Seagate drives and the "bad" firmware problem?

[thomas mcconville]

I just bought two seagate 7200.11 1000 GB sata drives, I have them in my burly drive enclosure, they were okay for a week, now when I go to download my image files to the drive (drag n Drop from memory card reader) they will start downloading, then the progress line gets slower and slower until in comes to a complete halt, but the progress line is still there, although not moving, I try to stop the download but it becomes unresponsive and I have to shut down the G4 quicksilver forcefully.
The model number of the drives are ST31000340AS

[ricks]

Thomas,

It is not really model number that matters, but serial number and firmware revision on the drive. Did you get them from us? If so, all drives shipped out of our warehouse since December have had the firmware updated if needed.

If not, all you can do is go to Seagate site and check the drives out via serial number and model number and see if they need updating. Then perform the update on them if needed.

The other issue is if the drives are OEM or Server models (same thing really, as many OEM drives have custom server firmware on them) All the cheap pricing these days on sites like NewEgg and ZipZoomFly are mostly for OEM drives. A quick look at sites like that shows 80 or more percent of the drives they list are OEM. No telling what you get if you go with those. Literally any firmware imaginable and any behavior.

Rick

[thomas mcconville]

Originally Posted by ricks

Thomas,

It is not really model number that matters, but serial number and firmware revision on the drive. Did you get them from us? If so, all drives shipped out of our warehouse since December have had the firmware updated if needed.

If not, all you can do is go to Seagate site and check the drives out via serial number and model number and see if they need updating. Then perform the update on them if needed.

The other issue is if the drives are OEM or Server models (same thing really, as many OEM drives have custom server firmware on them) All the cheap pricing these days on sites like NewEgg and ZipZoomFly are mostly for OEM drives. A quick look at sites like that shows 80 or more percent of the drives they list are OEM. No telling what you get if you go with those. Literally any firmware imaginable and any behavior.

Rick

Thanks Rick

[thomas mcconville]

Originally Posted by ricks

Thomas,

It is not really model number that matters, but serial number and firmware revision on the drive. Did you get them from us? If so, all drives shipped out of our warehouse since December have had the firmware updated if needed.

If not, all you can do is go to Seagate site and check the drives out via serial number and model number and see if they need updating. Then perform the update on them if needed.

The other issue is if the drives are OEM or Server models (same thing really, as many OEM drives have custom server firmware on them) All the cheap pricing these days on sites like NewEgg and ZipZoomFly are mostly for OEM drives. A quick look at sites like that shows 80 or more percent of the drives they list are OEM. No telling what you get if you go with those. Literally any firmware imaginable and any behavior.

Rick

Hi Rick, I didnt get the drives from you, got an RA from Seagate to send them back for exchange for updated ones, I cant even get the data off the drives, Seagate are my favorite drive manufacturer,before this firmware issue with these drives can you remember any other Seagate drive issues in past history?

[Dresden]

Hey,

Although my I got my NS 750 gig drive in September
(directly from Seagate, as a replacement from a ZIP-ZOOM purchase,
which died immediately after I spent a day installing all the software),

the Model, Serial number and software version
verify as an affected drive.
Yet, Ricks, you are saying that the size & time frame of acquisition
don't sync with what Seagate's website is telling me?

I called Seagate yesterday
(their phone system doesn't even work with Skype,
AND then, using landline, took an hour to get a human).

They "verified" that my drive IS is affected,
but reading your info, today, leaves me more confused

I am incensed that Seagate couldn't be "bothered"
to send emails notifying us of their problem.

I am even more upset that they don't issue a version of the fix,
that will install
on my Mac Power PC.

Also, I do not want a refurbished (as I was told) drive as a replacement,
nor to send them my drive,
and wait 3 weeks for the replacement
(as happened last time, though they did send a NEW drive).

I AM confused as to what to do.- Dresden

[ricks]

Find a buddy with a PC and run the installer on it. Or a MacPro. Just about the easiest thing to do with the conditions you set.

