Is there any software available for looking at firmware on drives?

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I am busy chasing my tail on repairing a dead Travelstar. Hitachi
Global Storage wont recognise the warranty on this drive despite it being
clearly dated April '03. I used to think that IBM was the gold standard in
drives but it seems they have started to worry about their drives failing a
bit more than they used to!

I was just told by them however that if my drive isn't being recognised by
the Hitachi drive fitness test, there may possibly be a problem with the
firmware on the drive. This may well not be a dead circuit board as it
appears (and as others recognised on these boards some time ago): And they
say I may well be able to repair the drive if I can find some software to
read/replace/repair the firmware. THEY just don't provide any such software
which resides on the outer sectors of the platters in the drive.

Does such software exist for download anywhere or are they making this up?
I have often found that the expertise on this NG is superior to the
balderdash fed to me by manufacturers while trying to wriggle out of a
warranty.
 
Previously news.rcn.com said:
I am busy chasing my tail on repairing a dead Travelstar. Hitachi
Global Storage wont recognise the warranty on this drive despite it being
clearly dated April '03. I used to think that IBM was the gold standard in
drives but it seems they have started to worry about their drives failing a
bit more than they used to!
Click to expand...
I was just told by them however that if my drive isn't being
recognised by the Hitachi drive fitness test, there may possibly be
a problem with the firmware on the drive. This may well not be a
dead circuit board as it appears (and as others recognised on these
boards some time ago): And they say I may well be able to repair the
drive if I can find some software to read/replace/repair the
firmware. THEY just don't provide any such software which resides
on the outer sectors of the platters in the drive.
Click to expand...

That sounds like complete nonsense to me. I think you have been
brushed off by giving you bogus information.
Does such software exist for download anywhere or are they making
this up?
Click to expand...

They may have such software. Nobody else does.
I have often found that the expertise on this NG is
superior to the balderdash fed to me by manufacturers while trying
to wriggle out of a warranty.
Click to expand...

Not surprising. Look at who benefits....

Arno
 
news.rcn.com said:
I am busy chasing my tail on repairing a dead Travelstar. Hitachi
Global Storage wont recognise the warranty on this drive despite it being
clearly dated April '03. I used to think that IBM was the gold standard in
drives but it seems they have started to worry about their drives failing a
bit more than they used to!

I was just told by them however that if my drive isn't being recognised by
the Hitachi drive fitness test, there may possibly be a problem with the
firmware on the drive. This may well not be a dead circuit board as it
appears (and as others recognised on these boards some time ago): And they
say I may well be able to repair the drive if I can find some software to
read/replace/repair the firmware. THEY just don't provide any such software
which resides on the outer sectors of the platters in the drive.

Does such software exist for download anywhere or are they making this up?
I have often found that the expertise on this NG is superior to the
balderdash fed to me by manufacturers while trying to wriggle out of a
warranty.
Click to expand...

It's called PC3000. Make sure you purchase the original, Russian
version, rather than the Chinoise offering - which is a fake copy.

It's not cheap - but it does the job.

Assuming, of course, that your problem is firmware-related, rather than
mechanical (read/write heads, blown components on logic board, etc...)


Odie
 
It's called PC3000. Make sure you purchase the original, Russian
version, rather than the Chinoise offering - which is a fake copy.
Click to expand...
It's not cheap - but it does the job.
Click to expand...

Fascinating. I never heard about this. Can it also be used
to ge around ATA passwords?

Arno
 
Odie Ferrous said:
It's called PC3000. Make sure you purchase the original, Russian
version, rather than the Chinoise offering - which is a fake copy.

It's not cheap - but it does the job.

Assuming, of course, that your problem is firmware-related, rather than
mechanical (read/write heads, blown components on logic board, etc...)
Click to expand...

Well that is the whole point isn't it? I would have to buy software which
costs more than the drive is worth to find out if the firmware is the
problem as opposed to the circuit board. This is beginning to sound like a
Mac problem!!

Is there really no other way of testing whether signal is getting through to
the platters (and looking for the firmware) rather than being stopped by
something on the PCB? Mind you, if I DO find out that there is something
wrong with the firmware, will there be any way of reloading it? Or does
anyone think that Hitachi will suddenly honour their warranty on this
otherwise OK unit?

The firmware is looking less and less like the culprit (and more and more
like a Hitachi wild goose chase) the more I think about this problem!
 
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