Hello,

I am trying to repair a Samsung SP1213N 120GB HDD. It has 4 bad sectors. I thought that those bad sectors are remapped automatically by the drive firmware, but this does not seem to happen. I tried the ESTOOL Erase-function, and the ESTOOL Low Level Format function (BTW: Is there a difference?) -> no effect, the bad sectors were still there. I tried to force the remapping with MHDD (scan +remap on) and with victoria (classic remap and advanced remap):
- MHDD scans, displays an "x" and then freezes. I have to restart the computer.
- Victoria, classic remap: displays the "OK"-sign for the bad sectors. But the bad sectors are still there.
- Victoria, advanced remap: diplays "er" for the bad sectors.

Smart Raw Values:
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Reallocated Event Count 8
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 8

What could be the reason that the drive is not remapping the bad sectors?

Thank you,
Philipp

Need special procedures and tools but it is 100% fixable and the drive will come back as factory new. But have to send the drive.

Thank you for your answer.
I don't think it is worth sendig the drive to you. I have a backup of the data, and I think one can get a new drive of this size for about 40 EUR. Presumably the "special procedures" you offered plus shipping would be much more expensive.

I just was interested in this courious behaviour and didn't want to throw away the drive if it could still be repaired more or less easily. Well, I have some (amateur-) experience with repairing electronics (soldering and so on, recently succeeded to repair a digital camera), but from what you said I think this will not be sufficient in this case? If there is something I could try myself: I am prepared to read and learn, just would be grateful if you could put me on the right track...

Thanks a lot,
Philipp

In fact it's not worth. Replace it and don't care about the rest.

Needs neither special procedures nor tools ...
A few files and a computer . Everything is in the net , but in Russian.

Even to destroy the drive for sure....

I made my own tools and I am happy with them.

Wow, tools to run Burn-in test...

Never heard

So, in this case, I could play around with it a bit and learn something on the way...

I have tried hutil202 with the service .cfg. Made a read test and got a defect list. I let the program check the defects and recieved the information "hard" for the defects. I then let the programm "free defects". It said that the sectors were reassigned.

It seems to work now without problems, the SMART reallocated sector count shows the number of defective sectors. Everything seems fine.

I wonder if it could have been that easy?!?
Philipp

Congratulations!
You did it. (Bad news for BlackST &co)
It could be even easier...Trust me...

Great!
Thank you for the moral support

CU,
Philipp

YOUR is not a definitive fix. I said something else. Drives in such conditions are unstable , while fixing EVERYTHING can make it safe and useable 100%.
There is a difference between professional repair and cosmetic changes: I would never suggest such repair.

Bad news for what ? I'll sleep and ...[CENSORED ] the same tonight

OK, I understand that there may be further hidden errors on the drive which have not surfaced yet, and one should possibly stress-test the drive to discover these so that they can be repaired (maybe with this infamous "burn-in-test" that was mentioned...? -> would seem to risky for me as a newbie).

So, thanks for the warning. I wanted to replace the drive anyway, but with my "cosmetic" repair I think I can still keep it to store less important things on it (TV recordings for example). I think it was worth it nevertheless.
Cu,
Philipp

This way the drive will be OK. During life cycle mechanical wear and other things occur. There are other ways that involve manual analysis and other checking(s) that will ensure 100% working drive till the end of the mechanical life. This is not worth on common drives, but on expensive drives used on servers and/or other critical applications or high volume. It's like repairing the gear box of your car : if done at factory level with tight tolerances and all the necessary knowledge, it would be and has to be 100% reliable. With DIY it would be OK too but the life will be significantly lower AND/OR other problems will develop. I'll ask for a factory recertified replacement part if money is an issue, or positively a brand new spare because I'm inside the car. Choices...
The demand - for me - is for solutions that work 100% to save money, not for a delayed replacement. But don't say a cosmetic change or a common procedure without checking the rest is the same of a professional analysis and fix !