Samsung Spinpoint F4EG HD204UI 2TB compatibility?

[tw_switzerland]

USB boot medium as described here (german):
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/ ... 50154.html

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ (make bootable usb stick)
http://www.freedos.org/ (DOS)

HTH

[fordperf]

Umm, interesting that their instructions say to unzip the file -- except it's a windows executable, not any type of compressed file (that winrar understands).

Also, it doesn't run under windows x64.

YMMV. Just sayin.

[gdtrfb55]

Quick question: Will updating the firmware affect data already on the drive? My gut feeling is that it shouldn't, but, since I've never done it before. I don't really know. I have 3.2 TB of data on the drives, which took about two weeks' worth of 8-hour days to load and verify. So, if the upgrade will result in data loss, I'll need to plan accordingly.

TIA for any replies.

[HarryPotter]

No, the data wont be affected. I just patched my two HD204UI from DS109+ and 110+. No problem detected. Its done in a couple of seconds.

[blafarm]

Hi everybody.

There is a new firmware available fixing the problem.
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/ ... msg_id=386

Kind regards,
Thomas

That's very surprising -- and very good news.
Looks like the guy I spoke to at Samsung was overly pessimistic.

[gdtrfb55]

Is this true?

* THE SAMSUNG FIRMWARE PATCH DOES NOT CHANGE THE FIRMWARE VERSION NUMBER (Believe it or not!).

Huh? What?!

Presumably, this patch will be rolled into the firmware of any newly-manufactured affected models, so, how on earth will end-users ever be able to differentiate between the good and bad drives? Is Samsung trying to obfuscate the issue so that it won't impact the sales of drives already in the retail channel?

That is so lame as to call into question the competence and integrity of Samsung.

I'm going to hold off on applying the patch (and keep the write cache on my drives disabled) for a while. I suspect (or at least I hope) that Samsung will issue a patch to the patch that properly increments the firmware version.

[blafarm]

That is so lame ... on so many different levels ... that it is inexcusable.
That issue, all by itself, is enough for me to feel vindicated -- having just returned 18-2TB drives.

[mh76]

The fact that the new firmware came out quickly is a good thing.

I personally will wait though, until I see the drive re-enter the compatibility list of synology, which I expect will happen after some rigorous testing.

Given that the patch does not change the firmware version, does anyone from the people that have tested it know if there is a way to identify that the firmware upgrade process has been successful or not?

[fredleo]

Wouaw... it was quick for the patch to be released

Quick question : i do not have anymore a pc on which i can plug the drives (i have an iMac and a laptop). I have an external usb box (external drive). Can i use it to patch the disks ?

Thanks,

Fred

[compet_pl]

No, the data wont be affected. I just patched my two HD204UI from DS109+ and 110+. No problem detected. Its done in a couple of seconds.

Would you be so kind and explain very precisely the procedure how to do it?
What tools have you used? What OS was in the computer (x32 or x64). USB or CD?

Is it really these same firmware version number as others says? If yes, than how to check is it the new version installed in HDD?

Thanks a lot in advance

[HarryPotter]

I used the procedure described in the linik of the earlier postr in this thread (viewtopic.php?p=123499#p123499).

Just downloaded and adjusted the fdbasecd.iso file on a windows 7 (32bit) system

I did not care about the FW number of the HD, so I cant tell you if it changed or not. But the patch will detect if the HD has to be patched or not (once patched, it didnt proceed a second time, just ignored the HD).

And of course I dont know if the problem is solved as I never detected any problems....

Overall a fast solution and common procedure to patch a HD. No reason to blame Samsung - it can happen to all manifactures.

[fordperf]

Who said the firmware version doesn't update? I can't find any evidence of that in anyone's post nor on the Samsung page. From a company that has firmware on hundreds of models and a firmware review and release schedule, I find 'not updating the firmware version' with a trackable bugfix in it to be highly improbable.

[jramskov]

Who said the firmware version doesn't update? I can't find any evidence of that in anyone's post nor on the Samsung page. From a company that has firmware on hundreds of models and a firmware review and release schedule, I find 'not updating the firmware version' with a trackable bugfix in it to be highly improbable.

Did you actually try to look around yourself for a few minutes? C't, Smartmontools website, Hardforum - they all say the same.

[fordperf]

Who said the firmware version doesn't update? I can't find any evidence of that in anyone's post nor on the Samsung page. From a company that has firmware on hundreds of models and a firmware review and release schedule, I find 'not updating the firmware version' with a trackable bugfix in it to be highly improbable.

Did you actually try to look around yourself for a few minutes? C't, Smartmontools website, Hardforum - they all say the same.

I did, but if it's there I just missed it. It happens

[jramskov]

He links to the smartmontools page where he got the quote