Seagate ST4000LM024 Data Recovery

The Seagate ST4000LM024 is a 2.5-inch internal hard drive designed for use in laptops and portable storage devices. It offers a large storage capacity of 4TB, making it suitable for storing a vast amount of data, including documents, photos, videos, and multimedia files. The drive operates at a spindle speed of 5400 RPM, providing reliable performance for everyday computing tasks. With its SATA 6Gb/s interface, it offers fast data transfer rates and seamless connectivity with compatible devices. The Seagate ST4000LM024 utilizes advanced technologies to enhance data integrity and optimize power efficiency. It features advanced formatting, ensuring efficient data storage and retrieval. Overall, the Seagate ST4000LM024 is a dependable storage solution that combines high capacity, performance, and reliability for various computing needs.

ST4000LM024 seagate 4tb data recovery stiction

This drive was sent to us from a client. They experienced problems with beeping and clicking from the drive when plugged into their device. With a quick assessment from the engineers at Zero Alpha Data Recovery they uncovered constant beeping sounds and the drive appear to not spin. When the drive was opened, the platter was spotless and the filter was clean. The stiction can clearly be seen.

What is stiction?

Stiction refers to a condition that occurs in hard drives when the read/write heads become stuck to the platters, making it difficult or impossible for the drive to function properly. Stiction is often caused by a combination of factors such as dust, humidity, or physical damage to the drive. When the heads become stuck, they are unable to move smoothly across the surface of the platters, resulting in the drive being unable to read or write data effectively. Resolving stiction requires specialized knowledge and techniques, as attempting to manually free the stuck heads can cause further damage to the drive.

seagate ST4000LM024 data recovery zero alpha opened drive

After closer inspection shows parts of the head has broken off. A broken head in a hard drive can cause significant data loss due to its crucial role in reading and writing data on the platters. The read/write heads are responsible for accurately accessing and interpreting the information stored on the magnetic surface of the platters. When a head becomes broken or damaged, it can lead to various issues that result in data loss. A stiction release is insufficient for this recovery.

broken head zero alpha data recovery seagate hard drive

To resolve this, a head swap is needed, our skilled technicians proceed to identify a donor drive with compatible heads.

What is a Head Swap?

A head swap refers to the process of replacing the faulty or damaged read/write heads of a hard drive with functional heads from a compatible donor drive. The read/write heads are crucial components responsible for reading and writing data on the platters of the hard drive. When the heads become faulty due to physical damage or alignment issues, data may become inaccessible or experience errors.

Our engineers delicately remove the damaged heads from the original drive using specialized tools and techniques. The donor heads are then meticulously installed with precision and expertise. Following the head replacement, the drive requires precise calibration to ensure proper alignment and functionality. Our technicians perform meticulous testing to verify the stability and accuracy of the newly replaced heads, ensuring optimal performance of the drive.

Compatible donor?

When performing a head swap during a data recovery process, having a compatible donor drive is crucial for maximizing the chances of a successful recovery. A compatible donor drive refers to a hard drive that has similar specifications and features as the original drive, including the same model, capacity, country manufacturer, part number, date and firmware version.

Using a compatible donor drive ensures that the replacement heads obtained from it will be fully compatible with the target drive. This compatibility is essential to achieve proper alignment and functionality of the heads, allowing for successful data recovery. Mismatched or incompatible donor heads can lead to further damage to the drive or unsuccessful recovery attempts.

Data recovery experts carefully select a suitable donor drive that matches the specifications of the original drive, ensuring a higher likelihood of compatibility. By obtaining the correct donor drive, they can extract the functional heads and transplant them into the target drive, increasing the chances of recovering the data successfully.

Data Recovery Case Log: ST4000LM024-2AN17V

19Jan24: Max head................. : 7; Head vendor.............. : default; Logical head map......... : 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

24Jan24: MHA swap. Comes ready with full ID, clicks/scratches. Limited/inconsistent access to SA and DA.

25Jan24: Edit the SAP control flags in ROM to enable slow seek and stop calibration at OD. Drive is more stable. Able to access SA via ATA too now. MRB. Edit SMP to disable background activity, etc.. Drive comes ready much faster now. Able to image user data at a reasonable speed.

ST4000LM024 dinted magnet data recovery

Data Recovery Case Log: ST4000LM024-2AN17V

30Jan24: MHA swap. Drive comes ready with full ID, can access SA through terminal. Drive has issues loading MCMT. Most ATA commands cause the drive to go BSY and time out the utility. Backed up important system files via terminal.

31Jan24: Editing SMP via terminal to disable background stuff allowed access to the ATA interface without getting stuck BSY. Performed MRB and did a HDD ID Edit, saving using ATA indirect mode this time. Some SA modules/system files were damaged in copy 0, so these were rewritten from copy 1.

