You can view the DFL case studies and FAQs here so that you can understand how to use the DFL data recovery tools better

This is one nice data recovery case study from one DFL user in India, the patient drive is firmware locked and the data area is not accessed.

Model : ST1000VX005-2EZ102
Serial : Z9CC69D2
Firmware : CV11
Capacity : 1953525168 (931.51GB)
Sector size : 4096
Heads number : 2

Rst 0x40M
2Sync:01 0E

EDAC Value = 00000000FFFFFFF5

EDAC Value = 00000000FFFFFFF5
Retry delay

EDAC Value = 00000000FFFFFFF5

EDAC Value = 00000000FFFFFFF5
Retry delay
LD: Size:00000028 HBlocks:0000 Size:002BD17F HBlocks:0032 Size:00282A49 HBlocks:0032 FlashRestore 00000000 00000028 ECBD
PP: Size:0000B400 HBlocks:0000 FlashRestore
PVTSize: 000150C8 CompSize: 000002B2 DeCompSize: 000150C8 00000000 000002B2 9E03
2Sync:00 04
DSP022B
No HOST FIS-ReadyStatusFlags 0002A1A1
2Sync:01 0C
Boot 0x40M

SpinUp
RECOV Servo Op=0100 Resp=0005
RECOV Servo Op=0055 Resp=0005[LBA=0x00006B6F]N[LBA=0x00006C28]N0[LBA=0x00006D5D]N0[LBA=0x000070A1]N0[LBA=0x000070C2]N0[LBA=0x0000737C]N0[LBA=0x000073EB]N0[LBA=0x000074EE]N0[LBA=0x00007500]N0[LBA=0x0000775C]N0

Trans
Rst 0x40M
2Sync:01 0E
2Sync:01 0E
2Sync:01 0E
2Sync:01 0E
2Sync:01 0E

(P) SATA Reset

LD: Size:00000028 HBlocks:0000 Size:002BD17F HBlocks:0032 Size:00282A49 HBlocks:0032 DiscRestore 00000000 00000028 04ED
PP: Size:0000B400 HBlocks:0000 DiscRestore
PVTSize: 000150C8 CompSize: 000002B2 DeCompSize: 000150C8 00000000 000002B2 9E03
2Sync:00 04
DSP022C^c

ASCII Diag mode

F3 T>^l

Diagnostic Port Locked

To fix above patient drive, the user used DFL Seagate hdd repair tool to backup rom, generate unlock rom, write unlock ROM, power off and on, send unlock key, backup important SYS files, clear g-list, regenerate translator, etc.

After fixing the firmware area, the users tested the data area and found there’re some bad sectors in the front, the middle and ending parts of data areas were accessible.

The user set up head map, edited the LBA range to image the patient hdd by heads within DFL-DDP data recovery equipment and finally most data was recovered, only some system files were missing which are not important at all.

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

Dolphin Data Lab has released the new DFL all in one data recovery software V20230301 to work with the data recovery hardware tools.

The new V20230301 data recovery software has been uploaded to DFL user-only forum and users can login the forum to upgrade to the latest. It’s strongly recommended for all DFL users to upgrade to latest for the best firmware repair and data recovery success rate.

What’s new in this new software upgrade?

01: ST8000NM0105 G001 G004 Firmware Repair Support Added to DFL Seagate HDD Repair Tool, other firmware versions can be unlocked with old software. There’s now a new mode option-Mode 2 when users are trying to generate the unlock ROM, users need to select mode 2;
02: Seagate SMR hdd format data recovery such as rosewood EB01 format recovery;
03: Seagate weak head repair for new F3 families for data recovery purpose, it is very helpful for some weak head cases which don’t require head swap;
04: DFL-DDP image setting enhancement: enhance success rate for the following drives and cases:
WD SMR drives with all sectors 0000, Seagate drives SEDU, 241A, etc.
05: Full firmware repair and data recovery software codes improvement to get the software working more smoothly and excellently;

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

This is one Seagate Rosewood portable hard drive-ST2000LM007 and when our engineer was trying to backup the firmware modules, it’s very slow with some slight noises.

It seems like some noises from the heads, seems like some kind of damage on the heads but actually not.

