Task 3 - Repair Module 11 of WD Disks

Description: In WD disks, Module 11 is a key module of microcode modules. If

module 11 is damaged, or it is not loaded to disk RAM to run for some other reasons,
there will be following symptoms in disk: disk cannot be identified after connected to
host. When powered on in MRT program, the model, serial number cannot be
obtained, and the firmware cannot be accessed.

Related knowledge

Basic information of WD disks:

Similar to PC, hard disk has its own operating system, which is only used for
reading/writing data to disk platter and communicating with PC. WD disk
manufacturers store the files needed by the system in modular management fashion,
use these operating system files and name/visit them by ID.

The function of these files can be divided into several categories, such as microcode
module, data module, log module, translator module, configuration module etc.

In microcode module file, there stores the codes needed when operating system is
running. When powering on the disk, boot loader will load the module files in SA to
RAM in certain sequence. When these module files are loaded to RAM, they will
execute their own tasks according. After microcodes are loaded to RAM, the hard
drive will execute them immediately. After the proper running of them, the hard
drive can access SA. (Note: Before this, SA adaptive parameters is stored in ROM, it
will be loaded to memory with ROM).

In WD disks, module 11 is the most important module in microcode modules. When

it is damaged, SA cannot be accessed. In this case, SA cannot work.

Then we will talk about how to repair the fault of module 11 with MRT.

Operation process:

Step 1:

Open MRT software, enter the main interface and click “Automatic detection”, or
select the disk brand manually: Western Digital. Select “WDC Marvell”. As shown:
Step 2:

Double-click “WDC Marvell”, or click to enter family selection interface:

Step 3:

Click “Automatic detection” to select family for the disk automatically. (Manufacturer
of each disk brand will adjust the structure of disk according to different production
batches. So the family and model of disks can be different) Click “OK” to enter disk
repair tool. Layout of the interface is as follows:
We can see that, after opening disk repair tool, there will display a series of log. It
contains the following information: heads number and head map, SA tracks number,
firmware version, ROM version & size and if SA module directly can be accessed.

Related knowledge

Disk platter is divided into two areas, service area and user area. Service area is
used for storing firmware data, while user area is used for storing user data. We can
compare their relationship as that of system disc and other disc.

Track: It locates on platter. It is concentric circle consists of magnetic powder. The

closer it is to the center, the smaller the circle is, and the smaller the corresponding
track is.

Sector: divide track into several equal parts at the unit of 512 bytes, each one called
a sector.

SPT: sectors per track

SA SPT: sectors per track in SA

Step 5:

Click “Work with SA” -> “Module list” to open module list. As shown:

Step 6:

Find module 11 and double-click to open it.

Step 7:

So far, we are using an identifiable disk with all the firmware and modules readable.
Now I will destroy the data and fill with 0.
Step 8:

Write the filled data to disk according to the instruction below:

Note: Generally, there are two backups of each disk. When there is fault in Copy 0,
the disk will seek Copy 1 automatically. We also need to destroy module 11 in Copy
1.
Find module 11 of Copy 1 and destroy it as what we did to that of Copy 0.

After destroying module 11, let’s power off and then power on. Exit WD disk repair
tool and re-enter.
Device identification failed:

Click “OK”, “Automatic identification”. We will see the following after entering the
program:
This is the manifestation of disk unidentified.

Step 10:

With above steps, we made the fault of module 11. We can be sure that as long as
module 11 is not boot properly (data is destroyed, cannot be loaded to memory), the
device is surely unable to be detected. Now let’s try to repair it.

Related knowledge:

For Western Digital disks, they can have microcode of the same version even if disk
models are different. When microcode version is the same, microcode module of
different disks can be mutually replaced.

As mentioned in Step 3, when entering WD disk repair program, there will be a

series of log, which contains the information of ROM version and firmware version.
According to the feature that module 11 of the same microcode version can be
mutually replaced, we can take module 11 from disk with same firmware version to
load LDR (upload module 11 directly to disk memory, not to platter), or use it to
replace the damaged module 11 (write to platter directly).

As mentioned above, when module 11 is damaged, it cannot be loaded to disk

memory, which will cause the whole microcode system of disk cannot work. In this
case, firmware zone cannot be accessed. Then how can we repair module 11 in SA
of platter? Usually, we will upload its backup or module 11 of same version in other
disk to disk memory. In this way, microcode system of disk can work properly and
we can access firmware zone. So we can write correct module 11 to platter. Let’s
demonstrate the steps with screenshots.

Step 11:

Click “Load LDR from file”, there will pop up the following dialog box:
Click “Browse” and select the folder where module 11 locates. Module 11 in the
selected folder can be listed automatically. As shown:
Double-click file entry, or click “Load” to load LDR. Click “Exit” to exit this interface.
There are three ways of loading, the first one is the most commonly used. There will
pop up the message box reporting loading LDR succeeded or failed with log recorded.
Step 12:

After loading LDR, we find that there are disk model, serial number in the upper-left
information bar. At this time, we can read/write SA. Now let’s see how to write a
correct module 11 to SA.

At this time, we need to exit WD disk repair program and re-enter. We find that
module list can be opened.

Click “Module ID” on the head of the list, the list will be arranged by order of ID. We
can easily find the entry of module 11. Double-click the entry or click to open it
and see the data. Note: At this time, “by track” (read/write mode) should be checked
on the right toolbar.

We read the previously filled data.

Click “Open” to load module 11.
Step 13:

After writing, power off the disk and then power on. Enter WD disk repair program
and observe what is happening.
In-depth analysis:

Sometimes the damage of module data is caused by damage of physical sectors. If

the data of module 11 is damaged by this, what should we do?