All I wanted to do was update the firmware for my hard drive...

[Petros_k]

I kid you not. I was on the phone with at least 8 Dell representatives for over an hour, tossed around from one person to another, and not one person could help me with this.

I have a Dell OEM hard drive (but not a Dell computer), manufactured by Seagate, but because it's an OEM Dell part, the firmware is from Dell.

Hard Drive: Seagate model ST3250310NS Barracuda ES.2
Current Firmware: MAOD

I ran a bootable CD version of SeaTools, and it told me that there is a firmware update, and it won't continue testing until I get the firmware. The Windows version also tells me there's a firmware update. However, because this is an OEM hard drive from Dell, when I go to the Seagate website I can't get the current firmware version to download because I have to plug in the serial number, and it indicates this is an OEM part. I spoke with a rep from Seagate and he tells me there is nothing they can do because the firmware for an OEM drive is made by a company like Dell. He told me to contact them.

As I said, Dell has no clue how to help me. They kept asking me for a service tag for the computer. Someone went so far as to tell me that if I have a Dell hard drive but not a Dell system the firmware from Dell will not work because it is designed to work with a Dell motherboard. Of course, this was not a rep in tech support who told me this so I have no clue if it's valid.

However, if you go here:
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails?driverid=WM0W0

You can see there's a firmware version available released in 2013, and I'm guessing it's the most current available. Here's the big question (that nobody at Dell can answer):

If I download and install the driver from the Dell website, is it going to work or will it render my hard drive unusable because I do not have a Dell motherboard? Should I even risk it?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I would be very very hesitant to update the firmware from Dell unless there is another reason other than being able to run SeaTools.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Is the drive performing well?

Does it bother you to know that you don't have the latest firmware for a particular piece of hardware? Or can you sleep well knowing that?

Are you the type who regularly flashes the BIOS?

 

[Petros_k]

I want to run the Bootable Seatools diagnostic, primarily because this is a used hard drive, and although it doesn't appear to have any obvious issues, I'm getting what sounds like clicking and buzzing whenever the system is restarted. I don't know if the sound is only page file read/writes. Because it continues when the system is idle. I don't know if it's the Seagate SMART diagnostic running and checking the drive for errors. I have disabled Task Scheduler in Windows 7 for now, so I know it's not because of defrag running in the background. I disabled Search and the indexer, so I know it's not running in the background.

I have done various scans for malware and viruses (Malwarebytes and Avast) and it turns up nothing (including a boot scan).

I have tried to investigate with Sysinternals Process Monitor, and even when there are no page faults I hear the sound. It's like a buzz then a click, then a buzz then a click, sometimes another click. I went to a website that had audio samples of drives that have issues and none of them sound like what I'm hearing. I'm not sure if it's a sound that a Seagate Barracuda ES.2 should be making.

I just want to rule out that the clicking I hear is not this used hard drive starting to fail or a head sticking or something. But when I found there's a firmware upgrade, I figured it would improve performance. Turns out I'm risking the use of the device. Pathetic!

 

[Petros_k]

I would be very very hesitant to update the firmware from Dell unless there is another reason other than being able to run SeaTools.

I'm glad then that's it's not just me being paranoid.

 

[razel]

That link to Dell doesn't look like a driver, it looks like the actual firmware program. It's understandable from both Seagate and Dell's to only recommend things that they have tested. Plus you already experienced the black hole of customer support so I'm sure you don't want to travel that route again.

It's up to you whether to update it. I assume that since it's a Dell pull, that there pretty much is no warranty. If I used a credit card to purchase it, I would update it. I have broken a few things before that my CC company was fine issuing me a refund.

 

[Petros_k]

There will be no refund for this if I break it. It's a used system from Ebay that's working great, except for this periodic issue with the hard drive. I was hoping the firmware update would stop what's going on, but if I risk breaking the hard drive it's just not worth it. It would be foolish to screw with drivers unless I know exactly what I'm doing. But why both Dell and Seagate make it look like I can now never update the firmware for the hard drive is beyond me.

And indeed, customer service from Dell (and Seagate too) is a "black hole" and far from anything that should be called "support." I felt they were intentionally trying to make sure I don't resolve the issue.

 

[SamMaster]

I do not see a reason it wouldn't work unless the drive itself is going out. It May be a Dell specific firmware but it is a seagate drive using a universal standard. Itshould work in theory (and hopefuly in practice).

I fix Dell systems for work (among other things) so I have some experience, though I never encountered your stiuation before. I usualy get off the shelf hardware in OEM not OEM in off the shelf.

 

[jolancer]

the issue is not dell or seagate, the issue is you bought a non-rare, non-mission critical piece of consumer electronics off ebay.

i never used seatools but if what your saying about it not letting you run it because there maybe a firmware update for your drive, that doesn't sound right, thats electro-ghetto or your doing something wrong perhaps... IF it doesn't matter that the firmware is originally dell anyhow, perhaps disconnecting from the internet before running seatools would solve your issue anyway? If not there is any number of other applications that you can use to check SMART status and surface scan the drive.

i had a drive that seems like it did similar or same as what your describing if im understanding correctly, however it did not come from ebay. the drive i had was in a laptop(original to the laptop i assume) and made that noise rarely and inconsistently. the noise ended up going away completely after a while tho it rarely happened in the first place. surface scanning the drive before and after the noise did not turn up anything, tho i don't know if perhaps the noise could of been from the hdd relocating bad sectors and because that process is probably handled by the firmware if it masks the detection of relocated sectors from the surfacescanner... was awhile ago, but now that i think about it, it probably wasn't that either because SMART showed no change before and after aswell. my assumption at the time was the laptop or hdd may have had a minor power issue that caused the hdd to sound like it was spinning back up on rare occasion. All power saving options were disabled aswell at the time so it could not have been spinning down purposely, especially since some inconsitent occasions of the noise were when it was in use. All in all tho, the noise whatever it mayhave been ended up going away never to be heard from again without issues. tho thats probably little consolation considering yours came from ebay lol

check the molex power connector, if theres another one available swap it with the other connector to test. check SMART and surface scan it (tho that doesn't diagnose physical defect it at least gives you hit if its functioning correctly). and do what you should do anyway and create a backup, then either use it till you run into issues, or get rid of it.

 

[Tech_Greek]

It should let you bypass it and still run the quick/full tests just not the firmware upgrade/sector repair portions in Sea Tools.

Which specific model? I know there's a certain series that's floating around right now that I'm replacing like crazy.

 

[Petros_k]

Here's a new thread concerning the sound I'm hearing from the hard drive:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2369897

The bootable version of SeaTools I'm trying to run was made from the file SeaToolsDOS223ALL.ISO When it runs, I get a dialog box saying there's an important firmware update, and tells me to go to the Seagate website. I click off the box and the test doesn't run. There's nothing to click to start the test. I believe there's a test status indicating "firmware update" only.

 

[taq8ojh]

If you just want to test the disk, why not use some other program? It's not like you have to use Seagate program for Seagate disk you know.

 

[Morbus]

I never buy expensive (or sensitive) computer parts from OEMs, be it Dell or Zimbzuaw or whatever.

And reading this thread, I feel reassured in my paranoia. Never give money to the middleman unless you know the middleman.

Anyway, my suggestion is to let it be. If it works, don't update the firmware. If you do update the firmware of any hard drive, ALWAYS back up your data. Doesn't matter if it's a crap drive or a good drive, firmware stuff can go wrong very easily.