# Drive firmware upgrade?



## Fitseries3 (Jan 10, 2009)

i've read alot about how updating a hdd's firmware will speed it up a bit. 

i just got 2 maxtor atlas 15kII 36gb sas drives and im interested in seeing what can be done to get them even faster.

where do i look for the firmware? how to i update it?


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## AsRock (Jan 10, 2009)

Well thought it be on the seagate site but no luck there
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/atlas_15k/

EDIT: to update if you find one i would think it be though floppy \ thumb drive.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 10, 2009)

the cheetahs are the only drives i've seen firmware upgrades publically announced for.


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## Solaris17 (Jan 10, 2009)

well i update my dvd drives firmware once in awhile i should look into the hdd's but you might have a hard time looking. for example i cant find the info on my drives i need to use the firmware update utility they came with. when in doubt contact a rep though they might have an ftp link for you....or you could try looking yourself...if you have an idea of were their DL directory is you can try and manually FTP:// it i do that when i need to explore the drectories of nvidia for something spacific that i cant find a link to...who knows you might find some other treasures as well i do sometimes.


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## REVHEAD (Jan 10, 2009)

Why would you need to update them, obiously there isnt any updates if you cant find any, they only release firmware if its absoloutly needed for a major flaw or problem, your drives dont have a problem do they?

 Are you dissapointed in there performance or something?

 On another note, when you get time slam up some HD tach results for us to have a squiz at..


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## lemonadesoda (Jan 10, 2009)

Be careful about updating HDD firmware. IIRC the firmware has all kinds of settings in it that are unique to the ONE drive or the BATCH of drives that optimises how the heads move, end of drive, seek method, exactly what "head" instructions are used etc.

If you COULD and DID change the firmware on an older HDD with the firmware of a newer HDD (even of the same model) there could be problems.


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## REVHEAD (Jan 25, 2009)

Still waiting on those HD Tach results Fisty.


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## {JNT}Raptor (Jan 25, 2009)

Fitseries3 said:


> i've read alot about how updating a hdd's firmware will speed it up a bit.
> 
> i just got 2 maxtor atlas 15kII 36gb sas drives and im interested in seeing what can be done to get them even faster.
> 
> where do i look for the firmware? how to i update it?



Found this Dell page with a link to Firmware "R164704" for your drive.

Dell Maxtor Firmware

You'll see that It's called the Maxtor Blackbird.....which Is another name for your Atlas...which you will see a note on the center of the page.

Hope it helps.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 25, 2009)

it seems those are for scsi drives and not my sas drives


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## KBD (Jan 25, 2009)

Yea, i agree with what some said above. be extra creaful with this stuff, its not the same as flashing your board, lol

Though i'm interested to see what kind of performance are you getting right now. Is it in line with the reviews posted for these drives?

One thing you can do to increase performance is to get a dedicated RAID controller card. The fake software RAID is obviously not as fast. I would at least consider this option, even if you do manage to find some firmware upgrade.


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## REVHEAD (Jan 26, 2009)

Something like this from Areca http://www.areca.us/products/pcietosas1680series.htm.

 Pleas do post some HDtach with your setup now, I am very interested..


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 27, 2009)

single drive

15000rpm sas







---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


raid 0 vrap 300gb's







---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


raid 0 sas drives







____________________________


2x wd 10k rpm 300gb vraps = $380

2x Maxtor 15k rpm 36gb atlas' = $100

overall...

SAS takes the win.


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## crtecha (Jan 27, 2009)

Fitseries3 said:


> the cheetahs are the only drives i've seen firmware upgrades publically announced for.



Watch out you dont want to end up like the barracuda's

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2234748/seagate-firmware-update-bricks


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## KBD (Jan 27, 2009)

omg, man look at those access times for the SAS drives, very cool, thnx for posting.


one thing i see as a problem is a low burst rate on your veloci in RAID 0, you should've enabled volume write back  cache and then you would've got a burst rate comparable to or better than the SAS drives. I'm getting almost 3,000 MB/s  with my 74GB veloci in RAID 0 which is a little more than you are getting with your SAS drives. If you have that option on the Marvell controller turn it on and see what happens. Otherwise it looks great to me.


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## Fitseries3 (Jan 27, 2009)

i dont have the vraps any more so yeah.

the only problem i have now is i dont have a sata drive for non sas boards.

i need a perc 5/i asap


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## KBD (Jan 27, 2009)

Fitseries3 said:


> i dont have the vraps any more so yeah.
> 
> the only problem i have now is i dont have a sata drive for non sas boards.
> 
> i need a perc 5/i asap



oh, well, i thought i'd point that out. Dell Perc 5/i is great, start hunting on ebay, they can be had for around $200 or less if you are lucky.


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