Upgrade Disk Firmware via ReadyNAS?

spinaltap wrote:
StephenB wrote: Most of the recent posts are on the ST2000DL003-9VT166, not the ST2000DM001. So...?

I think you're asking a question without a definitive answer. Seagate's response is quoted here: http://www.legitreviews.com/news/13250/

The new firmware download, version CC4H, is recommended to enhance the performance and/or reliability of the drive. Previous versions of firmware with these models and part numbers are CC46, CC47, CC49, CC4C, or CC4G. The upgrade is a free download available here and we are told that this helps with the chirping noises that some users are complaining about.

I don't see much here that goes beyond that.

Since the new firmware patch was made available 2 months ago, it is also reasonably likely that a newly purchased drive would have it (that depends on the retailer's inventory of course).

Probably a better strategy is to ask a pre-sales question on the Seagate site, saying that you need CC4H firmware, and that you can't upgrade the firmware because you don't have a suitable PC. They might be be able to give you a path to ensure you get an up-to-date drive.

Or buy from a retailer who has a good return policy, and return the drive if it is downrev.

I hear what you're saying, and have already taken steps to ascertain if recent drive stock contains the newer firmware.

Unfortunately, this is proving unfruitful. For example, the retailer where I originally purchased my NV+.v2 (one of the largest outlets here in the UK) admits that they are only a 'sales' outlet, and because of this they don't have any technical knowledge so can't help with identifying the firmware version for the Seagate drives I'm looking to purchase.

Another reputable UK dealer keeps promising to answer my enquiry, but I'm still waiting.

I'm beginning to wonder if the keen pricing on the Seagate 2Tb and 3Tb drives this week are not necessarily in response to WD Red popularity, but because said Seagate drives have the older firmware (and therefore are shifting 'old' stock).

Further to this. I am going to put my 4 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 into my HP N40L Micro Server and was wondering how updating the firmware works (in this case to try and address some HDD squeaks) with the fact that these drives are xaid and full? Will Win 7 recognise the drives etc. without formatting? The data is not critical but I would like to know what I am facing in advance.
Regards

bigpallooka wrote:

Further to this. I am going to put my 4 x 2TB Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 into my HP N40L Micro Server and was wondering how updating the firmware works (in this case to try and address some HDD squeaks) with the fact that these drives are xaid and full? Will Win 7 recognise the drives etc. without formatting? The data is not critical but I would like to know what I am facing in advance. Regards

Are you just putting the drives in the HP to update the firmware? Or are you wanting to host the files from the HP instead of a Readynas?

If you install ReadyNAS disks into a Windows PC, the Windows OS will detect them, and then discover that it doesn't understand the format. So it will not show the drives in "my computer", and there is no way to access any files.

However, SeaTools should find the drives, and the Seagate firmware upgrade tool should work (particularly if you are connecting the drives with SATA). And there are some third party packages that can read the drives and recover data. And windows disk manager will also let you see them, so you can delete the existing partitions, and/or reformat the drives.

But if you are wanting to migrate the data to your HP, then you are better off copying it over the network.

StephenB wrote:
Are you just putting the drives in the HP to update the firmware? Or are you wanting to host the files from the HP instead of a Readynas?

Just to update the firmware to see if it will fix the HDD squeak. If not I will send the guilty drive back. I was mainly just concerned about whether SeaTools would find the disks. I may put the drives in the N40L but I haven't deleted the original source of the NAS data yet so it's not an issue.

Thanks for the advice.

BTW, if you put them in the HP, it is best to fully shut down the NAS before you remove them. That will avoid needless resyncs.

StephenB wrote:
BTW, if you put them in the HP, it is best to fully shut down the NAS before you remove them. That will avoid needless resyncs.

Thanks. I would have done that but it's nice to be warned of possible issues in advance.

Back on track with my original query...

For the information of others in a similar situation to myself, Seagate customer services in the UK don't know to which retailers their drives can be located with the latest CC4H firmware.

Only CCL made the effort to check their warehouse stock to show that their drives had the CC43 firmware (indicated by label on the drive).

Only Okobe (official Seagate reseller) assured me that if the drive they supplied did not contain the latest firmware they would then make a full refund within 7 days.

I checked with Amazon, CC43 also !!

AWD-IT responded to my query, and their batch of Seagate drives have CC4B firmware installed.

Scan.co.uk can't give any assurance on firmware version, stating...

"We cannot 100% guarantee the firmware revision on the drive provided as we get all our stock from more than 1 active supplier at any given time. As such, there is always a mixed batch in stock from 2 or more suppliers. Based on this we cannot 100% guarantee what firmware would be recieved as I could check the drives and get a drive with XYZ and then the picking team could pick another drive which could be ZYX".