WDC/Seagate - How Many SA Copies ?

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Hi Folks ,
Basically since i have started to work on WDC hdds i have noticed that sa data [ all modules ] are there in head no 0 and 1 .On some families i have seen 1 or very few modules only mainly MOD01 on other heads .Today i called up my countries acelab ts and he says the heads other then head 00 and 01 has complete SA copy i am 100% sure this is wrong info .I cannot say same for Seagates [ Specially Freeplay Santosa Family ] . Please Guide Me In This i am super confused today

[Maxim_TS]

Hello Amarbir[CDR-Labs],
There are two full SA copies always could be in every WD drive, but for some drives like FBLite, or Hubble, we can see also copy 2 and copy 3 of SA.
But Copies 2 and 3 are not full, they do not contain all modules we can see in copies 0 and 1.

[Amarbir[CDR-Labs]]

Source of the post Hello Amarbir[CDR-Labs],
There are two full SA copies always could be in every WD drive, but for some drives like FBLite, or Hubble, we can see also copy 2 and copy 3 of SA.
But Copies 2 and 3 are not full, they do not contain all modules we can see in copies 0 and 1.

Exactly ,
This is What i Have Being Saying Also .Please Check This Post On HDDguru Where " I Am Being Told To Brush Up My Knowledge " . But i think My Knowledge is Quite Brushed Up .Have a Peek At This Post - > http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32902 .My Reply Was As Under

To Jermy

" Hello Jermy ,
Lets Take a Example Of a FBlite Family HDD That i Just Recovered 2 Days Ago . PC3k Says SA Copy Copy 0 , Copy 1 , Copy 2 And Copy 3 . The HDD In Question is WD10JMVW-11AJGS0 . If I see Copy 0 Mod List In This Perticular Drive There Are 475 Modules Extracted By PC3K , Copy 1 Has Approx 476 Modules .Copy 2 Has Only 2 Mod 01.rpm " dir Module " And Mod 123 .Copy 3 Has Just The 01.rpm And Noting Else . Jermy This Case is solved i am just getting clarity of this concept .I will work on this drive in detail and get more info also out .

This is what i am being told

1 : Western Digital Has Complete SA Copy on all Heads.In My Experience Its Not true Its Only Head 0 And Head 1 That Has Complete SA Copy . Other Heads Have Only Few Mods .To Verify This We Can Grab All Tracks From Copy 0 ,1,2 and 3 in this example and extract modules from tracks and compare .In My Opinion Head 2 and 3 will have unformulated tracks in SA Also Unlike Head 0 and 1 .

2 : Western Digital Can Be started From Any Head Other Then Head 0 And 1 .This is also Not True According To My Experience .

PS : I Will Do Some Experiments And Post . "

To Vikas Seth " Data Track systems "

" Sure ,
I am One Guy Who is always Learning And Eager To Grab All Knowledge Provided .But If Something Is Given To Me And On Which I Have a Difference Of Opinion Due To My Own Observation i should and i am bond to ask questions .If you really want me to understand hard drive concepts tell acelab to prepare all new manuals and each manual should have a small drive specific working flowchart that they used to explain in thier maxtor manual so that the drive operations are clear .Specially the Seagate F3 .I would Be So Pleased If someone Could clarify The Total Drive Startup Flowchart Till it Finally Initializes [ In Wdc i am still clear in seagate f3 clueless ] . Another Thing Is That if a theory is made of one drive or few families even then its not true for each and every family .Let Me Give you a example with acelab tool itself .To solve a slow pending issue in most drive they have this thoery -> http://blog.acelab.eu.com/pc-3000-h ... oblem.html but for diablo 3s its different -> http://blog.acelab.eu.com/pc-3000-h ... rives.html . You need to appreciate the fact that we ask and like to increase our knowledge .Might be the other Heads also have complete firmware and might be not .Once the concept of WDC is clear to me i will talk about Seagate F3 because it got me bonkers day before .But one at a time .

Ps : The recent acelab blogs are mind blowing and amazing .I wish some sense prevails to the documentation staff also looks like they are on a permanent holiday .I also hate the fact that once i do a critical analysis of a DR tool Company they start avoiding you .We all can have a difference of opinion and sometimes its due to lack of knowledge of one party .So Some seniors of the trade need to appreciate and understand the facts too "