Seagate : How to backup firmware

[samsam]

Hello,
i'm newbie (sorry)
I receive my usb to ttl adapter
I plug, with various HDD and all is ok
Now I want to backup my original firmware before try to play with it.

I attemp with sediv (free version) but when i want to read I have the message 'only full version'

If I have understand, the firmware is composed by 3 part:
1 in rom, and 2 in hdd track (no direct access track "-41").

when i attemp to do lot of command , I have :

"INVALID Cert Disk Code - ROM resident revision required APN140"

if i understand, i need to put an cert in rom (or on track ?) before send order to read firmware ?

thanks for your help

ps: Test Disk information
Barracuda 7200.ES
GALAXY3D
firm :3.APPZ
serial: 9QG84TZN

on boot disk say me :
Reset
4096k x 32 DRAM
GALAXY - 1_Disk S-6D 02-02-07_11:01

on ^L :
2>GALAXY3D - 3_Disk 3.APPZ 12-03-07_17:44 APN,GX_3D_6H_S,14
Built for GALAXY3D,PITKIN,Redback,TI1843 PreAmp,Agere7539 PreAmp,McKinleyDT,3Disk,220 Servos,7200RPM,8Pole,133MHz,RwFeat=0002,VBAR

[Spildit]

That error is most likely due to damaged cert track (on platters) or diferent version of ROM (pcb not native).

You will need better tools to play with the firmware, or a payed version of sediv.

You can as well use free stuff like stmem free or minicom plug-ins but is way more dificult to use and requires way more knowledge.

A good tool to star playing with those older seagates prior to the F3 arch is the STCom tools, but the legal full working version is not free as well.

[samsam]

this hdd work fine
i don't think there is a damaged cert track but it's possible it was an IBM remanufactured seagate.

For the paid version software, I read that lot of soft allow to read the firmware but we need to pay to write it, correct ?

stcom is ok, but my version is not translated , (i use screeshot to know witch button to press).

I think all my hdd is older than F3 arch.

In my mind,i want to bkp all firm that I found and upload to this site, but if my bkp is corrupt, how can I detect it since I can't write it back to hdd ?

[Spildit]

CERT track is not necessary for the drive to work at ATA level, meaning you can have damaged CERT and the drive will still works but you will not be able to run self scan and several other diagnostic terminal commands that require for CERT to be loaded.
As for writting the firmware back, if you have a working version of STCom tools you should be able to do so either by writting the entire fw tracks or by loading firmware to RAM from F> and select the box to write to disk.
Stcom have an option to backup fw as well, and to be safe you can backup the entire fw tracks one by one as well.

[samsam]

ok for the cert , I d'ont know it's possite sata work with cert damaged , thanks for sharing this information !

for the cert: it's writting on track ? where can I find the address to attempt to read ?

"loading firmware to RAM from F> and select the box to write to disk."
can you explain me more please ?

on stcom I use the "backup fw" and I check all the checkbox how can I verifiy my backup file are correct ?
there is a crc check tolls somewhere ?

thanks

[Spildit]

ummm...
I will make some guides about it to publish on my site sometime soon, but i don't have much time now to teach you step-by-step how to do it.
A basic understanding on how the barracuda type of drives firmware works is required for you to be able to play with it.

[samsam]

I know your site , i'm member to
I go to search .
About basic understanding barracuda working, do you have doc/datasheet/info somewhere ?

thanks

[Spildit]

I know your site , i'm member to
I go to search .
About basic understanding barracuda working, do you have doc/datasheet/info somewhere ?

thanks

PC3K UDMA english manuals and HRT seagate manual in Russian, but unless you own pc3k you can't legaly have the manuals.

I will do a guide explaining the basic about barracuda type firmware as soon as i can, hopefully on the next weekend.

[samsam]

PC3K UDMA english manuals have barracuda schematic block
but it's... in russian lol
thanks for the keyword, i go to google

[Spildit]

PC3K UDMA english manuals have barracuda schematic block
but it's... in russian lol
thanks for the keyword, i go to google

I'm talking about the LEGAL PC3K-UDMA. The manuals are in English and not in Russian. Also those English manuals are not available on the net. Maybe what you have is the manuals for the PCI version (pirated chinese version includes those manuals as well) or even older manuals for ISA version.

The newer manuals of PC3K UDMA have blue layout on the header of topics, etc...

I bet you have a black and white version or a full Russian version.

[samsam]

If you want I will be happy to write this tutorial with you