Hi there!
I just stopped by here again to update you all on the progress of my repair work. I'm proud to report that my Barracuda HDD has been successfully restored!
FYI, it's a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 HDD with 500 GB capacity and the SD15 FW. Model number is ST3500320AS. FWIW!
The main problemThe problem with it was that it was locked in the BSY state. I think the problem occurred at some point when I was reading a normal about 40-page PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro. Except for the uTorrent client which was bandwidth-limited to about 300 KB/s up-/downspeed, I didn't have any heavy applications running in the background when the Acrobat suddenly started to lag. Since this is not normal on my computer (it's a pretty powerful computer with C2D CPU) I was not so patient with it so I shut it down. When I launched Acrobat Pro again with the same PDF file I had no problem with it. But after reading my PDF and closing down Acrobat, I noticed in Windows Explorer that some or none of the partitions were visible that belong to this particular HDD. This used to happen to me on some rare occasions but was usually re-solved by power cycling the computer. So I re-started my computer just to find out BIOS couldn't see this HDD anymore. I remembered reading some news at some Tech site about Barracuda 7200.11 issues, and after hours of searching the Web that day I soon realized that mine HDD had all the common symptoms of a BSY error case. Talk about destroyed by a PDF file!
The parts and materials neededExcept for few 0.5 mm2 crimp sockets which I purchased at
Kjell&Co, I had ordered all the materials and electronic parts I would need for the whole repair work from an online Web shop called
Electrokit. For those of you resident in Sweden who stumble upon this thread and who are having this HDD problem, I'm sure you will find Electrokit as a good place to start your quest for the parts and materials. The most hardest thing to find is probably the TTL to RS232 adapter module, or an adapter cable of the same type. Electrokit has the original
TTL adapter module by Sparkfun Electronics - the same model that
Gradius2 at MSFN used in his recovery guide titled "
The Solution for Seagate 7200.11 HDDs, How-to fix 0 LBA and BSY errors". ELFA (one of northern Europe's biggest electronics supplier) also has TTL to RS232 adapters in the form of adapter cables by FTDI. The most commonly used model for this kind of repair work is the
TTL-232R-3V3. There is also a 5 Volt version of it, but I recommend using this 3.3 Volt version if you decide to buy this. They also have other TTL parts, just visit ELFA's website and search for TTL. English speaking visitors can use the ELFA website for
international visitors.
As for the jumper pin dimensions on SATA HDD's which this thread should be dealing with, I had ordered some jumper wires (a.k.a. patch cords a.k.a. test leads) to use for connecting the TX/RX/GND pins on the jumper-block area of the HDD with the TTL adapter module's TX/RX/GND pins. Both the
jumper wires and the
TTL adapter module were ordered from Electrokit and made by Sparkfun Electronics (
link 1,
link2) of US of A.
The jumper wires had female sockets on both ends, but I also ordered a version which had female socket on one end and a stripped wire on the other, and I have ordered a 4-pole screw terminal and a 4-pole pin header terminal for PCB mounting to use with these. I didn't have to use both thou, I only used the screw terminal and soldered it to the TTL module. However, none of the female sockets would fit on the small pins of the HDD. The surrounding plastic was in the way. So in the end I didn't use many or none of these. They only fitted well in the jumper-block area on my PATA HDD. I have remove the plastic from the socket of the jumpers so I could attach them to the SATA HDD. But they were not fitted tightly on the pins, they were very loose so I didn't use them. Instead I made my own jumper wires and the crimp sockets (JST branded) I got fitted perfectly on the HDD pins.
The hardware setup and recoveryHere is what I did.
- I soldered the 4-pole screw terminal to the TTL adapter module.
- I cut and stripped two short pieces of regular mounting wire and screwed one to the GND pin and the other to the Vcc pin on the TTL module.
- I cut two longer wires for the TX and RX and attached regular 0.5 mm2 crimp sockets on one of the stripped ends.
- Then I isolated the crimp sockets with electrical tape before connecting them to the TX and RX of HDD, and then I screwed the other stripped ends to the TX and RX of the TTL module.
