MRT data recovery software is upgraded on Feburary 5th, 2015. Version number: 2.0.4.2
Download link: https://us.mrtlab.com/download/

After intense test, MRT 150205 version is finally released. We added support for COM terminal serial port for Western Digital. We all know that a lot of hard drives have terminal serial port for debugging. In fact, WD hard drives also have terminal interface, but is seldom used. The newly-added support for WD terminal serial port make it possible to read/write firmwar by COM terminal port. It is very useful when ATA cannot be ready. You can even read user data through terminal COM port directly. Used in combination with DE "factory reading mode", we can extract user files even if ATA is not ready. In addition, the funciton of editing ROM modules in WD is also enhanced, which can edit address of module 01, headmap, SA defect list etc.

Disk scanning module is also updated. The newly-added feature, brute-force HDD decrypting, can list all possible HDD passwords when factory program fails to decrypt. It is time-consuming, and the time it takes depends on the complicity of password. This feature is under the menu "Security subsystem". Users can set password digits and the characters maybe included in the password. The program will try all the combinations of the strings it might contain. After all other methods of decryption fail, this function can be used as a last resort. Additionally, newly added feature "HDD feature setting" is also very useful. It sometimes occurs that "Write cache disabled" in Hitachi HDD. We can force to enable write cache. In addition, some HDDs appear to be good, but the reading speed is extremely slow. In this case, we can try to fix this by adjusting the following settings:
Enable write cache / Disable write cache
Enable Write-Read-Verify / Disable Write-Read-Verify
Enable read look-ahead / Disable read look-ahead
Try to open or close these settings, and see if the reading speed of hard drive gets improved.
In addition, if head is not in good condition, we can avoid doing extra opertaion when imaging to protect head. We suggest users disable SMART function with "SMART disable operations" to make the hard drive less prone to problems.

In this upgrade, we revised the initialization process of Hitachi-IBM. The  initialization process was mainly for Hitachi laptop HDDs, it can support desktop HDDs well now. Additionally,  the function of calibrating NV-RAM entry address is revised with higher success rate. The password unlocking of Hitachi-ARM is enhanced, with more series supported.

Password unlocking feature is added in Seagate U5 HDDs. There are also many features added for Seagate F3 HDDs. Let's see the important features added:
1. Edit non-resident G-List. Users can import LBA and PBA files.
This is very important for repairing bad tracks, users can scan bad sectors to LBA file, import to non-resident G-List and shield them. For detailed operation process, please see recently updated tutorials on our website.

2. Improved diagnostic mode - Diagnose and repair SA
This feature is very easy to use for the experienced engineers, while very risky for beginners. Note: This feature is not one-click repair, but requires experience to set the correct parameters. As the program will attempt to write to the SA in diagnostic mode, there is risk in this operation! According to the general operating guidelines for data recovery, be sure to backup all firmware resources (ROM, modules, system files, etc.) before any risky operation. This feature is not recommended for beginners. Please make sure that you are familiar with the distribution of SA modules and working principle of this tool.

3. Shield bad tracks by head/zone
This feature is for disk repair and peculiar to MRT Pro. It provides a good solution for Seagate hard drives with bad tracks. After test, we found this scheme very useful for shielding bad tracks. Nevertheless, the performance depends on the condition of hard drive and the parameters used during operation. About the correct usage of this feature, please visit our website and see "Tutorials -> MRT Seagate Shield Bad Tracks by Zone/Head ".

4. Edit physical headmap
This feature is very useful for data recovery. If there is head problem in Seagate hard drive, it may not be ready. At this time, we can shield a head by editing headmap to make it ready. Then copy with headmap in DE to image the data of good heads. After that, replace the damaged head and  image the data of it. With this scheme, we can image the data of good heads without opening the hard drive, which can greatly enhance the success rate of data retrieval.

We also made significant improvements in DE module, of which the more important is the change in bitmap file format. Bitmap file is the file with extension "Map" in task directory after new task is created. It stores the progress