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Post #375091

Author
Jaiman Tuckuh
Parent topic
*** The Official DigitalFreakNYC Release Thread*** (SW, Indy + Others!)
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/375091/action/topic#375091
Date created
29-Aug-2009, 8:24 AM
vbangle said:
digitalfreaknyc said:
vbangle said:

The firmware is NOT on the platters. Doesn't sound like they know what they're doing...maybe get someone else.

 

Yes it is.  Check out any thread about the Seagate 500gb drives.  I can give you the version # when I get home.  All of the drives from that line are crapping out.  :(  Here's a link with info: http://forums.slizone.com/lofiversion/index.php?t33993.html

 

Anyway...it was sent off.  $600 if they can fix it.  Waiting to hear back.  It arrived there yesterday.

LMAO  NO NO NO The FIRMWARE is on a IC CHIP on the PCB board inside the drive.....NOT on the platters. computers 101 folks.

 

LOL! A person would think so, huh?

 

What is the Firmware Area?

 

"Firmware Area (or System Area) is a reserved space dedicated to hard drive's own needs, such as: storing SMART logs, defect reallocation tables, program code (overlays) and so on. "

"Flash EEPROM chip contains only a little part of the Firmware; its primary role is to spin up the spindle and unpark heads so that the drive can read the rest of the firmware from surface. "

 

Hard drives seem to be designed to make repair as difficult as possible. The platter's portion of the firmware takes expensive equipment to access. That epuipment had to be designed by reverse-engineering data that manufacturers wouldn't provide. And what's often stored in EEPROM? - why the defect table that has the manufacturer's chunk of the bad-sector->spare-sector remapping info that's unique to the drive - so - you can swap a bad circuit board, with an identical drive, but a lot of your data will be corrupt, because the drive is looking for many of the wrong sectors - so you have to transplant the EEPROM first (assuming your EEPROM didn't burn out). (And that means, of course, that the firmware area, on the platters, could become corrupt, even unreadable, without the EEPROM's remapping info). Of course, model numbers aren't enough to tell you what's an identical circuit board, because different plants crank out different boards for each model. (And the off topic rant could go on for quite some time).