parallel ports at home. Its disk was faulty. I decided to evaluate this disk for that. But the Windows installation environment does not recognize this disk in this state. It was solved by manually installing the driver in Windows, but I know that the Windows installation assistant does not allow such manual driver installation. This seems to be a mess.