After repowering the drive there are a couple of errors in the terminal and it gets stuck in the BSY state.

SIM Error 3005 LBA 000000000002556D FD FC38D093

RW Error 00000080

No HOST FIS-ReadyStatusFlags 0002A1A1

The SIM and RW errors indicate that because system file 93 was modified, the format corrupt flag has been turned on in the translator. This means it does not get loaded into RAM. The No HOST... error appears because the translator has not been loaded. In this state, the drive allows reading and writing system files via the terminal (usually ATA indirect mode is required to write), meaning we can simply rewrite system file 28 from our backup to resolve the issue.

We now have full data access and were able to image at full speed!

Terminal output

Boot 0x80MMD00520001
RECOV Servo Op=0100 Resp=0005
SpinUp
TCC:001F

RECOV Servo Op=0195 Resp=0005[LBA=0x00017DC3]N
RECOV Servo Op=0095 Resp=0005[LBA=0x0000940F]N
Trans
Tech Unlock Handshake: 0x2EE135E4
Reply:
Rst 0x80MMD0052001
SIM_ReadyDiskFile failure1 :
ErrorCode : 0x00001002
SIM_ReadyDiskFile read again
SIM_ReadyDiskFile failure2 :
ErrorCode : 0x00001002
DSC PASS
(P) SATA Reset

CS
SP Regen FAIL@LBA=0x0D262002
SP Regen FAIL@LBA=0x0D26219F
SP Regen FAIL@LBA=0x0D2624C8
SP Regen FAIL@LBA=0x0D26265E
CS
CS
CS

[...]

Starting LBA of RW Request=000D262002 Length=0000098A
ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 000D26219F Sense Code=43160080
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
SP Regen FAIL
SPRegen [0000|43110081] @LBA=0x0D26219F
ITA 0: -1.745
ITA 1: -1.746
Hd 3 Err Blk D26219F BER pre -1.746183
Power A0 Duration 64 attempt 0

ITA 0: -1.662
ITA 1: -1.792
ITA 2: -1.679
BER after -1.711519
Power B4 Duration 64 attempt 1

ITA 0: -1.860
ITA 1: -1.818
ITA 2: -1.715
ITA 3: -1.785
ITA 4: -1.823
BER after -1.800912
ProcessRC: 00000001,00000000ReadContinuous: 0D26219F,00000328UnrecovSectorCount:0328,0327NumUDEs: 00000328,00000327Passed: 00000080,00000145,000002D7Out: SkipLBA: 0D26219F,0D2624C6
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005Bailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBai
ling SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hangBailing SOVABusy bit check to avoid hang
Starting LBA of RW Request=000D262002 Length=0000098A
ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 000D2624C8 Sense Code=43160080
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005

[...]

Starting LBA of RW Request=000D262002 Length=0000098A
ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 000D26283F Sense Code=43110081
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0795 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0395 Resp=0005
SP Regen FAIL
SPRegen [0000|43110081] @LBA=0x0D26283F
ITA 0: -1.775
ITA 1: -1.771
ITA 2: -1.739
ITA 3: -1.820
ITA 4: -1.848
Hd 3 Err Blk D26283F BER pre -1.790992
ProcessRC: 00000001,00000000ReadContinuous: 0D26283F,0000014DUnrecovSectorCount:014D,014CNumUDEs: 0000014D,0000014CPassed: 00000080,00000145,0000012BOut: SkipLBA: 0D26283F,0D26298B
CS
TCC:001D EMCDataErr:00000016

RECOV Servo Op=02A5 Resp=0005
LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x00005E43

PrgF
Rst 0x80MMD00520001
Op=1001 Resp=0001
Op=0B01 Resp=0001
Op=0B01 Resp=0001

[...]

Op=0501 symbol=01E5 Resp=0001
Op=0101 Resp=0001 data=00000005
DSC PASS
SIM_ReadyDiskFile failure1 :
ErrorCode : 0x00001002
SIM_ReadyDiskFile read again
SIM_ReadyDiskFile failure2 :
ErrorCode : 0x00001002
LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x00005E43

LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x00005E43

[...]

F3 T>F"READ_SPARING_ENABLED",0,22

Drive AMPS Configuration has been modified from compiled defaults.
Drive must be re-initialized to controller firmware defaults by re-downloading controller firmware
DO NOT SHIP WITHOUT FIRST RE-DOWNLOADING CONTROLLER FIRMWARE OR RESETTING TO DEFAULTS!

RECOV Servo Op=01A5 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=00A5 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=01A5 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=00A5 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=01A5 Resp=0005

(D) SATA Reset

RECOV Servo Op=00A5 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=01A5 Resp=0005Byte:0092: Bit:6, READ_SPARING_ENABLED = 0

F3 T>
ASCII Diag mode

F3 T>F"WRITE_SPARING_ENABLED",0,22