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Sunday 17 June 2012

Dell mini Inspiron 910 - STEC SSD repair faulty disk

We would like to thank the original author of this review at www.punj.co.uk for granting us permission to publish this particular blog content. The original contents of the review can be found at http://www.punj.co.uk

How to revive your Dell Mini 9 failed Mini PCIe SSD disk 

On this page we are going to look at the Dell Mini 9 Inspiron 910 mini laptop / netbook and a common problem that some users have faced.


The Dell Mini 9 Inspiron that we are going to talk about here had the following specifications and were all just over twelve months old.
Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 16GB SSD , 8.9" WSVGA, Integrated Webcam
Graphics Media Accelerator950, USB 2.0 Ports: 3 , Video Out Ports: 1, OS XP Home
            
We have had several of these mini laptop / netbooks sent to us for repairs all giving symptom's of a failed disk. When switching the Dell Mini 9 on,  the screen would show errors as " Operating system not Found" and on two of these the SSD disk was being reported as 0MB within the bios.

Normally this error in most cases is the symptom's of a failing hard disk and usually requires the hard disk to be replaced.

On the Dell Mini 9 the hard disk consists of a Mini PCIe PATA SSD disk which unlike normal hard disks consist of no moving parts. The Mini PCIe PATA SSD is made of memory chips which will retain data after power loss.


The STEC Mini PCIe PATA SSD on the Dell Mini can be located on the rear of the laptop by removing the hardware compartment lid which is held by two screws.

Most people that we have come across seem to replace their SSD disks when they encounter this error as this is the advise by Dell Support to them. Further when you encounter these errors the disk becomes inaccessible for any of the usual disk utilities including Linux GPart. You will find that using the Linux Live CD for accessing the SSD for partitioning, formatting and other tests is always unsuccessful. 

We believe that occasionally some of the data on the disk becomes corrupt and the disk is also occasionally unable to re-align itself. The disk will then go into a lock and give symptons as described above. You will also find very limited information on the Internet to resolve this issue.

Our method for recovering your STEC Mini PCIe PATA SSD disk evolves running a utility within a bootable CD or USB media to re-align and updating the disk firmware. This utility was made available from STEC the SSD Disk manufacturer to whom we are very grateful to. The utility will destroy all data on the disk and when completed revive what was a dead SSD disk. You will then need to re-partition and format your SSD disk. If all goes well your final task is to re-install your OS and data to your Dell Mini 9
You Should be aware that this procedure will destroy all data on the disk. We offer no guarantee or warranty that this procedure will work for you.

To repair and revive your failed STEC Mini PCIe SSD disk this is the procedure that works for us.
You will need to download the utility firmware and prepare the bootable media on another computer or laptop. Below are the step by step instructions we use to repair our STEC Mini PCIe SSD.
  1. Prepare a USB Pen Drive formatted with Fat32 and with a bootable dos system.
  2. Instructions for creating a bootable usb pen drive can be found at How to make a bootable usb flash drive
  3. Download the following STEC SSD 8 / 16GB util firmware to your desktop and unzip the contents with winzip.
  4. Copy the unzipped "stecssdutil" utility folder to your bootable USB pen drive.
  5. When the above steps are complete remove your newly created USB pen drive and now go to the Dell Mini 9.
  6. Ensure that the Dell Mini 9 is plugged into the power supply. This is very important.
  7. Now plug in your USB bootable pen drive with the stecssdutil folder contents.
  8. Switch on your Dell Mini 9 and keep pressing 0 (Zero) on the keyboard. You should be prompted with a screen asking which device to boot from. You will need to ensure that you are booting from the USB pen drive (USB Hard Drive).
  9. If the usb pen drive has successfully booted you will be navigated in to the dos environment with the screen at the command prompt C:\  .
  10. Now type "CD stecssdutil" and press enter. You will now be navigated into "c:\stecssdutil" folder.
    If a message is shown that the directory cannot be found or does not exist then for those people type "cd stecss~1" and press enter. For those people you should now be navigated into "c:\"cd stecss~1".
  11. Type "mcru004.exe" and press enter.
  12. Now do not touch any thing or switch off. Let the utility complete. This may take some time to complete. Let the utility firmware finish or you will destroy your disk.
  13. If an error is shown by the utility then the chances are that the disk is failing and should be replaced. We recommend that you carry out the procedure again to confirm that the disk is failing. If no errors are shown then go to the next step. 
  14. When the utility completes you will be back at the C:\ prompt or C:\stecssdutil\ prompt .
  15. You can now remove the pen drive and switch the Dell Mini 9 off.
The final steps require preparing your repaired STEC SSD drive and then re-installing your OS from your recovery CD's.
We used the Linux Live GParted CD which can be found at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php for deleting the old partition and then creating a new NTFS partition and a NTFS format to complete our procedure.
The final step will be to re-install the Dell Mini 9 OS and drivers from the Dell Recovery media that came with your Dell Mini 9.
Finally this is the very same procedure that some people are selling on ebay to revive this particular SSD disk for you. We hope that our readers will save some money and have the satisfaction on carrying out this repair themselves. Our personal opinion is that Dell Support should offer this publicly as a free of charge repair for the user's effected to carry out. They should also make more of an attempt to make this issue more known on their support site and the Internet.
We hope our readers have enjoyed our project and will come back to www.punj.co.uk for our views on more technological projects and products.

