Seagate releases 7200.11 fix – again
Seagate has released an updated fix for some of its hard drives, the previous version having "bricked" the 500GB capacity Barracuda 7200.11 drives.
Seagate has released an updated fix for some of its hard drives, the previous version having "bricked" the 500GB capacity Barracuda 7200.11 drives.
The fix corrects a bug in the firmware of a large number of Seagate's products, which can cause a hard drive to become undetectable to the computer.
Seagate has made downloads available for six of its Barracuda 7200.11 models. Another two 650GB drives require the user to email Seagate support for the fix, while for seven drives the firmware is still "In Validation" and unavailable.
Of Seagate's other affected models, the DiamondMax 22 range still has firmware "In Validation", while Barracuda ES.2 owners are prompted to email Seagate for the latest SN06 firmware if their drives are not up-to-date.
The downloadable firmware is still marked as revision SD1A, the same version that caused the reported "brickings" of the 500GB 7200.11 models. Some users on Seagate's forums, however, have found that the newly posted firmware brings their 500GB drives back to life.
Seagate Australia has not yet clarified how CE-based devices are affected, or whether or not the US offer of free data recovery extends to the region. A local reader has contacted us verifying that their non-working drive was sent to Singapore, and Seagate performed the firmware update and returned it with all data intact.
Update 27/01/09 | Additional Barracuda 7200.11 and DiamondMax 22 firmware files have been made available for download. Additionally, Seagate has made an official response, below:
Seagate has isolated a potential firmware issue in a small quantity of Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives and related SATA drives based on this product platform, manufactured through December 2008. In some unique circumstances, the data on the hard drives may become inaccessible to the user when the host system is powered on.
Current analysis shows that these despite this issue, these products are operating within or better than their specified reliability ratings.
We believe that the vast majority of customers will not experience any disruption related to this issue, and that the affected drives can be used as is. But as part of our commitment to customer satisfaction, Seagate is offering a free firmware upgrade to proactively address those with potentially affected products. This new firmware upgrade corrects compatibility issues that occurred with the firmware download provided on our support website on Jan. 16. We regret any inconvenience that the firmware issues have caused our customers.
To determine whether your product is affected, please visit the Seagate Support web site at http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/news.jsp?DocId=207931&NewLang=en
In the unlikely event your drive is affected and you cannot access your data, the data still resides on the drive and there is no data loss associated with this issue.
For assistance, customers can send an email to Seagate:
APAC: sfdc.apacsupport@seagate.com
Please include the following disk drive information: serial number, model number, and current firmware revision. We will respond to your email request with appropriate instructions.
Support is also available through Seagate's call centres.
Australia: 1800 147 201 (Operating Hours: Monday to Friday, 10:00 A.M. to 7:30 P.M.)
Australia Standard Time (GMT +10)
New Zealand: 0800 443 988 (Operating Hours: Monday to Friday, 12:00 A.M. to 9:30 P.M.)
New Zealand Standard Time (GMT +12)