poolcarpet

I don't think they knowingly or purposely do this. I strongly believe (although I don't have any real facts to back it up) that this is some sort of a defect in the firmware code. I'm sure they already incur a lot of cost for the RMA of all these drives, and I'm pretty sure by statistics, they would surely notice a higher rate of RMA of this drive. I would NOT believe that they still think nothing is wrong with this. However, if you think about it from their position: 1. Oh sh*t, firmware defect causes this 2. We can fix it, but if we fix this - what about existing users whose hard disk are BSY and 0 LBA? 3. As a result of releasing #2, then they might end up with a huge problem for the entire batch of 7200.11 SD15s - what if they are forced to provide a fix for all (to those who cannot access data in their BSY/0 LBA drives) 4. The costs for #3 will be astronomical So as some have mentioned, maybe releasing 7200.12 is a way to bypass this. Just my crazy conspiracy theories. Please do not take any of the above as truth!! I don't buy your theory; they lose far far much more knowingly shipping a defective product.

Put into facebook!! Any one dare? Agreed I'm doing backups. I'm not going to touch Seagate drives anymore. I've already email and msged all my friends that have a lot of hard drives to give them heads ups. I suggest everyone do this if they haven't already.

don't shutdown your PC! and backup each time BEFORE you shutdown! hahaha

Yep, I agree too. In that new thread maybe we have to keep it to posts related to the solution only and nothing else. That way it will be easy for anyone to zoom in to get the fix (if it's successfully achieved!)

You need to teach him how to get updates?? I think he should give you a nice discount for the recovery services!!! I don't have HD Doctor yet, but if you see their news: http://www.salvationdata.com/data-recovery...ny/news0811.htm "...headaches mentioned above; our technician did a lot of tests inside and outside the lab with the help of some valuable customers. After the long test and improvement, today, as usual, we provide this unique feature as a free upgrade to all our customers. Customers can download the upgrade version from the exclusive client forum directly." and their client forum is in: http://www.salvationdata.com/forum.htm which links to: http://www.salvationdata.com/forum/index.php and I see that they have a section: SalvationDATA Software Download and I'm guessing it must be there. Man, I've been spending way too much time looking at this problem - I think the same goes for most of us!

I think everyone here would be willing to pay a small amount to get their data back and put this nightmare behind them. If a solution without using HD Doctor/PC3000-UDMA works, then it's great! That may take time though, and for people who wants their data back ASAP, I think the best option we know now is to use HD Doctor (PC3000 is way too expensive at close to euro3000!). Find a bunch of people from same city as you are, and share the cost. I'm still looking for people from Malaysia/KL so that I can lower down the cost of buying that HD Doctor. So far I think there are 4 + 1 from Singapore. PM me if you are in Malaysia/KL and wish to participate.

Look at the middle part of the drive (photo as attached), is there a note saying it's for OEM?? Does everyone's failed drive have the OEM note? or are some of the failed disks retail versions?? Where is your OEM label??? If this is retail... is this OEM??? Mine came like the last one... but I don't remember seeing any OEM label on the package nor the drive. Saludos, ToKuRo.

Well, my own opinion is I'm not expecting Seagate to fix this. It doesn't look like they even acknowledge there is a problem - and I'm resigned to the fact that they are willing to RMA the failed drives, and backup of data on our drives are our own responsibility. So as much as I disagree, I have to accept when they offer to RMA the failing drives. Now, from a customer satisfaction point of view, it's a whole different story. An analogy would be buying a nice reputable car. You put in some nice music CDs in the car, customize it a bit here and there, and you are enjoying it. Then the next day you wake up, and guess what you are not able to unlock your car. Now you contact the car company, and they tell you "oh, please send in your car and we'll replace a new one for you or oh, if you need to unlock your car, please send to our car unlocking services. by the way, it will cost you USD1000". So what do you do then? Let them replace a new car for you - what about all my CDs and customizations in the car?? all gone?? or you pay USD1000 through no fault of yours? The idea of having the list is also to see if we can spot any pattern, to figure out what triggers it. We've believed it to be the firmware, but yet we see some non SD15s in the list. We've thought it might be power on hours or hours since first used, but yet we see 1 year old drives failing and also as new as few week old drives failing. Yes, Seagate can probably send a fax and shut down this thread, but I believe the message is already out there. I am certainly NEVER going to pay a single cent to buy any product/services from this company ever, and I'm sure a lot out here feel the same. And the way they have handled our discussions in the forum was like rubbing salt into a gaping, bleeding wound. Looking at the complexity involved in the second stage of the recovery, I might go ahead to get the Salvation Data recovery tool. I would rather not risk my data (my kids are never going to be younger again for me to shoot their home videos) and just pay the USD500 (hopefully can get more people in the same region to offset the cost) to get back my data. After that, I might just secure erase the hard disk and destroy it with a hammer (and film that too!!). I salute the efforts of those trying to fix the 0 LBA problem now, and I do hope they will get it. Keep it up you guys! This is the power of global community!! I personally have given up hope on Seagate.

