Barracuda XT, Barracuda, Barracuda Green, DiamondMax and other desktop SATA and IDE drives

[califauna]

Hi,

I am trying to fix a 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB drive which was not being detected in BIOS or anything. I followed the BSY fix at http://www.overclock.net/t/457286/seaga ... -with-pics.

The drive is not covered by warranty.

This was the output after "F3 T>F712", ( I noticed the output is different from what it says it should be in the guides):
--------------------------------------------------
Byte:05C1: Expansions =
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00

F3 T>m0,2,2,,,,,22
Max Wr Retries = 00, Max Rd Retries = 00, Max ECC T-Level = 16, Max Certify Rewr
ite Retries = not supported

User Partition Format 5% complete, Zone 00, Pass 00, LBA 000000009A64, ErrCode
00000080, Elapsed Time 0 mins 30 secs
User Partition Format Successful - Elapsed Time 0 mins 30 secs
Zone re-format was skipped.
-----------------------------
It then gave a LBA=0 error is seatools, so I did the LBA = 0 fix. At first the drive was recognised by WIndows 7 OS, and Seatools info on the drive read a much largre LBA size ( I dont remember the exact number). However the drive couldnt be formatted´ (´Drive could not be formatted´ error from Windows disk manager).

I have updated the firmware sucessfully to CC49.

I tried zerofilling the drive using HD tune pro but it returns an error just saying that the drive couldnt be formatted.

Test disk gives a critial error that it ´cannot access any partitions on the drive, possibly due to firmware´.

The drive is now in the condition that after I fix it each time with the LBA fix method, it can be recognised, but intermittently fails to be recognised when I restart, and then I have to follow the fix again.

Seatools returns a fail for the Short Generic Test, and long generic test, and attempts to repair with seatools start OK but then hang an no progress is made. Seatools for DOS is reporting the correct capcity and LBA now, but same fails as above

I don´t have any data on the drive. Just want to get  back  running at least until I can afford to buy another drive.

Thanks for any help.

[Cantbecanit]

That cure is for 11 series drives not 12's

If it wasn't being detected I would guess you probably had a loose cable to start with.

[califauna]

@cantebecanit

Yes I think the cable is loose sometimes.  The L ending part of the sata contact strip seems to be chiped.

Not being recognised at all is not the problem anymore though.  The problem is that it is detected but not accessible as a drive in Windows / the seatools test and repair fails / cant be accessed by spinrite, cant be formatted, etc.

[Cantbecanit]

If it's in disk mangement but not openable you should make it an online basic disk then attempt giving it a drive letter and then a format if that fails

[califauna]

Here is the result of a SCAN using MHDD.  The bad blocks begin almost immediately (before the scan has even reached 0.1 %)

Could anyone speculate on what that might mean (head crash/firmware/PCB error)?

I have another drive, a 7200.11 instead of 7200.12 like the above drive.  They have the same model number though.  Would a PCB change and ROM chip translant be possible between these two drives?

[proton3]

PCB from 7200.12 has some sort of serial code inside. So even though if you change PCB's from two same models of 7200.12 with same firmware, same production date (same month and year of production), etc. it won't spin your HDD. You will just hear this annoying clicking sound...

So if it isn't working when changing PCB 7200.12 to another 7200.12, It probably won't work when switching PCB from 7200.11 to 7200.12.

[Cantbecanit]

You need Fzakbar help on this one, you can swap 12 to 12 but you will need to do some soldering and chip swapping to do so.

[Searecovery]

Here is an useful airticle guide for seagate (including wd, maxtor, samsung) hard drive pcb swapping: http://www.hddoctor.net/hard-drive-pcb-swap/

[Bhala]

I have the Barracuda 7200.12 drive. It was recognized by my motherborad (Asus P8z68V) in the start and it worked fine.. Now it is suddenly not detected by win 7 (64) or by bios. 

From time to time i can hear the clicking noise mentioned above. The clicking has stopped for some days now. May it rest in peace..

What do i do? Will new firmware help me? It was not found by the Seatools.

I bought this drive so my wife could have all the family pic in one place... I might have to look for a new wife

I am about to try the firmware, but will this possible bork the data on the drive?