Barracuda XT, Barracuda, Barracuda Green, DiamondMax and other desktop SATA and IDE drives

[akrav]

So times ago I had ten HDDs - ST3500320NS. Three of them have broken.

I found relevant firmware
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207963
http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/downloads/firmware/ES2SN06C-1D2DMoose.iso

But I can't firmware download from boot cd as a following error.  

Model ST3500320NS SN 9QM81NQ6 FW FSC6 on generic pci ata bus 0 Drive 0
No Match! Will not Download Firmware!

*******
Error: Specific model not found. ST3500320NS expected.
*******

My HDDs are,

ModelT3500320NS　(Barracuda ES.2 SATA 500GB)
Product No.：9CA154-302

Anybody please advice me.

[Cantbecanit]

Your model wasn't effected, no update required for NS models.

What makes you think they are broken?

Can you list the PC specs and exactly what is happening when you try to run one.

Use Seatools to test, if they fail it will issue an RMA code, so write them down you will need them later.

[fzabkar]

Your ES.2 model was affected by the 7200.11 BSY bug. However, your FSC6 firmware may not have been.

Seagate's firmware updater rejects your drive because its current firmware version doesn't match a list of affected firmware in the update matrix.

Here is the configuration file:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/SN06CCFG.TXT

As you can see, suitable update candidates are SN04, SN05, CN04, AN05.

I see very few references to FSC6 firmware on the Net. Is this possibly an OEM firmware for Fujitsu Siemens Computers???

BTW, how did your other drives fail?

[Cantbecanit]

This is what I found Franc

Barracuda ES / Barracuda ES.2 drives that are not affected:
Product
Barracuda ES	Any Barracuda ES drive with model number ending in NS are not affected.
Barracuda ES.2 SAS	Any Barracuda ES.2 drive with model number ending in SS are not affected.
Barracuda ES.2 FC	Any Barracuda ES.2 drive with model number ending in FC are not affected.
Barracuda ES.2 SATA	Any Barracuda ES.2 drive with SN06 or SN16 firmware are not affected.

I thought it was only the AS models that had the troubles.

[VeganFanatic]

I have spent a lot of time scrutinizing disk reliability and the corporate disks have not surfaced as being dodgy like the AS crowd

I suspect that heat in a server may have led to the downfall of a couple of disks

My rig keeps disks < 33C

[fzabkar]

It appears that you are interpreting the update notice incorrectly.

There are two sections to the document:

Barracuda ES.2 SATA Models that ARE NOT affected includes "any Barracuda ES.2 drive with SN06 or SN16 firmware".

Barracuda ES.2 SATA Models that ARE affected includes "ST3500320NS 9CA154-301, 302, ...".

The following document suggests that a firmware update would be advisable, if the FSC6 firmware predates SN06. However, updating OEM firmware with a retail version is not always safe.

Urgent Field Update: Drive Hang after Power Cycle:
http://atulchitnis.net/files/misc/seagate.pdf

Q: What Seagate drives are affected by this "drive hang after power cycle" issue?

A: The following product types may be affected by this problem: Barracuda 7200.11, Barracuda ES.2 (SATA), DiamondMax 22, FreeAgent Desk, Maxtor OneTouch 4, Pipeline HD, Pipeline HD Pro, SV35.3, and SV35.4. While only some percentage of the drives will be susceptible to this issue, Seagate recommends that all drives in these families be updated to the latest firmware!

[Cantbecanit]

I think you are right Franc, but the way the page comes up would lead most to think theirs is ok.