Question about Hitachi 7K100 HD firmware

I just got a "bargain" on a Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 drive.. One of the 7200 RPM PATA drives that have suddenly become scarce and expensive. The label on the drive says "Apple HDD Firmware". What is the significance of this? Can it only be used on an Apple notebook? Should I be looking for a source for firmware to make it usable on a PC notebook?

 

Yeah, that drive has the apple firmware.
If you go to Hitachi's website, you should be able to find the firmware for pc based operating systems. If not, try connecting it to your pc and run a low level format. That should be enough to allow windows to work on the drive.

K-TRON

 

I looked at hitachigst.com and didn't see any firmware.. I did find IBM/lenovo firmware on a thinkpad site though so I guess if all else fails I'll try that. But first, like you said I'll see if i can format and partition it as-is.

 

Good news.. this drive works fine on the PC notebook as-is. No need to look for firmware!

 

would i have to format my hard drive

 

umm.. don't know i had to format mine because it was brand new and had no partitions defined

 

Just for the record, I called hitachi tech support today and they DO NOT have drive firmware on their website. But, they did say that if I couldn't get my drive to work, they would give me the latest firmware for it.

 

if it is for windows please post it or pm me

 

I also would like that firmware. Could you please PM it to me or post it here? Thanks so far

 

Still wating

 

well, hackman, it looks like you need to get a ibm firmware revision for your harddrive. I know the T43 uses a PATA based 7k100, and you should be able to find the firmware by searching ibm/lenovo's site.
I think this link will be beneficial for you, it says that the software will check your harddrive firmware, and upgrade it if necessary.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-62282.html

I hope this helps,

K-TRON

 

Scarce and expensive you say? Maybe I should get rid of mine for some $$$.

Is it still the largest 7k PATA drive?

 

It is still the largest 7200rpm PATA drive, but the high density 5400rpm drives for the pata interface easily outpace the 7k100.

K-TRON

 

Why is it becoming so expensive then, because of it's scarcity?

 

No, because people inherently think 7200rpm drives are faster than 5400rpm drives, so people buy them up, and are willing to spend more to get a drive, which they think is fast.

K-TRON

 

It means, that there were no new Firmware, but on the CD is a newer Firmware file then i have. I have Fimware MCZ0A51A

Could someone send me the new Firmware. PLEASE

 

I GOT IT! It was a bit complicated way to get the most recent Firmware (A5DA from March 2008) but now HDD works a bit faster. GREAT!

Here the (bit complicated) way to update. It must be done that way, because the IBM Flash image can see if its an OEM Drive or an IBM drive:

First download that (old) flash image and burn to a cd:

http://rapidshare.com/files/8425286/5k7k100.iso.html

And also download the Firmware Update from the Lenovo page and burn it to an other cd:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-62282.html

Boot from the first cd with the old flash image and while "starting pc dos" press f5. Write following thing in the command line:

hfui15.exe OA51A MCZIA51A.bdr /F mpcA51Ab.tbl

Press u for update and wait until the error come, that it cant flash. Press any key to get back to the command line. Eject now the cd and insert the one with the new firmware from lenovo. Reboot with ctrl+alt+entf.

Now just follow the normal flash instructions from lenovo. The hard drive is now been seen as an IBM one (MCZO.... -> OEM , MCZI.... -> IBM). Have fun with your bit faster HDD

 

Great, now if someone else needs the latest firmware, you provided linkies for them

good work,

K-TRON