DFL-SRP Samsung Firmware Repair

User Manual

By Stanley Morgan
Dolphin Data Lab
http://www.dolphindatalab.com
http://www.wdrepair.com
http://www.hddtools.net
[email protected]

DFL-SRP USB3.0 For Samsung is a top-class USB3.0 Samsung hard drive firmware repair
hardware tool fixing firmware failures of three Samsung hard drives at the same time, 2 SATA
and 1 IDE hard drive! Users use this tool to repair Samsung hard drive firmware modules, reset
smart, remove password, repair bad sectors, edit SN, models, capacities, etc. Users with this
tool usually have a higher success rate and stay more competitive.
Getting Started

What’s inside the box

Please check following items are included in the tool package as shown in the picture below.

System requirements

If you want to use DFL tool on your PC, here's what it takes:

Minimum

 Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2

 RAM: 2 gigabyte (GB)

 Hard disk space: 16 GB

 OS: Windows 7 32bit

Recommended

 Processor: Intel Core i3 or above

 RAM: 4 gigabyte (GB) or above

 Hard disk space: 500GB or above

 OS: Windows 7 64bit

NOTE: DFL tools do not support Windows XP, and can be less stable with Windows 8
or newer Microsoft OS.

Install the device

 Before installing the device, make sure you have disabled digital driver signature in the
Windows. To do this,
1. Restart your PC
2. Press F8 just before Windows is about to load.
3. In the menu, choose Disable Digital Driver Signature.

 After you have disabled digital driver signature, you will be good to go for next steps.
1. Download the newest program from forum, the one with all in one design.

2. Double click it and finish the installation.

3. Connect your DFL device to power and your PC USB port, Windows will report New
Hardware Found,
4. Browse and find the driver at X:\Your Installation Folder\DFL DRIVERS\
5. Install the driver until there are no question marks in the Device Management.
6. Double Click on DFL C-Panel program, and right click on any Port SATA0/1/PATA to
generate a reg file.
 7. Send this Reg file to [email protected] for activation.
8. When you have received the DAT activation file, open DFL C-Panel program again and
right click on any Port to Import/Change reg file.

9. Your DFL device installation is completed.

Start to use the Device

 Plug in the DFL device and double click to run the program DFL C-Panel.
 Your device will show in the window
If your device is not shown after you have clicked the program, please check,
1. Your device is connected to PC
2. Your device is connected to a power outlet
3. Open Device Management, and there are no question marks
4. You have disabled the Digital Signature.

 Double click on the Port you would like to use, and a window will pop up showing you the
available modules.

 Click the Samsung Module to run the SRP Samsung Firmware Tool.
Connecting drives to SRP Samsung.

Connecting 2.5 SATA, 3.5 SATA and 3.5 IDE drives at the same time
In the program

Now you are ready to use the all the functions in the SRP Samsung Firmware Repair Tool. Once
you have started the program, the interface below will show and you will need to do a step by
step diagnosis to determine problems and try to repair.

Like SRP WD and ST, SRP Samsung has a similar interface that allows you to control drive and
load drive firmware to the SRP Samsung device.

Power off and on

Start task

Identify drive and scan drive health

Soft reset, hard reset and about DFL

Status register shows the drive status as well as error information.

Step by step Samsung drive diagnosis

 Connect your Samsung drive to SRP SAMSUNG port

 Run the program and click to power on the drive

 Device will start to scan the drive, “searching the disk” is shown, listen to the drive sound,
as well as see the Status Register.
1. Drive running smooth and no noise or any abnormal sound, Status register
shows DRD and DSC, “search disk complete”. This suggests drive has no

significant firmware or hardware problem, you can click to continue to

next step.
2. Drive spinning with noise (clicking/scratching/ticking sound), Status register
BSY. This suggests a hardware problem, check head.
3. Drive spinning without noise, Status register BSY. This suggests a firmware
problem or hardware problem.
4. Drive spinning with slight ticking sounds, status register DRD and DSC, this
suggests a ROM or PCB problem.

 Scan drive health if drive is detected and spinning without noise. Click

If some of the drive information is not shown or shown incorrectly (capacity), you
should exit this interface and start to diagnose the drive without scanning for drive
health.

Click to customize the length of drive you want to scan.

 Modify Start LBA and End LBA if you wish, Scan Timeout settings can use default.

Scan results give hint for drive health. Red, orange and green blocks mean sectors that are
not so health, if you find many red or green blocks, means your drive has a bad condition
that you need to image drive to recover data, or your drive head is weak, that you need to
use selective head imaging to recover data. (Refer to DDP manual for imaging and selective
head imaging functions).

Use Soft reset or Hard reset if your drive is stuck in the process of scanning for bad sectors.

 Click to exit current interface.

 Click to continue to next step.

