About MQ04xxxyyy drives

[RecuperoDati299]

Hello

about the drives in subject, we see an amount

what is your experience with those where the drive income declared dropped by the customer but observing the heads sliders they appear glossy and no bendings are visible

so for safety you swap heads and they last few seconds and or couple of minutes then "good bye", click of death.

Are you too always "crossing fingers" with nasty stats?

Thank you for telling me about your MQ04 (and also 03, 02 and 01 looks quite the same. Maybe 01 slightly better) swapping results

regards

R.

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[Philip Shaw]

It's interesting you mentioned this model. I am working on a MQ04UBF100 with AZA as the first three characters in the Drive Rev and a date of August 2017. The drive was clicking so I changed it to a SATA board and did a head exchange with a drive with AAH and a date of about two years later. It came right up and started imaging but then got some errors and crapped out. After that the drive would initialize slowly but come ready. It couldn't read any sectors, though. I did two head exchanges with drives with AZA but they were about four years newer. I have had the exact same problem. It is very frustrating because I have done a lot of these drives and I don't remember any issues like this. I'm not sure if I need to get a date closer to the original (not easy to find). Sorry if I am rambling but I need to get this resolved.

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[data recovery databrb_com]

I think Head is ok. Usual I just get same head map be fine for MQ04. 

Thanks & Best Regard!
Sunny.
^_^

Data recovery service. WhatsApp me https://wa.me/19135431074

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[Desert Data Recovery]

Without blocking SA writing, head swaps should not be done on these drives.

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[RecuperoDati299]

hello

the topic of blocking SA writes is a key point

have you found the corresponding ROM modification?

A specific command in the terminal?

Or have you prepared a modified electronic board?

would you kindly like to share this TIP?

Thank you anyway

R.

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[RecuperoDati299]

and also

have you figured out why SA writes should lead the donor heads to die?

thank you

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Il giorno 12 mar 2026, alle ore 02:50, 'Desert Data Recovery' via DataRecoveryCertification <datarecovery...@googlegroups.com> ha scritto:

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[Paulo Braga]

Hello, 

After hearing directly from ACELab support that head swaps on Toshiba SMR drives required very closely compatible donor units, I have to say that I accidentally developed a method that has been working very well for me. I would like to share it here.

When performing head swaps on Toshiba SMR drives, I have successfully used donor heads from drives manufactured several years apart, and in many cases even from brand-new units of the same model. As long as the model matches, the method has worked surprisingly well in my tests. Here is the key point:

After replacing the damaged heads with good ones, in my experience the drive typically identifies correctly in the Utility and reports the proper ID, but it does not read sectors.

What I do at this stage is the following: I enable reading but switch from UDMA to Utility reading mode. Naturally, because the Utility cannot decode the translator on Toshiba SMR drives (which is still not supported), the software reports errors. However, the drive still starts reading and returns invalid data. Important note: Not clone Toshiba SMR drives in Utility mode, all data is invalid.

After this step, when I switch back to normal UDMA reading mode (UDMA100), the drive often starts reading sectors normally and behaves much better. This method has worked consistently in my tests, even when the donor heads came from drives with several years of manufacturing difference.

I hope this information can help others working with Toshiba SMR cases.

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

After donor heads die, do people retest them in the donor drive? Is there any visible damage to the heads?

I expect that SA writes should be disabled because the donor's microjogs may be significantly different, to the point that adjacent SA tracks would be overwritten rather than the target track.

Is there a particular CP that stores the microjogs? If so, would it make sense to import the donor's microjog CP into the patient ROM?

The preamp typically requires two supply voltages, at least in 3.5" drives. The negative voltage (-5V or -3V) is used by the write circuitry. Would disconnecting this supply from the preamp prevent writing, and would the drive continue to operate if this were done?

[Alandata Recovery]

how do you block writing to the sa in toshiba ?

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[RecuperoDati299]

that was my same question :-)

It could be that Tim is busy with tasks and only reads the mailing list occasionally.

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[RecuperoDati299]

hello

Certainly, every time. The donor heads are remounted on the donor and checked under microscope before the reinstallation in the donor body.

The nasty and depressing part of the matter is that the PATIENT heads were straight and shiny (this justifies the attempt), and the DONOR ones turn out the same afterwards.

this is the long story of MQs

hard to sort out what is wrong

At the begin we checked many times the platters for any kind of either invisible ring: nothing.

When we close these cases with KO, we use the term "nano damages" , seen also ( much more rarely ) on Seagate's Grenada family STx000DMxxx

So on one side stopping SA writes is good for preventing issues with the translator

but this issue with the heads is a mystery

and I mean obviously that this happen as well in MQs with the body perfectly flat (we receive some with the body bend)

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[RecuperoDati299]

P.S.

at least on STx000DMxxx

you were observing

- matte heads sliders despite (apparently) perfect platter surfaces

and as well you finally had matte sliders surfaces on the donor.