If you have enjoyed our latest tip or wish to discuss this further then please leave your comments and suggestions below.

** Update **
We will publish updated firmwares at our main site at  www.punj.co.uk 
once we are satisified that they are safe to do so.
So please keep checking our main site for further information and updates at www.punj.co.uk

Please Note:- We do not offer support for disk passwords. Please do not ask us for password support. We are sorry but we will not be able to assist.

punj

239 comments:

  1. ill try this..hope this will work...thanks for the info..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi RL

      Thanks for your comment.
      It worked for us and theres no reason why this should not work for you.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    2. Worked a treat for me, thanks guys, you were a great help. One revived 910 mini up and runnin'.

      Delete
    3. Hi Martin
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for the feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  2. Great!!, How about 32gb and 64gb Stec? Do you have a download link for thier firmware? TIA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Thanks for the comment.
      We did have a successful result with a STEC 32gb using this method and the utilty within the blog.

      Unfortunatly these firmware utils are only available from STEC themselves. You will need to contact them.

      Sorry we have no other STEC firmware utils at the moment.
      Keep checking the blog. If we are sent any more and they test ok we will publish them here.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  3. Worked for me!

    Lucas Gomes
    Brazil, São Paulo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lucas

      Thats great news that our blog helped you to repair your disk.

      Many thanks for posting your results here.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  4. You guys are f*c*ing brilliant! You saved my bacon. Thankyou

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous

      Thank you for your post.
      We are grateful to you for your time in proving your results.
      We are pleased that we were able to help.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  5. All Good, but after doing that, Netbook ask me for HDD password, what should i do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pawel
      Glad that our blog was helpful.
      With regards to the HDD password just enter a wrong password 3 times. You will then get a screen which will say "system disabled" and some code and also "Service tag" with some code. If you provide us with these details we will give you the password for unlocking your HDD.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  6. Hi Anonymous

    Thanks for the feedback.
    We are happy that we were able to help.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  7. worked for me.After two days I tried to solve windows thinking it was the operating system but I solved thanks to your instructions.you're great (HD was "frozen")

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous

      We are very happy that we were able to help in fixing your your HD.
      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  8. Worked a treat, can't believe some guys charge £10 on eBay for this!

    Thanks
    Jimladen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Thats great news that we were able to help and save you some money.
      Many thanks for your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  9. I think my dell ssd is dead.
    I run the utility and i get :

    Configure OK
    SystemMode : [IDE] : Primary Master

    Identify failed
    press any key to exit.

    Guess i have to replace it. :(

    Thanks for the help anyway now i know its dead for sure!

    Regards
    Angelos K.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Angelos K

      If your dell mini PCIe SSD is manufactured by STEC and you have got the same result after a few attempts then it does seem that the disk is faulty.
      We have repaired many of these disks and only had one failure to date.
      Sorry we couldn't help.
      Many thanks for your post and update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    2. NAND-flash chips on SSD drive are dead.
      I have this problem too.
      Need soldering experience. And, of course, some new chips for replacement. Then again, run firmware update utility, it makes Low Level Format of FLASH-array and puts new firmware in service area.
      99% warranty - need to be a positive result.
      I made this algorithm with my SAMSUNG SSD for my AAO110ZG5 and now I have 16GB SSD, but initially was 4GB SSD capacity. I replaced all 4 chips from 1GB/chip to 4GB/chip. And all !!! Only one thing. Utility for SAMSUNG SSD don't works with STEC SSDs. Principally different MCUs was used in production.

      Delete
  10. It works...thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi

      Thats great news that we were able to help revive your SSD disk.

      Many thanks for the update and your post.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    2. I tried the utility described.
      I have a Dell mini 910 with a Stec 16GB ssd hard drive.

      The Bios shows the drive as Stec Pata 16GB (PM) HHD Size 15408MB

      I can install windows but when the installer restarts the instalation to finish, it just starts the instalation again.

