A warning to all seagate hard drives users and buyers

The Sorcerer · 14-01-2009, 06:02 PM

It has hit the news:

Quote:

SEAGATE'S FLAGSHIP desktop Barracuda 7200.11 drives, in particular the 1TB (ST31000340AS) units, are failing at an alarming rate and prompting outrage from their faithful customers.
A new self-bricking feature apparently resides in faulty firmware microcode which will rear its ugly head sometime at boot detection. Essentially the drive will be working as normal for a while, then - out of the blue - it'll brick itself to death. The next time you reboot your computer the drive will simply lock itself up as a failsafe and won't be detected by the BIOS. In other words, there's power, spin-up, but no detection to enable booting.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...200-11-failing.
Its pretty obvious, a hard drive fails if its an improper power supply or if the hard drive are poorly made. Over 2 years I had 3 seagates 500GB being changed constantly and all were Made in Thailand ones. Accel frontline at chakala (now shifted to saki naka), Mumbai said that they just got a small amount of batch were a defect and my 3 drives drying in 1 month's time being a co-incidence was plain silly comments. There have been many complaints all around the web that seagates has drastically dropped their quality control. Even the thermal sensors arent soldered properly and showing a whooping 42 degrees celcius how the thermal sensor that I have on my nzxt case gives me a somewhat rough idea of 34 which is the same with another WD I have in my system.
People who want to buy seagate drives and think its more stable compared to WD- think again.Seagate allready made efforts to cut down warranty period from 5 years to a hilarious 3 years on new hard drives. This pretty much proves the confidence in their own product.

**MetalheadGautham** · 14-01-2009, 06:22 PM

Hmm... So Seagate GONE.
WD already had some issues in the past.
I am thinking of looking at Maxtor or Hichachi now.

red_devil · 14-01-2009, 06:29 PM

MAXTOR is an affiliate of SEAGATE, AFAIK.

abhi.eternal · 14-01-2009, 07:13 PM

Yes, Maxtor indeed is owned by Seagate and I have just got a 1TB Maxtor Basics external HDD. I hope that Maxtor manufactures their disks independently from Seagate (someone please say I am right!!)

NucleusKore · 14-01-2009, 07:40 PM

Looks like Seagate has once again descended to the depths. They had a tough time coming out the last time they were down.

Faun · 14-01-2009, 07:47 PM

Yeah, I had bad experience too with Seagate HDDs.

desiibond · 14-01-2009, 08:01 PM

hmm. that's news. time to move to samsung???

BSOD · 14-01-2009, 08:07 PM

I believe WD is the way to go. 5 years on site warranty ought to be enough for anybody. And they have the raptors

Liverpool_fan · 14-01-2009, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetalheadGautham

Hmm... So Seagate GONE.
WD already had some issues in the past.
I am thinking of looking at Maxtor or Hichachi now.

What's wrong with WD?

The Sorcerer · 14-01-2009, 08:18 PM

640GB AAKS is known to be pretty fast but also known to be pretty unstable. Not sure about newer ones, but AACS 640GB, though speed is by 50MB in average it is stable enough compared to AAKS. Newer AAKS are said to be more stable, however its more of a speculation than I actually seen. AACS versions are known to save power. Dont know about samsung, but I think hitachi are pretty good. Its pretty obvious though that the only way one will know about the credibility of the products if news and personal reviews are shared. Its not the first time, but I have seen sellers requesting buyers to take back the negative reviews and are willing to pay full amount back in exchange. Same funda seems to be followed in Ebay and other markets as well.
This isnt the first time that quality drops down the drain when sales volume jump high. Newer versions of altec lansing mx5021's built seems to be lower than the 1 1/2 year old ones. The rubbber coat on logitech mx518 tear away all thanks to sweaty palms. According to logitech its not supposed to happen, but it does happen.
Computer components and electronic items are something which should be bought based on manufacturer's hype. People often misunderstand the concept between reputation and hype. The first is power supply and the second is motherboard followed by hard drives and flash drives. To an odd crowd, if one never heard of the company then means its either in the niche or infamous company.

tkin · 16-01-2009, 05:55 PM

This is exactly what had happened to me, same god damned symptoms

, after 1 month use hdd just went BOOOOM

, no more detected by the bios

, just dead and thats all, replaced and running fine till now, but only been a month

, lets see what happens

. Thank heavens I didn't purchased the 1 TB ones.

I learned something;

Rule-1.Back-Up your data.

