Momentus XT, Momentus, Momentus Thin, MobileMax, and other notebook drives

[benichols]

Hello,

I have been using a Momentus XT (500GB) drive in my HTPC Mac Mini (2GHz Core 2 Duo running 10.7.2 Mac OS) for about a year.  The Mac Mini (late 2006) has been connected to a Monoprice DVI/HDMI converter.  It has worked well with the exception of some "pausing" during use.  Last week, I upgraded the firmware to SD28.  Since then, the DVI/HDMI converter does not work.  I also now hear the intermittent "beep" from the drive.  In addition, I have lost my CPU temperature monitoring ability (confirmed with both iStat Menus and SMC Fan controller applications).  If I plug the computer directly into a monitor it seems to work fine with video output.  I have not changed anything with the computer other than upgrading the firmware.  Are these issues known problems with SD28 or the Momentus XT and does anyone have any ideas or suggestions to fix them?  I have booted the Mac Mini from the install disk to see if it was an OS problem but it won't send video to the converter booting from the install disk.  I have purchased a new DVI/HDMI converter with no resolution of the problem.

Thanks,

Brian

[KrypteX]

Your report is quite strange... did you try to update all drivers to latest ? I'm not a Mac expert, so it's up to you to do that...

[KrypteX]

Can you check if you have End-to-End errors in SMART ? Did you try to revert back to SD26, for example ? What firmware did you have before SD28 ?

[benichols]

There are no Mac drivers that I know of as the drive should be supported by the OS.

I had SD23 prior.  One of my questions is Is it safe to "downgrade" firmware on these drives?  The second question is if I were to downgrade, what is the best safest version, if not SD23?

I agree that this is very strange and seems unlikely that hard drive firmware upgrades should affect these things.  Is it possible that the hard drive firmware reset the SMC or PRAM and "exposed" an incompatibility with Mac OS 10.7.2 and the converter?  Possible, but it doesn't explain the loss of CPU temp.  Thanks for the ideas!

[benichols]

I just ran a Mac program called Smart Utility which reports no errors on the drive.

[Klok]

Hey,

Did you have to put the Hard Drive in an other computer to upgrade the firmware?

Honestly, i doubt that the firmware upgrade cause all of your problems...

Klok

[benichols]

No I updated it via the ISO boot disk.  Ironically, I did that via the TV (Samsung) that I had it hooked up to through the DVI/HDMI adapter.  Since then, it won't send video signal through the adapter.

I agree that it's unlikely, but I didn't change anything else.

[Klok]

Ok,

I got really no idea on this one.

Can you reset the SMC or PRAM? Is that harmful, and/or long to do ?

Klok

[benichols]

I already reset PRAM (multiple times), and unplugged the power cable for >15 seconds which should reset SMC.  Didn't change a thing.

[benichols]

The other weird thing is that I have completely lost cpu temp monitoring abilities.  The only temp that it sees is the HD temp.  I have tested this with 3 different widgets/apps and none pick up CPU temp (usually multiple parameters).