Hey i am just wondering if any of u had flashed the new firmware which released on 22/1/2009 SD1A? I wondering if that new firmware is 100% fine or not? I still wondering if i had to flash mine 500GB too? I'm feared tat the latest firmware still having bugs..
Here's mine:
ST3500320AS

Firmware: SD15
Date Code: 09135
Site Code: KRATSG
Made in Thailand

i just bought recently from lowyat plaza on the 1st week of december....
how many of u success and get the drive 100% working after flashing the latest firmware???

This post has been edited by lovelies: Feb 13 2009, 09:09 AM

how to RMA my drive? anyone can tell me? mine ST3500320AS failed too.. copying files from tat drive is very very slow and sometimes auto restart pc...i already updated to SD1A ..just today show up problem...damn i lost some data... i changed everyting the sata port, cables....still same..

so how to RMA my drive? pls help me thanks

i having problem in SD1A just yesterday. I bought since last december and it was SD15.. i updated to SD1A last 2 weeks ago...but now the hdd having problem.. hard accessing the drive. i benchmark the drive the speed running at 3.3Mb/s...i also copying the files from tat drive and also formatting, the pc will very very lag ..sometimes will auto restart.. i checked the COmputer Management>Disk MAnagement from Administrative Tools, Control Panel...the drive says it is at risk... but i check HD Tune, all seems OK...but the Seagate tool also fails some test on tat drive..
so, i can RMA it ?

im from sarawak state. so i RMA to where? what is the address?
and also how to post it? in a box or wat?

this seagate bricks still a hot issue nowadays? seems like this forum become few ppl posting? so anyone still having the problem on 7200.11 drives?

what are the steps tat i need to take to RMA the drive? what the checklist?
register my warranty on seagate website, perform return on the website, select the place to return, use the correct packaging, then? need any signature? after i send the drive to them, how they gonna send the repaired drive to me? using the order number or wat?......
and, im at sarawak....i decided to send to selangor there, when i gonna get the repaired one back?
and can i replace the drive with the higher capacity drive? or they just replace with the same model?
doesnt it need to let the seagate to verify if the drive need replacement before sending it to them? i mean...i just create the return order and then post the drive to them without having them to verify the drive beforehand? (get what i mean or not??)

This post has been edited by lovelies: Feb 27 2009, 07:08 PM

if i got IDE 80 conductor cable faulty which connect to hdd (single drive, master) but still can boot windows normally....will it affect the SATA drive I/O reading and the SATA drive speed?..
i having a Maxtor IDE (boot drive) it can boot to windows normally, but the SATAII drive speed is very very slow and will cause the pc lag...
so my question is, the faulty IDE cable (which got connected to hdd); will it affect the SATA drive speed and I/O of the SATA drive?
(NOTE tat i hav 2 hdd, 1 IDE and another is SATA hdd)

the SD1A i think still got problem....mine ST3500320AS...
the spin up retry parameter in HDTune having some problem....causing the drive run very very slow...
i think the firmware still got problem...

mine 500gb st3500320AS formerly SD15, already updated last month SD1A, i notice the Spin Retry Count in HDTune sometimes will increase, and sometime my drive very very slow, speed to 3.3MB/s (formatting 500gb consuming 40hrs, yeah, i did tried, took me 2 days)....
why seagate engineers are like this? are they Uni educated or just finish lower school?? and their programmer for the PCB chips got problem too? (oh, did they know how logic works?) cannot make a good firmware program untill now..
i am damn angry wasting my time to backup the whole 500gb drive to other drive at 3.3mb/s.
formerly mine SD15 no problem, but after i check the serial says mine is affected, so i listen to their damn advise lo, thanks for downgrading my drive...
hey, western digital more durable....i check the HDTune for my maxtor + 2 seagate drive(500&320)...the health parameter already got 2 yellow highlighted and the Data(the figures damn very big), and my drive running 1799 hrs and maxtor 8931hrs.....and i compare my bro's pc WD drive running 11890 hrs (no yellow highlighted parameters) still running good
nex time i switch to WD..no more to sea&max..

