ADDED: based on a single report, I wrote the following. Seagate says the number checker has not changed. It would be useful to know if any other users could replicate fausto412's experience. Otherwise, the best expanation is that fausto412's first test didn't work for some other reason. I appologize to Seagate for making this posting so definite originally. END OF ADDITION.
18 months ago, a firmware flaw was found in many 7200.11 drives. If the "BSY bug" hits you, your drive will no longer work. This has been discussed exhaustively in this forum. See the sticky messages.
You may well wonder if your particular drive is subject to this bug. There are two cases where you might be interested.
- your drive has locked up and you want to know why. In particular, it it is the BSY bug, the drive can be fixed and your data rescued, at no cost.
- your drive has not locked up but you want to know if you should apply a firmware update to prevent the bug from striking.
The best way I know to check if your is subject to the bug is to use the serial number checker. That can be found on this page http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207931
According to a report by fausto412 http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Desktop-ATA-and-Serial-ATA/Seagate-Barracuda-7200-11-Firmware-Issues/m-..., the checker gave him different results when he checked with his serial number a year later. This second check was prompted by a drive lockup.
As far as I can recollect, Seagate has never told us that the checker has changed. Scary.
Seagate: when have you changed the checker? What are the changes?
Do check your drive serial number again: even though it once said your drive was OK, it might warn you otherwise now.