- I attached two of the female socket to stripped wire type of jumpers to the CR2032 battery holder in one end and then connected the stripped end with the stripped end of the two short wires for Vcc and GND I previously had made. I used two test leads with crocky clips to connect these to avoid unnecessary electric shots. Twisting them together will work fine too just remember not to put in the battery yet or attaching the power supply (which is even worst from the safety point of view). I just used this simple setup with a battery to power the TTL circuitry.
- I placed the battery into the holder and connected everything and it was ready for use.
The aftermathThe only issue in this whole procedure was that the RX and TX wires were flipped (RX to RX and TX to TX) so I didn't get any response in the terminal. But after swapping them I got to the command prompt in terminal ans successfully recovered the HDD and it was recognized in BIOS. I upgraded the FW from SD15 to SD1A successfully. This HDD problem occurred exactly on Wednesday of April the first (2009-04-01), and I had it all solved on Monday of April the 20th (2009-04-20). So it was all solved within about three weeks. That's not so bad I think. If I had to send the HDD to i365 UK (a Seagate company) as Seagate Technical Support has suggested I might have lost my data forever. I don't care much about the HDD as much as I care about the data - that's the part that matters to people. I have spent 716 SEK (~64 EUR or 83 USD) on parts, materials and tools for recovering my HDD. But to me, it was worth it. I don't think I would have gotten away cheaper if I had went to a "professional" DR company, it would probably be at least eight times the price, in best case. I base this on the information from the user called Alexx at the MSFN thread above who lives in Sweden and had called around to local DR companies to ask for prices. But even if it would have been cheaper to go to a DR company, I still wouldn't do it. I enjoyed doing it myself, and what's more I have gained knowledge in the process.
The HDD jumper pin dimensionsI probably didn't need to be this paranoid about the jumper pin dimensions, but I didn't want to risk anything. Since I have recovered my HDD I have done some research and I also chatted with Seagate Technical Support. According to Quincy T who I chatted with, the pin pitch should be 2 mm for SATA HDD's. He was unsure of the thickness, but he said that all 2 mm jumpers are uniform so there's only one thickness. He linked me to an Knowledge Base article at Seagate's site.
Quote:
Seagate and Maxtor ATA drives normally require only one jumper size, 4 mm. Seagate and Maxtor SATA hard drives sometimes require a jumper to modify the transfer rate at which the drive will operate, and this jumper is 2 mm.
Source:
What are jumpers and where can I get them? What size jumper do I need?Here is a table of common unit conversions we have done between inches and millimeters. I have verified that they all are correct.
Code:
inch mm
-------------------
0.0251968504 0.64
0.0787401575 2
0.08 2.032
0.1 2.54
Here is the product description for the Sparkfun Electronics jumper wires.
Quote:
Description: This is a SparkFun exclusive! These are 155mm long jumpers with female connectors on both ends. Use these to jumper from any male header on any board, to any other male header. Combine these with our male to male jumpers to create a male to female jumper. Multiple jumpers can be installed next to one another on a 0.1" header. Comes as 1 package of ten jumpers (colors shown).
Dimensions: 155mm +/-5mm long
Source:
Jumper Wires Premium F/FHere is another product description for a "2 Pin .100" Header Connector - Single Row" at MCI Electronics. This is the pin header that Gradius2 at MSFN had ordered. These are supposed to be attached to a wire, it's the same thing as the ones I purchased (by JST), mine had just red plastic not black. But I remember that he also wrote in his guide that he wasn't able to fit these onto the HDD pins because of the plastics being in way.
Quote:
Fits with standard .100" Header
Temperature Range: -55°C to +105°C
Current Rating 1A
Requires Header Pins (HDPINF)
Suitable for cable size 22 - 26 AWG
Source:
2 Pin .100" Header Connector - Single RowHere is one last product description for a shortening jumper by Hsuan Mao I found at ELFA's website.
Quote:
Jumpers for strips of pins and euroconnectors with 2.54 mm contact pitch, and a pin size of 0.64×0.64 mm. Available with or without measuring point and handle with measuring point. Gold- or tin plated. Max 1 A.
