Samsung: Matching Donor Drives and PCBs

Samsung sold its hard drive business to Seagate in 2011. Older drives carry the Samsung logo (SpinPoint F1–F4, M7, M8), later ones the Seagate logo while the inside is still Samsung technology.

What to compare

Samsung label: model, P/N and firmware explained
Example label (schematic).
FieldExampleMeaning
ModelHD103SJ, HD204UI, ST1000LM024Family and capacity.
P/NHD103SJ/DBuild/region version.
Firmware1AJ10001Firmware revision – should match.
Date / site2011.05, Korea / ChinaProduction date and factory.
PCB numberBF41-00354BBoard number on the PCB, starting with BF41 on most Samsung drives.

Donor drive

  • Same model, same firmware, production date close to yours.
  • For Samsung-built drives with a Seagate label (e.g. ST1000LM024, ST2000DL004): use only donors of the same Samsung-based model. Normal Seagate donors do not fit.

PCB

ROM transfer from the old to the new PCB
  • Board number BF41-xxxxx including the revision letter must match.
  • Samsung boards also hold drive-specific data in the ROM – transfer it from the original board.

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