Seagate Pharaoh - Mechanical fault and head adaptives

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Nicolas Plée

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Nov 19, 2025, 8:36:11 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Hello everyone,

I'm really confused about this case...
Client drive is :
  • ST31000524AS
  • P/N : 9YP154-515
  • FW : JC45
  • S/N : 5VPBGAAF
Customer drive is :
  • ST31000524AS
  • P/N : 9YP154-503
  • FW : JC45
  • S/N : 5VPBNVWC
I swapped donor HDA to client drive.

Without head adaptives transfer, It results in the attached soundtrack.
But with donor head adaptives transfer to client ROM, I get a corrupted ROM :
Bad CRC Seg:0x04
Bad CRC Seg:0x24Bogus ISR
CPSR = 0x200000D2
R14 = 0x00001C6C

I don't think I'm doing any error applying the procedure : applying head adaptives from donor ROM to client ROM in Block.

Any idea what could be the reason of this behaviour ?
I attached the both ROMs and ROM info if of any use.

SE001315.m4a
ROMs.rar

Data Recovery Guru

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Nov 19, 2025, 8:41:07 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Normal clicking sound when heads don't read SA.

What tool did you use to do the head adaptive import?

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Nicolas Plée

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Nov 19, 2025, 9:03:18 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Sorry I didn't precise it : PC3000

Data Recovery Guru

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Nov 19, 2025, 9:26:30 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Ok.

These drive models usually develop disk surface scratches.

Did you inspect the patient heads for contamination under microscope?

DATARECOVERYGURU TEAM
Offices are open Mon-Fri 9AM to 4:30PM. 
Available by appointment outside business hours.
Boston: 100 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 500 (5th Floor), Boston, MA 02155
Cambridge: 1 Mifflin Place, Suite 400 (4th Floor), Cambridge MA 02138
Dedham: 3 Allied Drive, Suite 303 (3rd Floor), Dedham, MA 02026
Burlington: 1500 District Ave, 1st Floor, Burlington, MA 01803
Framingham: 945 Concord St., 1st Floor, Framingham, MA 01701
Providence: 10 Dorrance St., Suite 700 (7th Floor), Providence, RI 02903
New Hampshire: One Tara Blvd., Suite 200 (2nd Floor), Nashua, NH 03062
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Nicolas Plée

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Nov 19, 2025, 11:13:21 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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I haven't noticed any contamination.

Would you have any idea why the head adaptives transfer doesn't work as expected ?

pbzcbf...@gmail.com

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Nov 19, 2025, 11:16:08 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Could you upload the modified ROM?

Data Recovery Guru

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Nov 19, 2025, 11:18:45 AM (10 days ago) Nov 19
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Not sure, sorry.

You could compare original vs. patched ROM in hex for any inconsistencies, though I don't think it is a ROM issue and on this model, adaptives don't make a huge difference, if any.

DATARECOVERYGURU TEAM
Offices are open Mon-Fri 9AM to 4:30PM. 
Available by appointment outside business hours.
Boston: 100 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 500 (5th Floor), Boston, MA 02155
Cambridge: 1 Mifflin Place, Suite 400 (4th Floor), Cambridge MA 02138
Dedham: 3 Allied Drive, Suite 303 (3rd Floor), Dedham, MA 02026
Burlington: 1500 District Ave, 1st Floor, Burlington, MA 01803
Framingham: 945 Concord St., 1st Floor, Framingham, MA 01701
Providence: 10 Dorrance St., Suite 700 (7th Floor), Providence, RI 02903
New Hampshire: One Tara Blvd., Suite 200 (2nd Floor), Nashua, NH 03062
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/datarecoverycertification/099720c5-22a7-4613-9171-2de16af0b292n%40googlegroups.com.

t...@desertdatarecovery.com

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Nov 19, 2025, 12:18:00 PM (9 days ago) Nov 19
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Do donor and patient have the same preamp?

 

Nicolas Plée

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Nov 21, 2025, 3:56:51 AM (8 days ago) Nov 21
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Sorry for the late reply — the message was written but I somehow managed to never actually send it…

  • The modified ROM is attached.
  • Preamp values are the same (58).

While working on the ROM and uploading it to the drive, the drive miraculously IDed and I was able to save the firmware (normal-speed reading). But after a power cycle, the same behavior as before returned.

@labtech: my interpretation of the sound the heads make before clicking is that they can read something, but not enough to load the SA and initialize the drive. I think that if the heads were completely dead or the platters too damaged, they would start clicking immediately after the motor spins up. (Well, of course the SA could be damaged enough not to be read correctly, but this specific sound is always a good sign of hope for me.)

I suspected some head misalignment and tried several torque values for the upward and downward pivot screws, because my colleague initially took the measurements and I wondered if he might have noted them incorrectly. But no matter what, I couldn’t get the drive to ID again.

ROM-client-adaptives.rar
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