2 TB Seagate Barracuda LP ST32000542AS Firmware Issues


Recommended Posts

Mod note:

 

I went Dexter-style and split this thread from this original one in the Good Deals forum:

 

EXPIRED : Seagate ST32000542AS 2tb $69.99

 

Please continue to use that thread for all discussion of price and availability of the 2 TB Seagate LP drives.  Please use this new thread for all discussion of the firmware update procedures, issues, etc.  Thank you.

 

- Raj

 


 

They typically come with CC34, however CC35 is the latest. Yet Seagate has not updated their firmware updater to recognize the new serial numbers on the drives, so you have to force the firmware update.

 

That was the case a few months ago, and I suspect it's still the case today. I will know for certain when my 2 drives arrive.

 

 

Link to comment
  • Replies 72
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I got both my drives from amazon. Both have cc34. Do i have to upgrade to 35? Or is it just recommended? Updating seems complicated to me.

 

The update process isn't overly complicated.

 

First download the iso image and burn it to a cd.  You can use ImgBurn to do the burning.

I have a computer with a single hard drive in a hot swap bay.  I powered it down and pulled out that drive and insert the new 5900 rpm drive.

Then, boot the machine using the CD.  It shows some disclaimer page that you press ESC to go past.  The menu of choices appears and you click "D" to install the firmware which takes about a few seconds.  Then you power down...swap back the drives and that's it.

 

Except for some drives (like mine) I had to force the update because the installer didn't contain the model number for my drive.  Doing the force isn't too bad either.

To force, instead of pressing "D" I entered CTRL+C which dumps you out of the menu to a command line prompt.  

From there you type:    FDL486A -m Hepburn -f HECC358H.LOD -s -x -b -v -a 20

The updated takes the few seconds and then returns to the command line prompt.  You power off the machine and swap the drives - all done.

 

Link to comment

The second drive arrived (it came with CC34) and even though it's ST32000542AS is on the update tools list I still had to force the update.  

Note:  Remember to set the Sata chipset to Native IDE in bios before flashing.  Otherwise the drive might not be found by the tool.

 

When I rebooted after flashing the drive it showed up (still in IDE mode) as having firmware CC38.  This is really odd because I thought the tool was supposed to flash it to CC35.  I'll check it again with udev when I start a preclear on it.  I'll begin preclearing this drive as soon as the first one finishes sometime this afternoon.  It's been preclearing for 23 hours so far.  

 

Another bit of information is that I put the first drive in my IcyDock's rightmost slot which is the hottest slot.  The LP drive runs about 5 degrees cooler than the 7200 rpm drives.  

 

Edit: The firmware is CC35 in unRAID.

Link to comment

Has anyone managed to update the firmware via a flash drive instead?  I have one of these LP's precleared and installed in my array, but now I'm thinking I should just go ahead and update the firmware from CC34 to 35.  I just really don't want to have to pull the drive out of my box and switch it over to a computer with a CD-ROM. 

Link to comment

Has anyone managed to update the firmware via a flash drive instead?  I have one of these LP's precleared and installed in my array, but now I'm thinking I should just go ahead and update the firmware from CC34 to 35.  I just really don't want to have to pull the drive out of my box and switch it over to a computer with a CD-ROM. 

 

If you can put the ISO onto a flash drive it would likely work.  When booting the tool it loads its files into a ram drive and the flash menu comes from there.

Link to comment

Has anyone managed to update the firmware via a flash drive instead?  I have one of these LP's precleared and installed in my array, but now I'm thinking I should just go ahead and update the firmware from CC34 to 35.  I just really don't want to have to pull the drive out of my box and switch it over to a computer with a CD-ROM. 

 

I was trying to do that earlier today. I gave up and ended up moving the drives to another computer.

 

The firmware update ISO from Seagate uses BCDW as the bootloader which doesn't support booting from flash according to this post:

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20681

 

Link to comment

Son of a ... I have two of these in preclear right now. I do not have a cd drive in my unraid box and I do not have another system that has sata interface, either is mac or it an older P4 Ide. Any other ideas? Just when this newb thought I was gettin this under control. Do I really need this firmware update?

Link to comment

I've been using one of these drives for months with the CC34 firmware.  Haven't had any problems yet, but it does make me a bit uneasy.  However, I also haven't had any of the clicking symptoms that prompted many people to start recommending this firmware update.  So tell me...are you feeling lucky?

Link to comment

Son of a ... I have two of these in preclear right now. I do not have a cd drive in my unraid box and I do not have another system that has sata interface, either is mac or it an older P4 Ide. Any other ideas? Just when this newb thought I was gettin this under control. Do I really need this firmware update?

 

Can you try an external usb CD/DVDrom drive?

 

In other news, my third drive arrived today.  

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.