This post has been edited by lovelies: Mar 6 2009, 04:00 PM

less than 4 hrs format 1.5T if running at SATAI

anyone know is there any newer firmware release after SD1A?
seagate gonna release fixed firmware in future or not?

quick format only delete the references to the data and the files in tat drive...so cannot see in  windows....but the data still there, if use recovering program, the data will be recovered....
so if u wanna delete 100% all the data in tat drive, perform full format is better (full format will repair non-serious bad sectors)
see which condition u wanna format lo....
if u wanna RMA the drive, u better full format it...
if u sure tat the drive have no bad sectors, then use quick format lo..

This post has been edited by lovelies: Mar 8 2009, 01:19 AM

if me, i would switch to hitachi or western digital after having bad experience on seagate and maxtor...

yes, i had same situation wit ur hdd...movie will suddenly lag and pause then resume...and the pc becoming very lag...
my observation is that the spin up retry somehow failed.... the drive spin less than 7200rpm, u can hear the spindle sound kip retry (if u listen carefully on the hdd)... so..all u need to do is to...turn off ur pc ( or turn off ur hdd), and reconnect sata and power cables and turn back on the pc....if still the same, try repeat the procedure several times, until the spinning speed goes to 100%....that is what my observation is... and, it really works for me...

This post has been edited by lovelies: Apr 30 2009, 08:20 PM

yes..i am referring to ur problem...note that mine is ST3500320AS.. having no problem when SD15 few months back...but after flashed to SD1A, after 1 month i started encounter tat problem (movie suddenly lag and pause, i thought is windows resources overload, so i reboot, and found that my movies archive from 200++ high quality movies files become 150, then second reboot become 148). i thought i really need to RMA it, but as i know, sending to RMA need to format the drive, so i zero fill my drive using HD TUne3.5 and the speed is 3.2MB/s!!!!! normally is 120+MB/S...imagine 3.2MB/S format 465.5GB space = 2 days... so i give up format...then i turn off the pc take out the hdd....then after some day, thinking of putting back again the hdd.. (eh? the drive become normal again, but...all my files already gone coz of my formatting...DUH!!).. and i saw the parameter in HDTune Spin Retry Count kip increasing... now that is why i discover my own hueristic solution...it works for my drive, but not sure for other drive..
yes, it will occur again, but nvm..just repeat the procedure...
not sure will works on other hdd...

one more thing to add... yes..sometimes my drive will behave like tat....so i try my "own method" turn off and reconnect sata and power cable..then turn back on until the drive behave normal.....
my deductive conclusion is that:
SD15 = Bug on undetected in Bios, BSY, 0GB capacity issues
SD1A = Spin Retry failure causing slowness in drive and also got sound from hdd (pickup head is trying to adjust to read the data which designed to read magnetic disc at 7200rpm, which the spindle speed is not at rated 7200rpm).
i'll stop purchasing Seagate and Maxtor untill next year, or till they release bug-free product family.

This post has been edited by lovelies: Apr 30 2009, 09:00 PM

yes, that is the same situation as mine....
as for my method, not sure it will works on ur hdd and or other drives...but it works for me..
as for myself, i'm using HDTune Pro3.5 to check the drive parameters...

See the image:
The Spin Retry Count the normal operation should be 100 (shown in red arrow), if it is 99 or 98, then i use my method until it get back 100.
When it is 100, the value (shown in green arrow) should maintain; otherwise, it will kept increase. (I believe at 1st when i bought this hdd is 0, due to the spin error, mine increased to 268 which is now the value currently is..
when i copying files , the underlined parameters also increasing cummulatively, which i not yet understand what it means.

But i compare with my other WD , Hitachi and also my bro's WD...all the data in the columm isnt as large as what seagate and maxtor are....

This post has been edited by lovelies: May 1 2009, 12:01 AM

3.5 is the latest version
u can use the trial version
http://www.hdtune.com/