A type of feedback that immediately taught that the corresponding head must be kept away from the platter.

So you keep the head away from the platter and read the rest.

You can do the same with MQs, too bad it's not possible to visually understand which head has problems.

Which would involve a costly trial and error process

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[Justin Skinner]

I always strip and clean the platters. I agree heads look fine, but as a precaution I clean the platters to be sure and seem to have more success this way.

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Some preamps have a Write Gate signal pin. If you can switch this off, then writes should be disabled.

[Alandata Recovery]

What is your procedure for cleaning platters?

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[Jakiro]

How to block SA in Toshiba?

[Desert Data Recovery]

We share everything we can. Especially if its something we have developed ourselves. But occasionally the solution is shared in confidence and unfortunately this is one of them.

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Can you at least say whether it's a hardware or firmware hack?

[Desert Data Recovery]

Hardware/PCB.

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Thanks. I have some ideas, if anyone wishes to work with me.

On Monday, March 16, 2026 at 3:17:55 AM UTC+11 Tim - Desert Data Recovery wrote:

Hardware/PCB.

[wayne horner]

I'm game! 

Let's figure out the sa write block. 

I'll find a candidate. 

Send some high res pics. 

Try some things

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I think Va and Vb are the supply voltages. Can you measure those?

Can you also measure the voltages at each pin in the HDA connector?

[Alandata Recovery]

This is a g4311a board

its sata equivalent of the usb board

soldered usb rom and can read using sata

Here is a google share of photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HtasfNUYVmYMqCMY7

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

It appears that the two supply voltages are 5V and 3.0V. I expect that the latter powers the write circuitry.

Before hacking this supply, I would first try to find the Write_Enable signal pin. I would scan (read) the UA of the drive and monitor the HDA voltages at the signal pins. Then I would write a fill pattern to the drive and monitor the same voltages. I expect that the Write_Enable pin will be conspicuous when you compare the two sets of readings. That is, Write_Enable will be active during writing and inactive during reading.

You can see this pin (PA_WRE) in this Seagate example:

https://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?p=22105#p22105

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Perhaps I could rephrase my suggestion.

Perform a full surface scan (read) and record the HDA voltages.

Perform a zero-fill operation (write) and record the HDA voltages.

Compare the two sets of readings. Write_Enable will hopefully show up as a high during reading and a low during writing, or vice versa.

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

If you want to try disabling the 3V supply, remove the ferrite bead at Vb.

Save the SMART attribute data before disabling the supply.

Does the drive still ID and come ready after remove the ferrite bead? If so, try to edit a sector in the UA. Does it accept the edit or does it remain the same? Do you see any change in SMART? Wait for an hour and then check whether the SMART Power-On-Hours count has been updated.

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

A word of warning.

If you find the Write_Enable pin, don't be tempted to leave it floating. It must be tied up or down in a state that corresponds to write disable. If you leave it floating, or in the enabled state, it will probably result in a trashed SA.

[Alandata Recovery]

OK

started writing and got some changes

reading stayed same

5: 0.9-1.5  fluctuationg
4: 1.5        lower voltage
3: 1.5        lower voltage

10  2.32
11 0
12 0
13 2.99
14  0.01
15  0.01
16  0  1-1.4   fluctuating
17 0.4
--
19 4.8

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

3 & 4 are the write channel.

5 & 16 are active high during writes. I expect that one of them is Write Enable, but I don't know what the other could be. An oscilloscope would be very handy at this point.

I'm hesitant to start cutting traces. If I get it wrong, I'll brick your drive.

[Alandata Recovery]

I have a $100 have held scope. 

Not quite sure how to use it....

I bought it to learn. 

I'll try some readings

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[Alandata Recovery]

We can cut. 

We can re solder too

And if the board dies it's ok

I have more. 

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On Mon, Mar 16, 2026, 6:18 PM pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I expect that a $100 scope won't have a sufficiently high bandwidth for these measurements, but it's worth a try.

If you're willing to gamble, I'm betting that pin #5 is Write Enable. FWIW, the layout of pins 1 to 5 would then match 10 to 18 in the Seagate example. It makes sense for Write Enable and the Write Channel pair to be grouped together.

https://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?p=22105#p22105

I'm betting (hoping) that shorting the signal pins to ground won't damage the MCU or preamp. That's usually tolerable. If so, then I would connect a shorting link between pin #5 and the adjacent ground via.

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I guess you could use tweezers to short those two points, perhaps after the drive has ID'ed.

[Philip Shaw]

We did this with a Seagate FreePlay that we were having a problem shorting to get terminal access.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 17, 2026, at 2:58 PM, pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

I guess you could use tweezers to short those two points, perhaps after the drive has ID'ed.

