Seagate offers fix, free data recovery for disks affected by firmware bug
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jan 19th 2009 1:47AM
posted Jan 19th 2009 1:47AM
[Via The Register]
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Wow, offering free data recovery services, way to go Seagate, way to go.
Phew. Imagine how much porn you can lose! 1TB, that's a serious collection. Good thing Seagate will recover all that lost porn.
Funny thing I have lost data in the past. I learned simply to back up your back up and everything is always fine.
"Good thing Seagate will recover all that lost porn."
Yes I need my private homemade porn back so I don't need to redo all those hard work again.
My friend started ragging on me because we have a rivalry going (He likes Western Digital, I like Seagate). I always pick on him whenever a WD dies (which is often, where I work), so he had a ball with this, and I sat back and smiled and said "Just wait". Thank you for having my back Seagate!!
The thing is, it's not like the free data recovery really costs them much (well, apart from a few $BIGNUM payments they'd otherwise be able to extort from victims via their data recovery wing - in the $1000-2000 region per drive, from the reports I've read). If you have the right cables and software - and I'm betting they do - it's pretty much just a question of hooking up the drive and pushing a button. (The commerically-available tool requires you temporarily disconnect the board from the drive in some cases, but they might know a way around that issue too.)
What's more, they're probably repairing the drives that people have sent in anyway, since they're sending refurb drives out to people who've RMAed dead drives, and I can't see there being enought of those to go around otherwise.
Anyone else having a problem with the READ link?
I guess their web server must be overwhelmed with requests.
heh, i had 2 of these drives fail on me in my raid 5 array within only hours apart... i put them in the freezer and one of them worked long enough to rebuild my array to a new drive. High fail rate enough?
Glad to know that if i had lost any data, i could now hold them to getting it back. Good work seagate.... would have been better if the drives didn't fail at all though.
@makomk
I'm pretty sure they have the tools, software, and/or hardware to resolve the problem as they MADE THE DEVICE in question. Most likely they are probably just replacing the controller boards on the drives with onces with the correct firmware revision or have some method of correcting the issue directly with the controller board in question.
I love the purple and green smoke effect.
Yes, I love it too. What an artistically shape and colorful smoke! Just like a filthy paintbrush dipped in water.
Thats good customer service. Always used seagate and never had a problem, but good to know they make right on their wrong
thats gonna be awkward when they gotta recover your pr0n collection off the fried HDD.
"Dear sir, (Or madam) we are writing to inform you that disk recovery was a success, however you will now be arrested after violating State law 22 times, P.S. I will be personally safeguarding the evidence.... mmmm"
Outstanding Seagate! I was worried about this as I use and always recommend Seagate. With times like they are, one good side effect is that customer service will once again have power to make or break a company. Seagate you have made me proud. Customer Loyalty is once again meaningful.
I was worried cause I recently bought one of the drives affected by the bug but after following the read link i found out that I already have a firmware on it that fixes it.
It's too late Seagate, I've already bought two HDD from Western Digital. And free data recovery is not enough for me to regret the decision to go for the smaller HDD for my desktop. The laptop drive was less of a no-brainer, because the WD drive didn't have a Seagate drive to compete with so this issue wasn't a deciding factor.
what are you talking about? WD is the one who first made a two-platter 500GB scorpio drive..
just installed one in a friend's MBP and it is SCREAMIN fast.
WD is not bad if you stick with 2-platter design or the BLACK edition.
I never said there was anything wrong with WD. In fact, for the laptop drive it was my first choice. I just was saying that instead of going for the 1.5 TB drive from Seagate for $30 more, I opted to go for a 1 TB drive from WD because of the Seagate's failure rate. Wouldn't you go for an extra half a terabyte for $30?
Sorry if this is a repost, but I'm sure we'll all tired of Engadget's posting problem by now.
I emailed them Friday and am still waiting on a response about a firmware update.
Ditto
Same here. Emailed through the website, direct email to discsupport@seagate, and called them "Unfortunately, we are experiencing difficulties with our call delivery system..."
I don't know about a "victory". Salvaging what they can from a fiasco is more like it. I know I'm going to be wary of Seagate in the future, and until now every drive I bought was a Seagate.
At first glance this sounds great, but after having personally called tech support and checking the Seagate forums over and over again...it's really evident that Seagate knew about this issue a long time ago and was hoping nobody else would notice.
Seagates just doing damage control now because they're tech support lines are being flooded (takes almost an hour to get through now a days) and their forum is full of angry customers demanding answers (and an updated firmware...which still hasn't been released to address the problem).
Never buying Seagate again!
Just doing what they should.
Shit... I sure hope im not about to get 20 emails from guys i made servers for saying their disks are busted
Well at least its not my fault....
