newegg 8/13 1pm-11:59pm PT - Seagate Barracuda LP ST32000542AS 2TB - $98.99

[graywolf]

Should be this evenings Shell Shocker

 

Available from 1:00PM - 11:59PM PT 08/13/10

 

Seagate Barracuda LP ST32000542AS 2TB 5900 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive -Bare Drive

$98.99

[JustinAiken]

Or there's the code EMCYWZP63 to drop $10 off any Seagate drive... wonder if they'll stack?  Otherwise, it's $99.99 right now.

[zack84a]

I am going to try to stack it... We shall see 

 

Is anyone using this drive in their setup, looking to use it as a data drive.

[eroz]

They also have the WD 2TB EADS for $109.

 

Which would actually be better?

[BRiT]

Define better. Does slightly faster performance but with slightly higher perceived risk equate to better?

 

The Seagate 5900 rpm is slightly faster than the WD 5400 rpm drive. To me, it comes down to which brand do you trust more?

[JustinAiken]

I have a WD EARS, WD EADS, and this seagate... The Seagate tends to run about 5C cooler.

[BRiT]

Interesting. Are they in the same positions relative to the cooling fans?

 

[JustinAiken]

Code stacks!!! 

 

2TB for $89.99...

[Rajahal]

Code stacks!!! 

 

2TB for $89.99...

 

That's surprising, since they have clauses specifically saying you can't do that.  Guess this one slipped through the cracks...

 

Do these 2 TB drives have the same high failure rates as the 5900 rpm 1.5 TB drives?  I'm tempted to jump on this deal, but not if this thing is a dud.

[eroz]

I'll try it. got it for $89.09.

[Rajahal]

Screw it, for this price, I'll take the chance.  Also came out to $89.09 for me.

[BRiT]

I wasn't going to bite, but the price with coupon code was too tempting.

[dogmanky]

I have no willpower... 

 

do we still have to flash firmware on these?

[WeeboTech]

I love a good bargain.. But I don't need one of these drives yet. Can ya believe it.

 

However, if you guys see a $99 deal or better on a 2TB 7200rpm Hitachi. let me know.

I want to get one or two to benchmark vs a Seagate.7200 RPM 1.5TB.

 

I also want to compare parity performance for 2 Hitachi 7200RPM 2TB's in RAID0 vs 2 Seagate 7200RPM in RAID0.

[graywolf]

I was going to pass on this also as I don't need another drive right now but since I saw others where the promo stacked with the shell shocker and it was free shipping to boot, just couldn't pass it up.

[ajax3712]

I also got in on this deal for $89.  It'll be my first non-WD drive in my unRAID install, so I too wonder if anyone's using this drive currently in their setup...

[calvis]

In for one.  This is going towards my first build.  Thanks for the code which did stack for me as well.

[Nyago123]

$96.44 for us poor taxed saps in California.

 

I've had some Seagate problems lately, including one incident with this exact model, but Seagate's support has made up for it, so I'm picking one up.  (Editorial/soapbox: which is more than I can say for the likes of Diamond Multimedia or HIS when it comes to rebates and/or support hardware issues with my video cards... sorry, just feeling bitter lately  )

 

 

[neilt0]

I have no willpower... 

 

do we still have to flash firmware on these?

 

If it comes with CC34 firmware, it's recommended to upgrade to CC35.

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=213915&NewLang=en&Hilite=213915

[dogmanky]

Mine arrived today.  Label indicates C34 but the boot disc indicated no available firmware.  Preclearing now stage 1.  Started off ~110 MB/s 

 

That maxes me out at 20 drives. 

 

 

 

I have no willpower... 

 

do we still have to flash firmware on these?

 

If it comes with CC34 firmware, it's recommended to upgrade to CC35.

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=213915&NewLang=en&Hilite=213915

[BRiT]

Mine arrived earlier today and indicated Firmware CC34. I'm in process of updating firmware now, well as soon as I hook up the optical drive.

[eroz]

Does it need to be updated in the unraid machine or can it be done on a windows pc?

[BRiT]

Alright, so I burned the boot image (CD ISO file), hooked up the optical drive, boot from newly burned media into their tool and ran into a few issues.

 

The first issue is their scan would only detect the first drive which was a WD and would not scan further. I shutdown poweroff, disconnect all but the Seagate drive and reboot. With only the Seagate connected, it would not detect any drives at all. I've seen this behavior before, so I had an idea of what to try. I reboot into bios, flip the SATA mode from AHCI to EIDE. I try the scan, it finds the drive, so I tell it to download firmware. It takes a few seconds then kicks back "Model Matched. No Firmware Match! Will Not Download Firmware! -- Model matched but firmware version is not compatible."

 

Now this is getting really annoying.

 

It seems that Seagate is limiting firmware CC35 to only a sub-selection of specific serial number drives [ http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Barracuda-and/Idle-clicking-of-Seagate-Barracuda-LP-HDs-and-DOA-issues/m-p/51064#M19467 ]

 

 

[BRiT]

Does it need to be updated in the unraid machine or can it be done on a windows pc?

 

It should be updatable from any PC that you can connect it to. They have a Windows Application and a Boot CD tool.

[ajax3712]

So I too received my drive earlier today, and I also got it with the CC34 firmware.  Can anyone tell me what the CC35 firmware is supposed to fix?  I read the Seagate firmware page linked to earlier, and couldn't find the issues it's supposed to resolve.

 

Having never ever had to fiddle with firmware on any of my hard drives, I'm just tempted to just run the preclear script and let that determine if the drive is having problems...  would that be a bad idea?