Question Brand new Seagate 5TB External drive fails Seatools Short Generic

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
Hi,

Today I received a brand new 5TB Seagate External Drive (STHP5000403) from Amazon US.
The drive appears twice in SeaTools, once under SAS-SCSI-FC and once under USB-1394, as shown.
My new hard drive, Seagate Backup Plus Portable 5TB, appears twice in SeaTools, once under SAS-SCSI-FC and once under USB-1394, as shown in this question.

Running the Short Generic test individually on both, the SAS-SCSI-FC passes and the USB-1394 fails. The test successfully runs an "Outer Scan", then almost immediately fails once the status changes to "Inner Scan".


According to the test code reference, the failure code, 6C9AC2A4, means:

Serial number not detected, SeaTools did fail the drive

I have tested another Seagate external drive I have (4TB) and I did not encounter the same issue.

I'm unsure whether or not it's safe to start using the hard drive.

Help would be greatly appricated!


0aIMa.jpg
 
SeaTools has never been very good at detecting USB drives, let alone testing them. That's why I recommend against using the manufacturer's tools, unless you need a failing test code for RMA purposes.

Instead try GSmartControl:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/gsmartcontrol/

Under the Self-Tests tab, select Short Self-Test and click Execute. The test should run for about 2 minutes.

Also examine the Error Log and Attributes tabs.
 

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
SeaTools has never been very good at detecting USB drives, let alone testing them. That's why I recommend against using the manufacturer's tools, unless you need a failing test code for RMA purposes.

Instead try GSmartControl:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/gsmartcontrol/

Under the Self-Tests tab, select Short Self-Test and click Execute. The test should run for about 2 minutes.

Also examine the Error Log and Attributes tabs.

Thank you, "Perform tests" is greyed out, maybe because it is a USB device (No S.M.A.R.T)?
 

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
The SMART attributes are all good.

You could try HD Sentinel. It supports short and long self tests, but I don't know if these will work via USB.

Your transfer rate via USB 2.0 is OK. Normally you would expect 20MB/s - 30MB/s.

Thanks :)
long self tests via HD Sentinel went fine. I can not complete the long as I don't have a license
As for Seagate - they don't seems to care/understand if the device actually isn't good or not and they offer a replacement.

PS It is ridiculous that they don't have information about the discs used (for example inside models STKC5000410 and STKC5000403)
if you will google those models you will see they claim it is 7200 RPM but I think it is not true
 
Last edited:
CDI should report the real model number of the HDD behind the USB-SATA bridge rather than the model of the enclosure.

I think that the real model number is deliberately left undisclosed so that Seagate can use any HDD model that complies with the stated spec.
 

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
CDI should report the real model number of the HDD behind the USB-SATA bridge rather than the model of the enclosure.

I think that the real model number is deliberately left undisclosed so that Seagate can use any HDD model that complies with the stated spec.

CDI?
Since they don't disclose the HDD model it is impossible to verify ahead of purchase if it is 7200 RPM or not. (STKC5000410 and STKC5000403)
I tried to ask why the drive appear twice and they didn't know how to answer... they only said it is normal.
 

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
CDI should report the real model number of the HDD behind the USB-SATA bridge rather than the model of the enclosure.

I think that the real model number is deliberately left undisclosed so that Seagate can use any HDD model that complies with the stated spec.

CDI?
Since they don't disclose the HDD model it is impossible to verify ahead of purchase if it is 7200 RPM or not. (STKC5000410 and STKC5000403)
I tried to ask why the drive appear twice and they didn't know how to answer... they only said it is normal. (I'm aware of that).
Anyway, I guess I will replace it while it's brand new and empty even though I am not sure it's faulty.
 

avb2

Commendable
Jun 21, 2018
15
0
1,510
Today I also received STKC5000410 - They advertise on Amazon it is 7200 RPM (also spoke with Seagate, they explicitly said it is 7200 rpm)
in reality, it is 5400RPM.
I have added this page to Wayback machine in case they will change it.
Both model uses ST5000LM000-2AN170 firmware 0001 - which is 5400RPM
This one passed the generic test, compared to STHP5000403

image.png
 
Nov 18, 2021
1
0
10
Today I also received STKC5000410 - They advertise on Amazon it is 7200 RPM (also spoke with Seagate, they explicitly said it is 7200 rpm)
in reality, it is 5400RPM.
I have added this page to Wayback machine in case they will change it.
Both model uses ST5000LM000-2AN170 firmware 0001 - which is 5400RPM
This one passed the generic test, compared to STHP5000403

image.png
My Seagate one touch 5tb does not pass the Short Generic test ... It also gives an error 6C9AC2A4. Does your new model pass both tests (Short Generic and Short DST)? And then on the screenshot you have a Short DST