Seagate barracuda firmware fix (BSY bug) 

I've used this video three times on different hard drives and it has worked every time. You really did a great job. Thank you very much.

Hello, how I change sn?

Thank you so much for taking the trouble in putting this excellent video together. It worked perfectly! I have the greatest respect for people like you who go out of their way to help others. My problem now is to install the firmware upgrade to prevent the BSY bug occurring again. Best Wishes John

Just fixed my drive by your method for NZ$10- thanks heaps! The professionals wanted $350 to fix it after I told them it was a bsy error. As a note I had to power down the drive prior to the final m0,,,,,,,etc command and now it functions great. Just updated the firmware so touch wood it never happens again. Cheers.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I had the exact same hard drive, firmware and CA-42 cable. Followed your instructions step by step and it worked perfectly! Great job! Steve

@MultiMrax I Fix problem I was clear contact of motor with sandpaper(800) and clean with medical alcohol. After this procedure all work fine with this tutorial. Thanks very much. You save me 3 year of my work.

Thanks for your great and valuable video Wayne, I am very happy to bring back alive my Seagate 7200 EHD by using your accurate video with directions. Although it was difficult to find the NOKIA-CA42 cable in Mexico City, your detailed instructions allowed me to fix my drive without any further problems. .....Excellent job WAYNE. ......THANKS

Thanks Man. My drive stopped last week. I just followed your video and got it back . backing up ny data.

Thanks to you and the other guys who figured this out. Just recovered my photo library. Thought I was safe keeping a backup drive, but guess what????

Thank you very much. You save my work from 2 years. You are great. The best

Thank you Wayne. My sisters HDD (Same make, model and firmware as in the video)experienced the same issue. I'm pleased to say the HDD is now up and running and updated the firmware to SD1A. I must say I had fun making the cables. Once again thank you, my sister is now happy again lol

Sir, thank you for uploading this video. By using your input codes, i was able to bring my drive back to LIFE! Thank you!

Hey!.. This totally works!! Thank you very much for all the info. As a foot note I want to say that a CA-42 cable is a little old and I couldn't find it on the market anymore so I used a CA-50 cable witch has only 3 wires: #red - goes to HDD RX pin (as shown in this video) #white - goes to HDD TX pin #black - goes to HDD's GND pin Good luck! (and of course - immediate firmware upgrade after this) :)

Great job with the video, I added some details to the post in the Seagate forum with regard to using a 6-wire DKU-5 cable. Compatible with the CA-42 but using colors is just confusing so I went with: Pin 2 (Grnd), Pin 4(3.3v+), Pin 6 (Rx), Pin 7 (Tx).Like you mentioned, an extra PS is great, jump pin14 to Gnd and it will power up but I just plugged in and out to the drive on my running PS. I also used a button cell 3.3v in the place of two AA type batteries. Great stuff! Tony

Thanks so much for this video, I unlocked my drive with the exact same cable. For those people who cabt get the Ctrl Z command to work, make sure the cables are firmly attached to the HD pins and are NOT touching, I had to fiddle with it for a bit but got it in the end.

Thanks Man! I´m from Brazil. I have read several articles, but none solved my problem, just your video! Some claimed to be necessary to disconnect the hd, but it was done as in your video was not necessary. Thanks! Thanks! I was no use my hd since 2009! Sorry my english, Google Translate.

had a bricked maxtor sitting in a draw for years. i have the data back. THANKS !

I confirm that it worked on a 7200.12 ST3750528AS. Not only i have my HDD working but also i have all my files without any corruption. Thanks a lot.

Thanks so much, it worked for me...and my data is safe!..it didn't format my drive, even if in the hyperterminal said that it was formatted! :)

Problem Fixed thank for your guide and also to gravius!!!!

@MrJohnnyFeds Hello and thanks for your kind words, i'm glad the fix worked for you. As for the firmware update just find out the model number of you harddrive then look on the Seagate site for the latest firmware for that model. The update is necessary because the drive may lock again!

