Modding WD10JPVT Firmware to get rid of APM

[xknobi]

I have this nice 1 TB WD Scorpio HDD with Intelli Park bug. wdidle3 and idle3-tools don't work on this one.

So far I can get is to change some MOD in SA area to stop the Intelli Park thing. But then with this modification I get a click sound randomly. From 40 seconds to 2 minutes. And the SMART value changes (like C1 increasing) during this connection seems to lost after reconnection. I think it is rathera firmware reset with this mod so it is not healthy for my HDD.

I will try to analyse the code of the PCB flash module. Meanwhile I'd like to know, if someone has experience with this thing...

 

[Franc Zabkar]

I have this nice 1 TB WD Scorpio HDD with Intelli Park bug. wdidle3 and idle3-tools don't work on this one.

So far I can get is to change some MOD in SA area to stop the Intelli Park thing. But then with this modification I get a click sound randomly. From 40 seconds to 2 minutes. And the SMART value changes (like C1 increasing) during this connection seems to lost after reconnection. I think it is rather a firmware reset with this mod so it is not healthy for my HDD.

I will try to analyse the code of the PCB flash module. Meanwhile I'd like to know, if someone has experience with this thing...

My understanding from our original thread ...

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop...-on-WD-Scorpio-Blue-1T-2-5/td-p/452696/page/2

.... is that you did not find any differences in the PCB's flash memory
after executing WDIDLE3. Instead you found that the IDLE3 timer
setting was written to MOD 02 in the System Area on the platters.

I don't quite understand what you mean about the SMART values. Are you
saying that the raw value of attribute C1 (load/unload cycle count)
decreases after applying your hack to MOD 02? Do you get the same
effect if you use WD's WDIDLE3 utility to do the same thing?

Could you upload your ROM and MOD files to a file sharing service? I
would find it a lot easier to show you what I have been able to
discover in regards to checksums and MOD data if I could refer to your
own files.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[Franc Zabkar]

I will try to analyse the code of the PCB flash module. Meanwhile I'd like to know, if someone has experience with this thing...

With reference to the original thread at wdc.com, I now see how you
were able to hack mavr_fl.com to accommodate PCI port addresses in
place of the legacy ISA ports.

If I use DOS Debug to Unassemble the code, I see the following:

C:\debug mavr_fl.com
-u 100 190
....
0137 C7067406F001 MOV WORD PTR [0674],01F0
013D C7067606F603 MOV WORD PTR [0676],03F6
0143 C6067806A0 MOV BYTE PTR [0678],A0
....
014D C7067406F001 MOV WORD PTR [0674],01F0
0153 C7067606F603 MOV WORD PTR [0676],03F6
0159 C6067806B0 MOV BYTE PTR [0678],B0
....
0163 C70674067001 MOV WORD PTR [0674],0170
0169 C70676067603 MOV WORD PTR [0676],0376
016F C6067806A0 MOV BYTE PTR [0678],A0
....
0179 C70674067001 MOV WORD PTR [0674],0170
017F C70676067603 MOV WORD PTR [0676],0376
0185 C6067806B0 MOV BYTE PTR [0678],B0

ISTM that all you would need to do would be to change either of the
primary (0x1F0) or secondary (0x170) IDE ports, with A0 being the
master and B0 the slave.

Are there any other changes that need to be made?

- Franc Zabkar

 

[umaier2]

Following your discussion, I voice a frustration which I am sure is shared with all power users of this Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD10JPVT.

Why on earth does WD not issue software that will allow users to change the timer setting?

Are the powers that be in the design or engineering department drunk? Does nobody in support bother at all with Linux users?