Source:
Jumper black open, AuWhat these details reveal is that the most common pin pitch of a PCB type of header is 2.54 mm and would require a jumper wire with the same header pitch. Expressed in inches gives a value of 0.1. If the pitch is 2.54 mm then the thickness would normally be 0.64 mm, or approx. 0.0252 expressed in inches. So, 2.54 mm pitch gives a 0.64 mm thickness. These are the jumper/socket dimensions you would normally find on most common CPB boards, and they fit perfectly on the jumper pins of PATA HDD's. However, they do not fit as got (if at all) on the jumper pins of SATA HDD's because they have 2 mm pitch. If 2 mm is the exact pitch and not an approximation of 2.54 mm (how could it be) then these may be just a slightly thinner then their 0.64 mm counterparts used on PATA HDD's. And that! Is the whole problem and the main reason why I popped this question in first place.
It's a pity that neither the jumper wire headers nor the header connectors with crimp sockets which you use to make your own jumper wires do fit inside that tiny little space on the back of SATA HDD's. I remember reading at MSFN in the solution thread by Gradius2 that some users used a Dremel tool to file down the plastics so that it would fit. Well, what can I say, you got to use your imagination if you're ever going to make those fit inside on the jumper-block area of a SATA HDD.
Why is this? What's their problem (HDD manufacturers)? Why did they make the jumper-block area so tiny on SATA HDD's compared to PATA? I understand that SATA compared to PATA drives do not need to be configured to Master vs. Slave so they don't have as many pins as PATA drives, they only got the Capacity limit pins. But they could still have made some more space there. I remember that I once lost one of those tiny tiny little Cap. limit shortening jumpers for a SATA HDD so I purchased a set of PC screws, distances and shortening jumpers from 3M. But the damn thing wouldn't fit on that SATA HDD, it fitted barely so that it could shorten the pins. So it did work but barely, and I had to use force to get it in place and pilers to get it out. Most people would probably be satisfied with that but I'm addicted to details and I'm not at all satisfied with it. Oh, and by the way, one Barracuda 7200.11 owner reported in the MSFN thread by Gradius2 that he was unable to RMA his drive because a tiny little bit of plastic in the SATA Power connector area was broken so they said the warranty was due. So there you go, details do matter, and it's the details that make up the whole product.
FWIW, I have recently found a
data sheet document for a patch cord by Hirschmann at
ELFA's website which reveal quite interesting details about this type of PCB miniature connectors. It includes references to standard specifications. In this document it is said that the thickness of this type of connectors are 0.64 mm up to 2 mm. I think there is one even thinner which is 0.5 mm, but I was unable to confirm that. That might just be the one used on SATA HDD's, and that may be the reason why 0.64 mm sockets don't fit so good on 0.5 mm pins.
Quote:
The systems use connector pin diameters of 0.64 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm and allow reliable connections in the smallest possible area, occupying the minimum amount of space. This makes these systems particularly advantageous in microelectronics (SMD technology). The shatterproof, flexible insulating sleeves mean that the connectors are also able to withstand significant loading.
AfterwordI have by now probably already told you more than necessary or more then you want or need to know. I could of course go ahead and chop this post down in half. But since I have already put up the effort to write it, I'm going to leave it as is and let you decide what part and how much you want to read. I have tried to get a good disposition so it would be easy to read, I hope I did well there. My initial thought with this thread was to just drop my question and hopefully get the answer to it. But since no one really seemed to know the answer, it has evolved into this general discussion of HDD's and repairing HDD's. It's of course not forbidden to discuss a problem from a different point of view if you can't crack the core of it. I think it's interesting to see how much there is to be said about such a tiny little thing as a HDD jumper pin, and how many new questions it brings up. Well, I hope you're not bothered by this long post of mine and that you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it.
ReferenceSeagate Tech Support - Shot 1Seagate Tech Support - Shot 2Seagate Tech Support - Shot 3Seagate Tech Support - Shot 4Seagate Tech Support - Shot 5Seagate Tech Support - Shot 6P.s. Based upon the knowledge I have gained in my recent experience with this Barracuda HDD I am currently writing a new guide for recovering the 7200.11 Barracudas from the, by now, well known BSY or LBA=0 error. I hope it will be better then those currently available by taking into account the details that other such guides leave out, and by clearing out the "black cloud of confusion" surrounding the whole topic as I once described it in the MDFN thread by Gradius2. I will publish it on MSFN as soon it is ready, but I don't want to challenge any body else's work, and especially not that done by Gradius'. I just want to make an improved version of the existing ones, and unlike Gradius I will be glad to hear other peoples feedback and input, and to give credit to those who deserve it.