Patient HDD ID:

Model number: ST2000LM007-1R8174
Serial number: WDZVJ06Z
Firmware: EB01
Capacity: 3907029168
Sector Size: 4096
Heads number: 4
Family: Janus (AF)

ST2000LM007 Error messages:

Rstᅠ0x80M

T:0x0000 0x3FFFFFFF

FTU
TCC:0014:001D EMCDataErr:0000000C

PrgF

(P)ᅠSATAᅠReset

RAWᅠOFF

ᅠPASS

ᅠBothᅠcopyᅠisᅠsame!ᅠᅠᅠLPCDisc=01ᅠ1A326711ᅠ00C5

PrgF

6GbᅠMaxᅠSpeedᅠloweredᅠtoᅠ3GbᅠforᅠIntelᅠbug

SendᅠStatus:ᅠCOMRESETᅠseen

CSpd=ᅠ3Gbps

FIS34ᅠ
IDLE1
VC0

XI2
VC1

VC2Up
IDLE2
VC0

VC1

VC2Up
XI2
TCC:0014:0019 EMCDataErr:00000000

FAFH_TRIGGER_POWER_UP
IDLE2
VC0

It’s very easy to fix above firmware failure and get the ST2000LM007 patient hdd repaired by DFL Seagate hdd repair tool.

All users need to do is to go to the ‘Defects Management’>Initialize ID (ATA) and it’s just one simple click to fix above issue.

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

This is one more successful Seagate ST1000LM035 undetected LED HDD firmware repair and data recovery case study from one DFL user in Indonesia.

Patient HDD ID:
Model number: ST1000LM035 1RK172
Family: Rosewood A5

HDD Repair Tools and Data Recovery Equipment Required:
DFL-SRP USB3.0 all-in-one Data Recovery Equipment

Error Messages within COM Terminal:

‘Boot 0x80M
QB
Rst 0x80M
Srv DETCR init 0x0000

FTU

(P) SATA Reset

RAW OFF

PASS

(DOS Table) Worst Count: 00000FF8 At SU: 0000523E NT: 00000000 OT: 000000C5
(MC POR Duration): 000000007B

Intel 6G->3G

Send Status: COMRESET seen

CSpd= 3Gbps

DSC

Update Mask – 000000000D0A3EB8 – 00000008 – 00

Update Mask – 000000000D0A3EC0 – 00000008 – 00

Starting LBA of RW Request=0001A13C9F Length=00001DD0

ProcessRWError -Read- at LBA 0001A147F9 Sense Code=43110081

Common path start quit now
ProcessRC: 00000000,00000000
SkipLen: 00000000
ReadContinuous: 01A1468F,00000350
UnrecovSectorCount:002B,0236
NumUDEs: 0000002B,00000031,00000236
Passed: 00000080,00000153,000002FB
Out:

PrgF

LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x0000780F
LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x0000780F
LED:0x000000BD FAddr:0x0000780F’

View and watch the Undetected LED ST1000LM035 1RK172 HDD Firmware Repair and Data Recovery Steps video case study here

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

This is one second-hand Seagate ST8000NM0105 enterprise SED HDD data recovery case from one DFL user in Germany and the user couldn’t recover the lost data with any other tools because they couldn’t unlock the firmware area properly and couldn’t repair the firmware corruption.

This user applied for remote support and wish his case could be fixed by DFL Seagate hdd repair tool and remote support.

Patient HDD ID:
Model number-ST8000NM0105
FW version: G004
Family-MakaraPlus (91)

Patient HDD symptoms:
Capacity 0
Firmware unlock failure

ST8000NM0105 Data Recovery Steps:

01: Backup ROM;
02: Generate adaptive ROM by DFL Seagate hdd repair tool;
03: Power off and on and …;
04: …
05: Send unlock key and backup important sys files;
06: View NGlist;
07: Clear G-list and regenerate translator.

Read complete steps here in the Dolphin user-only forum.

After firmware corruption is fixed, users can go to DFL-DDP data recovery equipment to image the patient HDD or extract the lost files directly.

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

The following is one email from one DFL user in Germany asking for the compatibility between two Seagate hard drives, one of which requires head swap.

‘DONOR is ST1000DX001
Patient HDD: ST1000DM003

Hello,

i have here a Seagate ST1000DM003 – Drop down failure.

