Greetings,
I was trying to backup resources for a Toshiba 55GSX on PC-3000. I have only worked with Toshibas over ATA before and I don't have an adapter. I was looking to connect to the terminal USB adapter that came with PC-3000 with some little jumper cables I made. I believe there are only 2 connections needed, but I don't know which is which. Can someone provide some guidance on this please? I'd like to avoid swapping ROM chips if possible. Thank you for your assistance.

(Background on the drive: drive makes no sound when power applied. No spin from platters. drive opened, platters spin freely. If PCB checked on PC 3000 when separated from HD, there are errors but the utility still says CPs available. Drive was in a computer with a liquid spill. Liquid did not touch the drive, but the drive failed at the exact same time. I don't think it is just a fuse because the CPs still say available, but I admittedly have very little experience with PCBs of this brand.)

Thanks for any help.

Steve

Steve,

If hdd does not spin when power is applied i think tha pcb is not working properly. Maybe the problem is in motor combo ic. If you have, try with another pcb or try pcb to motor outputs with an oscilloscope.

Best regards, F

Steve,


HDD Pin: 1 Adapter pin: 4 Signal:GND
HDD Pin: 2 Adapter pin: 1 Signal:Rx
HDD Pin: 3 Adapter pin: 2 Signal:Tx


Best regadrs,

F

Thanks for the reply, f_arg. I do have a donor PCB here. I am sure that the issue is with the PCB not supplying power to the motor. Before I tried doing anything with the drive though, I wanted to backup the resources that I can off of both the patient and donor.

I think I can also move the 8 pin IC602 from the donor to the patient, but I always prefer going through PC-3000 where possible.

I may be able to help you determine the voltage test points, but if the PCB is communicating, then the voltages are probably OK.

_________________
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Hmm.. I wasn't able to get the terminal functioning with those connections made. I appreciate the help on the pinout though, F. Looks like I am doing a ROM swap.

fzabkar,
I appreciate it. I 'll still gladly listen to anything you have to say regarding voltages or whatever. I've been doing this for a couple years and I still feel like dumb things keep tripping me up. As such, I am always eager to listen to any assistance that may be coming my way from more experienced folks.

Thanks both of you.

I'm assuming your PCB matches these:
http://festplattenersatzteile.files.wor ... 091309.jpg
http://arndtcomputer.com/james/photos/m ... 1small.jpg

If so, then here is how I would determine your test points.

The board is based around a Marvell MCU. AIUI, these devices comprise an ARM CPU core plus I/O modules. Therefore the MCU requires at least two supplies, Vcore (1.2V - 2V ?) and Vio (usually 2.5V or 3.3V).

A switchmode supply usually incorporates an inductor. In most HDDs these supplies are regulated by the motor controller IC. Therefore the L2 and L3 coils are the most likely candidates. Since the Vcore supply generally requires the greater current, I would expect that it incorporates L2 (4R7). L3 would be part of the Vio supply. The load side of each coil would be filtered by a capacitor. They would be your test points.

In addition to powering the MCU's I/O logic, Vio also powers the flash memory and SDRAM. Therefore an alternative Vio test point would be pin #8 of IC602. A safer test point would be the pins at PJ401. One or more of these would probably be tied to Vio via a pullup resistor.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

You know a lot about this particular drive and chipset. I am basically trying to do what was for this seagate fix.

I have all the connections made VIA the TIAO (TUMPA) hardware to the pins # 1,2 and 3 as you posted.

When I send a CTRL +z comman d I do not end up with the same prompt as you do on the seagate.

Would you know what command I would need to start the terminal to send additional commands for the toshiba drive?

Link for seagate:

https://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/

Thanks

you're trying to fix a Toshiba using commands for a Seagate?

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What commands are used for the Toshiba then?

I thought CTRL Z was just a generic command to get into a shell prompt for any device?

I also though that the remaining commands where found from the ATAPI/ATA standards documentation which I have not reviewed fully yet.

Well this is not the same as UNIX or Linux commands
u need to know what is the problem 1st. then use proper commands to diagnose and see and MAYBE fix

there are terminal commands for toshiba, but helpful on your case, need proper tools to diagnose

good luck

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When you say the right tools are you referring to the right hardware, software, experience and inside knowledge?

Anyhow I have plenty of Hardware. Bus Pirate, TIAO(TUMPA) and several RS232/TTL devices. So much software I cannot count. Some knowledge not so much with accessing the chips on the board but trying to.

I had a password on my Toshiba drive spent almost a month trying to remove because I had forgotten it. I did not care about any data just wanted to format the drive and put a fresh either windows 7 or MAC OSX on it.

With enough research I came across a Beta 2 version of ZU and that instantly removed it!!!!

I still would like to know if there is a way to access the non user area/firmware of the drive as you can with the seagate?

I cannot find anything on it!!

Thanks