Drive stopped detecting in BIOS

Edgeman · 09-20-2009, 07:18 AM

Hello,

I built a machine for one of my relatives a few months ago (Asus P5QL Pro, a Core 2 Duo, cheap nvidia graphics, couple gigs of RAM, 500 GB Seagate drive, XP SP3 Pro).
Last week they called and said there was a problem with the boot device so they stopped using the machine. When I get there I can't get the SATA Seagate to detect in the BIOS at all. Check the usual things, cable, BIOS settings, power connection, nothing works.
At home I tried the drive in an old Socket A board I have with SATA, and in all three SATA controllers in my main machine (A RocketRaid card, a Marvell RAID controller on my mobo, and the Intel SATA ports on my mobo). Doesn't detect in any of them.
I've tried with and without the SATAII jumper on.
Is there a way to at the very least get the data off of it? My family members had just had a new baby and they have a large quantity of baby pictures on this drive from their first child and now they might be lost.
Seagate only replaces drives when you RMA them, and their data recovery service is $770-1700, which is a bit out of our range.
The drive is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB, ST3500320AS

Any help is appreciated.

**raptor_pa** · 09-20-2009, 09:18 AM

This sounds like the seagate 7200.11 firmware brick issue. The drive at this point is unrecoverable by any normal means at home. It is possible to build a serial interface to the drive and send low-level commands to reset the error, then you can update the firmware. Seagate is also doing recoveries on these drives for no cost, assuming it IS in fact the firmware issue - and it sure sounds like it. The first thing to do is use the seagate online firmware tool - enter the drive's serial number and see if it has a firmware upgradeavailable and if it is one of the drives susceptible to the bug. Not all 7200.11 drives have the issue, it is specific to drives built on certain production lines in certain plants. If it is affected, then contact seagate's support and let them know it appears to be bricked due to firmware and see if they will accept it for that repair option. If you are feeling adventuroous, here is a link to how to build the serial interface and the commands to send... read it, read it, then read it a couple times more. The commands are case sensitive and must be entered exactly. A wrong command can make the condition worse. it is actually a pretty easy fix if you pay attention to detail and are a little handy with soldering iron and cabling. The fix is here... http://www.msfn.org/board/solution-s...s-t128807.html

09-20-2009, 07:18 AM	#1 (permalink)
Edgeman Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1 OS: Windows Vista x64 SP2	Drive stopped detecting in BIOS Hello, I built a machine for one of my relatives a few months ago (Asus P5QL Pro, a Core 2 Duo, cheap nvidia graphics, couple gigs of RAM, 500 GB Seagate drive, XP SP3 Pro). Last week they called and said there was a problem with the boot device so they stopped using the machine. When I get there I can't get the SATA Seagate to detect in the BIOS at all. Check the usual things, cable, BIOS settings, power connection, nothing works. At home I tried the drive in an old Socket A board I have with SATA, and in all three SATA controllers in my main machine (A RocketRaid card, a Marvell RAID controller on my mobo, and the Intel SATA ports on my mobo). Doesn't detect in any of them. I've tried with and without the SATAII jumper on. Is there a way to at the very least get the data off of it? My family members had just had a new baby and they have a large quantity of baby pictures on this drive from their first child and now they might be lost. Seagate only replaces drives when you RMA them, and their data recovery service is $770-1700, which is a bit out of our range. The drive is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500 GB, ST3500320AS Any help is appreciated.

09-20-2009, 09:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,863 OS: XP	Re: Drive stopped detecting in BIOS This sounds like the seagate 7200.11 firmware brick issue. The drive at this point is unrecoverable by any normal means at home. It is possible to build a serial interface to the drive and send low-level commands to reset the error, then you can update the firmware. Seagate is also doing recoveries on these drives for no cost, assuming it IS in fact the firmware issue - and it sure sounds like it. The first thing to do is use the seagate online firmware tool - enter the drive's serial number and see if it has a firmware upgradeavailable and if it is one of the drives susceptible to the bug. Not all 7200.11 drives have the issue, it is specific to drives built on certain production lines in certain plants. If it is affected, then contact seagate's support and let them know it appears to be bricked due to firmware and see if they will accept it for that repair option. If you are feeling adventuroous, here is a link to how to build the serial interface and the commands to send... read it, read it, then read it a couple times more. The commands are case sensitive and must be entered exactly. A wrong command can make the condition worse. it is actually a pretty easy fix if you pay attention to detail and are a little handy with soldering iron and cabling. The fix is here... http://www.msfn.org/board/solution-s...s-t128807.html __________________ Last edited by raptor_pa; 09-20-2009 at 09:45 AM.