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[Alandata Recovery]

ok I think I have some scope readings....

pins 3 & 4 writing

pin 5 writing

pin 16 writing

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[Alandata Recovery]

my technique for shorting for terminal

blob a solder bumps on both of the adjacent feedthrus

lay a piece of foil tape over the spot metal side down

press to short

the foil tape that I use is sufficiently springy and stiff that it doesnt short until you press it down...

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

Pin 5 and 16 both look like plausible candidates. Do they both sit at 0V during reading?

[Alandata Recovery]

yes 0 v reading

On Tue, Mar 17, 2026 at 12:45 PM pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

Pin 5 and 16 both look like plausible candidates. Do they both sit at 0V during reading?

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I confess I don't understand. Are pins 5 and 16 connected to each other??

On Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 6:52:41 AM UTC+11 Alandata Recovery wrote:

yes 0 v reading

[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

The drive is writing 35300 sectors per second, and each sector is 4096 bytes. That equates to a transfer rate of 144.6 MB/s, which makes sense.

[Alandata Recovery]

i shorted 5 to ground and wrote

said written

but then hung onn reading

data was written

same for 16

writes while shorted

but hangs to read

On Tue, Mar 17, 2026 at 1:09 PM pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

The drive is writing 35300 sectors per second, and each sector is 4096 bytes. That equates to a transfer rate of 144.6 MB/s, which makes sense.

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[wayne horner]

removed board

diode mode

BLACK ON GROUND

G-1,2  1.2

G-3,4  0.55

G-5     0.38

G-16    OL

G-17     1.2

G-19     1.2

G-10     OL

G-11      0.0

G-12      0.0

G-9,8,7,6  OL

5-16    OL  BLACK ON 5

16-5   1.06  BLACK ON 16

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[Recupero Dati (RecuperoDati299)]

Once measured the high voltage

have you tried using that as fixed voltage on those #5 and #16?

I mean instead of shorting to ground, wiring to UP voltage signal, obviously after a DRD DSC state

[Alandata Recovery]

I wonder what level voltage I would apply

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[RecuperoDati299]

The oxilloscope has a scale

on the square wave form you have the lows 0 V  and the highs, on the scale you should read the highs value

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I would first try removing the ferrite bead at Vb. That will disconnect the 3V supply.

I confess that I don't understand the Write Gate results.

[wayne horner]

With the Vb removed

it just clicks a while finally gets dsc drd and UNC

no smart

does do drive id

tried access with techno on and off

with tech on it gets id sn and max lba

zone table

and cp's

but cant read

maybe try it with pc3k - this is mrt...

Selected family:MQ04ABF100
Model:TOSHIBA MQ04ABF100

Load Zones : .........................:OK
Cyl Num : ............................:368051
Head Num : ...........................:2
Vendor : .............................:TOSHIBA
Model : ..............................:MQ04ABF100
Microcode : ..........................:JUF00D1D

Defects in G-List : ..................0

CP list:33,34,44,56,98,9A,9C,A2,A5,A7,A8,A9,AA,AD,AE,B1,B3,BB,BF,C1,C5,C6,C7,C8,C9,CB,CD,D0,D1,D3,D4,D6,D7,D9,DA,DB,DC,DD,EF,F1,F3,F4,F7,F8,FA,FB,FC,FE,FF
Techno : .............................:On
Techno : .............................:Off
Techno : .............................:On

Vendor : .............................:TOSHIBA
Model : ..............................:MQ04ABF100
Microcode : ..........................:JUF00D1D

