barracuda 7200.12 hdd firmware corruption

[Jamukas]

Hi I was wondering if anyone can
help me with regard to fixing a
firmware issue on a seagate barracuda firmware corruption..

I know there are a few posts on this on this..
I tried to click on some links for tutorials on how to fix this but they
are no longer available even a youtube video has been deleted
for some reason..
The drive obviously is old but has
had very light use before the problem started..
What happened was a uniblue driver program installed on my machine some years ago without
my knowing..
This got me really angry, I was running the hdd on xp at the time..
My limited knowledge at the time
may have caused the firmware corruption when I ended the process of the driver program in task manager instead of removing it via their instructions which I was unaware of at the time, as this was unavailable in uninstall program's
through control panal..
Then the problems began, had to
restart services as a lot of these
had stopped, then the issue of
booting errors started happening.
I reformatted the drive but later
problems still arose, again drive
was relatively new..
I have another WD drive which I am using now so it's not a huge
issue..
The barracuda drive fails the short
drive self test in sea tools and seatools is unable to fix these both in short and long fixes..
I am not completely 100 percent
sure if its firmware damage but,
it did show a lot of similar symtoms for a relatively new drive
and also been occasion where it
displayed zero bytes on boot and
also there were infinite boot loops happening as well..
I m still learning about all this stuff
and I m not sure whether there are available fixes, like a firmware
fix tool for a 7200.12 as obviously this now over 5 years old..
I suspect the drive is still great working condition, platters still ok drive mechanisms all in good order, no signs of wear signs and pcb still ok ..
The fixes sound a bit complicated
but I would love to give it a try as this is becoming a hobby for me
now..
I have nothing to loose as there is no real important files on the drive
so I don't need anyway data recovery etc..
if anyone has any light on this would be greatly appreciated..
James

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to the community, James!

Unfortunately, if the HDD is failing the tests from your manufacturer's diagnostic tool, you should definitely contact their customer support. Since the hard drive is relatively new, you should be able to RMA it and get a replacement. Whether it's a firmware failure or not, even though there are no signs of hardware damage, you still shouldn't trust the HDD with your data. Failure of those tests definitely is a sign of some sort of corruption on the drive.

Good luck! Hope I was helpful.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Jamukas42]

hi thanks for welcome and support I don't know if this is where I reply the only option is submit your answer..
yeah the hdd is out of warranty unfortunately but like I said its not a huge issue was wondering if I can fix it myself
it's a seagate drive barracuda
james

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Yes, this is how you reply to your thread.
Well, if you are absolutely sure there is no mechanical or electrical failure, it's most probably just logical/firmware corruption. However, you'd still need professional assistance with the fix for this. There are a lot of Disk failure and recovery specialists, so I'd recommend you to talk to one or consult with a computer repair service ship.
However, since you don't have any important data stored on the HDD, I think it might cost less to simply buy a new drive and resolve your issue. You can still attempt to fix this one using third-party applications, after all you seem to enjoy it quite a lot. 😀

Best of luck!
SuperSoph_WD