      If I remove the windows cd when it restarts and choose the hard drive the installer is gone.

      I have tried Ubuntu DiskPart and it wipes the drive but won't erase the hidden partition.

      I have booted with Parted Magic and it wipes the drive but won't erase the hidden partition.

      Nothing will wipe the hidden partition.

      I don't think the problem is the drive, I think the problem is the hidden partition won't allow an operating system to be installed.

      I have tried these operating systems:
      1. Windows XP Home
      2. Windows XP Pro
      3. Windows 7
      When I get to the format stage Windows does show the hidden partition but wont delete the hidden partition.

      They all install until the installer reboots then it restarts the instalation. If I remove the cd at that stage and set the boot for the hard drive then the "operating system not found" message appears.

      4. Ubuntu live cd will boot and show the Ubuntu desktop but after installing Ubuntu and rebooting the "operating system not found" message appears.

      What could be the reason this hidden partition is set up so no operating system can be installed?

      Delete
    3. Hi Mitch
      I am assuming that the utility runs without errors and has been run as mentioned within our blog.
      Once the utility process is complete we always use the Linux Live GParted CD to erase anything on the SSD Disk and then create a new NTFS partition and a NTFS format to complete the procedure.

      If you are using recovery CD's then this may re-create recovery partitions on the SSD. Windows 7 will also try to create a recovery partition on a new install.

      It also looks as if the the first boot device within your bios is set to the something else.

      You should ensure that the first boot device within the bios is set to the SSD disk.
      Also check in the bios that you are not using 'AHCI mode'. Make sure the bios is set to 'IDE mode.
      You can enter the bios setting by pressing "2" when switching on your Dell Mini. Be carefull with the settings within the bios setup page.

      If you want to run a CD or boot from usb just press 0 (Zero) at boot and select the required device. This will then let you boot from the selected device but on the next boot return to the SSD disk as the first boot device.

      Give the following a try.
      Re-run the utility process above including deleting of any existing partitions and then re-partitioning and format of the SSD disk.
      We are assuming that you get no error messages when runing the utility and this process completes.
      Then start your OS installation as follows.
      Switch your Dell Mini on and press 0 (Zero) to boot from the CD drive to install your chosen OS.
      Let the installation continue and if the the new install requires a boot then the installation will continue on the boot drive. Do note that the new installtion may create a hidden partition for recovery procedures.
      when the OS installation is complete if you get a error "operating system not found" then the SSD disk is not the first boot device within the bios.

      Let us no how you get on.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    4. I do not see an AHCI mode in the Bios.
      I have tried both cd (usb cd drive) and removable devices (also usb cd drive) as first boot.
      The hard drive in the Bios is set to first in the boot order.
      I booted from Ubuntu and erased the ssd drive, GParted then showed "unallocated 14.35GB"
      I could not format the drive or partition it, everything was greyed out except for "new" which led me nowhere.

      I then erased it again with GParted and tried installing XP Home and it started rebooting so I put the Ubuntu cd back in and after it loaded I opened GParted and this what it shows:

      Partition file system size used unused flags
      /dev/sda1 ntfs 14.34GIB 3.00GIB 11.34GIB boot
      _____________________________________________________________________
      unallocated unallocated 7.84MIB ... ...


      operating system not found upon reboot from first hard drive set previously in Bios

      Delete
    5. Hi Mitch
      We have carried out many repairs on many Dell mini 9's and have only had one machine which proved difficult. We always use the step by step instructions as mentioned within the blog and on the failed Dell Mini 9 this was the SSD being faulty.
      As you get no error's with the utility we are very confident that the SSD is good and your problems are related to unbutu or the CD's or the usb drive.
      I cant seem to understand why you are experiencing so many problems.
      Can you try the instructions excatly as stated within the blog. This will include downloading the Linux Live GParted CD which can be found at http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php
      I'm just wondering if the problem is your unbutu.
      I personally did another Dell Mini 9 about a fortnight ago and used the customers Dell recovery CD without any errors. The only other thing that we do differently to what you have said is to use USB pendrives instead of CD drives. Even on the rare occasions when using CD drives we have not encounted any real problems.
      Give the advice in this post a try and see how you get on. In any event please come back as your problems are also puzzling me.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    6. I got another mini 910 off ebay and installed the problem 16GB ss drive in it. I followed the advice in your post and I had no problem.
      So the problem appears to be with the mini itself and not the ss drive. I ordered another ss drive off ebay to put in the original mini so we'll see how that goes, I will post the results.
      Thanks for the help.

      Mitch
      Tempe,Arizona

      Delete
    7. Hi Mitch
      Thats good news you have had some success.
      Many thanks for keeping us updated.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  11. I tried this utility and it really did work. It fixed my 8GB SSD hard drive which won't boot previously.


    Thanks,
    Jackie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jackie
      We are so pleased that we were able to help you fix your 8GB SSD.
      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  12. Thank You much. Worked greatly. Been sitting on this for more than a year now. htAlmost bought a new SSD. That will come later if needed but for now, Thank you much.
    Installed Ubuntu 12.04.

    K Reddy
    INDIA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi K Reddy - India
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.

      Thank you very much for your update and comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. Hi Cobiszon
      Thats great news that we were able to help.

      Many thanks for your commentand update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  14. Hi,

    Thank you for this very useful and step by step instruction.
    In step 10, instead of "CD stecssdutil" I had to type "cd stecss~1".

    I did all 15 steps as described and they were successful. The next step about Linux Live GParted CD is writen only in 3 lines and is not so simple for someone like me who is not that computer literate. Could you kindly elaborate on this and write a step by step procedure about it?

    Thank you.

    Nick
    Vancouver, Canada

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Nick
    We are glad that you were able to recover your SSD.
    If you google "Linux Live Gparted partition and format" you will get lots of info including youtube tutorials on how to partition and format the revived disk.

    We are currently looking into updating our blog and may cover this topic soon. Keep checking our blog for further updates.

    Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you very much for your prompt reply. You are great!

    I have two specific questions please:

    1. In step 1, I made FAT32 flash drive that was used to recover SSD. Can I use that one for GParted or should I use a different flash drive as instructions in that GParted link call for FAT and not FAT32.

    2. Once I have made this flash drive for GParted, what partition sizes should I choose for my 16 GB SSD?

    Many Thanks.

    Nick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nick
      You have recovered and repaired your SSD disk, therefore you can use the Flash drive that was used to recover the SSD for Gparted or any thing else.

      It is up to you the size of partition you should use. We normally use the maximum default size. In some cases people create two partitions. The second partition could be used for recovery files. However as this is a small disk we normally create a single partition with the maximum default size. In your case 16GB.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  17. I want to thank you for this information. It helped me repair the computer. You are brilliant. I thought the hard drive could not be recovered. Then I found your site. I followed the directions and I am happy to say that this works and works well. I agree with you that Dell should take responsibility for the problem, and offer this information on their web site and teach it to their techs. But Dell obviously doesn't care about their customers when they try to sell a solid-state hard drive instead of offering a free firmware upgrade. Again thank you. You are a brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Static Brain

      We are so pleased that the contents of our blog were able to help in recovery of your SSD drive.

      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  18. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
    It work perfectly :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI
      Thanks for that great comment.
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  19. Thank you so much!!!

    It really works!

    I had already gave up, but tonight I wanted to try again, and then I found you guys! Why so many people don't know about this?? You guys are great! Thank you again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.
      Thank you for your time in posting your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  20. Thank you so much! I tried this and it took 5 minutes and it was completed! Now windows is reinstalled and the 910 is back and working!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi

      We are so pleased that the contents of our blog were able to help you.

      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  21. WOW, thank you! Another satisfied customer! Took 2 years of tinkering and waiting, but this is amazing so many, many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We have been doing these repairs for over twelve months now. It was obvious to us that many Dell users world wide were effected so decided to offer this free advise.
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.
      Thank you for your time in posting your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  22. Hi..Thanks a lot...It's working. I already gave up, thank 's a lot.. May God Bless U

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi aguz
      That's great news that we were able to help. Its so rewarding for us to no that our blog has helped so many people.

      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  23. Hello Punj, Thank you for this awesome guide. I tried so many ways before i bumped into your blogpost. I was able to revive my vostro a90 after 2 years.
    Best,

    Han

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are so pleased that the contents of our blog were able to help you.

      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  24. Hi,
    I just performed this procedure, and it it revived my SSD!!
    You guys are the best! Saved me $45 on a new drive that i did not need to spend!!
    I just finished installing Windows 7 on my dell mini 9.Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Martin Morinigo
      Thats great news that we were able to help revive your SSD and save you some money.
      Many thanks for your time in providing your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  25. A thousand thanks to you , works like a charm.
    dear other users if you follow the instructions carefully and properly it will work.
    b wishes
    Tom Ruskin
    Hongkong

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tom Ruskin - HongKong

      Its great news that our blog has helped many worldwide.

      Many thanks for your time in providing your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  26. Thanks a bunch...worked for me!!!!!
    found your blog after lot of searching but worth it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Thats great news that our blog was able to help you.

      Thanks for your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  27. had to modify the install onto the pen drive a tiny bit but it appeared to have worked. Attempting a OS reinstall now. if it fails, I will just get another laptop as parts for this mini-9 are too expensive. new battery, new motherboard (to prevent it from switching to battery while plugged in to power cord and new reliable SSD to boot into.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks a lot.
    had replaced the original sitec ssd with a supertalent that crashed also
    so i gave a try to the revive procedure and it worked ..

    bob from spain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi bob from Spain
      That's great news that we were able to help.

      Thanks for your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  29. Thank you for the directions and the files needed to fix the hard drive. I am a IT tech, but not real familiar with SSd's and of course when my daughter gets one it had to have problems. I thought I was just attach a external DVD drive to it and load the OS, but no, nothing is easy. But following the directions and using your software certainly saved the day. So thank you very much! And my daughter thanks you too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dale Ogilvie
      We are so pleased that we were able to help in fixing your daughters SSD.
      Merry Christmas and thanks for your time in providing your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  30. help me out i type CD stecssdutil in command promp but it keep saying invalid directory or when i type "CD stecssdutil" it said bad command or file

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi LESTER
      Type "dir" and see if the stecssdutil directory is shown as "stecss~1"
      If so type "cd stecss~1" and press enter.
      Now proceed with our step by step instructions from step 11.

      Let us no how you get on.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  31. Thanks your blog has been a great help as the service guys at the local service centre told me that I would have to shell out another Rs4500 for a new hard disk.You not only saved me the cash but also the trouble of waiting to get back my laptop.The only change I made was that instead of using a software for partition I directly used my Windows xp cd to create a partition and then downloaded the software.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sagarika Kaul
      That's great news that we were able to save you some money and fix your SSD.
      Many thanks for your time in providing your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  32. OMG!! I JUST CREATED THIS BLOG ACCOUNT JUST TO THANK YOU!! THANKS GUYS YOUR THE BEST!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks samuel Rodica for your comment. We are so pleased that we were able to help.

      Merry Christmas

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  33. Hello Guys ,

    Thank you for a verry good tip, i thought the ssd needs replacement :)
    It worked for me from the first shot and just wanted to thank you all for doing a good job .

    Happy New Year
    Kind Regards ,
    niki

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hi niki
    Thanks for your comment.
    We are so pleased that our blog was able to help you fix your SSD.

    Happy new you.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hello--

    And many thanks. I had the exact problem as described, and the solution has worked.

    Kind regards.

    ReplyDelete
  36. HI
    i have done the above but now have the hdd password
    error code 05178
    service tag 36zswf1
    thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We will only offer unlock codes for those leaving their request reply via their google account. We may need to contact you to verify that you are the owner of the laptop.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  37. thanks
    sorted it the password was 'clear' i had to update the firmware though....followed your instructions all is well
    thanks aagain

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi,

    We had exactly that problem as described. My wife's computer suddenly had no disk. Thanks to your great post we could reactivate the drive.

    Thanks a lot!

    Dirk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dirk
      That's great news that we were able to help you fix your wife's SSD.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  39. Many thanks from me also. Everything went fine with the utility, my disc is alive again, thank you very, very much.

    I don't really understand why it stopped to run. And will it last now or if it will break down again?

    Would it be better to order a new disc?

    Kind regards,
    Thomas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Thomas
      That is very good news that we were able to help in fixing your disk.
      We have fixed many of these disks and have had none come back with the same issue. You must however understand that like all electronic devices this may fail sometime in the future due to age. Don't worry for now, just enjoy your repaired machine.
      Your disk now will run like new.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    2. Thanks, I will stop worry. But do you have an explanation why the discs stop working?

      Kind regards,
      Thomas

      Delete
    3. Thank you for your kind answer. So I will stop worrying ;-)

      But do you have an explication why these discs stop working?

      Kind regards,
      Thomas

      Delete
  40. Hi Thomas
    We have no actual proof or do not no exactly why the SSD disks fails and give these problems. Indeed Dell support or STEC the SSD manufacture has not given a reason to us. Only they would be able to give the correct answer to this question.
    Our best assumption is that occasionally some of the data on the disk becomes corrupt and the disk is then unable to re-align itself. STEC have provided the firmware which we have on our blog to fix this problem. We believe that this problem will not occur again once the firmware has been updated. Like we have stated we have not had any problems on these disks where this procedure has been carried out.

    Hope that explains everything.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you again for your kind and fast answer. Well, it explains not really but what the heck, my disc is working again.

      Thank you very, very much!

      Kind regards,
      Thomas

      Delete
  41. OMG, can't believe I found this blog. You have saved me from spending money on a hard drive I don't need. Following these steps I got my dead dell mini 9 working again.

    Thank you very much for this awesome blog.

    Regards

    Adrian

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Adrian
      We are so pleased that we were able to help in fixing your SSD.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  42. I used your procedure and my dell 910 is running like new. I'm sure glad I found your site. "Thank You"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That's great news that our blog helped you fix your Dell 910.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  43. WOW! It took me days to figure this out based on all the other similar posts on the web. However once XP said it could not access the disk your blog page came up, the executable worked great and reloading XP right now. Thanks for providing a valuable tool and shame on dell for not doing their part!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  44. You're a genius! thank you for this blog..
    +1 respect!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi

      Many thanks for that comment. Hope our blog helped you and was of interest.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  45. If I had you close I will kiss you and bake a cake, thank you so much I saved my niece computer, If you ever come to Panama I will give you a tour to the best strip clubs in town, saludos.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rolando
      That's great news that our blog was able to help you fix your niece's computer.
      We are so happy to have helped so many of our readers all around the world.
      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  46. It works so well.! Thank you so much.. God bless...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.

      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  47. hi i used your process for my stec 8gb drive and now i get enter hdd password which i never had before
    error code 01829 if you can help that would be appreciated im assuming the process worked since i never got that message before i can be reached at bboypowerhouse3k@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Try going into your bios and see if you can remove the hdd password from there.
      We no longer provide passwords for those computers which have bios or hdd passwords set as we are unable to verify that the person is the legimate owner of the PC.
      Our utilty does not put passwords on the hdd. The password was set prior to using the utilty.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  48. Thank you! My Dell 910 works! I had some problem; after disk repairing it was about 15408 Mb. Then I create NTFS partition by Gparted, but Windows installer remarked that disk is corrupt and can't be repaired.When I deleted that partition in GParted and came back to Windows installer, I had unformatted area, where I created and could format again primary NTFS partition. It seems strange that Win XP installer did not understand NTFS partition . With FAT32 (after GParted) it was OK.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That's great news that we were able to help.

      Many thanks for your comment and update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  49. Replies
    1. Hi Domimodi
      Hopefully we were able to help.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  50. Thank you so much for this useful post! I've got mine fixed because of this procedure,.
    Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rick
      That's great news that you got your SSD fixed.
      Many thanks for your feedback.


      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  51. Help! At "CD stecss~1", "mcru004.exe" returns "bad command or file name". What am I doing wrong?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mistake, the ssd checks out OK! Now on to partitioning. Will update later.

      Delete
    2. Mark
      We are glad that you managed to resolve the procedure.
      Please come back and let us no if you succeeded.
      And many thanks for the update so far.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
    3. It's Alive! Just installed Linux Mint14 and it works great! You ROCK!! Thanks so much for this information. You are to be commended for publishing this free of charge.

      Delete
    4. Hi Mark
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      We are glad that you saved some money and had the satisfaction of bringing your SSD back to life.
      Many thanks for your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  52. Thanks for this information!! Seems to have brought back to life my mum's beloved mini 9!! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are glad that our blog helped fix your Dell mini 9.
      Many thanks for your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  53. Thank you!!! But what is going to prevent this same problem from happening again on my 32GB Stec SSD?

    ReplyDelete
  54. Hi
    We have had no one come back to us after the repairs have been carried out. So the fix shown here should be good.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hi
    I successfully fixed my ssd drive the first time,which was a few weeks back.Yesterday after booting it up I've received the same message I've got the first time around(operating system not found),however after following through the same steps I was unable to fix the ssd this time.
    While executing the mcru004.exe in win98dos menu I received this message after STEP 1 finishes successfully:

    STEP 2...................................Start
    Error--0002----Status Reg = 0x51 Error Reg = oxff

    In bios this time it's not showing the name of the ssd it's showing as none(Fixed HDD: None) ,but it's showing the ssd in the Windows XP install menu as [unable to access drive] along with the full disk space on it.
    Is the drive this time truly dead?
    *sad trumpet*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi MaxinatorX
      Looks as if you may have other hardware problems or the disk is faulty. This tool is also only been tested with the STEC disks within the Dell Mini 9's. We have done many of these repairs and only come across about two from memory which failed. On these failures it was a bad disk.

      Sorry we could not help further.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  56. Thanks a lot, this worked to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alex
      Thanks for your feedback.
      We are happy to have helped.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  57. Thank you very much,it worked fine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi George
      Thats great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for the feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  58. I've fixed many pcs in my time, but this was a first with an ssd so I didn't know too much about them. Well, I guess I do now :D Glad to know they can be fixed when they go down, many thanks, you probably saved me hours of researching ;)

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hi Jon
    Just be aware that the util on this blog will only work for the STEC Mini PCIe SSD.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hi, thank you for the information, during the process the laptop ask me for HDD password, I read all the comments and you ask him the service tag to help him , the error code 15518 is and the service tag its C3RQVF1.

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ramon
      I am really sorry but we no longer provide support for HDD passwords.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  61. Yesssss! It worked! Thank you so much!

    You're awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for providing your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  62. Hi i have decided to get my dell mini 910 out to take on holiday and i cant remember my hdd password , can you help the service tag is 7682WF1 AND ERROR CODE 11652 THANKS

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dave
      I am really sorry but we no longer provide support for HDD passwords.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  63. I don't know whether I'm right to post here but I am facing a last resort scenario with my Acer One with Super Talent SSD. It has locked up, I don't know how but clearly I must have done something when I carried out a 'Secure Erase' to revive it after a catastrophic failure of the installed OS (Lubuntu 12.10). Super Talent have offered no help beyond an auto respond email but after hours of web research I have landed here! Please can you help? Regards Lanzaman

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lanzaman
      I am really sorry but we no longer provide support for HDD passwords.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  64. YOUR THE ONLY ONE THAT WHO CAN HELP ME WITH MY PROBLEM I HAD...SINCE I CANT CONTACT THE PEOPLE IN EBAY WHO OFFERS MASTER PASSWORDS FOR THE HDD...

    I GOT A DELL MINI 9 IN A VERY CHEAP PRICE...ONLY THAT I KNOW THAT IT HAS A HDD PASSWORD IVE SEARCH A LOT UNTIL I GOT HERE

    I ALREADY HAVE THE ERROR CODE AND THE SERVICE TAG...PLEASE HELP ME YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE........!!

    ERROR CODE: 13096
    SERVICE TAG: 4W5CWF1

    PLEASE EMAIL ME: rhimeslex1999@gmail.com


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Emmanuel
      I am really sorry but we no longer provide support for HDD passwords.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  65. WOWWWW GREAAAT! I LOVE YOU ALL. At start i do not bealive it work, but it is workiiing. You dont know how much i love you. 1000000x THANKS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi besnia3
      We are so pleased to have helpe
      Many thanks for that great feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  66. worked! saved me from purchasing a new drive. thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi erik
      We are so pleased that we helped you save some some money.
      Many thanks for the feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  67. After reading several forums and hearing them all say that there was no way of saving the drive I had almost given up. Fortunately I came across your blog that saved me from trashing the netbook, reinstalled OS and all is working well.
    Thanks Punj will also forward you link to the forums

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cyber-dude
      We are so pleased that you found our blog. That's great news that we were able to help you revive your drive.

      Many thanks for your update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  68. a BIG tnx because i was ready to throw this in garbage tnx again please advice for any way to promote your Blog

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are so pleased that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your time in posting your feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  69. Ultrabook solid state drive 240gb features a sturdy realistic, however, if you don't take into account manage linkdelight 240gb ssd drive factors, a single Provo 240gb ssd drive in the standpoint regarding program along with normal laptop contrast, the next The truth is, in many instances difficult to participate, as well as Horsepower Pavilion 15 includes a slim benefit.

    ReplyDelete
  70. i did everything then it ask me for a password
    then a got a Hdd password error code
    08548
    system service tag code
    2335xf1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rocity Macho

      I am really sorry but we do not provide support for HDD passwords.

      Sorry

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  71. WOKED! thumbs up for you guys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      Really glad we were able to help.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  72. "Repaired" two 8GB SSD not seen by mini 9 bios.

    You're great!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That is great news that we were able to help you revive two 8GB SSD disks.
      Many thanks for the feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  73. Obrigado! Funcionou perfeito. Thanks! work perfect!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That is great news that we were able to help you.
      Many thanks for the feedback.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  74. Thanks guys,

    Been looking for everywhere to fix this problem, almost had to go out and buy a new one. Ran the 16GB util and realligned perfect, now I'm running Windows 7 Starter.

    Thanks again!
    Tex1978

    ReplyDelete
  75. Hi Tex1978
    Really glad we were able to help.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  76. Replies
    1. Hi svvasRodos
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for the feedback and comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  77. My Mini9 has been down for a couple years, didn't see myself spending $100+ on a new SSD HDD.
    Messed with it here and there...but today found this...and was able to get it back up with this Utility, thanks a bunch.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Hi
    Really glad we were able to help.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  79. Great Blog, a lot of helpful information here and obviously, thank you in your effort,keep posting .

    ReplyDelete
  80. your are a life saver ... Thankyou very much ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi utsav bhetuwal
      Hopefully we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your comment.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  81. I am impressed your blog because your blog words is very impressiveness for business growths so thanks a lot for sharing this Information.