@neo36uk the cables were slightly lose ad when i got a better connection it came alive. All fixed now, thank you so much for your video it was fantastic.

no worries glad it worked for you :-)

@healeysa no worries Steve, glad it helped you out! i wont take full credit for the fix though, i watched other youtube videos and checked out some site, i just made a clear step by step walk through video tutorial because all the others on youtube are just music and stills. cheers

glad it worked for you :-) :-)

@remalion Hello and thanks for your question Well I have fixed a few now using this exact method and all the data from the drives was still fine. I had this fear also about loosing my data but as of yet everything was fine...just make sure you update the drive to the latest firmware after the fix.

@giguin no worries glad to help out ;)

@pchelpman im not sure if you could just use any usb cable. I i think it needs to be the CA-42 cable so it will install as a modem in device manager. I think you can get CA-42 copies that work in the same way but i believe the one i got off ebay was a genuine cable, thats why i was unable to break the usb end down.

i should just go ahead and try it mate, you have nothing to loose, and this will not corrupt the data on the drive, i have fixed many now...cheers

hei guy, thanks a lot! just a note: you can do it also with a normal serial comunication and hyper terminal. pls respect the connection TX,RX and dont forghet to fix the little scrw in the middle of board. THANKS!!!!!

thanks for this :)

@MrPioneer2k7 are you getting a clicking sound from the drive as well?

@JolieBlues yep you can power the hdd from the same pc, i just used a spare psu because it was less fiddly for me

@obee36uk cheers Steve. Yep got there in the end. Was not to bad really once i got all the tools around me, just had a few problems with the power setup for phone at first and a few typing errors but sust it in the end :-) I'm so pleased its worked, i thought it was curtains for the drive and i had lost the lot :-( lol

One more time, THANKS a lot. If you don't disconnect the card as you said, yu will only see "LED:000000CE FAddr:0027CF31" and the console will not respond at any input. In some places let the disconnecting as something optional, when is a must. Thanks a lot! ^-^

I bought two Nokia CA 42 cables one with only half of the phone-end pins and another with all of them from the UK. BOTH only have three wires and look exactly like yours at the USB end. I am beginning to think the DKU-5-b is the correct cord because it has 5 wires and works for other people.

Briljant ! I followed first a website sites.google, did not work, I did saw youre video earlier and tried it also, bingo ! I had a 3 wire imitation cable without extra power. You will get my credits for youre explination I know you read it also but still was youre movie verry helpfull, thanks again.

@Henniebrandweer A retail version is one that comes in a nice box with all manuals, screws etc. A OEM is simply the drive on its own, I am not sure on the big difference except that OEM drives are sold with new pcs and are also a lot cheaper to buy. That’s good news that Seagate will fix it free of charge, you have been lucky is this in normally very expensive I believe. Just make sure when you get your drive back that you update your firmware immediately if Seagate have not already done so!!

@ThunderVongola Im not sure mate...as far as im aware I think it has to be a CA-42 cable so it shows up as a modem, but like I say im not sure of this. Just try the cable, you maybe in luck, saying that though I think if it was me I should just order a CA-42 cable and follow the procedure as normal.

@MrPioneer2k7 have you screwed the circuit board back securely?

Hi Wayne, I hooked up a version of what you describe, but only receive an arrow when I type CTRL-z. -> not an F3. if I type other characters from the keyboard I see them on the screen. I have local copy turned on. Any suggestions?

Hi. Why did you take this video down? Thank you, Philip Shaw

Hi, I have a Barracuda LP , and am facing the same problem. Can you tell me whether a PCB replacement would be able to do the job, given the firmware and PCB number are the same...

Just tried this but using an Arduino's FTDI chip to do the serial side, no dice. So I've resigned to ordering a CA-42 Lead and see where that gets me. The Arduino did let me see the "LED:000000CC FAddr:0024A051" Error when the board is in place so I know I'm fixing the right issue. Totally Unrelated, You sound like you aren't too far from me, you sound very much like my friend from shildon :D

Well done wayne you got it sust :-)

thanks for the Video. I've recently tried re-installing computer into new casing and all of a sudden this Drive ST3250312AS having JC47, stopped working. Good thing was I earlier backed it up and wanted it as new drive so Data Loss didn't happened but mysteriously this drive became invisble while diskmgmt was running, and even missing in BIOS now. I am having the CA42 cable, but I was wondering if Having a COM Port available in Desktop Computer (which i use to burn PIC Programs) can be used directly and the need of this cable is eliminated ???

