Seagate Promises Firmware Update for Barracuda Drives
In the past weeks, Seagate hard drive users have been experiencing failures with their Barracuda drives. Seagate responded with updates, then with a recall, and now promises a resolution.
The problem with the Seagate drives goes back at least as far as November 2008 with complaints on the company's community forums site. The Barracuda drives quit working and the BIOS didn't recognize them after restart, making them inaccessible. In response, Seagate issued a firmware update just a few days ago, but had to recall the update.
The spokesperson from Seagate has promised a prompt followup.
The problem mostly affected Barracuda hard drives of the 7200.11 series with 1 TByte capacity, but others of the Barracuda ES.2 SATA and DiamondMax 22 series also showed the same problem. The full list of affected drives are on the Seagate Knowledge Base webpage. Seagate claims a failure rate of about 2-6%, although other forums suggest a considerably higher one.
Users of the affected hard drives are recommended not to stop and start the drive, in that an update will no longer fix the damage. However, Seagate promises that no data is lost and offers a free restoration service.
If uncertain whether a Seagate hard drive is one of the affected ones, send email with the serial number, model number and firmware version to discsupport@seagate.com". Determine the firmware version by using "hwinfo --disk".
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.