As an aside, In the future, try and stay away from server model drives. The feature sets on them do not ever improve performance or reliability on desktop systems that are designed and tested to run with desktop drives. Realizing the horse is out of the barn, I am not trying to beat you up on the NS drive you have. Just stating the issue so you will know there is one.


Rick

[Dresden]

Thanx Ricks,

I was given the impression (from Seagate),
that a laptop could not be used????

so that means not a Macbook Pro, correct?

Also, I have done nothing more than zero-out the drive, so far
(because of time constraints)
so I do plan to do "this" before I install the OS.

Are there any precautions to take, now, with the NS drive?
GEEZ, I though that I was doing a smart thing buying it. - Dresden

[RBR]

I was told by Seagate that the drive has to be connected to the SATA controller (in other words, not connected via an external USB). Connecting via USB to a PC laptop did not work...I had already tried it.

I got a PCI/SATA controller and installed it on a PC I had access to and there were problems with it as well. I gave up and got an RMA from Seagate. It was a 1 TB SD15 firmware that they had previously verified as being affected. I have another one that I need to dig out and send in that I bought in the same time frame. I have heard several stories about the firmware problem (from inside sources) and none of them are reassuring. Not even a little bit.

I got one of the few 7200.4 500 GB drives when the first batch hit the U.S. and it failed initial qualification and had to be returned. Whatever is going on, I sure hope it gets sorted out soon. I have avoided the Seagates for some months now trying to avoid more problems. I do like the Seagates and hope they have sorted out whatever management problems were letting these problems ship in the first place.

One tip I picked up recently to wipe a drive that is completely dead is to take an old fashioned hand held electro-magnet used for erasing reel-to-reel magnetic tapes. Make several passes on each side and "degauss" the drive. For really sensitive data, the quick way is an electric drill or the ever popular 10 pound sledge hammer...and no warranty.

[ricks]

Hard drives shipped since Jan 1 from Seagate have been fine - The issue totally resolved for the hundreds of drives we have shipped since then. Also any drives shipped from us since the updater came out in December since we checked them and updated as required. Drives once updated have been prefectly fine, issue resolved.

Some SATA chipsets are supported by the minimum DOS boot software of the updater, some are not. Silicon Image 3124 and 3132 are both supported. Cannot say about any others. Port Multiplier, Firewire, USB are all non starters for doing the update.

Rick

[unclemac]

Huh.

Just booted a new model MacPro to the DOS tool via CD, no issue.....but it would not update the firmware on the selected drive, even though the model number matched the downloaded tool. Saw the drives (I have four to update for a customer), but validated against something (part #, serial#, firmware edition?) and claimed it would not run.



Back to the drawing board.

[ricks]

I wanted to share an email I just got from a customer. He had to send a drive to Seagate that stopped responding due to the firmware issue. Seagate took his drive, and this is the return email he got from them:

Dear (removed for privacy),

I wanted to send you a quick email to introduce myself as well as advise you that we've confirmed the drive is inaccessible due to the firmware issue you were discussing with Seagate Tech Support. I will be managing the case from this side so please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions or concerns.

At present the drive has been fixed and the firmware upgraded so it is no longer susceptible to that issue. We've made a sector by sector image of your drive to one of our devices both to protect against any potential issue that could arise during return shipping and to check the drive for any other potential issues. There were no issues found and the file system/data have been checked so this should be perfect upon return to you. We will ship this out Friday for arrival in your hands Monday morning (or Tuesday morning if there are any delays). The online tracking number with UPS will be posted on our case tracking portal.

Pretty good service in my mind. The customer was overjoyed! Surely beat the data loss that could have been the result. Some might be concerned about Seagate keeping a copy of your data, however that is standard procedure whenever a data drive is recovered and shipped. Until the drive is received by the customer and responsibility is released from Seagate for that data they HAVE to keep a copy. You can just hear the accusations and see the lawsuits flying if the drive got damaged in shipping or lost.

Rick

[M.Brane]

I wouldn't worry about them having a copy of my data. I'm sure they have better things to do than digging through people's files.