Normally family will be auto selected if your drive is OK.
Refer to your drive sticker and choose manually if the system fails to identify.
Drive Size: choose drive size
Mode: Normal, Safe Mode, Only terminal and burn test monitor
1. Normal: the normal way to load drive, used in most situations.
2. Safe mode: Try Safe mode when drive cannot be initialized normally, to do this, you
must put jumper on Master (MS)，Slave (SL) and Cable select (CS), then power on, drive
will be ready without spinning to read firmware on platter. In safe mode, you can
operate on ROM. However, Safe mode is not often used in SRP Samsung.
3. Only terminal: Only terminal mode will be loaded, ATA mode will not be available. Try
this mode when ATA mode is not working well.
4. Burn test monitor: Samsung selftest mode only used for refurbishment.

Click Start to continue.

Once you have entered the main interface, all operation and info will be in the Logs.
HDD Info shows detailed drive information, incomplete HDD Info means corrupted
firmware.
You can choose Working Port ATA or COM. Use ATA port by default, if ATA is not available,
use COM port.

In Modules list window, you can read, write and edit current modules. We recommend
users back up all the modules before any operation.

In head0 and head1, there are firmware backups.

 In Modules Edit, you can see the content of each module, and you can modify the module
in the window, and click Save to test if heads are good.

Samsung COM setting is like Seagate, but normally it is not necessary to input commands
here to fix drives.
 Samsung Error Codes

;BURN IN Stop condition Description :

00=End of Program
01=Unknown Stop Condition
02=Invalid Stop Condition
11=Bias force too high error
12=Seek error
13=Head Unlatch error
14=Bias calibration error
15=Spindle speed error
16=Spin-up error
17=Track zero not found error
18=NP-offset test result error
19=AB-slope test result error
1A=Total gain calibration error
1B=Loop gain calibration error
21=Head skew calibration result error
22=VCM bias force check result error
23=Seek time error
24=1 track seek time too long
25=1/3 stroke seek time too long
26=Full stroke seek time too long
27=Head switching time too long
28=Spin up time error
29=Latch force too low
2A=Too many PES error
2B=STW fail
2C=Servo defect in maintenance cyl
2D=Excessive servo defect per zone
2E=Excessive servo defect per drive
2F=Too many gray error
31=Too many real servo defect per drive
32=Error logging over flow
33=Excessive defect per drive limit
34=Excessive defect per zone
35=Excessive defect per head
36=Excessive defect per track
37=No defect map exist
38=Defect free format error
39=Servo defects too close
3A=Too many scratch
3B=Too many dlist in buffer
3C=Too many ecc error
3D=Too many write fault
41=Error rate too high
42=Too many error during Gap Filling
43=Head compensation cal test is bad
44=Excessive soft error
45=Format error
46=Burn-In script error
47=RCO timeout error
48=Final test error
49=Continuous test
51=PCB not ready error
52=Load system table fail
53=Maintenance write error
55=Burn-In code version downlevel
57=Power-on initialization error
59=Bad killing head information
5A=IPC related error
5B=Maintenance read error
5C=Function test timeout error
61=CPU RAM error
62=Sequencer RAM error
63=Buffer RAM error
64=Flash ROM error
65=Burn-in script error
66=Head unique test error
67=Serial number checksum error
68=Excessive TA error
69=Excessive seek error
6A=Servo ram error
6B=? Wrong BurnIn Overlay
71=FSAM error
72=FGRAY error
73=PES error
74=Index error
75=Head Margin Test error
80=Burn-in Go
82=BLPL Test Fail
83=Head unique test error
85=Excessive TA error
86=Excessive write fault error
87=Calibration error
88=Latch force too hign
89=Latch force too hign
91=Rco criteria system write error
92=Rco criteria system read error
93=Rco criteria not found
94=Rco header system write error
95=Rco result system write error
96=TF_Rco result system write error
97=Write boost optimize fail
98=Weak head test fail
99=Find test track fail

;LATCH or Ramp Errors

1102=All Head Fail

1107=Latch force too low
1108=Latch force too high

;SPSTW (offline) Errors

1314=Difference of bias calibration value is big; HSA bearing Fail

1510=Bias Seek Fail (only Head 0)

;Servo_Calibration Errors

1601=Bias calibration error

1602=Track zero not found error / Kt Fail (only Head 0 or 1)
1603=NP - offset test result was bad
1604=AB - slope test result was bad
1606=Loop calibration was bad
1607=Head skew calbration result was bad
1608=Head gap calibration is failed
1610=RRO 1x calib result was bad
1615=Difference of bias calibration value is big
1617=OD to ID Misalignment
1702=Seek error
1703=Spin up error
1704=Too many parking during process
1705=Spin Up too long
1722=Head GAP calibration error
172A=Too many virtual servo defect
172C=Too many real servo defect
172D=Excessive track defect per drive
172E=Excessive track defect per zone
172F=Track defect in maintenance cyl
1731=Too many servo defect
1743=Total gain verify bad

;Servo Defect Errors

1901=Drive per servo vitual defect over

1902=Drive per servo defect over
1903=Drive per servo real defect over
1904=Drive per track defect over
1905=Zone per track defect over

