I stumbled upon this forum from a google search and I was digging around trying to figure out how to unlock my hard drive. I don't remember what I put for the password, as I didn't use the laptop for a couple of months. When I powered it on, I tried all the possible combinations for the password for both the user and master password.

I tried to us Mhdd on another computer to unlock it using the default master password of Seagate with 25 blank spaces but it didn't work. I was looking at a few threads here and it looks like the only way to unlock it is to use a TTL to serial adapter and going through terminal or running a script. I had a question, the instructions I saw said the drive had to be before the F3 architecture but I'm not sure if my drive is or not.

This is what it reads on the drive:

Seagate Momentus Thin 320GB
Date: 13016
Site: WU
Model: ST320LT020
PN: 9YG142-285
FW: 0001SDM1

I was wondering if it was possible to use the terminal method to reset or erase the password? If so, would this tutorial be the right one?

http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=25

Thanks for any help!

Momentus thin is F3

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Thank you so much. The TTL cable I need to get is the Nokia CA-12 cable or can I get another one?

Thanks!

In regards to the ZOC Script, is this the right one?

http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php?f=113&t=122

Do I just cut & paste the entire 2 posts in the terminal window?

anything like this will do it, including the nokia one probably. ones like this I find easier to use.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-1pcs-USB-2-0-to-TTL-5pin-Serial-Converter-UART-Module-CP2102-STC-5pin-cables-/400524497015?pt=AU_CablesConnectors&hash=item5d411ed077#ht_5419wt_1018

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-3V-5V-Optional-USB-to-TTL-UART-RS232-COM-Serial-Converter-Module-DTR-RTS-/190749631291?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item2c6990633b#ht_3780wt_1255
you can also get them at any electronics store like jaycar, element14 and RS Components etc

want to know a bit about serial ports? helps to read things like this:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/serial-communication
and
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/serial-peripheral-interface-spi

Thanks, I'm going to buy the converter off eBay but how do I go about running the connection between the pins from the HDD and the converter? Is there any specific cable I need to buy or do I just make my own?

Thank you so much, I'll do that. This will be exciting.

Hey guys, I bought this adapter from eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/400524483249?ss ... 1439.l2649

I got the drivers installed and i set it to COM1 on my pc and downloaded the ZOC software. For some strange reason, it can't find my COM1. It's working on my device manager but it just don't detect it with the ZOC terminal software. I set the com1 to 38400, 8N1, with no flow control.

Is the adapter I bought the wrong one? It looks like it should work with the GND, TX and RX connectors and I plugged it into the HDD according to this picture:

http://malthus.zapto.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=193

Hi,
that adapter should be perfect.

When you plug in the adapter, you will see in device manager what com port the adapter is. that is the com port you use. Doesnt matter what your comport is numbered as lon as it is the one windows gave the adapter.
38,400 8N1 is correct.

make sure you connect it like:

PC-------HDD
....................
GND-----GND
TX------RX
RX------TX

Is the drive supposed to power up when I hook up the TX/RX/GND pins to it? Or does it run at super low voltage and I won't hear anything?

Thanks, I didn't know if I had to power up the drive with an external source or not. I got to detect now and I'm running the script. I hope it's correct,i I just cut & pasted the link earlier, saved the contents in the .rex file, loaded the script in ZOC and ran it. A popup showed up and I just left the default settings in there and clicked OK. Now it's going through the BUFF: 0Bxx sections and I'm waiting for it to finish.

The script finished and it created a c:\_dumps\__PWD.BIN file. I unplugged the drive and tried to run it on another pc, couldn't format it. I tried to initialize it with Windows 7 but it failed due to an I/O error, so I'm assuming it's still password protected. Was there something else I was missing or do with the PWD.BIN file? I opened it up in notepad and it just read the word PASS in there with a ton of blank spaces in there.

Dear Friend Spildit

I Think Easy Way To Check Password Protection For User Level Is The Victoria That Work With All Operating System And Also Show Quickly Also Have All Futures Like View Smart, Checking Surface, And Also View Sectors In Hex For More Extra Dignosis.

Your Friend
Jignesh Pankhania (India/Gujarat/Ahmeabad)

I'm not sure if my drive got hosed with the script but it seems to hang and I couldn't even boot off the MHDD ISO to check it. Would the script do anything to the drive? Before, I originally had it in a laptop and the POST would ask for the password. I knew at that point, the HDD had a password. I installed another hard drive on that laptop and it works fine.

script finds the password as a dump. password removed using this dump

I'll give Victoria a try and see what happens!

I just ran Victoria on the drive and it says that the drive is locked with ATA password. I'll attach a screenshot of the program results.

I set the password but I forgot what it was, so that's why I need to remove it.

Thats right! The script has dumped the password for you as a bin file. So now all you have to do is load the bin file into Victoria for Windows and click unlock.

You need to set up the drive in PIO mode. Click on the 'F' next to the password box. Load the bin file and then unlock.

Job done and many thanks to Moltke!