Hi all,

An odd one...

I have a IC35L040AVER07-0 here that spins up OK, and becomes ready.

But when enter PC3000 utility for IBM/Hitachi, it cannot determine family type, so I select manually and start utility.


I get....

Selected family......................... : AVER
Model by ID............................. : <ID IS NOT READ>

NV-RAM reading........................................................ : Ok

Loading module table.................................................. : Ok
Loading the table of "open" modules................................... : Error
Error :............................................................... : Error executing loading "open" modules dir command
Loading zone allocation table......................................... : Ok

But then if I check FW modules, they seem OK. Apart from a few minor modules....


Selected family......................... : AVER
Model by ID............................. : <ID IS NOT READ>

NV-RAM reading........................................................ : Ok

Loading module table.................................................. : Ok
Loading the table of "open" modules................................... : Error
Error :............................................................... : Error executing loading "open" modules dir command
Loading zone allocation table......................................... : Ok
Selected family......................... : AVER
Model by ID............................. : <ID IS NOT READ>
ROM ID.................................. : A40N
NV-RAM ID............................... : ER4IA45Á
USAG version............................ : ER4IA45A
Active SA copy.......................... : main

===



Module checking

ID ABA ABA(Orig.) Len(S) Len(B) Addr in RAM Read Header Importn. Description
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RSVD : 0FFD1000 : 0FFD1000 : 3 : 1536 : 00000000 : Yes : Ok : B : SA marker
USAG : 0FFE1000 : 0FFE1000 : 2 : 0 : 000FFFFF : Yes : Ok : B : Main module table
PSHT : 0FFE3000 : 0FFE3000 : 96 : 49152 : 00080000 : Yes : Ok : Ad : P-List module
RDMT : 0FFE3060 : 0FFE3060 : 32 : 16384 : 00030000 : Yes : Ok : Ad : G-List module
RLBA : 0FFE1078 : 0FFE1078 : 1 : 180 : 00038640 : Yes : Ok : B : G-List reserves table module
CNSL : 0FFE105A : 0FFE105A : 1 : 164 : 0003CC08 : Yes : Ok : B : HDD logical configuration module
RWCN : 0FFE105B : 0FFE105B : 1 : 108 : 0003C84E : Yes : Ok : B :
CHNM : 0FFE106D : 0FFE106D : 10 : 3149 : 0003A630 : Yes : Ok : B :
SRVP : 0FFE105F : 0FFE105F : 1 : 346 : 0003CCD0 : Yes : Ok : B :
SRVM : 0FFE1069 : 0FFE1069 : 4 : 2048 : 0003CFB0 : Yes : Ok : Ad : Module contains cylinder defects table
PVHD : 0FFE1077 : 0FFE1077 : 1 : 18 : 0003CBF6 : Yes : Ok : B :
ZONE : 0FFE105C : 0FFE105C : 2 : 682 : 0003DB40 : Yes : Ok : Ad : Zone allocation table module
PTRT : 0FFE105E : 0FFE105E : 1 : 240 : 00039400 : Yes : Ok : B :
RAM0 : 0FFE1002 : 0FFE1002 : 38 : 19456 : 0004C000 : Yes : Ok : B : Code module
OVR1 : 0FFE1028 : 0FFE1028 : 48 : 6144 : 00050C00 : Yes : Ok : B : Code overlay module
SMRT : 0FFE1063 : 0FFE1063 : 1 : 195 : 00038F30 : Yes : Ok : B : S.M.A.R.T. module
MLBA : 0FFE1066 : 0FFE1066 : 1 : 36 : 0003CBBA : Yes : Ok : B : HDD logical configuration module
SECI : 0FFE1067 : 0FFE1067 : 1 : 74 : 000394F0 : Yes : Ok : B : Security information module
FLYH : 0FFE1068 : 0FFE1068 : 1 : 0 : 000FFFFF : Yes : Ok : B : Stress sensor log module
SSTL : 0FFE107B : 0FFE107B : 2 : 0 : 000FFFFF : Yes : Ok : B :
SRIF : 0FFE1062 : 0FFE1062 : 1 : 2 : 0003CBF4 : Yes : Ok : B : SelfScan start management module
SERL : 0FFE1079 : 0FFE1079 : 2 : 1024 : 00039A00 : Yes : Ok : B : S.M.A.R.T. error log module
IDNT : 0FFE1060 : 0FFE1060 : 2 : 532 : 0003BA30 : Yes : Ok : B : HDD ID data module
DCOT : 0FFE107D : 0FFE107D : 1 : 10 : 0003CBDE : Yes : Ok : B :
PTCH : 0FFE1058 : 0FFE1058 : 2 : 1024 : 00052400 : Yes : Ok : B : Microcode connections table module
PESD : 0FFE8000 : 0FFE8000 : 128 : 65536 : 00000000 : No : : D : PES data log
SRST : 0FFEA000 : 0FFEA000 : 255 : 130560 : 00000000 : No : : C : SelfScan report module
SSSC : 0FFE9009 : 0FFE9009 : 5 : 2560 : 00000000 : Yes : Skipped : Dr : SelfScan management and status module
SSCD : 0FFE9016 : 0FFE9016 : 51 : 26112 : 00000000 : Yes : Skipped : Dr : SelfScan code module

Modules checking process completed




Test : Reset S.M.A.R.T
Reset S.M.A.R.T....................................................... : Error
Error switching ON VENDOR S.M.A.R.T.


Any suggestions?

Sean

I have tried:

PCB swap from a 20Gb model (after re-programming NVRAM), still same.

Re-writing modules (except P, G, etc... the "Ad" modules), still same.

Running out of ideas!!

You can try:
Same NV-ram but from other drive.
Use build in Nvram instead of those you found in PCB


In HEX those 2 are one and same? Seems to me like last byte is different?

_________________
DataRecovery.bg

I think the drive is running the SA from surface other than 0. That last byte indicates SA access has been switched, should be switched back.
pepe

OK, I'm gonna try re-writing NVRAM from another drive.

As, on looking at it, the version doesn't look right at all does it?

It should read "ER40A45A" I think. Maybe corrupt NVRAM?

IIRC there was an update to FW 46 to correct the problem that the head destroys the surface over time. Perhaps this is of any help to you.

Regards,
weaker

Seems to be going now.

I reflashed the NVRAM and modules (except Ad) from HDD GURU library.

Now ID's OK and imaging, although slowly. May take soem time, but it's working, so I'm going to leave DeepSpar imager to do it's work!

Many thanks for all input received on this one!

Cheers


Sean

Check this out:

Seems like you accidentally clicked Switch SA Access button in the utility start-up dialog
This button flips one bit in NVRAM version. This trick can be used to test heads on IBM/Hitachi drives.
If you click it again NVRAM will switch back to normal and the drive will work OK.

Now you wrote down NVRAM with wrong adaptives. That's why it is imaging so slowly.

OK, thanks.

I did try switching the SA Access back again, but it did not work.

I checked the NVRAM in safe mode without the HDA attached, still FW showed wrong version..... re-flashed from library, correct version shows.

Just for reference, how can I write FW with correct adaptives, possible?

But it's imaging OK now, looks like some weak sectors at the beginning. Halfway done now.

Cheers

Sean

The only thing you need to do in this case is read NVRAM, open it in hex editor or in notepad, change version from ER4IA45Á to ER4IA45A and write back.
It's located in the beginning of file.