Seagate Momentus 7200.4 thread

I would always run the latest firmware by default.

But, I have to say... Phil, you're brave trying the 7200.4!

I'll be interested in your results with it.

Cheers!

 

Well it's not by free choice. It comes with the DM3 I ordered.

 

Understood.

So, have you ordered a replacement HD (Hitachi?) yet?

 

It's not available in Europe yet.

But I don't think the upgrade is worthwhile enough for my usage. I basically use my notebooks as netbooks.

 

so i got a quick update on what happens after the firmware update. clicking is minimized, but load cycle is still increasing. in the 11 days that i have used this hard drive, my load cycle got to 2000. now i got hdparm working and turned off APM completely. that solved the load cycle problem.

my question is how do i set it up so that hdparm is permanent?

 

Didn't notice any abnormal after firmware update, and I stopped using HDparm.

If you are using windows 7, you can use task scheduler to run HDParm with parameters. It's pretty cool stuff.
I used to set it to run after logon AND workstation unlock to make it work.

 

fusion, u should run hd tune and check the load cycle count from health tab. use the pro trial version and see how big that number is. mine has stayed at 2004 since i used hdparm to turn off apm completely. even tho u dont have any symptoms it might be a good idea to use hdparm to minimize wear if your cycle count is increasing dramatically

 

my HD tune normal version says 6406 in data, but 97 in current.

The numbers there is not meaning much to me, maybe pro version is different?

 

@shenofjo: Try this. Works for Windows 7 and Vista on my notebook:

 

so im not sure if my information is completely correct, but load cycle count is an indicator of wear. HD is basically good for around 600000 load cycles, so try to calculate how many cycles you have had in the span of time. mine was 2000 cycles in 11 days so thats... 9 years of usage before it is completely unstable. sombody confirm my info... not the numbers cus im asian.

 

something tells me that i wont be able to do this while the drives are in raid. i got an error while trying to update.

 

so i just noticed something alarming about my new hard drive. my clock has been off a lot lately and i didnt understand why. i would say my winxp clock is slowed about 3 minutes a day. i decided to just see whats going on and opened the winxp clock. right away, i see a half a second pause every 5 seconds...

edit: my bad, i put in my old hard drive and same thing is happening. its not the hard drive's problem. now its my 1.5 yr old vaio with bios battery being low?!?!?

 

Bios battery?

 

shenofjo

According to the Dell's Installation Instructions, you should only extract files from the firmware update to a bootable flash drive and boot it in DOS mode.

Files should be placed in the root dir. Then just run the command "FLASH.bat" and that's all! Bat file would do everything itself. There's no need to write
"FDLH -m HOLLIDAY -f 0005SDM1.LOD -i ST9500420AS -b -v" as this command is already configured inside of FLASH.bat file.

No other bootable CD is needed. Just a single flash drive.

 

ya, i know its easier with the whole bootable drive and all, but i dont know how i can make a drive bootable so i just didnt bother learning it and use the fact that the cd boot brings the laptop to the dos command and ran from there. you are right tho, cyxapuk

I got a question about seek error rate. im getting a number of 64 current and 60 worst. and the threshold is 50 i think. should i RMA this or what.

 

well thats what it was. i was finally able to update the hard drive firmware after taking them back out of raid. i was quite shocked to see the HDtune health info after i installed windows 7 and kept the 2 drives separate from each other.

one drive has a load cycle count of 92 current, 92 worst, and 16334 under current data. the secondary drive has a load cycle count of 94 under current, 94 worst, and 13961 under current.

what the heck does this mean?

 

Uhmm, guys, what am I missing here? I happen to run two 7200.4s in my M6400, without any issues whatsoever...

I really can't tell if the drives are running; even during heavy disk access they are extremely quiet.

 

Pirx,

if they're running to your satisfaction in your system, no problems for you.

In my case, it is not the noise that was ever an issue - it is the fact that I tried 4 of them and in the end, a Scorpio Blue 5400 RPM drive proved superior to the specific(?) units I tried. Others here have had various sudden death issues too, but that may be discussed further in other threads than this one.

Cheers!

