Hitachi Harddisks Thread (5K3000, 7K3000, 7K2000)

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kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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ekotan said:
Some of my older Hitachi Ultrastar HUA722020ALA330 2TB disks have firmware revision JKAONA00. I haven't seen this A00 revision mentioned here in this thread; and trying to upgrade to a more recent revision such as 3EA or 3MA using the DOS utility fails. Hitachi support didn't know what to do. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
It seems that your firmware is version NA00. To my knowldege, all firmware start with A, as in A3EA or A3MA. Usually we don't even say about this first A, saying only 3EA or 3MA. Your firmware, starting with letter N, is really something "N"ew...

If we disregard the "N", FW A00 is newer than FW 800.
You can find more info here:
http://forums.servethehome.com/show...000-7K3000-7K2000)&p=2409&viewfull=1#post2409
 
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K

kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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Egor said:
Hello guys!
I have a problem with my mobo described here.
Perhaps firmware update will resolve my problem.
So I have 3 Hitachi HDDs 7K3000 series:
1 drive HDS723015BLA642 (0F12114), firmware MN5OA580
2 drives HDS723020BLA642 (0F12115), firmware MN6OA5C0

Can i use one of these links provided here to update firmware of my drives to 800?
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?3NX6ZM7R
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?LWRU2PUS

Thank you in advance for your help!
Click to expand...
No, absolutely not. The links you provided are for model 0F12460, which is 5K3000 @ 3TB ONLY.

The models you specified are 7K3000 @ 1.5TB (0F12114) and 7K3000 @ 2TB (0F12115).

I only have firmware 800 with DOS updater, for the 7K3000 @ 2TB (0F12115) drive (HDS723020BLA642), which I've just uploaded here:
http://www.freefilehosting.net/7k30002tb0f12115800dos

Don't forget to inform us how it went !
PS: I've also found it on the official Hitachi apps site, here:
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?PGUSXJVM
 
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Egor

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Oct 26, 2012
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kryptex said:
I only have firmware 800 with DOS updater, for the 7K3000 @ 2TB (0F12115) drive (HDS723020BLA642), which I've just uploaded here:
http://www.freefilehosting.net/7k30002tb0f12115800dos

Don't forget to inform us how it went !
PS: I've also found it on the official Hitachi apps site, here:
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?PGUSXJVM
Click to expand...
thanks a lot! :cool:
does it means that for 7K3000 @ 1.5TB i have to search another updater?

drives 7K3000 @ 2TB (0F12115) are successfully updated using HiTest 2.38!!!,
to do this HDD controller should be switched to IDE mode - HiTest is not able to detect drives in AHCI mode.

All was going great, but when firmware updating was finished, i've got BSOD - after rebooting PC all was working great.
So i think using DOS-based updater from an external bootable media is more right solution.
 
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ekotan

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Oct 23, 2012
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Egor said:
have you booted up your computer from an external drive (USB Flash or CD)?
have you switched your HDD controller to IDE mode instead of RAID/AHCI?
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm doing the procedure correctly, but the utility cannot upgrade this firmware revision for some reason.
 
U

UhClem

just another Bozo on the bus
Jun 26, 2012
464
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NH, USA
ekotan said:
Some of my older Hitachi Ultrastar HUA722020ALA330 2TB disks have firmware revision JKAONA00. I haven't seen this A00 revision mentioned here in this thread; and trying to upgrade to a more recent revision such as 3EA or 3MA using the DOS utility fails. Hitachi support didn't know what to do. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
It's possible that the Ultrastar drives have their own firmware, distinct from the FW for Deskstar drives. The model number you have is the Ultrastar version of the Deskstar 7K2000. Although there are no differences obvious in the specs, etc between these two models (other than statistical error rate), it may be that the document is incomplete. There are documented differences between the Ultrastar 7K3000 and the Deskstar 7K3000, for example.
 
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Egor

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Oct 26, 2012
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ekotan said:
Yes, I'm doing the procedure correctly, but the utility cannot upgrade this firmware revision for some reason.
Click to expand...
It's just means that firmware revision you are trying to flash is not corresponding to the drive you are using, i think. Perhaps UhClem is right.
 
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ekotan

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Oct 23, 2012
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They are not Deskstars, they're all Ultrastars as evidenced by the stickers on the drives and the SMART info (each disk reports itself as a HUA722020ALA330).

I have five, four of which are older and have this mysterious firmware NA00. The fifth is newer and came with firmware 3EA, which I was able to upgrade to 3MA. When I try the procedure on the other four, the DOS utility reports it's found an Ultrastar on the IDE channel which has firmware NA00, but any attempt to try loading any of the recent firmware revisions fails. Weird.

All five disks work normally and report no problems on my Areca RAID controller, I just wanted to have them flashed to the same fw revision for academic reasons. Hitachi support thinks the older four disks may have differing part numbers even though they were all sold as the same Ultrastar model, which is why the firmware upgrade utility cannot upgrade the older disks. Oh well...
 
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Lugh

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Oct 19, 2012
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Hi all.

I have 3 questions regarding the 7K3000 2TB model.

1. The hdd advertised speed is 6 gb/s. My mother board works with 3 gb/s. The thing is that I read that the hdd is limited from factory to 1.5 gb/s. And that this
can't be changed through the Feature Tool because newer models are not entirely compatible with the latest version of the software. Is that true? And if it is,
what is the solution?

This issue is discussed here (but to no avail):

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/266770-14-hard-drive-operating-advertised-speed



2. CCTL

Does the 7K3000 2TB has CCTL enabled by default ? I don't want my hard drive to time out while recovering (remapping) in a case of read/write error due to bad sectors.
So, if it comes with CCTL on, how do I turn it off?



3. And last but not least I need some info regarding that "green" power-saving feature of the hdd that parks the head after 8 seconds of inactivity.
I have windows applications that constantly write/flush data to disk thus bringing it out of standby every 20 seconds or so causing endless head parking movements.
I have to be able to increase the head park time exponentially or just remove that function completely.
How to?
 
K

kryptex

Member
May 13, 2011
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Hello and welcome to the forum !
First of all, make sure that you update the firmware of your 7K3000 2TB to the latest version (800) with this DOS updater tool (if it doesn't work, try switching AHCI to IDE mode=compatibility mode for the updater to work):
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?PGUSXJVM
Then, here are the answers:

1. You need the latest (but not official) Hitachi Tool v. 2.16 M2, which I uploaded here:
http://www.freefilehosting.net/ftool216m2sata60support
It does have SATA 1.5/3.0/6.0 gbps support, so you can set any of these. You will also have a Spread Spectrum setting. Do not set that (the factory default, Disabled, will remain) or if you still want to set it, set to Disabled.

In your case, the best idea is to set the drive to 3.0 gpbs and leave Spread Spectrum unset. It looks like your motherboard can't properly negotiate to SATA 3.0 gpbs and drops it to the slowest connection, i.e. 1.5 gpbs.

2. I think you will not have any problem with dropouts with firmware 800. If you do, you can try reverting the firmware to 5C0 or even to 580 (I have them in case you need them).
I have no idea how to specifically set CCTL on 7K3000.

However, I've had some issues at one point with CCTL (equivalent) on Seagate 7200.11 and noticed that Spread Spectrum was directly related to dropouts. So you might want to inform yourself on the Spread Spectrum feature on these Hitachi drives and how it relates to CCTL and/or dropouts and UDMA CRC errors. In my case the UDMA CRC errors in SMART are gone since updated to FW 800.
I have never tried to Enable Spread Spectrum, so be very careful with ever doing so, you might not get your drive recognized anymore...

3. In the Feature Tool 2.16 you will also find an APM feature (Advanced Power Management).

If you set it to 254 or Off, then the heads will always stay on the platters, there will be no head parkings. The drive will have the highest power consumption, will heat more (5-10 degrees extra) and if shocked, the heads might scratch the disk.

If you set APM 128, then the heads will park after about 25 seconds, the platters will continue to spin normally. This will consume less power and the heads are relatively safe.

For APM < 128, the heads park and the platters spin down after 25 seconds of inactivity. I won't recommend this though.

For the 7K3000 model, you will hear a high-pitched screeching noise when the head comes out of parking and is loaded onto the disk. It is normal, don't worry. I've seen that on all 7K3000 drives if APM is <=128.

Hope this helps,
Keep us informed how it went.
 
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K

kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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Lugh

New Member
Oct 19, 2012
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kryptex said:
Hello and welcome to the forum !
First of all, make sure that you update the firmware of your 7K3000 2TB to the latest version (800) with this DOS updater tool (if it doesn't work, try switching AHCI to IDE mode=compatibility mode for the updater to work):
https://apps.hitachibackup.com/d/?PGUSXJVM
Then, here are the answers:

1. You need the latest (but not official) Hitachi Tool v. 2.16 M2, which I uploaded here:
http://www.freefilehosting.net/ftool216m2sata60support
It does have SATA 1.5/3.0/6.0 gbps support, so you can set any of these. You will also have a Spread Spectrum setting. Do not set that (the factory default, Disabled, will remain) or if you still want to set it, set to Disabled.

In your case, the best idea is to set the drive to 3.0 gpbs and leave Spread Spectrum unset. It looks like your motherboard can't properly negotiate to SATA 3.0 gpbs and drops it to the slowest connection, i.e. 1.5 gpbs.

2. I think you will not have any problem with dropouts with firmware 800. If you do, you can try reverting the firmware to 5C0 or even to 580 (I have them in case you need them).
I have no idea how to specifically set CCTL on 7K3000.

However, I've had some issues at one point with CCTL (equivalent) on Seagate 7200.11 and noticed that Spread Spectrum was directly related to dropouts. So you might want to inform yourself on the Spread Spectrum feature on these Hitachi drives and how it relates to CCTL and/or dropouts and UDMA CRC errors. In my case the UDMA CRC errors in SMART are gone since updated to FW 800.
I have never tried to Enable Spread Spectrum, so be very careful with ever doing so, you might not get your drive recognized anymore...

3. In the Feature Tool 2.16 you will also find an APM feature (Advanced Power Management).

If you set it to 254 or Off, then the heads will always stay on the platters, there will be no head parkings. The drive will have the highest power consumption, will heat more (5-10 degrees extra) and if shocked, the heads might scratch the disk.

If you set APM 128, then the heads will park after about 25 seconds, the platters will continue to spin normally. This will consume less power and the heads are relatively safe.

For APM < 128, the heads park and the platters spin down after 25 seconds of inactivity. I won't recommend this though.

For the 7K3000 model, you will hear a high-pitched screeching noise when the head comes out of parking and is loaded onto the disk. It is normal, don't worry. I've seen that on all 7K3000 drives if APM is <=128.

Hope this helps,
Keep us informed how it went.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer. I will clarify some things though:

I don't have the drive yet but hopefully I'll acquire it in the next 2 weeks. My motherboard (that has SATA 2.0 interface) runs the other hdd at 3 gb/s without problems.

I won't enable spread spectrum.

I'm not interested in RAID configurations. Therefore my concern is not with dropouts. What I want to know is if 7K3000 2TB has CCTL enabled from factory? Or will it work like any other normal hdd and take it's time while recovering from errors?

The hdd won't be shocked (if you mean electric shock or physical movement that would damage the drive).

Also if I set APM to "off" then in case of a power outage the hdd uses current stored in a condenser (capacitor) to park the head? Right?


And most important I want feedback from someone that has this exact model (7K3000 2TB), someone who can confirm that all these 3 points that I made are not an issue. So far, as you can read I'm in doubt about CCTL and the other things that are unclear.

Again thanks for the quick and detailed response.
 
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K

kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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If you are not interested in RAID, then why are you so worried about CCTL being enabled or disabled ? AFAIK, CCTL (TLER for WD) must be enabled in RAID. These 7K3000 2TB drives with firmware 800 work well in both RAID and standalone (AHCI) configurations. I actually have several of them, all work great in any environment. I think you shouldn't worry at all.