    ReplyDelete
  82. It worked, great post !!! Thank you ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That's great news that we were able to help.

      Many thanks for your comment and update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  83. i have kingspec 64gb ssd and stop working.can you help me please?

    ReplyDelete
  84. Hi
    Sorry we are unable to help with your Kingspec 64gb.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  85. Very great post !! Six months without my Dell mini 9 ! And now it Works !
    Thanks you !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      We are so pleased that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your comment and update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  86. Hi...
    You are very help full, may God always bless you

    Regards from Indonesia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Dark Side
      Many thanks for visiting our blog.
      Hopefully we were able to help.
      Thanks you for your comment and update.

      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  87. When u type in mcru004.exe, I get "bad command or file name. Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
  88. Hi
    You are getting the "bad command or file name" message because the mcru004.exe program is missing from the utility folder in your bootable usb drive. Please carry out the instructions steps exactly as shown in the blog.
    Let us no how you get on.
    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  89. Great solution, Thanks a lot!! Keep Going !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi George
      Many thanks for visiting our blog.
      Hopefully we were able to help.
      Thanks you for your comment.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  90. many thanks..it's worked for my dell mini. god blessing you..

    ReplyDelete
  91. Hi
    We are so pleased that we were able to help.
    Many thanks for your comment and update.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  92. hi i get as far as c: and iv tried both CD stecssdutil and cd stecss~1 and it just keeps saying invalid directory and bad command or file name...please help!!!

    ReplyDelete
  93. Hi Annette Byrne
    You need to check that your usb pen drive is bootable and has the utility folder. Check that you unzipped the utility and correctly copied the unzipped utility folder to your pen drive.
    You can do this by typing DIR at the command prompt. The utility folder if present will be shown as "stecssdutil" or "stecss~1"
    If yo do not see this come back and tell us what is present in your pen drive.
    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  94. Hi thanks for your help, I just want to confirm something, after all the steps do i need to use Gparted or can I proceed to OS installation?

    ReplyDelete
  95. Hi
    We used Gparted to partition the disk. You can proceed to OS installation as this may due this procedure.
    Give it ago and let us no how you got on.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  96. You are great!

    I revived the mini 9 of good friend of my and install linux mint 15 xfce. 80€ for a new kingspec 64GB SSD pata was to much for him. So we rescued the device from the grave.

    Kind Regards
    Stergios

    ReplyDelete
  97. Hi Stergios
    We are so pleased that we were able to help you.
    Many thanks for your update and comment.

    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  98. I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.Many thanks.

    Dell Laptop Service center in Chennai

    ReplyDelete
  99. thaaankksssss!!! after a very, very, very, very, long time now it worked again thanks to you!
    Gracias desde argentina, Pablo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pablo Vaquero
      Thats great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your update.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      http://www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  100. After 2 months of trying to replace/fix my laptop.... I finally stumbled to this superb guide on how to fix my dell 910!! Thank you very much Punj!!!! Such a great help! More power to your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  101. Hi Haroo
    We are so pleased that you found our blog. That's great news that we were able to help.

    Many thanks for the update.
    Kind Regards
    Punj Blog Owner
    http://www.punj.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
  102. worked like a charm thak you guys so much

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ivan
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your comment and feedback.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  103. hi i have tried your method step by step but the mcru004 just seems to sit there doing nothing when i run also just to note in the bios the ssd id is just a row of J's and diamonds any idea thanks
    Lee

    ReplyDelete
  104. Thank you very much. You have fixed my dell mini 9.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alex
      Thanks for the feedback. We are pleased that we were able to help.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  105. Replies
    1. Hi cleia roza
      Hopefully our blog was of interest.
      Many thanks for your comment.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  106. OMG!!! Thats work. Many many thanks. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ferenc Szandi
      That's great news that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your comment and feedback.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  107. Thank you very much, this tip very helpful. I have try many way, but only this one make my ssd can be reused.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Harkat Christian Zamasi
      Hopefully our blog was of interest.
      Many thanks for your comment.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  108. Thanks this work for me, and now i save $45. great work guys

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi
      That's great news that we were able to save you some money.
      Many thanks for your feedback and comment.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  109. This helped me clean up a partition to install Windows 7 on a new HD in a Dell Mini 10. Thank you!

    Tevis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tevis
      We are glad that we were able to help.
      Many thanks for your feedback and comment.
      Kind Regards
      Punj Blog Owner
      www.punj.co.uk

      Delete
  110. Configure OK
    SystemMode : [IDE] : Primary Master

    Identify failed
    press any key to exit.

    ReplyDelete