Hi guys,

The ST3000DM001 in my Seagate NAS suddenly would not be detected when powered on after beeing shut down for 1-2 months.
It spins up and makes 11 clicking sounds as if the headstack is moved, then nothing. Using a modified Nokia CA42 Cable and hyper terminal I managed to read the error messages generated (see below) when the drive is powered up (the multipoint contact between the drive and the PCB covered with a piece of paper). When hitting Ctrl+Z in the terminal, nothing happens.

Since I have access to a cleanroom, I opened the drive to have a look, but I saw no obvious damage to the heads or visible platter. Under a magnifyer, I saw a very tiny piece that looked like a perfect spring on the platter (or could it be a burr from head/platter?).
Looking at the PCB I see no obvious damaged or burnt components. PCB number is 100664987 with a 25Q40BWS05 flash IC. Drive serial starts with W1F, firmware is CC9E and sitecode SU.

I would appreciate advice on this issue, is there any point in getting a replacement PCB or searching for a donor drive to try and swap heads?

Thanks in advance for your support!

Boot 0x40M
Spin Up
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame 0540 00FF 06CC 3100 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EF9 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0010
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FE80 0074 06CC 3140 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EEB 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FDC0 0075 06CC 31C0 0008 0000 0000 0000 0ED0 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FDC0 0075 06CC 3180 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EDD 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD80 0075 06CC 3180 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EDD 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD40 0075 06CC 31C0 0008 0000 0000 0000 0ED0 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD40 0075 06CC 3100 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EF9 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD40 0076 06CC 31C0 0008 0000 0000 0000 0ED0 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD00 0076 06CC 31C0 0008 0000 0000 0000 0ED0 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD00 0076 06CC 3140 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EEB 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame FD00 0076 06CC 3140 0008 0000 0000 0000 0EEB 0000 0000 0000 0000
0000 0000 0000 A3BD 9F42 81A9 3B95 4CE9 A759 9163 999F A93C 705B 0000 007F 0000
0000 001D 0004 0000

DM series and Fail Servo error. Probably heads or media damage.

You can check this article for match compatible donor.

http://www.donordrives.com/blog/matching-guide#seagate

+1

definitely heads and/or media damage.

_________________
Data Recovery Pakistan

Ok thanks, I was afraid that would be the case.

Looking around I found this video where a professional DR company recovers an identical drive. Although it seems that the headswap was pretty fast (unfortunately there is no close-up in the video when he reposition the heads) they had to try heads from several donor drives before succeeding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcvNWPPNWSE

Also, after the headswap he is using some kind of DOS program to remap/image the drive, what software is that and is it publically available?

I found a pretty reasonably priced donor drive with matching sitecode and first three serial letters (different firmware however). I realize chances of success are small, but since I can work in a cleanroom I thought I might give it a try. Is there anyone that could recommend a video showing the repositioning of the heads in more detail?

How critical is it to match up the firmware? i Found another set of matching criteria (below) for the Seagate F3 that differs from the ones in your link. There, FW version is listed as a criteria
.
Also, Heads map & preamplifier type is not printed on my drive.

Hard Drive Match Criteria (for Head Stack Assembly replacement or Platter Swap).
1. Full Model Number. Example: ST9640320AS, ST31000528AS
2. Site Code. Example: TK, AMK, KRATSG, WUXISG
3. Full part number or first 3 characters in serial number. Example: 9Y7389-301, 9JU138-302, 5MA84KC2, 9ND29XWG
4. Firmware. Example: CC44, 0005HPM1
(http://stores.ebay.com/hddSupplier/Matching-Guide.html)

• Model number: Match the model number exactly.
• Serial number: Match the second and third characters of the serial number.
• Heads map: Match the physical heads (PH) map exactly. It is OK if the donor has more heads than the original drive, but all heads before that should match.
• Preamplifier type: Optional — Match the first two digits of the preamplifier type.
• Part number: Match the 1st half of the part number. If the second half also matches, it is likely to be an even better match.
• Site code: Match the site code. This indicates the location of manufacture.
• Date code: Convert the date codes. They should be within three months of each other — the closer the better.
(http://www.donordrives.com/blog/matching-guide#seagate)

if you are doing this first which seems correct than i would suggest you don't do it.
the drive in question is a DM series which is really a mess even for a Pro.

thats all i can say.
good luck.

_________________
Data Recovery Pakistan

Thanks for your replies.
For further discussion please see the link that Spildit posted.