;MC Access Errors

1A03=MC write error

1A04=MC read error

;H/M Screen

1B01=Error rate too high

1C01=TPI test fail
1C02=MR tune to different from skew
1C03=Zonemap verification error (for downsize)
1C04=Force downsizing
1C05=Force downsizing
1C06=Only for inline downsizing
1F01=Head/Media interference fail
1F02=Interfere test fail
1F03=Failed Amplitude Spike Test
1F04=WII Test Fail
1F05=Thermal Decay
1F06=Head Degradation screen
1F07=BIG diff AGC between tracks
1F08=HDI problem
1F09=Bad CSM defects OD
1F0A=Bad CSM

;FOD Errors

2101=Write Error when HSC test

2102=Read Error when HSC test
2103=FOD resistance test before FOD touch down test
2104=FOD TD fail: channel table verify failure
2105=HSC FH Error when screen
2106=HSC TCC Error when screen
2107=WPTP Error
2108=FOD TD fail: too high fluxion
2109=Out of TD test range
210A=FOD Resistance Bad
210B=MC read error during FOD test
210C=MC write error during FOD test
210D=FH one step difference is too big
210E=No good zone
210F=FOD TCC make fail

;Timeout Errors

2201=SLOW Run Error

2202=Cont Test
2203=Timeout Error
2204=Too many retry errors
2205=IPC related error
2206=Function test timeout error

;Process Misc Errors

2301=Channel calibration fail

2303=O Pattern write fail after RCO
2304=Read Screen Error
2305=Failed compiling
2306=Unrecognized Opcode (opcode cmd function not available)
2307=Script Error
2308=Firmware Assert
2309=2nd Downsize Error
230A=5400 rpm DownSpeed Criteria: Zone Cutting Bug
2353=5400 rpm DownSpeed Criteria: Zone Cutting Bug

;Version Mismatch

2501=Overlay version incorrect

2502=Wrong code download
2503=Serial Number checksum error
2504=Overlay Error
2505=New ID
2506=Overlay Checksum Error
2507=Can't find MRR look up table

;Defect Overflow
2801=Error log in full
2807=Linear scratch
2809=Too many DLIST in buf
2810=Too many write errors
2811=Too many sequential track errors
2812=Too many bad tracks
2813=Defect in cylinder zero
2814=Capacity check error
2815=VLIST SF overflow
2816=TNU per head overflow
2818=Login full MC
2819=Too many SLIST

;IC(preamp, channel, engine, FFS)

2A01=Preamp is out of order

2A02=Preamp voltage regulator err
2A03=Chip rev error
2A04=NLS Register error
2A05=Linked List Register error
2A06=Free Fall Sensor is out of order

;Ram/Buffer

2B01=CPU RAM error

2B02=SEQ RAM error
2B03=BUF RAM error
2B04=Flash error
2B06=Servo SPIRAM/YRAM/XRAM error
2B07=ECC RAM_ERR
2B08=Hybrid ONENAND flash error
2B09=BufferAlloc reuturned NULL

;OEM screen

2C04=Drive per track defect over

2C05=Too many parking during process
2C07=TPI test fail
2C0C=Screen most OD
 General Functions
Logical Scan: Scan for bad sectors, use this to check drive health.
ID Edit: Edit drive info, try this when the drive info is not correct.
NHPA: Try this when the drive LBA is not correct
ATA Command: Control drive power off and on, use this if drive is stuck or frozen.
Samsung Unlock Password: one click unlock password for firmware encryption.
Add Password: Put a password on the drive firmware to lock the drive.
Unlock password: input password to unlock.
COM Command: Control soft reset and hard reset from COM port.

 ROM Operations
Read ROM: Backup ROM from COM port, make sure COM cable is connected.
Write ROM: Browse and find a donor/adaptive ROM to write.
Write BURN Resources: Write Samsung selftest resources to start selftest. This operation
is only for drive refurbishment and will damage data.
Get ROM Info: Choose a ROM and get information from it.

 Firmware Operations
 Read Modules: Backup all the modules. Recommend always backup modules first.

Right click and choose Read Selected Modules. It is the same like you operate in the
Modules List window.

Write Modules: Write modules to replace/update current modules. This is used when your
modules are corrupted that needs donor to fix. You can choose to load current FI or other
FI from different folders.

Read by track Read modules by track, use this when you cannot see modules.
Write by track Write modules by track

 Defects Management

View P list Show P list

View G list Show G list
 Defect Table Operations----Clear A list
This function will fix drive abnormalities to some degree. Try this when drive is not normal
but spinning smooth without any noise. NO HARM to data.

SMART Operations Enable, disable and reset SMART. Try this when drive is not working
normally, NO HARD to data. Reset SMART can fix problems caused by corrupted SMART,
such as logical bad sectors, drive not ID and slow imaging.

 General Problems Fix

Fix LED Error LED error is a very common problem in Samsung drive. Try this general
problem fix when your drive shows LED error.

 Format
Format All Similar to whole disk low level format, this function will repair logical bad
sectors and will destroy data.
Format Zone Similar to Format All, Format Zone only formats a certain part on HDD,
will destroy data.
Format Datazone Format data area, will destroy data.