Now this just gave me a thought - my drive is labeled with OEM, and as Keddar has asked, anyone in the list has a NON-OEM drive? Or does this particular model only come in OEM packaging???

Backup, backup and backup!!

Uh oh, I hope this doesn't overload MSFN servers......

fatlip, we do have MX15, SD81 and HP24 in the list above..... so it may not be SD15 firmware related. Well, unless MX15, SD81 and HP24 all includes the 'defect'/'timer' existing in SD15.

I'm actually assuming that those listed have the same symptom - i.e. drive working fine, and suddenly disappears from BIOS after a reboot with no apparent physical trauma subjected to the drive. Country of origin should not matter, unless we are talking about environmental issues here (temp/humidity). Malaysia's constant 80+ humidity and 30 deg celcius throughout the year. My current OEM hard disk runs at about 42-45 deg celcius and it's been working day in day out since 2005.

We have a couple of NON-SD15s in the list........

But we have 3 below which was purchased in Dec 2007, April and July 2008. So it seems no matter when it was purchased/manufactured, it seemed to die around Nov/Dec/Jan so far. We have not seen any reports of people whose hard disk failed before Nov 2008 but you have a point, they may have moved on.

Look at the failed dates!!! 14 out of 18 or 77%!! Something must have triggered this failure.... anyone else encountered virus (thumb drive virus) around the same time as when their hard disk failed?? It happened to me, so I'm wondering if that might be a trigger.

The links on wikipedia gave me an idea. I searched for Seagate Barracuda and have edited the section for 7200.11 in reference of this problem. Please feel free to register an account at wikipedia and edit if I have made any mistakes/errors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagate_Barracuda#7200.11 Putting it on wikipedia, along with the known fixes of using PC3000-UDMA and Salvation Data will surely raise the profile of this. Really looks like the Streisand effect is happening now!!! Thanks!

Mine is an Nvidia chipset, not Intel. So I don't think it's related to chipset...

I got soo p***ed off I sent him a long PM. "BradC, I see that you have now totally banned me from replying to the forums. Fine, if you cannot keep up with the posts, just shut them up, right? How stupid can this be? I can easily create another login and continue posting. Look, I am a real person, just like you (I hope you are a real person) - and I want you to put yourself in my (and many other people having the same problem) shoes. I believed in Seagate, I purchased a 500GB 7200.11 to REPLACE my older Western Digital hard disk, believing that Seagate has the quality and reputation. 2 months down the road, the hard disk mysteriously disappears from my BIOS. There were no shocks, no apparent reason why the hard disk would just fail. I initially thought it's a real hardware problem and it's just my fault that I didn't backup my data and trusted the hard disk completely. When I first came to this forum, I started seeing more and more people having the same problem. What more, most of the drives failed around December 2008 or Nov 08/Jan 09. You call that co-incidence? Further research showed that this problem can be fixed WITHOUT touching any hardware components, by just sending commands to the hard disk. PC3000-UDMA and Salvation Data clearly has the solution for this. Seagate is not acknowledging that this is a problem but just requests users to RMA the drive or pay a few K for data recovery services. To me, this is like a booby trap, and I am not happy about it Instead of supporting users, you guys then decide to moderate and delete posts when all we are trying to do is discuss and find a way to get our data back off this stupid drive. I have to commend you moderators on your hardwork and persistence. If Seagate have employees as dedicated as you moderators fixing our REAL PROBLEMS, then I'm sure your customer satisfaction will hit the roof. Instead, I am given a drawer statement asking to test the drive, and if i'ts not working, RMA it or send for data recovery. Just because someone messed up on the firmware?? and I lose my data or pay through my nose to recover it?? Send this message to your managers. Send this message to your customer satisfaction manager. Send this message to your CEO Bill Watkins. I don't think you will, and you will probably just delete this along with other posts which you've done. I am done with Seagate, and Seagate will NEVER get any of my business ever. We will be continuing our discussion in the forum below, and we will figure out how to get our data back. Delete posts in the forum below if you can. http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showto...mp;#entry825226 P/s: Please don't take this personally, I know you are doing your job - forward this to your manager, customer satisfaction manager and CEO if you will. My email is poolcarpet@yahoo.com if Seagate, by some miracle, decides to contact me. Good Bye!"