 

So, today I've upgraded my new CULV notebook Samsung X120 with a new 7200.4 Momentus 500GB ST9500420AS. It came with 0002SDM1 firmware. And the first thing I did after putting it inside - upgrading the firmware to 05SDM1.
I've booted a usb stick and did it as was written here:
"FDLH -m HOLLIDAY -f 0005SDM1.LOD -i ST9500420AS -b -v"
Everything done good (except for the strange loud noise while flashing the firmware, but the message on the screen warned about it, so u should not warry about it.)

The hard drive was pure and clean and I never used it before on its stock firmware, so I couldn't hear that CLICKING sound everyone talking about here. And as I've already flashed the latest firmware - I suppose I'll never hear it as is.

But!
There is another interesting annoying sound. It is not actually a CLICKING sound, it sound like random SEEKING. And it happens randomly when the HDD is idle and nothing uses it. When this sound happens the hdd's LED remain off and doesn't light. That approves that HDD is idle.

I've read on other forums that this is normal for Seagate latest models and this is a SMART III feature, that scans the surface of the platters while the HDD is idle!

Can anybody approve it? Do u hear this random 'seeking' sound too?

 

Hey all...what a great thread for the 7200.4. Years ago, a site called StorageReview.com used to warehouse drive reliability data - assigning each drive a relative reliability score. The site went into virtual hibernation though and wasn't updated at all.

SR is under new ownership as of a few weeks ago, and the drive reliability database is being updated again. The 7200.4 family has been added tonight, new drives are being added progressively. If you're so inclined, entering your ratings there would be much appreciated...

...and yes, I'm involved with the site. After leaving the NBR team 3 years ago, I happened across the SR site which needed some love and attention.

Relevant links:

SR Forums

SR Drive Reliability Database (forums logon gets you in)

 

Hi, I am sorry if this issue has been adressed already, but I didn't really manage to go through all of the 164 pages...
My problem is this:
My momentus 320 as seems to never stop spinning which makes my otherwise deadsilent thinkpad t61 a bit noisy.
I also suspect this of eating my batteri as I only get 1-2 hours of batteritime (working in openofficewriter while listening to mp3) on a 6cellbatteri (condition:good) even on the most powersaving profile.
While changing harddrive from momentus 5400 to 7200 I also installed win7
and I am now unsure if win7 or my hardrive is to blame.

Regards
Rune

Setup
T61 7661-gn3
t7300-2ghz -3gb ddr2 1280x800
seagate momentus st9320423as
Win7 Ultimate

 

Your mp3 playing habit is not letting the HD spin down.

Either change your spin down setting in the power options of your chosen power mode to a time smaller than the avg. mp3 you're playing (I wouldn't recommend this though), or don't play mp3's and see if it eventually spins down.

Good luck.

 

hehe, ok, my post was a bit unclear.
I tried all of the above already to no avail.
No matter what I do it seems to never stop spinning.
what is a good app for monitoring disk activity and rpm realtime?

 

So, am I right to say this HD has a lot of issues? I bought and installed it last week. SHould I go for a better reviewed one?

 

If you can still return it could be a good idea. Hitachi 7k500 is faster, uses less power, is more quiet and probably more reliable. It may be more expensive though.

 

The Hitachi I'm looking at is $109 from Newegg. But the WD model is $79. Is the extra $30 better spend on the Hitachi? I currently just upgraded to a WD 7200 320 as my primary drive? All the reviews do agree that it's very quite.

p.s. sorry to intrude on the Seagate thread. But you already mentioned Hitachi.

 

$30 for a newer/better in (almost) every way HD?

I've spent more than that at MacDonald's - for just me.

No brainer, imo.

 

The WD leads in access times, IOPS, random reads and random writes.
Hitachi leads in sequential reads and writes, capacity, power consumption and noise.
They score similar on price, overall performance and reliability.

Let's leave it to that. We are off topic here.

 

quick question - my load/unload cycles keep increasing (as obviously they should) but in the amount of time that i've had these (~2 weeks or so), should they be this high?

 

meh, this blows.. I have always been happy with seagate in the past...
Just found a firmwareupdate on Lenovos site, DL and booted from it but it doesn't find an eligble drive..
I have no clicking sounds, as mentioned earlier, my issue mostly conscerns noise and powerconsumption (never spins down)
So, my questions still stand:
Any advice on the spinningissue?
Any suggestions for realtime diagnostics apps?

