The KB article I printed out states that if you use the tools linked in the article and have a product identified as affected, you are recommended to apply the update.

That is my situation but I downloaded the update and tried to apply it and it didn't work saying the specific model drive was not found even though a scan done with the same software identified that drive. Going to Seagate's Community Forums, I found a thread with a few people complaining of the same problem. I can't get through on the telephone help line so have sent an E-Mail requesting help.

dang.. and i've got a brand new 500gb seagate drive that i've been sitting on for a little while now.. wish i would have known about this before i had gotten it. funny though, i have 2 320 drives that are stable.

To those who have the 500 GB 7200.11 Seagate, DO NOT FLASH your drive with the posted firmware even if your drive is in the list of models that are in need of a firmware upgrade. It appears those that flashed their firmware bricked their drives. More details here on the Seagate Forums: Does the new firmware SD1A break 500GB cudas? (http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=5625&view=by_date_ascending&page=9)

It is a little strange. Yesterday there was a little utility where you could plug in your model and serial number and it would tell you if you needed an update (it said I was OK). When I checked this morning, that little utility was gone, and it just listed models and firmware versions, and by that measure, I apparently am affected.
I had the same strange experience, except the results were reversed: the web app said my drive was affected, but then the list of models and firmware revisions said my drive wasn't affected.

Needless to say, this isn't confidence inspiring. I had also sent them a note on Sunday with my drive details, but I've heard nothing back from them. I think I'll keep checking on a periodic basis to see if they update the list of affected drives, but this experience has really turned me off Seagate: I can't see myself purchasing another one of their drives any time soon.

The way the situation is being handled is being critiqued on some forums. I read one poster who said, reputations take years to build, but can be destroyed in seconds.... I don't think this will destroy their rep, but it may tarnish it a bit...
I too may hold off on betting another Seagate and try another brand, just so all of my eggs (harddrives) aren't in the same basket!

Looks like they've released another version of the firmware. I also read the forum and so far only a couple of people have chimed in with success. I'll wait for a few more success stories before updating my drive.

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207951


Congo

Yep, the iso file name of the firmware update for my 750 GB 7200.11 drive has changed from the last time I downloaded it a few days ago. I too am sitting on this one until I read about more success stories in the seagate forums.

Ho congo:

I think I'll be waiting too. It shouldn't take too long.

Thanks for the update.

Me too, or is that me 4. This whole situation is really starting to annoy me. I just wish Seagate would respond to some emails. Even just acknowledge receipt. There are many other HD companies that will be getting my business in the future.

How fortuitous that I saw these postings. I had already decided on a Seagate external 160Gb drive. Seagate was one of those brands that you could "take to the bank" and in earlier times take WD drives along also. Now I don't know who to trust with my valuable data, same as all of the rest of us wondering what to do. Woe is me!
I have a Comstar platinum 300Gb that likely has a trojan called "rescyled is not a System32 xxxxx". Got that crap off the C; D; and E drives but still on external backup drive. I am afraid to connect it in case the sucker drifts over to main computer drives. sailmaker

Hi guys, I have 9 ST31000340AS drives. I have just updated 2 of them without a problem. And another guy in Sweden I talk to just did the same drive, so I can report a few successes.

I have a 1 TB ST31000340AS with the SD15 firmware. I wasn't able to upgrade with the first firmware update Seagate posted but downloaded a new version that was available this morning. My update succeed without problems and the reported firmware version is SD1A. The computer is a new one I got last November and I will be replacing my old one as soon as I get comfortable with it and have transfered my programs and data to it. I guess I'll keep the old computer for awhile just in case and do backups at least once a week.

Another thing that really bothers me with these firmware updates is that Seagate issued an update called SD1A a couple of days ago. By many accounts, it didn't work and bricked many peoples' drives. Seagate pulls it, works on it, and then releases another update which seems to be having better success, and they call it... SD1A!!! So now there are two versions of SD1A floating about, one which definitely doesn't work and one which probably does.

Hi:

Updated my Seagate ST3500320AS to the new firmware. It is working fine, and I have confirmed the new firmware version through the little Seagate tool.

It took about 15 minutes, since I followed the instructions carefully and disconnected all drives except one CD-ROM and the Seagate.

The user posts on the Seagate site suggested that the problem was not with the new firmware but was with a batch file that needed to be executed. In many cases, including mine, the first version did not work because the supplied file contained a batch file that ran a separate program to identify the type of drive and incorrectly used this information to say that the drive was not the correct one and aborted loading the new firmware. If this was correct, there aren't two version of the firmware upgrade, just two versions of the upgrade batch file.

Well, I decided to bite-the-bullet and go for it since it is basically just a fresh installation anyways. I have two Seagate 500GB baracuda drives purchased in Dec 08.

Original:

Model: ST3500320AS
Firmware: SD15

Downloaded the firmware update called MooseDT-SD1A-SD-8-16-32MB.iso, checked the md5sum and burned to CD.

md5sum: 114a3933267ffc5f6b17c534951db7e0

Booted from the CD, followed the instructions, and new firmware on both drives now says SD1A.

Everything is intact and I notice no differences. Hopefully I can put this matter to rest and transfer the rest of the files from my old computer. Can't say I am really comfortable now, so I guess I'll have to keep one eye on the Seagate forums to see if any new problems arise.

The user posts on the Seagate site suggested that the problem was not with the new firmware but was with a batch file that needed to be executed. In many cases, including mine, the first version did not work because the supplied file contained a batch file that ran a separate program to identify the type of drive and incorrectly used this information to say that the drive was not the correct one and aborted loading the new firmware. If this was correct, there aren't two version of the firmware upgrade, just two versions of the upgrade batch file.

True but since the batch file is hidden on the CD, you wouldn't know what version you were running. I doubt the batch file is versioned.

The second version should have been renamed.

Another thing that really bothers me with these firmware updates is that Seagate issued an update called SD1A a couple of days ago. By many accounts, it didn't work and bricked many peoples' drives. Seagate pulls it, works on it, and then releases another update which seems to be having better success, and they call it... SD1A!!! So now there are two versions of SD1A floating about, one which definitely doesn't work and one which probably does.

Actually, there were only two drives that were being bricked by the firmware (one of the 500GB models, and a 640GB model). So therefore, the SD1A could very well be the same firmware that was there before.

On my 1.5TB drive, the firmware I was directed to download was SD1B - and the other drives listed with this firmware included the 500GB and 640GB. This firmware worked on my 1.5TB.

Updated my 500 GB today and all is well. It's back in my NAS and working as it did before :)

Congo

Hmmmm... I just bought the 1.5tb one on the list yesterday.

That Seagate Drive Detect doesn't seem to work on my Vista 64... it's just blank and I have three Seagate drives.

Any idea's?