Variables y operacionalización

In very rare cases a drive may not start or it may hang at power-up when its G-List contains incorrect information under a correct header and valid checksum. You can view the G-List with an LDR file loaded. An attempt to reset (the record to the firmware zone should be correct) G-List in that mode will not achieve a proper result as the replacement LBA will be defined as –1. Recording a clear G-List copied from another drive of that family with the same capacity represents a more accurate method.

There is a rather frequent situation when translator modules have correct headers and checksums and all other essential modules are in order, but the drive still does not function using its logical parameters. At present two reasons for such condition are known:

The first and quite rare cause occurs in CALIPSO drives when one of drive heads gets physically disconnected – the drive translator refuses to load. That happens because the RZTBL (PN=78h) module contains the number of heads.

Diagnostics of that malfunction is described in more detail in para. 10.11.

The second variant of that situation is encountered practically in all Maxtor drives supported by the PC-3000 complex. It results from occasional recording of random or pseudo-random data to the translator table fields (data from one module can be recorded to another). Module headers and checksums at that may remain correct. Automatic restoration of modules in such a situation will not help restore the drive.

In order to perform diagnostics in that situation you should record to the malfunctioning drive translator modules (PN=37h, PN=18h and PN=78h) copied from an operational drive with the same capacity. Prior to the operation save all modules from firmware zone, especially module 33 and ensure that the firmware zone has no relocated defects. The suggested method of diagnostics is not applicable if the firmware zone contains hidden defects. If after recording of the translator modules the drive starts normally and can be accessed using its logical parameters, it means that the problem resulted exactly from invalid data in the modules.

If the module PN=33 is intact (the utility will output a list of defects upon P-List query) you can perform the

“Translator recalculation” procedure (see para. 5.2.2.2 and para. 7.3).

A A

MAXTOR ATHENA ATA2-PLUS motors controller Title

A

ACE Lab. PC-3000 Documentation ¹ Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 9 CALYPSO

B

Ardent (12) Ardent (44) Ardent (27) Ardent (79)

Ardent (71)

Ardent (89)

Ardent (114) Ardent (126)

Ardent (154)

Ardent (150) Ardent (157)

Ardent (184) Ardent (190) Ardent (203) Ardent (87) Ardent (67) Ardent (29) Ardent (26)

Ardent (58) Ardent (166) Ardent (102) Ardent (171) Ardent (144) Ardent (174) Ardent (206)

Ardent (145)

Ardent (137)

Ardent (155)

Ardent (7)

IBM

22GXP, 34GXP, 37GP, 40GV, 75GXP, 60GXP, 120GXP

Contents

1. Structure of drive families...2 2. Utility command menu...2 2.1. Launching the utility ...2 2.2. Utility usage ...3 2.2.1. Servo test, surface scanning ...3 2.2.2. Firmware data ...3 2.2.2.1. Work with memory ...4 2.2.2.2. Work with firmware zone ...4 2.2.2.3. “Modify configuration” command ...7 2.2.2.4. “Run an LDR file” command...8 2.2.2.5. Translator recalculation...8 2.2.2.6. Spindle stop...8 2.2.2.7. Enable write cache ...8 2.2.3. Drive ID ...9 2.2.4. Formatting...9 2.2.5. Logical scanning ...9 2.2.6. S.M.A.R.T. table ...9 2.2.7. Defects table...10 2.2.8. Automatic mode ...10 2.2.9. SELFSCAN...10 3. Drive firmware...12 3.1. Structure of IBM HDD firmware...12 3.2. Compatibility of electronics printed circuit boards...13 3.3. Description of structure and methods of firmware zone access in case of malfunctions...13 3.4. Critical modules for drive data...16 4. Description of IBM drive families ...17 4.1. Construction peculiarities of 22GXP(DJNA7), 34GXP(DPTA7), and 37GP(DPTA5) drive families ...17 4.2. Construction peculiarities of 40GV(DTLA5), 75GXP(DTLA7), 60GXP(AVER), and 120GXP(AVVA) drive families...18 4.3. Software repair...20 4.3.1. Identification and relocation of defects in user's area ...20 4.3.2. Malfunctions of “Open modules' table cannot be read!” type ...20 4.4. Peculiarities of software restoration...21 5. Auxiliary utility files for IBM drives ...21 6. Malfunctions of electronics boards in IBM drives...22 7. Electric circuit diagram...22 7.1. Elements layout...22 7.2. Electric circuit ...23

Technical support: [email protected]

1. Structure of drive families

Table 1.

Family, Utility.

