Seagate 500GB HD problem

I have one of the affected drives and downloaded the firmware update.

It won't install. Errors out with a code 2.
 
Ok, I applied the firmware update and it shows the correct model number, but now mine also shows 0k cache in HD Tune.

Is there another utilitiy to check this with? Oddly, I can't see a way to do this with Seatools.
 
I'm wondering if HDTune needs an update to correctly recognize 32 meg cache drives. FWIW, mine also shows 0 cache.
 
MassiveOverkill said:
I'm wondering if HDTune needs an update to correctly recognize 32 meg cache drives. FWIW, mine also shows 0 cache.
Click to expand...

to all of you wondering why st3500320 as dont show correct cache size in any software this is part of seagate explanation and answer to my enquiries about these hard disks

Thank you for your enquiry.

As new technology used from 7200.11, The drive's cache size can not be detected by any software utility.

i have bought two st3500320as both show firmware sd04 one of them shows in bios mode st3500820 as and a cache size of 8mb the other shows st3500320as and a cache size of either 0 or unknown.

i personally find this explanation from seagate difficult to believe, if the hard drive has a 32mb cache size to be used by system it should be a way to detect and measure it, all i could beleive is that changing the way it shows it software utilities would need an update to detect it but dont try to tell me that there are 32mb of cache inside but that i cannot detect it in anyway that sounds pretty false.
 
Yeah, this is a bit weak....

Anyone done any tests to confrim this drive actually acts like it has a 32MB cache?



pekingu said:
to all of you wondering why st3500320 as dont show correct cache size in any software this is part of seagate explanation and answer to my enquiries about these hard disks

Thank you for your enquiry.

As new technology used from 7200.11, The drive's cache size can not be detected by any software utility.

i have bought two st3500320as both show firmware sd04 one of them shows in bios mode st3500820 as and a cache size of 8mb the other shows st3500320as and a cache size of either 0 or unknown.

i personally find this explanation from seagate difficult to believe, if the hard drive has a 32mb cache size to be used by system it should be a way to detect and measure it, all i could beleive is that changing the way it shows it software utilities would need an update to detect it but dont try to tell me that there are 32mb of cache inside but that i cannot detect it in anyway that sounds pretty false.
Click to expand...
 
i personally find this explanation from seagate difficult to believe,
Click to expand...
Yeah, this is a bit weak....
Click to expand...

Add me to the "WTF are they trying to pull here" crowd.

I would expect something like this from the "DoWe CheatUm' and How" company, but come on Seagate, mystery cache? :rolleyes:
 
I just received an SD04 from NCIX and the model name did show up correctly. After I flashed to AD14, neither the performance (fast) or the 0KB cache changed.
 
N_Raged said:
I just received an SD04 from NCIX and the model name did show up correctly. After I flashed to AD14, neither the performance (fast) or the 0KB cache changed.
Click to expand...

That's actually reassuring. I thought I was the only one who got SD04's that didn't need flashing.
 
ST3500320AS.gif


I don't have any captures of SD04 results, but it's pretty much the same.
 
I do. Before now I had no idea that existed. HD Tune results don't change with write caching disabled.
 
Hmm, I got one back at the beginning of November from Newegg. It has the SD04 firmware but also the 0 cache thing in HD Tune.

Anyone know why it would be running in UDMA mode 5 instead of 6?

HD Tune image:
hdtuneet5.jpg


I'm pissed at Seagate right now too because after waiting 2 weeks for a warranty replacement on a 200GB .7 series drive the new "certified" :rolleyes: drive doesn't work. As soon as the drive was accessed it started making very loud screeching noises and was returning read errors. I immediately disconnected it for fear of damaging my PSU (who knows what else is wrong with it). You would think they at least would turn the drive on and make sure it works, WTF is the point of the "certification"?! :mad: :mad:
 
hmm getting sick of this, i have bought two of this as i wrote earlier and have them lying on my desktop. from time to time i throw them a suspicious eyebrow twist. something like

i do not trust on you to two to handle my big precious pr0n data :rolleyes:

im seriously considering to sell them but dont know wht i should buy instead, i found interesting last samsung 750gb model but it has too many platters. im lost, wht a stupid use for money ffs.
 
Reply I received from Seagate concerning the "0 Cache" issue:

Thank you for your reply.

As the new technology used in 7200.11 drives. Now, it's impossible for the software to detect the cache size.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us. In order to allow us to deal with all enquiries as efficiently and accurately as possible we would ask that you include any previous emails when replying to us.

Best regards
 
TechLarry said:

As the new technology used in 7200.11 drives. Now, it's impossible for the software to detect the cache size.
Click to expand...

pekingu said:

As new technology used from 7200.11, The drive's cache size can not be detected by any software utility.
Click to expand...



ya know man, our suppa 7200.11 hardz are the roxxorz, your stupid prehistorical software is not gonna detect tha mega cache making magic inside them. :rolleyes:


now think about it twice
if feedback info given to us by software like everest or hdtune is not relevant at all for this hard disk generation
WHY DID THEY TOLD US IN THE FIRST PLACE TO UPGRADE FIRMWARE FROM SD04 TO AD14 JUST BECAUSE THOSE STUPID SOFTWARES WERE NOT DETECTING THE CORRECT 32MB CACHE SIZE

think about it, in their web article about this issue we were told that upgrading firmware was a risk but that if we didnt proceed to do that we would be using only 8mb of the total 32mb cache, just because in the case of the models identified as st3500820as by bios that was cache size reported by software like everest and hdtune. So i repeat the question, if feedback from those softwares are non relevant why did they provided a firmware upgrade in the first place. If they report 8mb something in going wrong according to seagate BUT IF THEY REORT 0KB OF CACHE ALL IS FINE??? cmon we need you to take it more seriously and we need some nice well known review sites to take part into this mess. seagate 7200.11 are among the first choices for pc users and they are not getting any attention from review sites, maybe because seagate hard drives did always dispensed reasonable performance and excelent reliability but for the first time all that has gone tru the pipe and noone is putting some hard words over it.
 
would burst performance be affected by striping 2 of these drives (Raid0), or should my burst rates be similar to you guys running just 1 500GB drive?
PS. I have the jumper removed for 3.0gb/s speed
using HDTach, my burst performance is showing nice numbers (it's the same using the 8mb and 32mb tests)
using HDTune, my overall numbers are terrible
:confused:

Firmware version : SD15
Serial number :
Capacity : 931.5 GB (~1000.2 GB)
Buffer size : 0 KB
Standard :
Supported mode :
Current mode :

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label : 1000GB (SATAII)
Capacity : 953854 MB
Usage : 15.40%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

84948923ax1.jpg

42630689jc7.jpg


:confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top