Man I was duped into buying this HDD because it was cheap, now I know why. It is reported that the 7.11 Barracudas with the AD15 firmware has problems and retailers are getting up to a 30% return rate for these bricks.

Physically, your HDD is fine, so the freezing trick will NOT help. Symptons after an uncertain number of booting up your HDD will not be detected by BIOS (and possibly all your other SATA/PATA devices, even non-Seagate ones), or your BIOS reports it having 0GB capacity. Your data is still intact, however, something in the firmware is telling the BIOS that it is busy.

You can read some bits of it here:
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/search?submi...AS&page_size=10
Or search on on google for the ST3500320AS+BIOS

Simply due to the fact that Seagate doesn't want to acknowledge that this is a problem (because they don't want to fix it, not for free anyway) is enough for me to boycott Seagate products for EVER.


Update:

Since there are many questions asking "which model is affected" etc, I'm copy pastaring the potentially affected models here:

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/self...sp?DocId=207951

Drive Family:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11

Models Affected:
ST3500320AS
ST3640330AS
ST3750330AS
ST31000340AS

Firmware Affected
SD15, SD16, SD17, SD18, SD19, AD14

Recommended Firmware Update:
SD1A

So far, the firmware update doesn't work for OEM drives (P/N) ending with 303. And some claim the firmware update DOESN'T fix the bricking issue, just the cache issue. It's up to you to decide whether or not to update. You are responsible for your data.


More updates (Jan 23):
Here's a firmware to patch the SD15 to SD1A

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/self...sp?DocId=207951

Download the appropriate ISO file for your drive model, burn it onto a CD (or a USB key if you know how), reboot and if your drive is still detectable, flash it accordingly.

It is not known if the firmware will stop the bricking issue (BSY/LBA0) or cause other issues, but I have successfully flashed the firmware to SD1A on my remaining ST3500320AS, and it has been running for 10 minutes now.

Firmware does NOT fix BSY state drives, I don't know about the LBA0 drives.

This post has been edited by spanker: Jan 23 2009, 10:48 AM

By the way, it seems like if you leave the 1.5 GB operation Jumper alone (instead of removing it for 3GB operation), it is less likely to happen (doesn't mean it won't). Owners of the 500GB and 1 TB model are more likely to face this problem.

Anyone experiencing this problem?


======================================
thanks for mxploit for the simple guide.

A tip to getting your HDD back with all your data untouched shall your Seagate 7200.11 brick:
1. Log on to Seagate's website.
2. Create a support case.
3. A support representative will contact you to confirm that your HDD is facing firmware issue.
4. Once confirmed, Seagate will arrange for UPS pickup to be delivered to Singapore for firmware upgrade.
5. After 10-20 working days, you'll receive your HDD at your doorstep with upgraded firmware and all your data in store.
No more worries about sending your HDD back to local service centres or sending your HDD for Data Recovery services.
Cheers!

Here's a few additional guide : (credit to andy0212)
1) Register & submit ticket at https://partnerreg.seagate.com/pppm/csoregistration.jsp?source=casemgmt&languageselect=en-US
2) AFTER submit, check again the ticket , and update your case by selecting "Yes - Escalate Case to Seagate Support" from the Escalate Case dropdown. (you will receive an email about this)
3) You'll receive an email from customer support to confirm about you harddisk condition. In my case, they asked me this question :

4) After you reply to them, they will email you the Disclaimer on how the process will be done. You need to reply them with your Full Name, complete shipping address with city, state and postal code and contact numbers with country code. This is for FREE Pick Up and return purpose.
5) Within few hours or maybe days you'll get an email from UPS with a few documents attached. You only need to print the UPS Return Label
6) Call UPS Malaysia toll free no. 1800-1800-88 to request a pick up, give them the tracking number stated on your UPS Return Label. They'll give you a date and time to pick up or you can choose which day that you prefer.
7) Ensure that the hard drive is packed in an ESD bag or any anti-static plastic. Then, securely packed it inside a small packaging box and ensure that the drive it is not moving. To have a sponge in between the hard drive would be superb.
8) Wait UPS for pick up and pray that your harddisk arrived safely..

Send your HDD to seagate if you have precious/important data..
Send to RMA if you doesn't care about your data and get a new hdd

This post has been edited by fariz: Jan 4 2010, 05:08 PM

send to RMA shld fix the prob then
its juz manucfacturer faulty

is this so true?
they should do a massive recall afterall

aiyo, i just bought this model yesterday.. 500g. hope nothing went wrong.. but so far its ok..

totally agree.my 500GB Seagate sata oem went dead just after 3 weeks using it.unable to detect in bios and the hdd led stays on.i've exchged it for a new same 1 2day and lets see how long this will last again.totally disappointed with seagate.my 5 year old maxtor 80gb is still running although its noisy,ironic eh

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=22950650

This post has been edited by ZeneticX: Jan 14 2009, 02:15 AM

RMA is not an acceptable option for those who value data more than hardware. I've got years of data in there since "migration". And I don't intend to RMA before i recover the data. I'm going to buy a competitor HDD, and then sell off the RMA-ed HDD to you guys.