I stand corrected, the firmware has been released.
Too bad Seagate....I just returned a couple of 7200.11 drives that I'd bought a couple of weeks back and replaced them with other drives. While I do applaud what Seagate has done to resolve the problem, Seagate should have come out MUCH EARLIER about this problem rather than screwing around and denying the problem, leaving everyone in the dark. In that case I might have decided not to return the drives.
Plus they hasn't announced anything for people who own FreeAgent drives that have the affected disks inside of them. (Not to mention many other brands of external drives, of which it would be near-impossible to diagnose this problem.) We're waiting on you, Seagate....
I've sent in my model/serial#/firmware version info to them repeatedly and no response.
And the firmware page is giving a "SERVICE NOT AVAILABLE" at the moment.
I wish they'd just post the damn firmware download, instead of requiring an e-mail.
It seems like they want to hide how widespread the issue is, but making you e-mail your info instead of just publishing which drives require it.
I have a LOT of data on these drives... I can forgive them for having a bug.. I've had a good experience with all of my seagate drives in the past. All I want to do is to be able to fix this but the mentioned site isn't even loading at the moment. Dammit seagate, just post the damn fix for us already.
The following are potentially affected models. If you have one of these drives please choose it from the list for model-specific instructions.
Link for Drive Detect: http://support.seagate.com/kbimg/utils/drivedetect.exe
Barracuda 7200.11:
ST31000340AS
ST3750330AS
ST3640330AS
ST3500320AS
Firmwares affected - SD15-SD19, AD14
Firmware update - SD1A
----
Barracuda 7200.11:
ST31500341AS
ST31000333AS
ST3640323AS
ST3640623AS
ST3320613AS
ST3320813AS
ST3160813AS
CC or LC firmware not affected.
Other firmware and fix currently in testing
-----
Barracuda ES.2 SATA:
ST31000340NS
ST3750330NS
ST3500320NS
ST3250310NS
Firmware and fix currently in testing
--------
DiamondMax 22:
STM31000340AS
STM3750330AS
STM3500320AS
STM31000333AS
Affected firmware - MX15 (or higher)
Firmware update - MX1A
---
DiamondMax 22:
STM31000334AS
STM3320614AS
STM3160813AS
Firmware and fix currently in testing.
So, I guess I'd be playing Russian Roulette if I bought one today, since they haven't recalled it officially.
I'm waiting over a month.
I have the following:
Barracuda 7200.11:
ST31000340AS
Firmwares affected - SD15
Firmware update - SD1A
I used the Drive detect to get that, then selected my drive on the links to be taken to
http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207951
which has a link to download firmware for my drive onto a Dos startup disk, with no other drives attached besides my cd drive and harddrive i scan (S) and it detects my drive with the following information as well using the disk.
i then choose to update firmware for my drive (A) and it gives me a bunch of command error numbers then
tells me the specific model isnt present. Expecting ST31000340AS
I feel like they are just trying to break my hardrive during a firmware update so they can drop responsibility for having to retrieve my data at this point.
You'll find that you are having the same problem as many other people.
The problem is that this firmware is for drives which have a partnumber ending in -300 and the drive you are trying to apply the firmware to most likely will have a partnumber ending in -303
Was able to pull up the actual words used
In Scan: "Device:0 Model:ST3100034AS FW:SD15"
When updating (A):
"Error: Specific model not found. ST3100034AS expected."
I received the exact same error.
Same error as well with the same drive/firmware (3100034AS/SD15).
Anyone tried it with the floppy bootdisk instead of the CD-ROM? I'm wondering if the firmware utility starts to search- finds the CDROM and then gives up.
I happen to have 28 of these drives in production in two 16-bay servers. Unfortunately, they're all behind hardware raid cards, which is going to make this week fun fun fun! (I've also happened to have 4 of the 28 DIE already)
Michael
i'm glad they are offering free data recovery, i hope they are just using a disk image maker to do this as i dont want them looking at my files.
i have a 1.5TB 7200.11 with firmware: CC1G, bought it around 2 months ago with 5yr warranty.
Seagate now only give 3 year warranties on new drives as of a few days ago, luckily those who purchased earlier still get 5yr warranty.
Their 7200.12 drives look nice, 500gb/platter!
Wait...did your disk drive actually die? You said you have CC1G firmware, and Seagate's site says CC firmware is not affected. Is this untrue?
I have 2 500GB Seagate units with the affected model numbers sitting inside a LaCie Raid unit.
I wish LaCie would have sent me a unit with 2 Hitachi drives instead now as the other half of customers buying that unit were getting.
Maybe i'll bug them for it.