@remalion no worries mate just hope it works for you :-)

What's going on with the other end of the cable - the USB connector end? I didn't really catch it from your explanation.

I have a USB Rs232 in use (also com4) and connected everything with the 4 string cable that came with it (well 3 of em actually GND RX and TX from the drive to the USB device) but I cant seem to get anything in HT when pressing CTRL+Z, also tried switching RX and TX to no avail what am I doing wrong?

@Henniebrandweer is the drive an OEM or retail?

Thanks for this video, I have a few questions: Could we use a normal USB to Serial(COM) port and put a custom RJ45 Console Cable to access the HD ? Which firmware you were using and wich is the updated one? Thanks again!!!

can I use my SATA to USB adaptor that I already hat that is used to connect internal hard drives to USB without an enclosure or do I have to use this Nokia cable

Sir, are there any ways we could purchase a new Circuit board from anywhere online and replace?

@megabufferx I think I can recall getting this error when I first tried it...try making sure capslock is not enabled before you press control Z....im sure this was the problem...just keep experimenting it should work.

@remalion lol no worries mate glad it worked :-) just update your firmware now! Looks like im stuck here in the UK so mail me that beer ;-) cheers, take care

@eArtrash no worries, hope it helps :-)

Thanks for this info! Although I still can't get it to work - I'm using a 3 wire ca-42 cable bought off eBay and the hyper terminal either shows an arrow when I press Ctrl+z, or hyper terminal cannot connect to the com port :( Any advice?? And also where and who did you buy your ca-42 cable from? (I'm from uk too) Thanks again

Will the process you describe also work on a 500 gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 with firmware SD25?

I have the 3 wires version of the cable c42... Am I forced to buy another one ?

@bobgold no i just don't think that one requires power, i'm sure i saw a video on youtube explaining this a while back

@hannz251 The fix seems to work for most people that have tried it. I looked on youtube and the net for information on how it was done before I made this step by step tutorial, its a conman fault with some Seagate drives. Once it works and you pc bios see's the drive you will/should be able to see the files on the drive in windows explorer...then you MUST UPDATE THE DRIVES FIRMWARE IMMEDIATELY or it may get the bug again! hope this helps :-)

@hasmexham mmmmm im not sure mine worked fine first time. are you sure you have set up all the com port settings correctly?

@MrThehogster1 mine was an oem drive from ocuk, its just a few with certain firmware versions that have this problem i believe...Segate would bend you over bigtime if they was to fix it or so i believe....anyways the fix works a treat :-) yeah, im a stokie ;-) lol

How has it been modified from the stock cable?

When I use a hyperterminal program nothing happens. When I push Ctrl-Z nothing happens? What is my issue?

Hi Wayne, Does it works on barracuda 7200.12 with clicking sound and in bios it is not detected?

Could I use GU232A, USB to RS232 converter to do this operation

@disnukka79 no you will have to use a Nokia CA-42 cable, these are very cheap on ebay.

@dancz97 You will need to know the exact model number of you Hardrive, once you know this go to the Seagate site then look for that drives firmware. Sorry I cant be more specific but there are lots of drives with very similar model numbers and not sure if the firmware versions are different. Just look on your Harddrive for the model number and you will be on your way :-)

@tfaubus Hi Tony I just hope it can help out lots of people, I nearly died when my drive failed on me, I had loads of really important files on it and I thought I had lost them forever! Like I say, I aint taking the credit for this but I just had to make a clear step by step video once I realised the previous videos and information off the Seagate forums worked. I now have this fix imprinted in my mind forever lol. Should it ever go wrong again I would know what to do cheers

hi there, nice video u uploaded...i would like to ask u sth about pcb of the hd...i have a seagate barracuda 7200.12 500gb, and while the hd seems to work fine, no clicking at all or some other noise, it is hardly shown on my computer and if it does i cannot enter it, saying ''parameter is incorrect'' and the whole system may stuck a bit...i heard that maybe it's the pcb...is there any way to fix it? thnx in advance

@ThunderVongola not sure m8, just give it a try

@neo36uk great tutorial ! I have a ST31000333AS with SD25. Hope the comandos are the same.The Drive spin up and klick and spin up again in a never ending loop.some people have this error too and say that is the bsy error.in the video from nitrohelix1 is no battery needed. she said in her comments there is no need for batteries, so i' m little confused.

