[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

Well, I re-read the article, it does say power off, but I don't care.

The interesting thing is the third point, because it suggests all of a sudden that it's not the fault of the firmware, but a set of miss-confired test machines.

It explicitly states that all three conditions must be met in order for failure to occur.

Don't blame me, I didn't write the article.

[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

I found an interesting article in german:

http://news.magnus.de/artikel/87236

It states that three conditions must be met for the drives to fail:

1. The counter-log-thing must reach 320

2. The drive is powered off at that moment

3. In manufacturing, the drive must have been connected to a (then defective) testmachine!

Not all drives are being subjected to the test during manufacture.

While the guy at slashdot already mentioned the first two conditions, the third one is news to me, as it would suggest that not all drives are bound to fail. (even though labeled as "affected" by the online-check as mine is)

[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

It looks like seagate is preparing updates for seven more drivemodels:

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/self...&NewLang=en

however I can't find any word on different variations of P/Ns.

[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

Thanks for the advice,

I got it to boot by reburning the .iso (**** Nero )

As you predicted it still didn't work. I got the "Error: Specific model not found. ST3500320AS expected"-thing.

While I was at it, I pulled out the drive to find I have P/N -303 (as expected).

[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

It sounds like you have some FreeDOS issues. Try booting with the same CD in another PC or a laptop. If it doesn't work try burning the CD a lower speeds. If it works then your PC might not be able to boot with FreeDOS. Try changing some BIOS setting, like disabling all periphetrals etc.

Thx,

trying now...

[Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 Troubles]

Well, the firmware from Seagate does not load. I can successfully scan the drive, but the loading procedure aborts with exception error. Go figure...

I have tried everything: 3 PCs, AHCI/IDE Compatible/IDE Enhanced mode, with the drive being the only SATA/IDE device, but still the same.

Model: ST31000340AS

P/N: 9BX158-303

Firmware: SD15

Date code: 09086

According to the serial number check tool this drive IS affected.

I have opened a case with Seagatea and I am waiting for the outcome (I hope the drive does not fail until then).

I just read in a german forum that HDDs with P/Ns ending in -303 do not work with this iso, only endings of -300

No luck for me as well, I have ST3500320AS, Firmware: SD15, online check says my drive is affected, but the booting from the update cd ends with "FreeDOS" on the screen with a blinking cursor.