Model Capacity, Gb

Disks Heads Physical cylinders

2. Utility command menu

2.1. Launching the utility

At the start the utility offers the choice between two available initialization modes: “Standard” and “By Default”. When started in the standard mode the utility reads certain parameters from the drive and initializes its internal structures accordingly. A launch in the default mode forces the utility to act as though the drive does not respond to its queries; however, the utility skips the delay allocated for awaiting response. Actually it does not access the drive in that mode. That may be useful in cases of damaged drive’s firmware, when a drive does not respond to access attempts or fails beginning to knock.

Let us review the “Standard” mode of utility launch in detail (the “By Default” launch respectively will be accompanied by all the error messages mentioned below and pertaining to collection of information about the drive).

1 ‘X’ in family names denotes 7200 rpm drives.

The utility reads drive ID during launch in order to determine its logical parameters. If a drive returns an error the following message will be output:

Unidentified logical drive parameters Default values used – “Final LBA” = 1000

At that the information about model name returned in the drive ID will appear in the “MODEL:” top line of the utility window.

Then you'll be prompted to select a model in order to define the number of physically present heads for further work.

After that the utility will be adjusted to the connected drive during the following sequence:

1. reading of NV-RAM to identify some internal drive parameters. In case of an error the following message appears: “Error reading NV-RAM. Using default parameters”.

2. reading of modules table (“USAG”). In case of an error the following message appears: “Modules table cannot be read.Do continue?”

3. reading of the so-called "open modules table" (a synthetic table returned by a drive in case of its correct initialization). In case of an error the following message appears: “Open modules table cannot be read”.

4. reading of zone allocation module (“ZONE”). In case of an error the following message appears: “Error reading zone allocation module. Default zone allocation used”. If a module has been read successfully, the number of drive heads will be adjusted accordingly. If the user's choice (selected model) does not match the estimated number the smallest figure is assumed and the following message appears: “Model adjusted according to the number of physically present heads. Press [Enter]”.

Please see further possible causes of malfunctions resulting in the above error messages as well as methods of their elimination.

2.2. Utility usage

After launching the program will bring up the main operating modes menu:

Servo test Surface scanning

Firmware data Drive ID Formatting Logical scanning

S.M.A.R.T. table Defects table Automatic mode

SELFSCAN Exit

2.2.1. Servo test, surface scanning

Servo test and Surface scanning, unlike utilities for other drive families do not accomplish hiding and relocation of defects since this version of utilities has no automatic algorithm for hiding corrupted areas. Presence of those menu items in the utility is determined by the task of telling heads that have problems from those that have none. Thus it is not recommended to use those commands if a drive has just insignificant damage. After servo test the drive will be unable to read from the surface in LBA mode, therefore subsequent factory formatting is required.

2.2.2. Firmware data

Firmware data. Selection of that item brings up the following menu:

Work with memory Work with firmware zone

Modify configuration Run an LDR file Translator recalculation

Technical support: [email protected] Spindle stop

Enable write cache¹

2.2.2.1. Work with memory

Work with memory option brings up the following submenu:

Work with ROM Read RAM into a file

Work with NV-RAM

Work with ROM command allows reviewing data in ROM header and reading ROM into a file.

ROM report contains the following parameters:

- firmware version number (for example, A45A). It is necessary for HDD operation that the first 2 characters of firmware version number match the corresponding two characters of P - Code recorded in NV-RAM. If there is no match the drive will be unable to initialize using NV-RAM and spin up its spindle.

- firmware version code (Ex.: E75D9E90). It is necessary for HDD operation that the codes of firmware version recorded in ROM and NV-RAM were the same. Otherwise the drive will be unable to initialize using NV-RAM and spin up its spindle.

Read RAM into a file command allows reading the whole RAM space of the microcontroller or a part thereof into a file. The maximum file size is 256 Mb. Of course, drive RAM size is much smaller but it is distributed among different frames, thus the utility is designed with a capability of operating with the whole address space of drive microprocessor to ensure that all required blocks can be read.

Work with NV-RAM command allows reviewing of a report on NV-RAM, reading or writing of NV-RAM to a file.

The report on NV-RAM contains the following parameters:

- Identifier. It has to be “E2PR” for HDD operation.

- P - Code (Ex. ER4OA45A). First 4 characters (ER4O) represent family descriptor (please see Table 2.

