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Love my new Seagate Momentus XT !!!

Fofer said:
My process was the same as yours, I burned the ISO and booted from it, I see the DOS instructions, but when I get to the part where I try to apply the firmware update, I get this error:

Model matched, no firmware match! Will not download firmware!
--
Model matched but firmware version is not compatible.
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Hey! Yup we've exactly the same model type so there shouldn't be a problem, but you know, with what you described earlier trying it in a PC and the error message you're getting "model matched but firmware version not compatible" I got to thinking which disk image you're trying it off? Its not particularly clear on the site but there are two and for the mac (/or non PC intel&c.) there is a separate link to the disk image that I think has to be burnt- I've linked to it above but its on the site in the sentence

For non-Windows systems with Intel compatible processors we also offer a bootable CD ISO image, which will create a bootable CD.

my apologies if this is the one you're doing but its just what springs to mind right now...
 
Kyffin said:
it does seem a little brisker! its like its on a wound spring in there :D
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Now that's the kind of feedback I'm looking for! :p

Btw: the way you describe the sound is pretty close to what I hear. It's barely noticeable in a quiet room, at normal working distance. I tend tomthink of it as a soft air rushing/woosh sound - very similar to the WD, only a couple/three dbm quieter (according to my calibrated ear... ;) ).
 
Fofer said:
Thanks for the feedback...

My process was the same as yours, I burned the ISO and booted from it, I see the DOS instructions, but when I get to the part where I try to apply the firmware update, I get this error:



My drive is the 500 GB Momentus XT (ST95005620AS.)
.
.
.
It shipped with SD23 and I'd like to get SD24 on there, if at all possible. My Windows laptop uses an older hard drive type so updating there isn't an option. :(

I wish Seagate made this easier...
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I read somewhere (maybe at Seagate) about there being a difference between retail and OEM drives, and their ability to be upgraded with the Seagate tools. It's just something I thought might help explain why some people are having trouble updating.

I bought mine from Amazon and it came in a brown box, but I don't think that would be OEM, necessarily. I suppose I'll find out, though...
 
Kyffin said:
Hey! Yup we've exactly the same model type so there shouldn't be a problem, but you know, with what you described earlier trying it in a PC and the error message you're getting "model matched but firmware version not compatible" I got to thinking which disk image you're trying it off? Its not particularly clear on the site but there are two and for the mac (/or non PC intel&c.) there is a separate link to the disk image that I think has to be burnt- I've linked to it above but its on the site in the sentence
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm using the bootable ISO.

In any case, I have figured out a solution, thanks to user "fzabkar" on the Seagate forums. (discussion thread here.)

As I said, I'm on an Intel MacBook Pro, so I burned the ISO and booted from there. The updater program runs and then ultimately complains about an incompatible firmware, despite the fact that my model,the ST95005620AS certainly matches.

Then, following fzabkar's advice, I typed Cntrl-C to abort the batch, and typed the following at the DOS prompt:

FDL487A -m Anak -f ANQSD24.LOD -i ST95005620AS -s -x -b -v -a 20
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If you have a 320 GB model of this drive, you'd type:

FDL487A -m Anak -f ANQSD24.LOD -i ST93205620AS -s -x -b -v -a 20
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The first two times nothing happened. Third time was a charm, for whatever reason... and the update program ran. Then when it was done, I power-cycled.

I'm unsure as to why my particular situation required this "forcible update." Perhaps my drive is an OEM one instead of a retail one, I dunno...

In any case, System Profiler now reports I'm on SD24 with my new Seagate drive... and I'm happy.

Now to enjoy the new drive...
 
Finally bit the bullet and did the upgrade to SD24. No problems using the ISO CD image from Seagate.

So far, not much to report. Off hand, I would agree it's quieter. If I listen closely, the "woosh" sound periodically gets a little more "woosh-y"

File copy speed (1.22GB .cdr file): Writing from external FW800, I'm now getting peaks of 74MB/sec - up from 70-72. Read is about the same at around 68MB/sec (copying back to the external). When duplicating the file, I'm seeing peak writes of 94-100MB/sec - about the same as with SD23. I was using Activity Monitor to measure speeds. Overall, using this sort of test, I wouldn't say there's much difference in speed.

I repeated each test copy about a dozen times, and after all that file transferring, the drive was barely warm [through the palm rest]. Of course, the file might have been fairly contiguous, so there might not have been a lot of seeking going on. I'll have a better feel for heat the next time I'm in an audio chat while doing other tasks. From past experience, that's a time where I notice heat from the HDD.

As I finish this post, I'm again noticing how quiet the drive is. It's definitely quieter overall than with SD23. It's not too scientific, of course, relying on audio memory, but I have a pretty good ear and have been listening to HDDs for many, many years.

I haven't been able to tell if I've benefited from the SSD. I've launched and relaunched several apps (PS CS4, Aperture, iPhoto) and they all relaunch "in about-a-bounce". I'm monitoring Activity Monitor, and don't see any disk activity on the relaunches - it only updates every 0.5sec, so it could have been missed. But, I suspect it's because they're cached in RAM. I have 8GB installed, so I think I'm going to have to stress the machine a bit more before seeing the SSD kick in.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this drive can do. So far, I'm in agreement with the thread's title. :D
 
I use Logic Studio for music production and sometimes i have a disc too slow error, would i benefit by upgrading to a XT?

I have the standard Apple 500GB 7200 drive.
 
If you can wait until Q1 2011 I'd be minded to see what effect the Intel G3 has on SSD prices- the difference between two 7200 drives is probably marginal to that of a SSD. Been very quiet on rumours as to when the G3 is out recently though...
 
Even though my computer still works, SD24 corrupted my drive enough that disk utility cannot fix it. BACKUP
 
danny31292 said:
Even though my computer still works, SD24 corrupted my drive enough that disk utility cannot fix it. BACKUP
Click to expand...

