0

Edit: I'm bumping this question because I can't seem to find any definitive answers on the net about this. So far the initial answer I got does seem like a good idea - don't flash unless I have to, so I'm thinking of accepting that answer, but I'm wondering if anyone has additional hard evidence to show that the "final" version of this firmware is safe to use.

My friend's been having troubles with a hard drive, reference in this post:

Windows 7 Home hangs at "Welcome" screen

So he has a spare 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 from his old machine that actually worked okay on that machine. Model #ST3500320AS Yes, it's THOSE 7200.11's. Firmware revision SD15.

I know there was a huge debacle with the way Seagate handled the firmware updates for these drives, causing them to "brick". I checked the Seagate site for a firmware update:

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/207951en

And I see that firmware revision SD1A is available and that his drive is under that laundry list of affected drives. However, Googling 7200.11 SD1A had results from Jan 2009-Feb 2009 stating that this was the very version number that CAUSED the drives to brick.

It's 3 years later and the drive still works despite the fact it's under the "affected firmware" and I'm hesitant to have him update to SD1A because I've seen no confirmation that SD1A works. I don't understand why Seagate didn't update SD1A to a higher version since SD1A has its notorious nature.

So from anyone's experience, is it safe to update to SD1A, or is it still causing bricking? I'm guessing not, but I find it puzzling Seagate didn't change the version number of this firmware to reflect that that gamestopping bug was fixed.

1 Answer 1

2

If the drive has been working "okay" for a long while and you are not trying to fix a specific bug you are seeing with the drive, I wouldn't be in a rush to flash it, especially something so old.

In other words, there is a definite risk and I'm not seeing any profit in flashing. So, why do it?

Your plan seems to be to use the spare drive to replace the possibly failing drive in the Windows 7 home machine, and I think that would be OK to stick to.

If you do flash the drive, I would have a Plan B (buy another drive off of eBay or CList or something) waiting in the wings in case of bricking.

2
  • 1
    +1 As they say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
    – Dave M
    Apr 4, 2012 at 12:29
  • 1
    For some reason, I always write as if I'm paid by the word. I should write as if I'm paying for the words... Apr 4, 2012 at 15:25

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .