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

[Xenth]

While the new firmware works for me the Load Cycle Count increases by about 5 every hour or so, can someone reassure me this is normal behaviour? 

Thanks

[Erling G-P]

I didn't post in the other threads about this, but was having the same 'chirp' issue like so many others.

Have updated my firmware to the new CC4H.  Drive still chirps, maybe not quite as often as before, but not much difference.  Sound is much more subdued now though, so some improvement is noted.

Load cycle count still climbs it seems, but not sure how to read it in CrystalDiscInfo. Current 'Raw Value' is 785.

I too had problems updating the firmware. Mobo is an Asus P6X58D-E and the Barracuda was hooked up to its Marvell controller, as that's the only SATA/600 option.  First attempt, the drive wasn't recognized at all. Then switched the Marvell controller to 'IDE'. Now the drive was detected, but update timed out with 'Failed' message. Seemingly wrecked something in my Windows installation, as Win7 insisted on repairs when rebooting.  Then I switched the drive to a SATA/300 connection, to avoid the Marvell controller, and the update succeeded.

Ditching the Marvell controller also solved another problem:  While using it, I couldn't disable APM on the Barracuda via CrystalDiscInfo. No problems doing this now, after switching to the Mobo's Intel controller instead.

Anyway; curious about why my drive chirps, albeit more muffled, while others generally seems to have gotten completely rid of it ?

[Dlewczyk]

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Anyway; curious about why my drive chirps, albeit more muffled, while others generally seems to have gotten completely rid of it ?

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My 3 TB drive was also still making a noise after updating to the new firmware.  It wasn't a chirp, but it sounded like the heads were still parking when they shouldn't.  I reinstalled CDI and disabled APM and everything is quiet again.  It seems like the new firmware doesn't completely eliminate the problem, just cuts down on the frequency and intensity of the noise.

[Agent24]

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AlanM wrote:

Right now there is not a firmware update related to this for external storage.

But I'd be happy to pass on your info to the engineers so they can do more research on the issue. 

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 I was thinking of buying a Seagate Expansion 2TB. I heard these were using the ST2000DM001 drives - if I know I can get a firmware update for it I would be more interested - the noise probably wouldn't worry me but if it lags the data transfer during the noise as other people say that could get annoying, especially if watching video or such.

[vortix]

From what I understand, the external Seagate Expansion drives have a different firmware revision on them that CANNOT be upgraded to the recently released CC4H firmware.  For this reason, I would highly recommend purchasing the internal version of the drive, even if it costs more.

[win]

Maybe should recommend other brand which give TRIPLE longer warranty for just $60 more (for 3tb)

[fzabkar]

For those people wondering why certain firmware versions cannot be updated to CC4H, here is the update matrix:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/GR-CC4H.TXT

Here is the matrix for the previous update:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/GRCC4CD9.TXT

If anyone is considering forcing the update, I would advise against it. See the following thread:
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Barracuda-Barracuda/Force-firmware-update-on-ST2000DM001/m...

[boe]

"From what I understand, the external Seagate Expansion drives have a different firmware revision on them that CANNOT be upgraded to the recently released CC4H firmware.  For this reason, I would highly recommend purchasing the internal version of the drive, even if it costs more."

Good luck with that.   I have 8 3TB drives - all with 1TB platters.   All the same drive model.   4 different firmware versions.   Of 8 drives only 1 was able to get the firmware update.   So based on my limited experience you could take a 1 in 8 chance that you'll get a drive that you MIGHT be able to get a firmware update for which may or may not help reduce the chirping sound.

Or you could take a chance on another brand that doesn't have this issue to begin with and makes firmware updates that apply to all of their drives of the same model number.

[portomomo]

Finally updated my two 2TB ST2000DM001 with the new firmware.

The chirping issue is mostly solved, the sound I get now is more a "click" than a "chirp" but the undelying

cause of the sound (continouos head parking) isn't yet solved:

the LOAD CYCLE COUNT parameter in SMART is raising as before the update (+/- 40 cycles per hour).

As seagate isn't releasing any detailled information on the update (correct me if I'm wrong) I would call this

a cosmetic update (mitigating the chirp sound) but not a solution for the problem.

Shortly I will start another thread focussed on the LOAD CYCLE COUNT issue and see if there's a solution

like WDIDLE for Western Digital drives.

[CrusaderZA]

I've just installed a 3TB Seagate Barracuda (Model: ST3000DM001-9YN166, Firmware: CC4B) which also has this annoying chirping sound at random times. I'm not sure if the firmware would be compatible with my drive though since it's running CC4B firmware and the info page on the new firmware doesn't list that type of firmware.

I also used the "New Firmware check" option in the Drive Detect software and the results doesn't list any new firmware. Should I attempt to update this drive's firmware?