I followed the instructions, but I am unable to get my computer to see the cable when I insert the usb. I lead the red and yellow wires to a AA battery configuration as shown in the video, but nothing. Any clues why the cable isn't getting power?

@neo36uk but how to update the drive .. when i plug into my pc, drive shuts down after 1 or 2 minutes. i have already disambelld it

I can't get my hands on a 5 wire cable, only the 3 wire version. Can't i make it work anyway?

would the DKU-2 nokia cable work also?

Hello there. This tutorial fix ST_M13FQBL error/issue in Seagate drives? Any hint or direction to fix this? Regards.

@wklny800 im not sure, i have never tried it with that drive, all i can say to you is give it a try!

@neo36uk mmm,,I'll consider what you have said,,thanks so much!!

Thanks for the tutorial but how many volts did u use for powering your hdd? Cause it seems to me u used 12 volts which is not allowed in Gradius's opinion

so after all the code is entered and the drive should be working again, do you just do the ol "safely remove hardware" or is there a special way to disconnect from hyper terminal and remove the drive? great video!

@Shaoboyy no mate i used 2x 1.5 volt batteries to power it up (3v)

can i also use this fix for the SD81 7200.11 1TB?

i have a nokia dke 5 usb cable and it has four wires inside. blue red green and orange, can you pls tell how will these connect? I have another cable which also has four wires, red green white and black and how will this connect?

I meant to ask, is there an easy way to update the firmware after fixing this problem?

@neo36uk mmm... it says at your video that the CA-42 should appear in the device manager as a modem..the DKU-5 appears as an port(Prolific USB-to-serial Comm port(COM15)) to be more specific,,,is it OK if its not the same before i try anything else? by the way THANKS so much its a big help!

@MrPioneer2k7 yes i have just fixed another :-)

yes, but it was a sealed connector, i had to go on line to find out the connections etc

did you manage to fix your ST2000DL003? Coz I have same problem. I don't trust now Seagate Green drives

@spetznas37 Touchwood! since i have updated my firmware my dive is/has been fine...i now uses Samsung Spinpoints!

1. Does it works on all drives from the black list? 2. Have you lost data from hard disk using this method. ?

@JolieBlues I should imagine it would work with firmware version SD25 yes but im not sure. I cant see it damaging the drive if you try, I have not heard any stories of this. Just make sure you type the code correctly and all should be ok...saying that when I was doing mine I made a few mistakes in the code but alls I had to do was try again until I got it right. Just make sure you type it exactly is a describe in the video and it should work :-)

Hi there, This has just happened to me, and my drive is also not recognized by my pc or external.. If I use this method, will my data be lost afterwards? or will it still be there? I ask this because I read something about User Partition format Successful in the end of the video.. also what is the difference between the 3 and the 5 wire cable like in the other youtube vids? btw the drive you use in your vid is the EXACT same as mine.. any advice would be greatfull. thanks in advance. Hennie

I'm about to attempt this on my ST3160811AS and was wondering - that last bit of code you entered...Does that format the drive, or can you recover all of your data afterwards? Thanks, and excellent vid!

so its just firmwear not the platter?

@MrPioneer2k7 mmmm not sure mate, just give it a try if i was you, then update to the latest firmware for that drive!

I fixed my seagate drive thanks!!! I've got 2 western digital hard drives, instead of being 4 pin they have the 8 pin jumpers for master/slave etc. on them. Can the 8 jumper pins be used for rx, tx, ground or are they master/slave etc only... Have you used this method to fix other brand hard drives?

@spetznas37 seems that way yep, my drive is fine now! :-)

is work with ST500DM002