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

[Zezima]

I have a 1tb st31000528as hard drive. One day i turn on my computer, and it refused to boot and said the hard drive was not detected. I look into the bios and its not there. I make sure all the cables are connected, and even try different ports, still not working. I even tried it on a different desktop, same problem, no boot. The hard drive however, will receive power and spin. I look on many threads and people are talking about some transistor that most likely would blow in a power surge, and my transistors are perfect. I carefully inspect my pcb for any burn marks, the only burn marks i found are on the exposed side on 3 mini connectors. im not sure if this is the problem, but im about ready to purchase a replacement pcb and hope it starts working again. I have 4 years left of warranty on it. I can afford another drive, but i just want my data on it. i dont wanna send it in to seagate because i will lose a years worth of stuff (Pics, Music, etc...) I took some decent pics of it and would like to show you guys. Thanks! http://imgur.com/a/w7h2w#0  

[aqk]

I have the same problem.  It's more likely the firmware on the disk, and NOT the PCB card.

If your drive is a 7200.11 and the firmware says SD15 then...

   read this:

   My Seagate drive became a brick   (very long and verbose)

  and this: 

     Brad's Method    (same, but simpler and straightforward)

to get an idea of the problem you (and I) may be facing. 

[Zezima]

Its actually a 7200.12

[fzabkar]

If the drive spins up, then the PCB is most probably OK. Instead the problem is most likely an internal one.

In any case you cannot simply swap the PCB. Most modern HDDs store unique, drive specific "adaptive" information in a serial EEPROM chip. This chip, or its contents, needs to be transferred from patient to donor.

The following PCB suppliers offer a firmware transfer service, either for free, or for US$10:

http://www.donordrives.com
http://www.onepcbsolution.com
http://www.hdd-parts.com

I would advise that you avoid those suppliers who don't tell you that a board won't work without modification. Often they will attempt to obscure the requirement for a firmware transfer by deceptively describing their products as being "for data recovery only".

Alternatively, if you are not adept at soldering, your local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transfer the chip for you.

[tomsfans]

Local TV/AV repair shop should be able to transfer the chip for $5-$20

[Zezima]

Im getting kinda upset at seagate, its THEIR drive why doesnt the warrantly covers manufacture defects so they can fix it? I dont wanna rma all my info, because i would have to buy windows 7 again, i dont have my product code for it. **bleep**. this isnt fair. make a better non-fail hard drive or gtfo the market. LOL