--------------------------------------
 NN  *             Head 0            
--------------------------------------
 NN  * Beg Cyl  : End Cyl  :   SPT    
--------------------------------------
 00  *        0 :    10433 :   6164032
 01  *    10434 :    20756 :   6098440
 02  *    20757 :    31172 :   6098424
 03  *    31173 :    41588 :   6098376
 04  *    41589 :    52004 :   6098320
 05  *    52005 :    62420 :   6098272
 06  *    62421 :    72929 :   6098256
 07  *    72930 :    83325 :   6032664
 08  *    83326 :    93721 :   6032616
 09  *    93722 :   104117 :   6032560
 10  *   104118 :   114513 :   6032544
 11  *   114514 :   124118 :   5573712
 12  *   124119 :   133723 :   5573688
 13  *   133724 :   143243 :   5573632
 14  *   143244 :   152763 :   5573600
 15  *   152764 :   162283 :   5573536
 16  *   162284 :   171803 :   5573536
 17  *   171804 :   181323 :   5573456
 18  *   181324 :   190843 :   5573392
 19  *   190844 :   200363 :   5573336
 20  *   200364 :   209883 :   5573280
 21  *   209884 :   219403 :   5573216
 22  *   219404 :   229008 :   5573104
 23  *   229009 :   238613 :   5573048
 24  *   238614 :   248218 :   5572992
 25  *   248219 :   257823 :   5572936
 26  *   257824 :   267428 :   5572880
 27  *   267429 :   277033 :   5572800
 28  *   277034 :   286638 :   5572744
 29  *   286639 :   296158 :   5572672
 30  *   296159 :   305678 :   5572608
 31  *   305679 :   315198 :   5572544
 32  *   315199 :   324718 :   5572464
 33  *   324719 :   334238 :   5572408
 34  *   334239 :   343673 :   5572336
 35  *   343674 :   353108 :   5572280
 36  *   353109 :   362543 :   5572208
 37  * 15729684 : 15734147 :   4067000
 38  * 15729224 : 15729683 :   67952
 39  * 15728640 : 15729223 :   67952
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
 NN  *             Head 1            
--------------------------------------
 NN  * Beg Cyl  : End Cyl  :   SPT    
--------------------------------------
 00  *        0 :    10527 :   6164104
 01  *    10528 :    21036 :   6098512
 02  *    21037 :    31545 :   6098456
 03  *    31546 :    42147 :   6098408
 04  *    42148 :    52842 :   6098352
 05  *    52843 :    63537 :   6098272
 06  *    63538 :    74325 :   6098224
 07  *    74326 :    84997 :   6032632
 08  *    84998 :    95761 :   6032584
 09  *    95762 :   106433 :   6032560
 10  *   106434 :   117105 :   6032544
 11  *   117106 :   126880 :   5573744
 12  *   126881 :   136655 :   5573720
 13  *   136656 :   146345 :   5573656
 14  *   146346 :   156035 :   5573632
 15  *   156036 :   165640 :   5573600
 16  *   165641 :   175245 :   5573568
 17  *   175246 :   184765 :   5573536
 18  *   184766 :   194285 :   5573472
 19  *   194286 :   203720 :   5573416
 20  *   203721 :   213155 :   5573376
 21  *   213156 :   222590 :   5573312
 22  *   222591 :   231940 :   5573224
 23  *   231941 :   241290 :   5573168
 24  *   241291 :   250640 :   5573128
 25  *   250641 :   259905 :   5573064
 26  *   259906 :   269170 :   5573008
 27  *   269171 :   278350 :   5572944
 28  *   278351 :   287445 :   5572888
 29  *   287446 :   296455 :   5572824
 30  *   296456 :   305380 :   5572760
 31  *   305381 :   314220 :   5572704
 32  *   314221 :   322975 :   5572624
 33  *   322976 :   331645 :   5572568
 34  *   331646 :   340230 :   5572504
 35  *   340231 :   348730 :   5572448
 36  *   348731 :   357145 :   5572384
 37  * 15729684 : 15734147 :   4067176
 38  * 15729224 : 15729683 :   67952
 39  * 15728640 : 15729223 :   67952
--------------------------------------

Total number of physical sectors:148899872712
Total number of logical sectors:1953525168

Testing head performance...

WARNING! This test only indicates that if the ABA address can be read or written. It can not reflect the performance of heads. The reading or writiing errors may due to the damage of compiler.

Head ABA writing / reading
0 2873023208 Yes/No
Operation is cancelled!
Techno : .............................:On

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  

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On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 9:40 AM pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

I would first try removing the ferrite bead at Vb. That will disconnect the 3V supply.

I confess that I don't understand the Write Gate results.

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

The drive is ID'ing from ROM. It is not accessing the SA.

I give up.

[wayne horner]

right toshiba gets cp's from the pcb

thanks for trying

it was fun

i learned a few things

if I want to try injecting volage on the 5 16 pins

what would you suggest?

Alandata Data Recovery -  (949)287-3282  
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On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 1:28 PM pbzcbf...@gmail.com <pbzcbf...@gmail.com> wrote:

The drive is ID'ing from ROM. It is not accessing the SA.

I give up.

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[pbzcbf...@gmail.com]

I would get hold of a Seagate drive with the same HDA pinout as the example at HDD Oracle.

p/n 100656494 (ST4000DX000)

https://s.turbifycdn.com/aah/yhst-14437584971410/918062951-21.gif

It looks similar to 100710248 (ST4000DM000).

https://s.turbifycdn.com/aah/yhst-14437584971410/918062911-18.gif

Then use your scope to monitor the PA_WRE pin. That should tell you what a Write Enable (or Write Gate) signal looks like.

[wayne horner]

I should have one of those I will try that thanks 

I

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[juanvd...@gmail.com]

I can`t add much but according to DFL, they informed me that their solution is to disconnect the HSA and let die drive gets ready, then connect the pcb and then read the data. I did this and on Toshiba you can get LBA access after you connect the PCB without power cycle, what I don’t know is if it write anything to SA after this step.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/f5734c92-1e83-4c57-8825-c26f0d7d4f9an%40googlegroups.com.