More Seagate Firmware News

To paraphrase, "the data you save might be your own".

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...ks_barracudas/

Apparently the update causes problems for some 500GB Barracuda drives
that it can be applied to.

I also saw this, referenced in the comments to the above article:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=...3&cid=26542735

Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't. Perhaps what worries me the most is
the poster's handle of choice--"maxtorman". I could be reading a lot
more into that than I should...in particular, bad thoughts about who
is designing both Seagate and Maxtor products now.

I also noticed the bit about the drives being known as "BRINKS"
internally...and again it made me wonder. Maxtor drives typically have
series names, I never knew Seagate ones to do that.

William

Hi!

> And to add to the Seagate saga, their investment news isn't too
> good either. Maybe Seagate's time has past and we'll have to
> stay tuned to the next good brand of hard drive.

I happened to look up their stock quote the other day, and it didn't
look great. Not bad, just not great. (Of course, I don't have a whole
lot of experience with those things.)

So far I think they've at least tried to handle this problem well,
what with offering to recover data from drives that didn't pull
through the upgrade. I also believe they will get it fixed.

William

RnR wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:29:51 -0800 (PST), "William R. Walsh"
> <> wrote:
>
>> To paraphrase, "the data you save might be your own".
>>
>> http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...ks_barracudas/
>>
>> Apparently the update causes problems for some 500GB Barracuda drives
>> that it can be applied to.
>>
>> I also saw this, referenced in the comments to the above article:
>>
>> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=...3&cid=26542735
>>
>> Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't. Perhaps what worries me the most is
>> the poster's handle of choice--"maxtorman". I could be reading a lot
>> more into that than I should...in particular, bad thoughts about who
>> is designing both Seagate and Maxtor products now.
>>
>> I also noticed the bit about the drives being known as "BRINKS"
>> internally...and again it made me wonder. Maxtor drives typically have
>> series names, I never knew Seagate ones to do that.
>>
>> William
>
>
> And to add to the Seagate saga, their investment news isn't too good
> either. Maybe Seagate's time has past and we'll have to stay tuned to
> the next good brand of hard drive. For me, I'm not ready to abandon
> their drives but my ears / eyes are open just in case it's time to
> move on when the time comes.

Well, Seagate is not alone in this economic morass. Intel announced
layoffs of 6,000 today, along with unspecified plant closings. Let's
face it. Sales of new computers are way down, I think because of two
factors: the economy and systems with Vista, which is all you can find
in the mass market stores. The NY Times and the Boston Globe today both
had reviews of the beta of Windows 7, saying a lot of favorable things
about it, compared to Vista. (The Boston Globe writer called Vista
"harmless".) Last week, the Financial Times techie also was favorable
to Windows 7. If the trade rags and on-line tech sites fall in line
behind Windows 7, Vista sales may decline even further, to go along with
a growing pent-up demand for systems with Windows 7. As all this
unfolds, sales of new hard drives (Seagate, WD, Hitachi et al), optical
drives (various consortia), motherboards (Intel, Asus and others),
memory (Micron, Samsung etc), computer cases, audio and network chips
will continue to be off... Ben Myers

RnR wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:37:45 -0500, Ben Myers <>
> wrote:
>
>> RnR wrote:
>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:29:51 -0800 (PST), "William R. Walsh"
>>> <> wrote:
>>>
>>>> To paraphrase, "the data you save might be your own".
>>>>
>>>> http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...ks_barracudas/
>>>>
>>>> Apparently the update causes problems for some 500GB Barracuda drives
>>>> that it can be applied to.
>>>>
>>>> I also saw this, referenced in the comments to the above article:
>>>>
>>>> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=...3&cid=26542735
>>>>
>>>> Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't. Perhaps what worries me the most is
>>>> the poster's handle of choice--"maxtorman". I could be reading a lot
>>>> more into that than I should...in particular, bad thoughts about who
>>>> is designing both Seagate and Maxtor products now.
>>>>
>>>> I also noticed the bit about the drives being known as "BRINKS"
>>>> internally...and again it made me wonder. Maxtor drives typically have
>>>> series names, I never knew Seagate ones to do that.
>>>>
>>>> William
>>>
>>> And to add to the Seagate saga, their investment news isn't too good
>>> either. Maybe Seagate's time has past and we'll have to stay tuned to
>>> the next good brand of hard drive. For me, I'm not ready to abandon
>>> their drives but my ears / eyes are open just in case it's time to
>>> move on when the time comes.
>> Well, Seagate is not alone in this economic morass. Intel announced
>> layoffs of 6,000 today, along with unspecified plant closings. Let's
>> face it. Sales of new computers are way down, I think because of two
>> factors: the economy and systems with Vista, which is all you can find
>> in the mass market stores. The NY Times and the Boston Globe today both
>> had reviews of the beta of Windows 7, saying a lot of favorable things
>> about it, compared to Vista. (The Boston Globe writer called Vista
>> "harmless".) Last week, the Financial Times techie also was favorable
>> to Windows 7. If the trade rags and on-line tech sites fall in line
>> behind Windows 7, Vista sales may decline even further, to go along with
>> a growing pent-up demand for systems with Windows 7. As all this
>> unfolds, sales of new hard drives (Seagate, WD, Hitachi et al), optical
>> drives (various consortia), motherboards (Intel, Asus and others),
>> memory (Micron, Samsung etc), computer cases, audio and network chips
>> will continue to be off... Ben Myers
>
>
> I haven't checked around other than what I read and hear but I think
> you have a point in today's times. That's not true however with IBM
> of late so while times are tough, some do okay or better. Matter of
> fact to go off on a tangent, almost 25 years ago, I wanted to buy some
> IBM stock but they were on the downside and my wife (CPA) said she
> thought they would go outa business. I told her, you wanna bet. She
> was wrong of course and I was a fool not to buy the stock tho she made
> up for it on another stock. Moral of story... don't listen to your
> CPA unless she's your wife and you wanna stay married <g>.

And today driving back from being on the road, the local news station
said that Microsoft announced 5000 (or was it 6000?) layoffs. The borg
is removing the brain implants from some of its cyberbots and letting
them roam the streets freely... Ben Myers

"Ben Myers" <> wrote in message
news:glav2n$l1g$...
>

<snip>

Also noticed a promotion for a Seagate external USB 1.5TB drive today.

For $119.

"woof".

Seagate has (as of late yesterday) announced that a new firmware--said
to resolve all issues--has been released.

So if you have an affected drive...

http://media.seagate.com/2009/01/sto...irmware-issue/

I don't have anything on mine yet, other than a few test files that
are nothing but padding. So maybe I'll see about installing the
firmware update.

William

William R. Walsh wrote:
> Seagate has (as of late yesterday) announced that a new firmware--said
> to resolve all issues--has been released.
>
> So if you have an affected drive...
>
> http://media.seagate.com/2009/01/sto...irmware-issue/
>
> I don't have anything on mine yet, other than a few test files that
> are nothing but padding. So maybe I'll see about installing the
> firmware update.
>
> William

Not exactly hearwarming first-hand Seagate news, this time about 250GB
Barracuda 7200.10 drives. I ordered four recently from my distributor,
installed one without problems in a Dimension 8300. Yesterday, two of
them failed after installation in a Dimension E520. One had over 1400
relocated sectors after 6 hours of use, and it ran slow as a slug
causing BSODs along the way. The other one would not format, and kept
cycling down.

As the incomparable Meatloaf once sang: "Two outta three ain't bad."
But two out of four is pretty awful. They go back to the distributor as
RMA for replacement... Ben Myers