BTW: Sauce for those who think their safe:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3...7200-11-failing

40% failure rate!!! And I have 2 of this crap.

This post has been edited by spanker: Jan 14 2009, 02:36 AM

where's the jumper thing?

and IMO hdd failure is the most worse/headache among any hardwares in ur pc bcoz its the main memory storage for all ur data files etc.mobo or proc prob at least u can send for RMA while ur precious data are still intact.i;ve spend almost 5 hours installing windows and all the necessary updates driver etc just now bcoz of the stupid failure

this is from "The Inquirer".

sad though seeing seagate going down this way . I was one of their supporter mainly because their RMA rate is lower than WD. i wonder why after so long (1 month) they still fail to get a solution

now i guess its time to move to WD

btw, TS thanks alot for sharing this

maybe thats why they shorten the warranty period.

they probably shot themselves in the head by lowering the warranty period

btw how much is WD Caviar black now?might wanna get it in case my current 1 went dead again

damn.. i should buy a new WD hdd and backup all my data before my 500gb seagate died on me....tick tock tick tock.. huhu

according to them this happen to most 1T only. so i guess your 500Gb should be safe. at least for now

This post has been edited by ham_revilo: Jan 14 2009, 03:41 AM

No way dude. my 500 GB bricked on me. Now the other 500 GB is just a ticking timebomb to me.

No wonder i felt fishy when i saw my hdd was made in thailand.. coz before this, all my seagate hdds were a product of china..

If there is an ever a Warning, then its the so-called "Freezer Trick".. Do NOT use that, especially with FDB motors plus the danger of stiction due to moisture condensation on the platters.

On the other hand, after gobbling up Maxtor.. I hope Seagate is not inheriting one of Maxtor's infamous hard drive issues (clue: firmware corruption)

This post has been edited by lex: Jan 14 2009, 06:13 AM

update:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3...7200-11-failing

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives failing

SEAGATE'S FLAGSHIP desktop Barracuda 7200.11 drives, in particular the 1TB (ST31000340AS) units, are failing at an alarming rate and prompting outrage from their faithful customers.

A new self-bricking feature apparently resides in faulty firmware microcode which will rear its ugly head sometime at boot detection. Essentially the drive will be working as normal for a while, then - out of the blue - it'll brick itself to death. The next time you reboot your computer the drive will simply lock itself up as a failsafe and won't be detected by the BIOS. In other words, there's power, spin-up, but no detection to enable booting.

Naturally the Seagate forums (as well as many other customer-driven forums, like etailers and hardware sites) are flooded with testimonies of customers' experiences with Seagate support. These are helpful enough to ship you a new drive, as per the warranty, but invariably the drives end up bricking as well.



希捷酷鱼7200.11硬盘面临缺陷问题
http://edu.cnbeta.com/articles/74761.htm

希捷最新一代的Barracuda 7200.11硬盘被曝出有缺陷,容易引发故障,据希捷公司论坛上和新蛋等B2C网站上的用户报告,这款磁盘,尤其是1TB版本包含一个缺陷,容易不正确地触发硬盘内部的保护机制,导致使用期间出现问题.这一问题主要集中在泰国出产的硬盘固件上.一些数据恢复公司的报告也应证了这一说法,7200.11硬盘的失败率明显高于其它产品.


虽然据报道说,希捷承认问题存在,并发布了固件更新,但并没有对客户提供额外的补偿和保修服务,许多用户也根本不知道需要更新自己的固件,因此业内认为希捷无视用户评论的行为令人失望.

This post has been edited by yangxi: Jan 14 2009, 08:10 AM

dude the HDD encasement is sealed, don't think moisture can squeeze their way in, but... you never know.

Most HDDs are not completely sealed and have a "breather hole".

The moisture comes from the cold temperatures within a "sealed" casing.. just like when you wrap something in plastic bag, seal it and put in the freezer.. when you take it out, you will notice moisture condensation on the surface of the plastic bag. Moisture can cause the head to stick to the platter, thus when spinning the head crashes and scrapes the platter.

Furthermore FDB (fluid dynamic bearing motors) require an optimal temperature to operate. Freezing it may cause the motor to seize or stutter on spin-up.

This is why I do NOT recommend the so-called "Freezer Trick"!

This post has been edited by lex: Jan 14 2009, 08:36 AM

Hmm, i bought this from the Allngap

OEM Seagate 1TB SATA 32mb 3.5" HDD - ST31000340AS

After reading all ur comments... should i get another hdd as a precaution???