I don't trust them with this firmware upgrade, Seagate's been into some sneaky doings lately. First, they were deleting posts in the user forum left and right and now I see that they deleteted from this knowledge base site the "tool" they had previously up where users supposedly could check the serial # of their drive to see if it was affected.
This "tool" did not work! It flagged dead drives as not affected and has thus probably caused more harm than without it. Now I read about people having problems with the new "firmware". This is rapidly turning into a humangous trust issue, insofar that Seagate no longer can be trusted at all...
Just to add not all Thailand manu drives with firmware SD-15 are affected. I have 8 of these drives in a RAID array and all were cleared OK with Seagate's online checker.
Doh! Just read Karel's comment above. If that's true then I have a serious issue ever trusting Seagate again...
The updater didn't work for me. I have two 1TB models in a Mac Pro.
Put 'em in a normal computer (aka: Windows) and try.
Worked nicely for me on a Mac Pro (model number ST31000340AS).
Just to add. I have two of the affected drives. The 1TB and a 500GB version. Turns out they both have the SD15 firmwares after a little bit of looking. It seems the drivedetect program they've made available doesn't want to look at what drives are on my PCI SATA cards, which is where 4 of my 5 Seagate drives live, including the two affected ones, which happen to be on two different cards with two different chipsets.
Surely they didn't expect everyone to have their drives connected to the motherboard?
Also, the drives are in a server hidden in the attic with a lack of keyboard monitor and mouse. It only recently got a CD drive. This should be fun, but not as fun as the people with huge RAID arrays!
I have 2 1TB drives that are affected by this nonsense.
I hope they get the firmware working correctly soon...
-_-;; epic fails because they are both almost full...
Has anybody managed to successfully apply the new SD-1A firmware yet?
No. I tried many times with the drives in different configurations in my computer this morning. None worked. The firmware updater is flawed and does not work.
This is sick.. I bought 5-1TB drives a few months ago, while my friend bought 6 of them (right beside me).. I'm running ZFS on them under OpenSolaris.
One of my drives finally completely failed (replaced by my computer dealer), and the other ones are showing some weird issues. I get random CRC checksum errors on certain blocks on some of the disks. Luckily they're repairable, but I'm wondering if some of the other drives are going as well. I'm starting to realize maybe the rest of my hardware is okay, as these sorts of issues can sometimes be motherboard, cpu, and memory related.
Two words... F U Seagate (okay, maybe three)
Oh, and to add... Good luck getting Seagate to recover data on your drives in RAID0,3,4,5, etc.. Unless they use dd to move block for block over to the new disk they ship out (which I HIGHLY doubt), you'll NEVER see your data again.
Have given up trying to get this mythical firmware update, Seagate's customer service phone number says they are on holiday !, their email crashes and when I eventually got onto chat they eventually said they cant support the problem and hung up.
I bought the 1TB drive from Dabs who have issued me with a return number and I am returning the disk for a refund and buying a Western Digital Disk instead. Way to go Seagate, you have completely flushed your reputation down the pan over this, I will NEVER buy a Seagate product again.
Nick E
i had the same issues, no email, no online tech support, no firmware, its terrible to give great news- then have it be a bunch of BS
disksupport@seagate.com is the email i found at the bottom of the page, i sent them an email but in a time where they are fully aware they just BS'd a huge population of HDD owners, i have a feeling that email is filling up with unread emails at an alarming rate, all of which will be ignored.
I purchased 2 1TB Seagates for Raid 1 backup and guess what? One dies in two days. Luckily Seagate replaced it with a...refurbished drive. Instead of risking it any further I went out and purchased two 1TB WD Black hard drives.
I think all drives will die. Some faster than others. My old 150gb Raptors haven't had a single problem yet.
Before I bought the raid 1 array I had two drives die in my PC a month before. One was a WD and the other a Hitachi. Strangely the Hitachi would still work, but you couldn't add any data to it without errors. The WD just clicked non-stop. Now I just do not really trust ANY brand. I usually just backup my backup and disconnect it from the computer and set it somewhere safe.
These days I just try to not go with the cheapest HD a company makes. The more expensive versions seem to last a bit longer.
This is SHITE!!!
One of my drives failed 2 weeks after I got it and I already RMA'd it. Why the frack did they send me another one with the exact same flawed firmware just a week ago!?@#
I'm going to bite the bullet and just replace my 3 drives.
$300 I spent on them isn't worth risking some crap firmware update that might brick them, or waiting on them to get it right.
Never again Seagate. You guys blew it big time.
I'm very suspicious of why these drives suddenly went ON SALE at NewEgg at the time I bought them. Was Seagate and/or NewEgg trying to dump a known flawed product!?