Rule-2.Follow Rule 1 like there's no tomorrow

**MetalheadGautham** · 16-01-2009, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anurag_panda

What's wrong with WD?

Heard some warranty issues.
Anyway, I guess if Hichachi is costly, WD IS the best choice available.

Are those 16MB Buffer 640GB Capacity ultra cheap WD HDDs still in the market ? For how much is one available ?

VexByte · 17-01-2009, 05:58 AM

So how is Samsung HDDs overall ?

Faun · 17-01-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSOD

I believe WD is the way to go. 5 years on site warranty ought to be enough for anybody. And they have the raptors

Ethan_Hunt · 17-01-2009, 01:28 PM

My friend got his brand new 250GB Seagate replaced twice already. It showed the exact same symptoms as described in the first post. Getting it replaced is a huge ball of mess.

Faun · 17-01-2009, 01:33 PM

^^hahaha..and I thought I was the most unlucky one to replace my herd of 6, 5 times.

Ethan_Hunt · 17-01-2009, 01:40 PM

^I didn't know that. But yeah after this experience I would stay away from Seagate. I had my WD 320GB HDD going kablooey on me after 6 months but got replaced in an orderly fashion. The next HDD upgrade for me would directly be a 1TB drive. Now the question is which one?

phreak0ut · 17-01-2009, 03:19 PM

Whoa!! So Seagate IS going bad. Logged in to check which HD to buy. My Seagate just died on me

Most of my data is backed up, so nothing much to worry. So, I should go for a WD?

paroh · 17-01-2009, 06:15 PM

So will we update the firmware of the hard disk????

tkin · 20-01-2009, 07:18 PM

Spoke too soon, my replaced HDD died, again, within 1 month

.

I got two crashed HDD in just two months, stay away from Seagate. Its happening just as the post above described. AND the released FW update(SD1A) didn't work on my friend's hdd(1 TB drive), he's too afraid to shut down his pc. It seems Seagate finally lost it, time to buy a WD 640GB(AAKS) drive, any forum member got one?

himadri_sm · 20-01-2009, 07:34 PM

hey guys i also have two seagate hdd's--an 80gb ide that is 3 yrs old & a 360gb sata that was purchased on the last week of may 08....both of these are currently running fine..i boot from my 80gb ide & my 360gb(usable 335gb) is just for data storage...should i also be concerned?

tkin · 20-01-2009, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sekhar_xxx

hey guys i also have two seagate hdd's--an 80gb ide that is 3 yrs old & a 360gb sata that was purchased on the last week of may 08....both of these are currently running fine..i boot from my 80gb ide & my 360gb(usable 335gb) is just for data storage...should i also be concerned?

If the 360GB HDD is 7200.11 model, its screwed, if its 7200.10 or 7200.9 or anything else its absolutely fine.(the model no. is printed on the HDD lebel on the top right corner). 80GB models are not affected.

max_demon · 21-01-2009, 12:33 AM

i was wondering why my 500 GB HDD was being replaced 3ice last 6 months

ashu888ashu888 · 21-01-2009, 01:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkin

If the 360GB HDD is 7200.11 model, its screwed, if its 7200.10 or 7200.9 or anything else its absolutely fine.(the model no. is printed on the HDD lebel on the top right corner). 80GB models are not affected.

Ooh ok will surely check those 7200.xx types then, but are u sure thats the only check we can do to ensure wether HDD is good or bad ?? (abt seagate)... !! im planning to get a 2nd HDD so plz suggest sumthing above 200GB...
--------------

desiibond · 21-01-2009, 01:53 PM

Seagate offering firmware fix and free data recovery for the following:

Barracuda 7200.11
ST31000340AS
ST3750330AS
ST3640330AS
ST3500320AS
ST31500341AS
ST31000333AS
ST3640323AS
ST3640623AS
ST3320613AS
ST3320813AS
ST3160813AS

Barracuda ES.2 SATA
ST31000340NS
ST3750330NS
ST3500320NS
ST3250310NS

DiamondMax 22
STM31000340AS
STM3750330AS
STM3500320AS
STM31000334AS
STM3320614AS
STM3160813AS

tkin · 22-01-2009, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashu888ashu888

Ooh ok will surely check those 7200.xx types then, but are u sure thats the only check we can do to ensure wether HDD is good or bad ?? (abt seagate)... !! im planning to get a 2nd HDD so plz suggest sumthing above 200GB...
--------------

Get Western Digital, I despise Seagate and if you buy it, soon you'll spend most of your time travelling to and fro to the survice centre, any hdd starting with "Sea" and ending with "Gate" is a ticking time-bomb.

Quote:

Originally Posted by desiibond

Seagate offering firmware fix and free data recovery for the following:

Barracuda 7200.11
ST31000340AS
ST3750330AS
ST3640330AS
ST3500320AS
ST31500341AS
ST31000333AS
ST3640323AS
ST3640623AS
ST3320613AS
ST3320813AS
ST3160813AS

Barracuda ES.2 SATA
ST31000340NS
ST3750330NS
ST3500320NS
ST3250310NS

DiamondMax 22
STM31000340AS
STM3750330AS
STM3500320AS
STM31000334AS
STM3320614AS
STM3160813AS

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!
A BIG LAUGH.

First of all OEM drives are not supported for free Data recovery, and Retail drives are not sold in Kolkata(believe me, I searched)

Second reason is,(read here)
1.http://www.tomshardware.com/news/sea...date,6867.html
2.http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/...cending&page=1

Everyone-PLEASE BOYCOTT SEAGATE, they are drowning in their own S**T

P.S- No offense to you

ashu888ashu888 · 22-01-2009, 09:22 AM

^^
thanx for the update.. will enquire abt WDs now..

(btw, using a Seagate 7200rpm 160 GB SATA-I hdd for the past 3 yrs w'out any problems) maybe these newer drives hv this problem )

------------

Cheers n e-peace...

**topgear** · 23-01-2009, 07:42 AM

Seagate has fixed SD1A firmware bug. They released the 2nd version of it. It will
bring the bricked drives back to life as they said.

Quote:

This new firmware upgrade corrects compatibility issues that occurred with the firmware download provided on our support website on Jan. 16

I've read in seagate's forum that it brings back bricked drives to life.

I've one of those ST3500320AS ( 500GB 32MB Buffer Model )
FW Version: SD15

the first buggy version of SD1A firmware has the file name of : MooseDT-32MB-SD1A.ISO
Am I right guys.

Flashed just 5 minutes ago with SD1A firmware the 2nd version.
The file name is : MooseDT-SD1A-2D-8-16-32MB.ISO - Can you guys confirm that the file name is different from the 1st version of SD1A firmware.

http://support.seagate.com/firmware/...-8-16-32MB.ISO

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/...thread.id=6813
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/...thread.id=4771

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/cr...p?DocId=207931
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/cr...p?DocId=207951

himadri_sm · 23-01-2009, 12:30 PM

ok...my 360gb SATA(usable 335gb) hdd is of 7200.10 rpm...so is it safe? also i visited the seagate website but couldn't find my hdd in the product list...my hdd's model no is--
3M-ST3360320AS(this is what shows up in the bios)..this model no was nowhere in the list of products(barracuda list)....the strange fact is there is no 360gb model listed on the website...in my computer management>disk management panel it shows capacity as 335gb. i bought the hdd back in may 08.how come it is not listed in the website?

tkin · 29-01-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topgear

Seagate has fixed SD1A firmware bug. They released the 2nd version of it. It will
bring the bricked drives back to life as they said.

I've read in seagate's forum that it brings back bricked drives to life.

I've one of those ST3500320AS ( 500GB 32MB Buffer Model )
FW Version: SD15

the first buggy version of SD1A firmware has the file name of : MooseDT-32MB-SD1A.ISO
Am I right guys.

Flashed just 5 minutes ago with SD1A firmware the 2nd version.
The file name is : MooseDT-SD1A-2D-8-16-32MB.ISO - Can you guys confirm that the file name is different from the 1st version of SD1A firmware.

http://support.seagate.com/firmware/...-8-16-32MB.ISO

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/...thread.id=6813
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/...thread.id=4771

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/cr...p?DocId=207931
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/cr...p?DocId=207951

Yes, the second firmware, the one you mentioned fixed the bug, but i still won't buy Seagate ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sekhar_xxx

ok...my 360gb SATA(usable 335gb) hdd is of 7200.10 rpm...so is it safe? also i visited the seagate website but couldn't find my hdd in the product list...my hdd's model no is--
3M-ST3360320AS(this is what shows up in the bios)..this model no was nowhere in the list of products(barracuda list)....the strange fact is there is no 360gb model listed on the website...in my computer management>disk management panel it shows capacity as 335gb. i bought the hdd back in may 08.how come it is not listed in the website?

Your drive is safe, it may fail like normal drives but is not affected by the widespread FW bug. Its O.K.