Thanks
Rune

 

check your settings in the bios to see if you have your hard drive set to AHCI or compatibility mode. i had to switch my settings around in order for the firmware update to go through. change it back once it works though or windows will not boot.

 

tried both modes, same result:
st9320423as firmware00025dm1

no firmware to update.

Does this mean that my drive IS up to date ?
Where did you get your hd? Lenovo says that the update might not work on drives that does not have the "correct partnumber" even though the drive itself IS supported..
Any workaround for this if it is the case?

 

check my link in my sig, as for the firmware update

that looks like ur cycle is going up too fast. use hdparm and turn APM to 255. that will prevent ur cycle from going up anymore. i turned APM to 200s for laptop mode cus i still want to have some battery life.
http://sites.google.com/site/quiethdd/

in the first week i used this HD, my cycle went to around 2000
after i applied the program, my cycle went only to 21xx in 2 more weeks.

problem with quietHDD is that it doesnt run itself when u restart, so u need to put it in the scheduler

 

cheers, neat trick
Before going forth with this fix I am curious as to whether the same can be done with the firmwareupdate released by Lenovo?
The update can be found here
Again, sorry for not reading through the entire post myself
As mentioned, I have no clicking sounds, my issue is that the drive never spins down.
Any chance that this will be fixed by the firmwareupdate? (yes, I spend hous trying different settings to no avail)

 

ok, gonna go ahead with update

 

Hello All. Soory for my bad english =).

So, i have Seagate Momentus ST9500420ASG.
The firmware was - 0002SDM1. It's starts clicking after 4 month uses.
I update the firmware for - 0005SDM1. Two days was all OK, but after I started
hearing a beep sounds and my notebook is freezing for a moment. (((

There is a result of test from Victoria and HDDScan
http://i.piccy.info/i4/b9/76/bdd9c4ad9bae566fba512a81d0e9.jpeg
http://i.piccy.info/i4/82/62/d3a75029d3741e835b5e78430dce.jpeg

What you say for all this?

 

Redecided to at least wait until someone can tell me if there is any essential difference between the dell- and the lenovo-update and if there is, whether it's possible to "crack" the lenovo update in a way similar to the dell...
Anyone? an answer will definately add to your rep *winks*

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5778055&postcount=7
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=17781
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=16853
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=13411
http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&thread.id=14667

 

cheers
now all I need is for someone to point me towards a thread that explains how to make a flashdrive bootable in order to use flash.bat rather than the more complex syntax

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=246530

 

ok, so I finally did a backup and succesfully upgraded firmware on my momentus 7200.4 from 0002 to 0005 using the dell iso
Only thing is, it did not solve my problem of my harddrive always spinning and eating away from my batteri regardless of powersettings and use..
I am getting tired of this now and I am on the verge of spamming seagate with hatemail.. I miss my old momentus 5400....
Gonna try some of the apps that ppl recommend here, but I'd really like an app that can monitor the drive realtime, rpm and such..
Any suggestions or general advice?
what benchmarks do I need to post?
ps. use my thinkpad for ableton live, photoshop, premiere and such on dc, mediaplayer and browsing on ac so I'd like to switch "easily" between highperformance and silent batterilife (if possible )

 

Strange. Both of my 7200.4's (both still using 0002SDM1) are spinning down just fine. Do you have any background processes accessing the drive?

 

I'll take a look.
Spinning down should mean that the drive completely stops right?
tried fiddeling abit with quiethdd, made a VERY small difference in noisy but not enough to make up for the lack of performance

 

Has anyone put two of these in RAID 0?

Are you scared of dataloss?

 

So, if you couldn't care less about how much "noise" your drive makes, which is the best 7200RPM 500GB drive out there?

 

I'm planning on getting a 7200.4 to use on a USB enclosure, and I'd like to know if the drive is reliable, this would be my first Seagate and I will buy it because there's a very good price on those drives.

 

Not much point in getting a 7200rpm drive in a USB enclosure as it will be bottlenecked by USB.

Better get a 5400rpm drive, probably cheaper and uses less power.

 

After being pretty much the first person to buy one of these awful drives I've given up dealing with it and bought an Hitachi.

340kB in bad sectors was the final straw after the lockups, bluescreens and other never ending dramas I've had.

 

Storagereview posted an interesting review with benchmarks between 7200.4, 7K500, WD3200bekt etc.

 

No, because I'm always on backup all the time.