All you guys saying things like "I'll never trust X company again" make me laugh. It is called BACK UP. Clearly none of you remember the fiascos Samsung and Western Digital (and just about any other hard disk manufacturer) have had in the past. Doesn't anyone remember the 1.2 GB WD's that would wildly spin the platters and slam the heads against the side of the drive body with a massive clatter every couple seconds? Doesn't anyone remember when Samsung's name was mud? No? I remember the good old days when a 9 GB hard disk weighed in at about 20 pounds and was full height and depth - and the only people who had them had cubic dollars to spend (AKA banks). You haven't lived until you have heard the Seagate 40 MB (yes, that's MEGAByte) MFM hard disk spin down to park the heads. Most people today would think it was dying if their computer made that kind of noise during shutdown. Anyone even RLL and how IDE came out of it? Remember how bad RLL could screw up? How about Micro Channel SCSI? How about a VAX system with the massive tank disks? Ever seen what happens on a head crash on one of those? Let's just say it isn't very pretty when it cuts a 1/4" wide trench in a massive platter.
Also, if you want to watch an old school tech shudder, just mention the word "Quantum" :-)
I downloaded the bootable iso for my 7200.11 500GB SD15, and I'm getting the same errors as others. The good news is the drive still works. Hopefully Seagate will get a new version of the firmware update script soon. Backup, backup, backup!
Man, impossible got get ahold of anyone today... "company holiday" I guess.
Now, I've got a drive that's got the dead firmware issue (about a year old). It packed it in about 2 months ago. I've had it assessed at a data recovery place and they've told me it's the dreaded firmware issue and the data is fine. Anyone know if this thing will actually fix my drive that's already been affected? The bios won't see my drive at the moment, but I really would like to get my data off of there as not all of it was properly backed up. Hard lesson learned for me... ouch.
Im pretty sure since its no longer detected that its toast. the Firmware Update is only for drives still in action, to avoid whats happened to you.
Although, what i take from the post, Seagate is offering data recovery for everyone affected that sends it in, as well as fixing with a firmware update (or trying to, more accurately) to avoid having more drives to recover data off of.
Well here's a double whammy for everyone... Apparently the firmware they released only works for part number 300 drives. But.. everyone apparently only has part number 303 drives. So this firmware update utility has not worked for a single person. In fact, a group of people actually managed to brick their drives by desperately replacing the update tool with an older version.
NEVER BUYING SEAGATE DRIVE EVER AGAIN.
@Slappy Wag: Give me Micropolis or give me death! :)
Check the Seagate forums and the news.
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board?board.id=ata_drives
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/seagate-500gb-1tb-firmware-update,6867.html
They released a corrupt 500 GB firmware and they bricked even more drives. Also, higher capacity drives don't seem to have RAID functionality now. They pulled the update now and they said they're checking it. What a joke.
The failure rate of the affected drives is insanely high. One of these drives failed on me recently and I am forced now to rely on a data recovery lab to get my data back. I'm sure Seagate will never take care of it no matter how much I insist on it. I'm never buying Seagate again.
If you look on seagate's site they have withdrawn the patch. Good thing too - I downloaded and applied the patch to my drive literally an hour before they withdrew it and it rendered my drive inaccessible to windows. Sigh. Hopefully they offer data recovery if their patch damages your drive too....
Same here... just barely got the patch before they took it down... if anyone else comes across it, do not use the patch dated 01/19. I can now see the drive in BIOS and Seagate's DriveDetect utility with the correct new SD1A Firmware, but the OS can't access the data on the disk. I sent Seagate an email with what happened, but don't really expect to hear back anytime soon.
Just FYI, the newly released firmware (as of 01/22/09) resolved the issue... I applied it and the drive that was unaccessable to the OS is back to life.
Seagate are NOT I repeat NOT offering free data recovery, don't be fooled. My seagate drive is fucked and they won't fic it claiming it to be a diffrent problem - How many problems are there with these shit drives
I got this email from seagate
"Seagate is not offering free data recovery for those affected by the firmware bug, we are offering free firmware flashing. Those are much different. Your drive needs to be replaced which can be done at the link below"
This website's author has obviously misunderstood.
I have lost heaps of data - and yes I did have it backed up. Only mistake was backing it up to s seagate freeagent 750GB which after less than 1 months use has bad sectors and the data has been able to be recovered as yet.
Seagate are shit shit shit shit shit
I took my seagate to a pro data recovery place and they said that my broken drive is consistent with what they have seen with heaps of the SD15 7200.11 drives. They are now trying to recover data from my crappy freeagent drive.
I will be switching to WD. I will have two WD 1 TB in raid and a ED external drive for backup
Fuck you seagate and fuck your crappy drives