Hi all, Now this is how low they can stoop. I am no longer allowed to reply any posts or even view any posts in the Seagate forums. If I login, I see no threads and if I tried to reply to a previous thread, I get this message: "Sorry, you do not have sufficient privileges for that action. Please click the Back button on your browser." I also have this PM from BradC: "Hi poolcarpet, I’m sorry to let you know that your recent posts, Official st31000340as 1TB barracuda epic fail thread., has been removed because it violates Seagate’s Community Forum guidelines, which prohibit: make sure your postings are relevant and no spam. Make sure your postings are relevant. This forum is provided to allow our users and customers to help each other in using Seagate products and services. Please stay on topic -- refrain from discussing personal matters, abusing any company or product, or, in general, from posting content that is not related to Seagate products and services. No spam. Our forum is provided as a service to our users and customers and is not intended for the promotion of third party services, products, websites, or organizations. Please do not post advertisements, junk mail, spam, chain letters, charity requests, petitions for signatures or any other form of solicitation. Please feel free to post a revised message – we value your contributions! You can review our policies by Clicking Here. Thanks for your help in keeping the community a friendly, productive environment for all members. Brad" I'm sure some of them Seagate moderators must be looking at this forum too, so if you are reading : "Thanks for your help in keeping the community a friendly, productive environment for all members." Read this aloud and internalize it. This is what YOU guys need to do instead of deleting posts and pretending that there are no issues when clearly, we are looking at a widespread problem instead of a real hardware issue. Delete THIS post if you can!

That's 11 out of 14 drives now failed in Dec 2008, no matter when the manufacture date is. The plot thickens....

Dang, it was the first result but now after all my postings in the seagate forum, it's the third link!!! Oh well, I hope people know how to look for the non-Seagate link!

Look, now they even filter out the keyword. Do they really have something to hide???? "Please come here to continue the discussion on the 7200.11 failing out of a sudden! http://www._____.php?showtopic=128092&...try825197" Now, I'm posting this - let's see how they filter this out. To everyone else in this forum, please go back to the Seagate forums every now and then and make sure as many new people know how to get here!! "To all, please go to google and search for "7200.11 fatlip poolcarpet daftmule" - then click on the first link and bookmark it. We are continuing discussions on this 7200.11 failing independently."

What is the effect if Seagate blacklists our drives?? My disk is equal... 08495 I just don't want to make my serial public since Seagate can see this thread and blacklist our drives.

10 out of 13 drives listed here failed in Dec 2008. 1 failed in Nov and 2 in Jan. For those whose hard disk failed in Jan, when was the last time you powered up your PC? If it was december (maybe you went on Christmas holiday till after New Year??) then there might be a possibility the hard disk failed on the last shutdown in Dec. If that's the case, that makes 12 out of 13 drives failed in the same month! Anyway 10 out of 13 drives is also pretty high. Now, another possibility, any of you encountered thumb drive virus-es around the time your hard disk failed?? If this is virus related, it could explain the failures around the same time. Maybe the virus sent some weird sequence of commands to the hard disk?? Man, I'm getting way tooooo paranoid!