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

[jbaaremartin]

For a ST31000528AS I've tried burning this firmware update file with both Sonic and Alex Feinman's ISO Recorder on both a Win7 and WinXP platform.  The burnt disc won't boot on 3 different computers.  It reports: "Starting BCDW..  Error!  Cannot load file [code 0193h] \bcdw\bcdw.bin" Has anyone succeeded in burning this *.iso file and booting with it?

 http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/downloads/firmware/Barracuda12-ALL-CC46.iso

[Cantbecanit]

Try it with this...http://www.nero.com/eng/downloads-nbl-free.php....or this....http://download.cnet.com/PowerISO/3000-2646_4-10439118.html

The thread should be titled....Help, I'm having trouble with creating a FW ISO, and looking at what you are using, it's no suprise.

[jbaaremartin]

Nero BurnLite 10 installed OK and then did several updates but the final client can only copy the original *.iso file for me; it doesn't produce a bootdisk with needed files.  PowerIso made the same disk as Sonic and Alex Feinman's ISO Recorder produced.

The problem is machine independent as I made them on different XP and Win7 machines.  I get the same error code tying to boot on either platform. Can you burn a disc from the Seagate file and boot with it now?

Questions: 

1. Shouldn't these discs boot to a menu or message even if no Seagate drive is present?

2. Will the update work with the new Intel "Sandy  Bridge" and "Cougar" support chip (Serie6) ?  These are on the mobo in my new Dell XPS8300.  Dell installed a ST31000528AS  with firmware code c44.  I bought a second drive on Amazon with firmware code 38 which I was trying to update.  As I have been unsuccessful I've returned the firmware 38 drive and ordered a second drive direct from Dell.  I thought they should match if I attempted to configure RAID.  I can only choose ACHI or RAID for SATA settings in the BIOS.

3. See my post for suspicions the chipset "disk controllers" are incompatible with the current Seagate sotware: http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Barracuda-and/Barracuda-7200-12-firmware-update-in-Win7-on... 

Any ideas?

[Cantbecanit]

Strange one, when you boot you are setting the boot order to DVD-Rom aren't you.

As for the new intel system, there is a problem with them, but whether that is related I couldn't say, all I can suggest is to flash it on another PC, this will flash the drive and shouldn't have any impact on the drive when you put it back in your system.

[jbaaremartin]

As a comparison I today downloaded Western Digital's DOS diagnositics *.iso and easily burned it to a disc.  I then booted the disc successfully on a Lenovo laptop.

Have you personally downloaded the Seagate *.iso file and booted from the burned disc recently?

Regards from Indiana

[jbaaremartin]

FWIW..when I called Segate technical support the CSR consulted with a "lead" and reported the firmware code 38 couldn't be updated; the particular serial number was from a large special run manufactured for one customer.  I'm a little dubious..

Your suggestion to flash on another box is a good one but I've cleaned house recently of legacy machines and only have the single new desktop to work with. 

[Cantbecanit]

I've no reason to create an iso, if you suspect it is corrupt call customer services and they will check it out for you, but I think you'll find they have already told you the truth of the matter regarding the drive, but the drive not needing an update won't stop an iso being created, have you tried burning a Seagate one with the Levano yet?

You do realise WD diagnostic and Seagate FW files are totally different, so in the remote chance you are trying to flash with Seatools, it won't do that, I think it's simply a case of the drive being rejected by the FW update myself, cos as you will know, no drive will accept a FW that isn't intended for it.