Thanks for bring that subject up here. Firmware upgrades put HDDs in a very vulnerable state during the procedure.

Backup. It should be common sense these days, but, as seen over and over on this and other forums - it isn't. It's especially critical when modifying a drive's partition table and, even more so, when doing a firmware upgrade. IMO, one should have two HDD backups - one Time Machine, and the other a bootable image (if there's a BootCamp partition, add a Winclone image of that).

Sorry you had trouble doing the upgrade. If you have an inkling of what might have gone wrong, please post back so it might help someone else.
 
logicpro7 said:
I use Logic Studio for music production and sometimes i have a disc too slow error, would i benefit by upgrading to a XT?

I have the standard Apple 500GB 7200 drive.
Click to expand...
I would say yes, if only because the stock Apple drives tend to be slow.

I just upgraded to SD24 through Boot Camp with no problems in Windows so far. I have yet to see if the firmware update takes care of the random slowdown I've seen in OS X with the Momentus XT though.
 
gr8tfly said:
Thanks for bring that subject up here. Firmware upgrades put HDDs in a very vulnerable state during the procedure.

Backup. It should be common sense these days, but, as seen over and over on this and other forums - it isn't. It's especially critical when modifying a drive's partition table and, even more so, when doing a firmware upgrade. IMO, one should have two HDD backups - one Time Machine, and the other a bootable image (if there's a BootCamp partition, add a Winclone image of that).

Sorry you had trouble doing the upgrade. If you have an inkling of what might have gone wrong, please post back so it might help someone else.
Click to expand...

The upgrade seemed to go fine. Everything worked until I noticed whenever I booted, I got that progress bar during boot but then it went away. Low and behold, there was a disk error that not even booting off the disc could fix. Luckily I have a bootable clone.
 
I installed my XT in my new 13" MBP this morning and did the firmware update right away. It went fine with no hiccups, and I was then able to go on to reinstall Snow Leopard and ancillary software.

After 10 hours it's dead-silent, although I'm trying to decide if there might be the tiniest bit of vibration. It's hard to tell if it's the computer or not since I'm in the kitchen about 6 feet away from my old refrigerator (which I know vibrates).
 
Kyffin said:
Heya, very happy to meet a pioneer! First thing I did was to check in the "About this Mac" to see that that model number matched those on Seagate's website (you've been there, but the links for general reference) http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=215451&NewLang=en&Hilite=. (Model no. indicated in pic below)

The disk image was from this link to the non-pc intel section "For non-Windows systems with Intel compatible processors we also offer a bootable CD ISO image http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/support/downloads/firmware/MomentusXT-ALL-SD24.iso which will create a bootable CD."

After burning the disk image to CD via Disk Utility I booted with "c" held down from power up, and from there it was DOS and just a matter of selecting the (clear) option- and after 2ish minutes it was done.

I'm very happy to describe what I did, but this was my first time updating firmware this way and everything went smoothly. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'll be around this evening if you want to compare notes &c.- but I wouldn't be particularly helpful if anything didn't go to plan. /disclaimer.

Then again, if you've just got the drive today, chances are there's no harm in losing data, so... why not:D btw what was your method- probably my understanding amiss but what was your process? Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks for your informative post. I just upgraded after reading it. I had no problems. I still don´t know what difference it made. I didn´t run 23 more than a few days. The "noise" seems about the same to me. I can hear the drives pinning, but it´s no vibration. No worse than the WD Scorpio Blue 640GB it replaced. That´s for sure.

EDIT: My battery reading was 85% before the change and estimated 2h15min. Now it´s 83% and estimates 3h09min!!! Can this be true I wonder?

EDIT2: Final Cut launches in 5 seconds, 5 seconds!! My MBP feels like a new machine with this drive
 
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yoak said:
EDIT: My battery reading was 85% before the change and estimated 2h15min. Now it´s 83% and estimates 3h09min!!! Can this be true I wonder?
Click to expand...

Sweet deal! From what people have posted here some seem to fare better than others in the battery stakes- looks like you got the better part of it (that said, despite my estimated life remaining taking a hit I can't say that its actually made a difference in practice- the estimated time always seems to readjust upwards as the battery discharges itself; still one of life's little mysteries:D)
 
From watching the presumed time left on the battery, the SD24 update has made a big difference; I can now also leave closed all night without it sapping the battery totally and having to be recharged first thing. I always wondered whether the MBP should be doing that or not. Now I know it shouldn't have.
 
Tonsko said:
From watching the presumed time left on the battery, the SD24 update has made a big difference; I can now also leave closed all night without it sapping the battery totally and having to be recharged first thing. I always wondered whether the MBP should be doing that or not. Now I know it shouldn't have.
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Yikes!:eek: I don't think it should- the battery should just keep the memory powered while asleep, good effort on it not doing that now though...
 
I finally upgraded my late-2009 MBP with 8gb of RAM and the Seagate Momentus XT 500gb HD. I have to say that performance improvement is very noticeable. Especially working with Aperture. My library has gotten quite large and my images are now larger since upgrading to the D3100. Still not as snappy as the newer i7 laptops. But I think I'll squeeze out another year out of this laptop before upgrading to another one.

Thanks for all the invaluable info here that helped my upgrade painless.
 
I bit the bullet and finally went from SD22 to SD24, so far so good. The few times I did notice beach balling (playing videos usually) have gone away. The drive is also quieter.

Can't comment on battery usage yet, but so far seagate gets a thumbs up on this firmware, thanx!

edit: ran on battery tonight using my normal wifi internet browsing (no flash usage), about 40% screen brightness and have clocked about 5'30", about 1'30" longer than with SD22.
 
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