Seagate HD not recognized anymore

Q

Quak3R

Gawd
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
525
Gents,
So Saturday night i was enjoying my game of metro 2033, shut down woke up the next morning to check my email, my HD is not being recognized anymore, checked my connections just to be sure it wasn't a loose cable; but that didn't work. I tried resetting cmos but that wasnt it either. I tried different power connections on my corsair 1kw psu. I've ruled out one thing; it's def. not the sata controller; otherwise the optical drive wouldn't be reading. I've had this seagate for approx 1 year with no problems until a couple of days ago. Sounds to me that it's a dead drive but I have never had a problem with seagate before which saddens me after all the horror stories I've read on this forum. Think maybe it's time I switched to samsung f3 drives. Anyone else know a way to test to ensure its not a dead drive?
 
What type of Seagate is it? There was a version of the HD (all size variations of the 7200.11) that had a buggy default firmware. There was a chance on powering on that it would get locked and be inaccessable. The data is still all there, just can't access the HD since it is locked out. Comepletely random when it happens. The only way to prevent it from happening was to update the HD firmware.

If it is that, it is possible to fix it yourself on the cheap though slightly technical. This bug actually happened to my 1gb and a friends 500gb. Costed me about $15 for all the parts.

All the fix does is stop the lock from happening so that the drive can be accessed again. Then you would have a firmware update cd ready to go and just update the HD. Problem will never have a chance to resurface again. Plus, since all your data is still their and undamaged, you don't need to reformat or install Windows.

Other then that crappy firmware bug, my 1gb HD has been great.

In fact, if it is that bug, I could possibly fix it myself if you wanted to pay for shipping to and from since I have the parts. Probably still be cheaper doing it yourself.

Fix for 7200.11
 
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thanks! ill take a look at this and try it out. Its a S3500 ab model i bought about a year ago
 
I had this same problem with a 500GB Seagate.
the Fixit google page works 100%.
The hardest part was waiting for the TTL chip and throwing $10 at the local hardware store for the Torx driver.

Check the SN at the Seagate web site. If its on the list, follow the page and you are back in business.


Also quick note... If you do go the route of fixing the HD and you have a Windows 7 or Vista PC, find someone with an XP machine so you can copy the Hyperterminal exe and dll. You can copy the two files from windows/system32 and it will run on any windows 7, even x64.

good luck!
 
Had it happen to my Seagate drive. I could probably sell you my kit I built to fix it. Need to find it in my storage closet.
 
well the drive is bricked atm until firmware is updated, I contacted the screwballs at seagate tech support after the SN checker does not work (kid with down syndrome designed the site) told me its a simple firmware update and they will not "clean" the drive if thats all it is. Been trying to fix it myself this whole time because I fear the risk of losing my data if I ship it out. I guess the moral of the story is, even though how menial it may sound, update your HD firmware. I really hope I dont have bad luck with the samsung spinpoints i just bought. My ttl chip should be here tomorrow
 
Been trying to fix it myself this whole time because I fear the risk of losing my data if I ship it out.
Click to expand...

I have never got the same drive back in an RMA (and I have RMA'd dozens of drives at work) so this is a very big risk. Although I have had no bricked drives in the dozens of 7200.11 drives I have purchased.
 
I will second the notion that you will not get the same drive back.
Most of the time the company does not deal with these customer issues any more. A third party (like UPS scary enough) will deal with the equipment swap at the distribution level.

Back when I had my drive fail, they would send the disk out for data recovery but that budget went way over and they cut that program.

good luck! the do-it-yourself walkthrough it a must try if you truly want your data untouched.
 
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