You can set APM off (the factory Default is off, if I remember correctly) in case you will use it as a system disk. If not, and if the drive will be accessed only rarely, then set APM to 128 (you will have head parkings after 25 seconds of inactivity).

Yes, in case of power outage, the headstack will be parked automatically by using energy from a charged capacitor.

You'll be fine with Hitachi 7K3000 and firmware 800.
 
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Lugh

New Member
Oct 19, 2012
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Ok. So you don't know if CCTL it's enabled or not by default? Or are you avoiding my question? The reason I insist with this is because I want to make sure a server hdd will work fine on a desktop setup. I want this hdd because it seems to have the best of both worlds. And that includes dealing with bad sectors and recovering from errors by remapping etc. Something that server hdd with TLER/ERC/CCTL is not doing.




On a unrelated offtopic matter: The blu-ray writers available today have high CPU requirements (dual/quad core >3.0 GHz). Are this specs related to movies playback or is it really that much processing power necessary to write a blu-ray disc ???

In other words can I use these optical drives to write blu-ray discs on, let's say... a single core at 2.4 GHz?
 
K

kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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Read post #45 by odditory.
And this:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1562128

7K3000 is a consumer drive, not enterprise. If you want to use it in a simple desktop, without RAID, I don't know what do you actually "want to make sure" ? Do you know what CCTL/TLER actually do ? It is only relevant in RAID settings.

I personally don't know how to check CCTL status for Hitachi drives.
What I do know is that Hitachi are hands down the most compatible when it comes to Desktop and RAID environments.
If you want headaches, then go with WD or Seagate and set TLER/ERF on those.

Look man, I've tried to help you out here. You got pissed off that I'm avoiding your irrelevant questions. What about not answering at all ?

Blu-ray ? those specs are of course for reading high def. You can write those disks in lower spec'd PCs, evidently.

You're welcome.
 
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Lugh

New Member
Oct 19, 2012
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Sir, I didn't get pissed at all. And your answers helped a lot. The thing is, what is irrelevant to you may be relevant to others. I for one would be glad if this CCTL(which btw I know what it does) function wouldn't exist at all. It is relevant to me if my hdd can go or not in deep recovery(let me get this across: I WANT IT TO BE ABLE TO GO IN DEEP RECOVERY !!!).

Yea, 7k3000 2tb is not labeled enterprise but it looks as it would have the reliability close to that level. I mean some enterprise hdd from other brands are much lower in terms of reliability compared to this desktop drive.

Being that it is made with desktops in mind and from the link you gave me (I notice everyone wants to know how to enable CCTL), I presume it is disabled. Can anyone on this forum confirm?


Oh and I downloaded the firmware and the DOS updater from your link in post #222 because hitachibackup is down at the moment.
 
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kryptex

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May 13, 2011
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No problem, my misunderstanding...

My take on this whole CCTL business:
CCTL specifies the time during which the drive is allowed to be in deep recovery mode while doing scanning/repairing/reallocating of newly discovered bad sectors
The main problem is this: If this recovery action (in case of bad sectors) takes too much time and if the drive is in a RAID array, the RAID controller will not wait too much for the drive to give a response on the occurred bad sector. It will flag the drive as bad, dropping it out from the RAID array.

If the drive's firmware limits the amount of time allowed for deep recovery, then the drive will be forced to make a "quick" decision about those bad sectors, before it is kicked out of the array by the RAID controller. For example, WD specifies TLER=8 seconds for enterprise drives and probably a very high value for desktop drives (which they say TLER is "disabled" for). 8 sec is usually enough for a drive to make up its mind about a weak/bad sector.

So it is not about TLER/CCTL being enabled or not. It is about the time allotted for the drive to stay in deep recovery mode. Most "probably" Hitachi has a CCTL of less than 10 seconds. That is why they don't drop out of RAID as some mainstream WD or Seagate drives do (with TLER "disabled") when encountering bad sectors.

So this was what I know about TLER/CCTL, please correct me anyone if I'm wrong in my understanding of it.
 
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