Some Seagate HDD can support command k to disable head and to our knowledge these HDDs have a firmware version with number “5″ after “.”, i.e., 3.05, 3.54 etc. Here is a topic on how to use that command.
Command format is kx,y,z, where x stands for head # and y stands for drive type. Actually only x is need to be input. In this article, we will take a laptop HDD (MODEL: ST9808210A, SN: 3LG0BP0Z, FW: 3.05) as an example.
First, connect HDD to console box and enter terminal mode. Input Crtl+Z to enter Level T, and press “;” to view the value of MXHD. Heads number is equal to MXHD+1.
From the picture above, we know there are four heads. Use command k to view head map:
Suppose we want to disable head #2. First, use command Y to set total heads. By command “;”, we know MxHd become 2 and there are only 3 heads now.
Second, use command k2 to disable head #2. 
means head #2 is disabled. And by command k we also know head map has been changed.
Last, use command W to save all operations to disk.
After that, switch power off and on, then view MxHd to check whether head has been successfully disabled.
If you want to recover the disabled head, first use command Y to set total heads, then use command kff to change head map to original state, and then use command W to save all operations.
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