Seagate offers solution to 7200.11 hard drive failure epidemic
A simple firmware update will prevent the failure, but if it's already happened then things get a little more complicated.
If you own one of those Seagate hard drives we found out were dropping like flies yesterday, it's possible that you can now relax. Seagate has come up with a solution to what it calls a "potential problem" with the firmware. Firmware is like a set of simple programs on a hardware device that tells it how to behave, and Seagate belives the firmware for its hard drives is making an error and causing the failures.
If you head over to the Seagate website, you'll find instructions on how to upgrade your firmware to a version that the company says won't have the problem. Of course, if your drive has already failed, this won't help you much if you're just concerned about getting your old files back. If you contact Seagate, though, the customer service representatives there will likely try to find a way for you to recover your data. We wouldn't expect a guarantee though.
This serves as a reminder to backup your stuff in case your hard drive fails. You don't need special hardware or software to do this; we have a guide to online backup services that'll help you store your stuff on the web so you can pull it back down whenever and wherever you need it.
This story around the web:
- Trusted sources:
Seagate Knowledge Base [seagate.custkb.com]
-
Seagate 7200.11 Drive Failures - Official… [Ubergizmo]
-
Seagate Hard Drive Fiasco Grows [Slashdot]
Get more information on topics relating to this story:
- Related company news:
- Seagate
- Related glossary terms:
- Firmware, Hard disk drive
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Comments (10)
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Anonymous (10:38 AM on Wed Feb 11, 2009)
I am so happy to have found this information! My Raid lost one of these models a month back and I replaced with the same model.. lost another today! So happy to find out it's all A-O-K.
john (1:22 PM on Tue Aug 4, 2009)
I've had a Seagate Free Agent Pro for about a year and have experienced complete meltdown for the second time now. I woke this morning to the computer telling me it could not read the external hard drive and would like to know if I want to initialize it. The last time this happened, the rep asked me if I shook the hard drive. What? Why would I shake the thing? Better yet, why do they this sell crap on the shelves that potentially will destroy all your data? The guy said there is a possibility that the data can be recovered...at my cost. Why should I have to pay for the poor performance of this crappy device? I realize, again, that I should not rely on an external hard drive for storage, but I WILL NEVER BUY A SEAGATE AGAIN!!! This is ridiculous. STOP SELLING US CRAP SEAGATE!!!
Anonymous (7:03 PM on Fri Nov 27, 2009)
I have had a similar experience. I bought 3 of the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB. I had one die 3 weeks ago, and had another one die last night. I still have one still going but I don't trust it. I have to ask myself a question.......will I trust a companies firmware upgrade to fix something that should not have happened in the first place. Don't sell something that will cost the customer. I will get new ones via Warrenty, but what do I do with them......3 new door stops.....I will never buy a Seagate Hard Drive ever again.
aliviaJones
(3:25 AM on Sun Dec 13, 2009)
Thanks for this nice informative writing. I had a seagate hard drive and having trouble with this. I think your given way will help me...
Anonymous (2:53 AM on Wed Dec 30, 2009)
i have two 500 gb seagate hard disks and three failures within less than an year. each hard disk failed once each and i got replacements from seagate. even replacement has failed.
Anonymous (12:37 PM on Tue Dec 8, 2009)
A few years back Seagate was babbling 'bout shipping 1billion drives. Wow! but IS QUANTITY MORE IMPORTANT THAN QUALITY?? I have lost about 3 Seagate drives in the past and now my 7200.12 is refusing to transfer files any faster than 3MB/s. Why is Seagate giving us scrap unreliable hardware? Now,one thing is for sure. When shopping for a hard drive i will buy something which is DEFINITELY NOT A SEAGATE. To all folks out there who are looking for a new hard drive, NEVER EVER BUY A SEAGATE if you dont want to put your data in danger!!
Anonymous (6:31 PM on Sat Jan 16, 2010)
Mine Barracuda 7200.11 Just Failed.. Lost all Data.. Damn Seagate.. :(
Anonymous (9:32 PM on Thu May 13, 2010)
Today will make my 8th RMA in under two years. Seagate use to be a good drive.
Anon (3:51 PM on Tue Jun 1, 2010)
One fell over within 6 months, got a replacement, I updated all firmware, left on shelf or a year and within 4 weeks the new one fell over - lol. I am not buying Seagate again. All my other HDDs has lasted 5+ years incl a 50MB Quantum and a 10yr old Maxtor that I had (1.2GB). My laptop's Hitachi is still going, a new HDD in 2001 - 20GB size.
Anonymous (5:42 AM on Tue Aug 17, 2010)
Interesting, even if it is 18months after the posting of this article.
I just mailed my drive off on an RMA, as Windows7 was reporting it failing after 52 hours.
SeaTools had no recommended firmware upgrade. It will be interesting to see what model drive I get back, and if it is the same model, what firmware.
Be wary of computer stores with bargain drives - I saw it was a Seagate Barracuda, and assumed it was quality. I think Seagate now realise they have a dud model and want to get them out of circulation.