RnR wrote:
> On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:37:45 -0500, Ben Myers <>
> wrote:
>
>> RnR wrote:
>>> On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 07:29:51 -0800 (PST), "William R. Walsh"
>>> <> wrote:
>>>
>>>> To paraphrase, "the data you save might be your own".
>>>>
>>>> http://www.channelregister.co.uk/200...ks_barracudas/
>>>>
>>>> Apparently the update causes problems for some 500GB Barracuda drives
>>>> that it can be applied to.
>>>>
>>>> I also saw this, referenced in the comments to the above article:
>>>>
>>>> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=...3&cid=26542735
>>>>
>>>> Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't. Perhaps what worries me the most is
>>>> the poster's handle of choice--"maxtorman". I could be reading a lot
>>>> more into that than I should...in particular, bad thoughts about who
>>>> is designing both Seagate and Maxtor products now.
>>>>
>>>> I also noticed the bit about the drives being known as "BRINKS"
>>>> internally...and again it made me wonder. Maxtor drives typically have
>>>> series names, I never knew Seagate ones to do that.
>>>>
>>>> William
>>>
>>> And to add to the Seagate saga, their investment news isn't too good
>>> either. Maybe Seagate's time has past and we'll have to stay tuned to
>>> the next good brand of hard drive. For me, I'm not ready to abandon
>>> their drives but my ears / eyes are open just in case it's time to
>>> move on when the time comes.
>> Well, Seagate is not alone in this economic morass. Intel announced
>> layoffs of 6,000 today, along with unspecified plant closings. Let's
>> face it. Sales of new computers are way down, I think because of two
>> factors: the economy and systems with Vista, which is all you can find
>> in the mass market stores. The NY Times and the Boston Globe today both
>> had reviews of the beta of Windows 7, saying a lot of favorable things
>> about it, compared to Vista. (The Boston Globe writer called Vista
>> "harmless".) Last week, the Financial Times techie also was favorable
>> to Windows 7. If the trade rags and on-line tech sites fall in line
>> behind Windows 7, Vista sales may decline even further, to go along with
>> a growing pent-up demand for systems with Windows 7. As all this
>> unfolds, sales of new hard drives (Seagate, WD, Hitachi et al), optical
>> drives (various consortia), motherboards (Intel, Asus and others),
>> memory (Micron, Samsung etc), computer cases, audio and network chips
>> will continue to be off... Ben Myers
>
>
> I haven't checked around other than what I read and hear but I think
> you have a point in today's times. That's not true however with IBM
> of late so while times are tough, some do okay or better. Matter of
> fact to go off on a tangent, almost 25 years ago,

You don't mean the early 90's?

Ben Myers wrote:
> William R. Walsh wrote:
>> Seagate has (as of late yesterday) announced that a new firmware--said
>> to resolve all issues--has been released.
>>
>> So if you have an affected drive...
>>
>> http://media.seagate.com/2009/01/sto...irmware-issue/
>>
>>
>> I don't have anything on mine yet, other than a few test files that
>> are nothing but padding. So maybe I'll see about installing the
>> firmware update.
>>
>> William
>
> Not exactly hearwarming first-hand Seagate news, this time about 250GB
> Barracuda 7200.10 drives. I ordered four recently from my distributor,
> installed one without problems in a Dimension 8300. Yesterday, two of
> them failed after installation in a Dimension E520. One had over 1400
> relocated sectors after 6 hours of use, and it ran slow as a slug
> causing BSODs along the way. The other one would not format, and kept
> cycling down.
>
> As the incomparable Meatloaf once sang: "Two outta three ain't bad." But
> two out of four is pretty awful. They go back to the distributor as RMA
> for replacement... Ben Myers

FWIW, my last 3 HDDs are Western Digital, a mfgr I shied away from for
several years previously. I had been buying Seagates, but had too many
problems & performance issues. The WDC Model SE16 clocked the highest HD
Tune numbers I've ever seen, avg = 98.9 MB/sec with a peak thruput =
120MB/sec.

A follow-up to my own posting...

With my 1TB Barracuda still being blank except for "padding" files I
had put on it, I turned up my courage and downloaded the Seagate
firmware updater, and then I pulled the drive out of the enclosure it
was in.

I hooked it up to a Silicon Image 3512 controller in a Compaq Deskpro
EN Pentium III 866. Then I read the instructions from Seagate, burned
an ISO image downloaded from the relevant link on their site and
prepared for the process per Seagate's instructions.

As shipped from the factory, my drive had the SD15 firmware revision
on it.

I tried booting from the first CD-R I burned and found it to be a
coaster. It didn't do much for my confidence level. But I tried again,
and the second disc worked. The updater only took a few seconds to
operate and told me to power cycle the computer.

(Seagate says you should disconnect any other hard drives in the
computer. Not wanting to take any chances, I did exactly as I was
told.)

When everything came back up, the drive was fine and running firmware
SD1A.

For the first time ever, my Linksys NSLU2 was able to format the drive
as EXT3. (Before the drive firmware update, it would take an extremely
long time to format the drive and would finally give up with no error
message.) I also noticed "odd behavior" when turning the NSLU2 on or
off...the drive would make bad sounding noises and spin down, followed
by an immediate spin up.

After the drive firmware update, the NSLU2 was able to format the
drive perfectly and there is no more odd behavior from the drive when
starting the NSLU2 up or shutting it down with the 1TB drive attached.

I think Seagate probably fixed a lot of issues in this firmware
upgrade.

Last night I backed up the contents of the Latitude D800 to the 1TB
drive. The backup finished in the night. This morning it was doing the
restore.

William