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

[FrenchGuy]

Do you think it is possible to update the firmware SD1A (1st version) with the last version of SD1A ?

[sarha]

Flashed with what? I have not tried to boot with the ISO CD, but on step 4. screen-dump on the Seagate FAQ I do not see the ST3500320AS disk as an option for new firmware. Or did I miss anything?

[FrenchGuy]

You must click on the model of your drive (on step 4) and download the ISO file to make the boot CD ...

[sarha]

I did download the ISO and burned a CD, but never tried to boot with it. Thought that the screen-dump on the FAQ showed the optional models.

But do I have to make the firmware update,- things have been working very good for one year. Even if the disk reports to be affected by Seagate's procedures. Strange things about this issue reported in the forum,- more than enough to create a little paranoia. And I have ordered a ST3100051MD1AS-RK for my wifes new PC. What about that. I can not find it on the Seagate web, a little strange. I have submitted the questions to support so I will bring the eventually results back to the forum.Thanks for answering.

[a3p3g]

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entplex wrote:

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a3p3g wrote:

do you happen to have that url for the diy method? i cannot seem to locate it again

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http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?s=8b4a7b779dbd7454fca762ccef8f03c0&showtopic=128807

Message Edited by entplex on 02-18-2009 12:50 PM

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thanks! and you said it wasnt too difficult for you?

what were the symptoms of your drive? like i mentioned, mine will be recognized w/ a usb adapter in disk management but will not intitialize so looking like a bad logic board. thinking this method could work by just bypassign the bad piece of hardware 

[_scrye_]

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Shroyer21 wrote:

Just encountered the infamous firmware issue with my ST3500320AS and going through the warranty process, the question I keep asking myself is; "Is this problem fixed or am i going to be going through this multiple times before 3 months is up and I end up switching to the WD Caviar Black?"

Anyone finding that the warranty HD they recieve actually works?

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Just curious, when you say you're "going through the warranty process" do you mean you're getting a replacement drive?  Have you called Seagate's Technical Support to see if they can update your firmware (for free) and make your drive accessible again?

My ST3500320AS suddenly became unrecognized in my BIOS after 3 months of use and I sent it into Seagate's Data Recovery service (i365) for a firmware upgrade.  It only took 1 week and they sent back the same hard drive I sent in.

[Morbidsoul]

Im still waiting for some update on the SD35 firmware that the mods think there isnt any problem with, but the serial checker says there is.

[Edited in compliance of the community rules and regulations.]

Message Edited by BradC on 02-18-2009 06:02 PM

[StephenRC]

I have a ST31000333AS with an affected serial number and firmware SD35.  Seagate, after two weeks, finally responded to my email.  It was a generic response telling me to go to http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207931.  It still gets me the same unusable update.  The response tells me that Seagate didn't read the email I sent.  I told them that the Brinks-3D6H-SD1B.ISO doesn't work due to a file read error.  Download the update three times, same MD5 on all, used ImgBurn 2.4 & Nero 9 to make the discs and used them on an ASUS M2A-VM and a P5Q-EM in IDE mode.  I currently don't have the time to wait hours on hold.

[IzzyDeadyet]

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Morbidsoul wrote:
Im still waiting for some update on the SD35 firmware that the mods think there isnt any problem with, but the serial checker says there is.  I dont know why the mods are trying so hard to hide this fact. 

[Edited in compliance of the community rules and regulations.] 

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Ban????

I thought they said "band" .... was waiting for my big party.

So the SD1A md5 changes remain a secret I guess. After the first version of SD1A was pulled I suppose Seagate was too embarrassed to pull it a second time or admit they made changes to it?

Here's a simple idea, honesty. SD1A.v1 was no good, SD1A.v2 was ok but had a raid problem, SD1A.v3 is fine. Just say that and I'll be happy.

Ya know ... had Seagate operated with full disclosure I would have understood, any company can have a hardware issue and I would have supported Seagate in the future. Instead of doing that they "seem" to keep changing the firmware and keeping the same version number. Doesn't really seem to be upfront honesty going on here.

I also love the RMA policy. Let's see how this goes .... I pay for a new drive, 9 of them infact, I should now pay shipping to send the dead drive back to Seagate, then receive a refurbished drive back with a warranty possibly much shorter than the drive I returned. Well, nothing unfair about that.

So, if I bought a new car and the engine blew in 2 months, I would pay to have the engine shipped back to Japan and receive a refurbished engine with a lesser warranty. Also, very reasonable.

Message Edited by KaLin on 02-18-2009 08:09 PM

[Firm and Steady]

After waiting for 3 weeks (minus a day) for Seagate tech support to respond to my case, I now received a "response".

It is basically, more or less, the same text from KB article 207931, with a link to that page, so it is most likely an automated response (except it took them 3 weeks to send it). Of-course, it has nothing to do with my question about the bad sectors I encountered AFTER updating the firmware. Ironically this useless response message came stamped as "high priority".

Because I sent my support request originally to discsupport@seagate.com and then again through the web site (since I got no response the first time), I actually got this "response" twice, at the same time (same time stamp) through e-mail (I used different e-mail addresses for each, so I know that's not some glitch duplicating the same message). The case on the web site is still open under the status of "escalated to support", with no comments or reference to the e-mail response I just received.

I can't call tech support by phone since I am not in the U.S. and the phone number for my region is a U.S. number. And I am not gonna pay long distance for this,assuming I'll find myself on hold throughout the call, either waiting for someone to become available or waiting for them to find someone who can actually respond to my specific question.

I already heard from AlanM that tech support have their hands full (the moderators in this forum can't do anything about that of-course and are not to blame).

But even if tech support staff is busy, sticking consumers with generic response that doesn't have anything to do with the question at hand, after 3 weeks of waiting, is absurd....