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

[natenate]

HughR, i see where there might be a little confusion, so to be crystal, it was as if NOTHING happened at all.  I put the drive back in and my version of windows booted up to my desktop with all my icons and ALL my data.  I lost no data at all.  When I said "Aside from the nightmare that I just lost all my data", this was my fear before I knew about the known firmware issue and recovery process.

Nate

[HughR]

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Sassan wrote:

Apologies if this is a simple question, but how is the firmware updated on a ST3500320AS?

The serial number of my drive shows it to be one that needs the firmware upgrade (currently it is SD15). Having looked at the fora, I can see that I should follow instructions PRECISELY in order to minimise potential for failure, hence this question.

So far, I have downloaded the ISO file (MooseDT-SD1A-2D-8-16-32MB.ISO), and burned it to a CD. However, there were no instructions on the web site that I could find on what to do next, and the CD itself only contains two files:

1. DriveDetect.exe

2. README.txt

The README states (amongst other things):

Basic instructions:
1) Create the  FreeDOS bootable floppy or CD-ROM.
2) Use a standard desktop PC with an integrated SATA controller, or
   a common SATA add-in controller like a Promise SATA150-TX2.
3) Disconnect all PATA or SATA devices from the system, except the
   device needing the firmware update.
4) Boot the system using the update floppy or CD.
5) At the DOS prompt run the flash.bat file

Question: where is flash.bat?

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You could try following the instructions.  I assume that there were some.  Certainly the README.txt tells you what to do (you've done #1).

If you boot the CD, it will (I think) boot FreeDOS and run the flash software.

El Torito is the standard for bootable CDs.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Torito_(CD-ROM_standard)

These CDs have a virtual floppy image that is used when they are booted.  They don't show up as regular files.

[alyson]

Just confirming that after my first post in this thread I talked to more people at Seagate and, long story short, they took my drive off my hands, shipped it to Amsterdam, fixed it, and shipped it back.  Now it has SD1A and I can access the drive again.

First thing I did was burn My Documents to DVD...

[jcbr_hd]

Are people still having this firmware problem with new drives they have purchased recently? Or is this just all a holdover from the first batch of issues from Nov08, Dec08, and Jan09?

[HughR]

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jcbr_hd wrote:
Are people still having this firmware problem with new drives they have purchased recently? Or is this just all a holdover from the first batch of issues from Nov08, Dec08, and Jan09?

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I would guess that the problem was fixed in the factories by the end of January but your vendor may well be shipping old stock.

In 2009 January I bought a 1.5T drive from NewEgg.ca.  The online warranty information says it has a warranty until 2013 Oct 1.  That means that it was manufactured at least three months before I bought it.   The date code was 09145 but I don't know how to read that.  I would have expected higher turnover at NewEgg.ca (just a front for NewEgg.com -- all orders are shipped directly from the US).  Perhaps my drive was returned by another customer.

BTW, that drive came with SD17 firmware.  I upgraded to SD1A just before the latest firmware (SD1B) was released.  SD1A was supposed to fix some performance problems.  SD1A was provided by Seagate support, but only upon request.  My drive serial number is listed as "unaffected" so I have not upgraded to SD1B.

[j1312g]

Not sure if this a a Firmware issue or not but my drive stopped working last night -

I have a ST3750330AS with Firmware SD81, Date Code 08392, Site Code KRATSG.

I purchased it last summer to be used in a D-Link DNS-323 Network Storage enclosure as I have multiple PCs and wanted an easy to to share the data.  Everything was working fine until last night when I attempted to acces a folder on the drive and Vista reported that there were no files in the folder.  So I browed several other folders on the drive with the same result.

I removed the drive from the DNS-323, put it back in, and now Vista doesn't see the drive at all.  Next I put installed the drive as a slave in desktop and neither my BIOS nor Vista recognize the drive.  As a last resort, after removing the drive from my desktop, I attempted to connect it using an external enclosure with USB connection.  While Vista recognizes that I've plugges a USB device into the PC, it says that the drive is not initialized.

Is there a way to determine if this is a Firmware issue or not?  There aren't very may posts regarding issues with Firmware SD81.  I'm trying to determine if I should try one of the solutions I found (http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=128807).

I did use the Model and Serial # checkers and while the Model was listed as possibly being affected, the Serial # was not.

Thanks.

Message Edited by j1312g on 03-22-2009 11:57 AM

[area5x1]

Does Seagate acknolwedge that the SD15 firmware is affected? Because I don't want to send it and have them suddenly go "Your firmware is not officially affected, thus blah blah blah fork over money"

[area5x1]

j1312g, you can check the S/N on the top of the drive, and then use the S/N checker Seagate has on the site to see if your drive is affected. (Look in one of the stickies for the link to the S/N checker)

[Genn]

I'm a bit late to the party, but I only just found out about the firmware problem...

I have a 250GB ES.2 (ST3250310NS) with firmware SN04, and a 750GB 7200.11 (ST3750330AS) with firmware SD15. I've used both the model and serial number check utilities; the model check showed both drives are potentially affected with the firmware problem, and the serial check confirms the ES.2 drive is affected, but states "no action required" for the 7200.11 drive.

My question is would it be wise to go ahead with the firmware update for both of them, or should I just upgrade the ES.2's firmware? I don't want to run into any problems down the line with the 7200.11, so I'd just like someone else's opinion.

[jair911]

I've read thru a load of posts on these forums and its clear this isnt as small a problem as Seagate are playing out.

I have a Barracuda 7200.11 750Gb drive with firmware: SD15 which is listed as one of those affected by the dodgy firmware.

The drive 'died' last night after a routine powerdown and is unseen by the BIOS now, but appears to be powering up correctly and is spinning fine.

I have a lot of work and personal docs on there which I would like back.  The message on the Seagate site suggested they would help get the info back (altho the page that was suggesting this is no longer available it seems)

My questions are these:

  Is there no way of fixing this without sending it back somewhere.

  Will Seagate repair this Free of charge since its clearly a fault their end or am I expected to pick up the costs?  I note Schroed had a positive thread on here on the matter, but he hasnt said whether or not he was charged for the whole experience.  If thats the case I will not be buying Seagate for any further builds or recommending them to friends/family/businesses.

 Any info on whats next would be fab.

Jair

EDIT: Yay I've been moved onto a 63 page thread where no one will be able to read this...cheers Mr Mod.

Message Edited by jair911 on 03-23-2009 11:50 AM