“Family codes”). 4 last characters (A45A) represent firmware version number. It is connected with the firmware version number recorded in ROM, namely: the first 2 characters (A4) must be the same, while 2 last characters (5A) may differ (please see Chapter 3.1 “Structure of IBM HDD firmware”). Besides, correct drive initialization requires that P - Code values recorded in NV-RAM and USAG match, too. Otherwise the drive will be initialized with the default values in accordance with NV-RAM; it will spin up the spindle, but will not read firmware from disks' surface.

- Code of microprogram version (for example, E75D9E90). It is necessary for HDD operation that the codes of firmware version recorded in NV-RAM and USAG were the same. Otherwise the drive will be initialized with the default values in accordance with NV-RAM; it will spin up the spindle, but will not read firmware from disks' surface.

- Heads map (for example, 0 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2). The field reflects mapped correspondence between electrical head connections and numbers of physical heads.

Table 2. Family codes.

Code Drive family

J5 DJNA 5400

J7 DJNA 7200

TW DTLA 5400

TX DTLA 7200

ER IC35AVER VA IC35AVVA 2.2.2.2. Work with firmware zone

Work with firmware zone command brings up the following submenu:

Check firmware structure Write/read firmware Ignore reading error

Read modules Write modules Load USAG Re-read module tables

1 This menu item is available only in utilities for DTLA, AVER, and AVVA drive models.

Cleaning of logs (ELG1, EVLG) Clear FLYH

Restore firmware zone Create an LDR-file Security subsystem

Check firmware structure is a mode that provides a report on firmware modules' integrity and their contents.

Besides, it indicates the status of "spaces" between modules located in the main and additional firmware tracks. Names of the "spaces" are formed as follows:

“~##xx” - “spaces” in the main firmware track, where xx stands for the number of a “space”;

“~@@xx” - “spaces” in the additional firmware track, where xx stands for the number of a “space”. Please refer to Section 3 for details on firmware structure.

The information about modules is displayed in tables and individual report blocks containing the “RD:” and “ID”

fields. The “—” character in the “RD:” field means that the module has been successfully read from the drive disks while the “-” character means that a reading error occurred. Presence of the “—” character in the “ID:” field means that module identifier found in its header matches the identifier used for selection of its position from the respective modules table; however, the “-” character means that the identifier in the module header differs from the one in the respective modules table. Identification error (“ID:” = “-”) during normal operation of a drive is allowed only for

modules belonging to the

”open modules table” because the latter in addition to other data contains links to copies of tables, at that the name of a copy of course differs from the original name and respectively it does not match the information from the module header. Besides the “open modules table” contains aliases for modules from “USAG”. In particular, “RDM1” serves as alias for “RDMT”, “PDM1” stands for “PSHT”, etc.

Write/read firmware command allows to create a copy of a drive's firmware or record it to a drive from a previously saved copy. NV-RAM is also saved during copying to a database, but it can be extracted from it to a file only. It will not be copied to a drive during full firmware recording.

Ignore reading error command influences just the “Read modules” menu item. When the "Ignore reading error" mode is on, red "IRE" indicator appears in the status bar of the utility. The said menu item allows to read partially corrupt modules. If a drive error takes place while reading a module in normal mode the reading operation stops and such module is placed into a modules' directory with a ".bad" extension, at that the file will contain only sectors, which could be recovered from the drive without errors. If the utility encounters a reading error in the "IRE"

mode it saves to the file a sector filled with "DE AD" signature and continues reading the module. As usual, error-free modules have ".rpm" extension while corrupt modules have ".bad" extension. "DE AD" signature allows identifying a corrupt sector easily in any hex editor.

Read modules, Write modules commands allow to work separately with modules and "spaces". That feature provides an opportunity to change contents of just one module or a selected group of modules without modifications to the rest. The utility allows reading the modules in several modes; therefore it offers the following menu for mode selection:

Any main copy Copy 0 Copy 1 Factory copy

The “Any main copy” mode forces reading of copy 0 or, if it is corrupted, copy 1. The necessity for reading another copy is determined by the utility analyzing module readability.

Selection of “Copy 0” or “Copy 1” modes forces reading of ONLY 0 or 1 copy respectively. In drives with several heads copy 1 as a rule corresponds to head 1; in single-head drives it is usually located on another track. The exact copy location is indicated by the address modifier byte in NV-RAM. Therefore recording to a single-head drive NV-RAM from a drive with several heads in case of firmware problems may cause knocking sounds since the drive will start looking for a copy using a non-existent head. That mode is useful when only copy 0 is damaged and data of a single module contains garbage or when firmware modules have to be collected partially from one copy and partially from another. Such a necessity is frequently caused by drastic firmware corruption. Disk rotation is likely to extend module corruption in copy 1 to the following sector offering an opportunity to restore the module from copy 0 by transferring the information from copy 1 through a hex editor. Enabling of the “Ignore reading errors” mode certainly allows most complete utilization of that opportunity. WARNING! Not all the modules are present in copy 1, thus they are listed in the zero copy reading mode only. In particular, the modules, which are listed in the “open modules table” but not listed in “USAG” are unavailable in the copy 1 reading mode.