In first test i can see error message = damaged heads / and may be platter damaged

FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003
ResponseFrame EC40 0046 03B2 4900 0008 0000 0000 0000 0966 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 57D1 F98F FFFF 2000 2412 0000 0000 4947 0000 4947 0000 007F 0000 0020 0012 0004 0000
FAIL Servo Op=0100 Resp=0003

I have only one donor HDD – ST1000DX001 and i know many people change heads between different hdds
and the preamp is the same.

Question: should i change the heads without create adaptive rom? (DM/DX possible !?)
or must i create a adaptive rom?

Or does it make no sense to swap the heads, what is your recommendation?

Patient: ST1000DM003 – 2 Heads
Preamp: B2 03
S/N: Z1D
PN: 9YN162
FW: NDP3
SITE: TK
Family: Grenada

Donor: ST1000DX001 – 2 Heads
Preamp: B2 03
S/N: Z1D
PN: 9YN162
FW: NDP
SITE: TK’
Family: Grenada”

For Seagate hard drive head swap, users need to check the preamp type, family, PCB number and sometimes head map, for some drives, even they have the same model number, they may have different head map.

After head swap, if the drive clicks, users need to create adaptive rom and write adaptive rom and try again. For the head swap cases, it’s very important for users to air blow the platters and the hdd inner parts and also need to check the surfaces carefully.

Tools required to fix above cases:

DFL Seagate hdd firmware repair tool
DFL DDP data recovery equipment
Seagate hdd head replacement tool

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

This is one very interesting Seagate ST4000LM024 firmware repair and data recovery case study because the patient hard drive has multiple firmware failures and finally the lost data was perfectly recovered by DFL SRP All-in-one data recovery equipment.

Patient HDD iD:
Model Number: ST4000LM024-2AN17V
SN: WCK4KDYA

Patient HDD Failure Symptoms:
Busy, Undetected, Nohost, Wrong Data Area

COM Terminal Error Messages:

‘Boot 0x80M
MD45L1
0001
SpinUp
TCC:0015

Trans
Rst 0x80M
MD45L1
0001
[RSO is disabled]

(P) SATA Reset

No HOST FIS-ReadyStatusFlags 0002A1A1
ServoDiscSlip Time = 00000039’

Seagate HDD Firmware Repair and Data Recovery Steps

1, Select correct family ID: M11(A1) and Enter DFL Seagate HDD Firmware Repair and Data Recovery Software(no need to power on);
2, Backup ROM;
3, Generate unlock ROM;
4, Write unlock ROM;
5, Power off and on and send unlock Key;
6, Backup NGlist and other important SYS files;
7, Clear G-list;
8, Regenerate translator;
9, Initialize by ID(COM);
10,Power off and on and send unlock key;
11,Fix the wrong data/data offset issue;
12,Enter DFL-DDP data recovery software and all lost data was available for immediate data recovery.

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

Seagate hard drive weak heads data recovery is very common data recovery case and if users don’t have DFL Seagate HDD firmware repair tool and want to recover the lost data from patient hard drives with weak heads, users need to set up head map, image patient HDD by heads, image good heads first and then image weak heads, or users need to swap heads for full data recovery. Read more

This is one physical hard drive firmware repair and data recovery case study.

Patient HDD ID:
ST500LT012-1DG142
Family name: Yarra_5400
Family ID: 75

Patient HDD Symptoms:
Capacity 0

HDD Repair and Data Recovery Steps:

1, Backup ROM;
2, Backup SYS files but copy 0 failed, copy 1 ok;
3, Translator view ok, V4 clearing ok but when trying to regenerate translator, the regeneration cannot be completed and showing R/W error and file error.
4, Head swap by Level 2 head replacement tool;
5, Enter DFL-DDP data recovery software, users set up one disk image project, set up head map and start image, finally all data was imaged successfully.

Video case study: Seagate ST500LT012 Capacity 0 Head 0 Damaged Data Recovery Steps

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab

Dolphin Spring Festival holiday is coming and it will last from Jan.21 2023 to Jan.27, 2023.

During the holiday, the remote support is not available but all orders received will be arranged on Jan.28, 2023 and all emails will be checked regularly and Dolphin team will answer as soon as possible.

Users can email to us with your order request and Dolphin team will give you the best offer with gifts during this holiday.

Users can also post your questions in Dolphin user only forum: https://forum.dolphindatalab.com/

Any question is welcome to sales@dolphindatalab.com or add Dolphin Skype ID: dolphin.data.lab