January 16th, 2009
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Are 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 drives dropping like flies?
UPDATE: Seagate says it has isolated a “potential firmware issue” that is behind this recent spate of failures. The company has also announced that it will provide a free firmware upgrade for those affected, and, for those unfortunate enough to lose files, a free data recover service.Support is available through Seagate’s call center: 1-800-SEAGATE (1-800-732-4283). Affected customers can get quicker help via email (discsupport@seagate.com). In your email you will need to include your drive’s model number, serial number, and current firmware revision.
You can find firmware recommendations here.
Info on how to contact support here.
Over the past few weeks I’ve heard from a number of 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 owners who claim that the drives are failing at a far greater rate than would be expected for a desktop hard drive.
The problem seems to affect Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS drives (loaded with with firmware level SD15) which were manufactured in Thailand are failing without any prior warning at boot time and locking up permanently.
There’s a large thread over on Seagate’s support forum about this issue, along with another one om the MSFN forum. So far no fix has surfaced and switching the PCB for one from a functioning drive doesn’t work either.
Owners are, as you can imagine, unhappy about this issue. They are also unhappy because Seagate is replacing defective drives with one of a similar model and using the same firmware, which they claim makes the replacement drive vulnerable to the same failure.
At first I was skeptical about this problem, but after reading the forums, checking out the review sites and speaking to people who have suffered at the hands of this drive, I’m now distrustful of this drive. I’m so wary of this drive that I’ve taken the two 1TB Barracuda 7200.11 drives I’ve got here out of service.
Anyone here had a bad experience with the Barracuda 7200.11 drives?
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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