Technical support: [email protected] Selection of the “Factory copy” mode provides access to modules recorded at the manufacturing factory to a separate track unused by the drive.

WARNING! Only modules listed in “USAG” will be accessible in that mode. Besides, the SRVM module present in that copy will differ from its actually operating counterpart as regards its adaptive part. Apparently the difference is caused by final drive calibration performed after recording of the “factory copy”.

Load USAG command allows loading to the utility's memory of a selected modules’ directory without recording it to a disk. That feature is useful while estimating the condition of a drive with corrupt “USAG” module.

Re-read module tables command loads USAG and a table of open modules. That feature may be useful for utility readjustment for changes introduced to the firmware zone by user or a launched LDR file (no need to leave the utility and start it again in cases when firmware zone is modified).

Cleaning of logs (ELG1, EVLG)command allows to clear a drive's error log (in 60GXP and 120GXP models EVLG event log is also cleared). The feature is useful in cases of zero drive head overcommutation. It is necessary to perform Clear SMART after finishing of this operation.

Clear FLYH command (derived from Fly Head) allows clearing the mechanical hits log in a drive. The log is present in all drives described in this manual from 120 GXP (IC35AVVA) to earlier models.

Restore firmware zone command attempts to restore unreadable areas in drive's firmware zone. That menu item is necessitated by the fact that firmware zone in IBM drives is scattered, i.e. there are areas between the modules, which are not included into the module tables. Such areas mostly are either not utilized by the drive altogether or contain SELFSCAN modules. At the same time a drive reads the firmware track to RAM completely during initialization. Consequently, an attempt of initialization will end in error, if the track contains unreadable areas. Besides, in cases of data restoration, when the most of own drive service data must be restored, there might arise a situation when a part of some module essential for such data cannot be read, for example, in the final part containing no information. In that case restoration will allow obtaining the required module with empty space instead of its previously inaccessible area. And in some cases the actual data from the area will be restored, too. That menu item processes the whole firmware in a drive, which is slower than reading modules in "IRE" mode (please, see "Ignore reading error"), but its advantage is in the ability to attempt reading of an inaccessible sector using physical parameters during restoration (at user's option). One more application aspect of that operation regards overcommutation of a drive's system head (please see details in the "Modify configuration" section).

That menu item brings up a dialog window, where you can select drive heads for restoration, operation type (restoration, clearing or extensive clearing), and number of retries using logical and physical parameters. If you select

"clear" or “extensive clear” operation type or 0 of retries, the firmware data area will be filled with 77h code. Selection of the “extensive clear” menu item forces clearing in the style adopted in 1.07 version of the utilities. It is slightly safer when a drive is damaged, but takes more time than plain clear operation. However, the statistics proves that it is frequently necessary in order to restore the readability of firmware area. Thus we recommend using the “extensive clear” option only in cases, when selection of common clearing procedure had no desired effect.

WARNING! Performing of this part can be potentially dangerous for HDD! If you have choosen Recovery and HDD have a problem with heads the execution of this command can caused the damaging of service area or incorrect writing into the correct sectors of service area. Moreover if you have choosen the Cleaning or Extended cleaning, the microprogram can be erased. Therefore before performing of this operation you should save the maximum of modules from all disc surfaces of HDD. For this can be useful paragraphs Load USAG (load into the utility table of modules from the file ~USAG.rpm from compatible HDD) and Ignore reading error (allows while reading to get maximum information of module, even if it has unreadable areas ). Remember that microprogram has great amount of

WARNING! Performing of this part can be potentially dangerous for HDD! If you have choosen Recovery and HDD have a problem with heads the execution of this command can caused the damaging of service area or incorrect writing into the correct sectors of service area. Moreover if you have choosen the Cleaning or Extended cleaning, the microprogram can be erased. Therefore before performing of this operation you should save the maximum of modules from all disc surfaces of HDD. For this can be useful paragraphs Load USAG (load into the utility table of modules from the file ~USAG.rpm from compatible HDD) and Ignore reading error (allows while reading to get maximum information of module, even if it has unreadable areas ). Remember that microprogram has great amount of