 pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3
1 edit | AVOID seagate ST31000340AS/SD15 drives ARGH.
I got two of the Seagate 1TB 7200.11 drives lately, and then I saw this article:
»www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new···-failing
Great.
Anyone know if I can update the firmware on these? Am I already screwed? Should I start running smartd actively on these two disks? Will that even help detect this imminent failure? It looks like it craps out at boot time, so I think until I either get them RMA'd or something, I'm going to keep the server up and running.
Does anyone know how I can update the firmware on these two drives, and if so whether there is a firmware reported to fix this?
Ugh, this sucks.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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| Re: More Seagate 7200.11 problems Do your drives exhibit the problem? Have the same firmware as that mentioned in the article?
Have you contacted Seagate? If the drives haven't failed, the firmware can be updated. |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | said by gallowsroad:Do your drives exhibit the problem? Have the same firmware as that mentioned in the article? No, they aren't failing. Yet. But the firmware revision and model #, etc are a match:
quote:
# atacontrol list
ATA channel 2:
Master: ad4 <ST31000340AS/SD15> Serial ATA II
Slave: no device present
ATA channel 3:
Master: ad6 <ST31000340AS/SD15> Serial ATA II
Slave: no device present
Have you contacted Seagate? If the drives haven't failed, the firmware can be updated.
I'm planning on calling them tomorrow (but have heard they are non-responsive) and from what I have found so far, reports are that Seagate is ignoring the problem reports and is not providing a firmware fix though is reportedly shipping fixed drives.
The problem is I have my main OS (FreeBSD) and a large amount of data on two of these disks. I can't just rip them out and mail them in for an RMA. I don't have enough storage to backup what's on these drives. sigh.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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| I've read conflicting things about successes getting the firmware fix.
Call them, be persistent. Post back and let us know the outcome. If the stats in that Inquirer article are at all accurate (they posit a 30-40% failure rate from anecdotal evidence, which is extraordinary if even close to reality) other people may need help. |
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 signmeuptooLove those still alivePremium
join:2001-11-22
NanoParticle
kudos:4 | reply to pflog
Sorry to hear this. I have a 7200.11, I forget if my 500 or my 750 Seagate is the one. I hope I don't run into this issue. Sorry you are having troubles!
This is going to hurt Seagate's reputation! |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | said by signmeuptoo:This is going to hurt Seagate's reputation! Yes, it will. I certainly am not buying any more of their drives after this, especially given their completely ignoring the problem and even editing/moderating posts on their forums regarding the issue.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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Reviews:
 ·Frontier Communi..
| reply to pflog
Wow! A self bricking feature, no less!! 
I wouldn't bother with smartd, just make sure I have a good back up, and keep bugging tech support.
I remember a little while ago people used to argue whether 7200.10 or 7200.11 drives are better.  I think we now have a definite answer to that....
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And the winner is: |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | said by aurgathor:Wow! A self bricking feature, no less!! I wouldn't bother with smartd, just make sure I have a good back up, and keep bugging tech support. I remember a little while ago people used to argue whether 7200.10 or 7200.11 drives are better. I think we now have a definite answer to that.... Well from what I can gather, they are just replacing the RMA'd drives with refurb'd 7200.11's. So what's the point? They must still be deciding how to handle this catastrophic failure. They're not going to get away with ignoring it forever, so they better own up sooner than later, because they're already losing customers.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | reply to signmeuptoo
said by signmeuptoo:Sorry to hear this. I have a 7200.11, I forget if my 500 or my 750 Seagate is the one. I hope I don't run into this issue. Sorry you are having troubles! This is going to hurt Seagate's reputation! I read some reports on forums.seagate.com that indicate the 7200.11 500 and 750 G are also potentially affected. What's the firmware version on that drive? If it's SD15, you may be in the same boat I am. 
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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 RyanPremium
join:2001-03-03
Quincy, MA | I have a 7200.11 500GB ST3500320AS that I have been really happy with. They originally came with the sd14 firmware I believe however there was also a bug with the initial firmware on those drives resulting only 16 megs of cache being recognized vs the 32 it should have been seeing. I ended up upgrading the firmware as soon as I purchased it to AD14 which was publicly available and never had an issue with it since *knock on wood* |
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 OctaveanPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY
kudos:1 | reply to pflog
I typically buy Seagate drives or at least I have for some time but I just bought a Western Digital Black Edition 1TB drive because I wouldn't touch one of these Seagate drivers now. |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | Well, some good news for me, I think.
The reports have been focused on drives coming from Thailand with SD15 firmware.
My drives, as reported by Seagate tech support given the serial numbers and also confirmed with visual inspection, were manufactured in China.
So I *may* be ok. However, I'm not sure why people are saying it's a firmware issue if it's restricted to one manufacturing site. Not sure why it'd only be Thailand, although I did see something about potentially the firmware being applied "improperly" or wrong and that might explain it.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | Ugh, or not. Reports of failures from China as well here:
»www.msfn.org/board/index.php?sho···c=128514
Though not as prevalent...wonder if the China failures are "normal" failures? Although they show the same failure symptoms. Sigh.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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 salzanExperienced OptimistPremium
join:2004-01-08
WA State | reply to pflog
I guess there's no chance of just returning them to where you bought them? |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | said by salzan:I guess there's no chance of just returning them to where you bought them? Pursuing that, yes. I am going to try to get 2 WD 1TB green drives, copy the data/etc over. Then return this pieces of crap. Unfortunately, they were gifts and I'm waiting for the receipts/etc.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
| reply to pflog
quote:
As fate would have it, I lost this drive a few minutes after reading the story on The Inquirer site...
That is surreal....
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And the winner is: |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | I just ordered 2 WD Black 1TB drives from newegg.
So long Seagate, you'll never get business from me again.
I'm NOT waiting around to see when these drives fail.
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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| reply to pflog
Re: AVOID seagate ST31000340AS/SD15 drives Wonderful, I just ordered a new system with one of these drives. It's en route to me. |
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pflogBueller? Bueller?Premium,MVM
join:2001-09-01
El Dorado Hills, CA
kudos:3 | said by EUSwork :
Wonderful, I just ordered a new system with one of these drives. It's en route to me.
Sorry to hear. :/
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He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. -Socrates |
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| reply to pflog
I'm trying to find reliable info regarding the firmware fix as doing an RMA will cost a bit of $$$ for shipping (Probably close to the value of the drive itself).
Will applying the firmware undo the "self-brick" mode? |
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