WD Velociraptor firmware

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

I purchased a pair of WD1600HLFS drives, which according to Wikipedia are exclusive to Dell and HP (It appears mine were manufactured by Dell, so I would require a Dell-specific firmware). Can anyone help me source updated firmware for these? I'm not sure if the standard WD firmware updater software will support them. Thanks.

_UV_ · Oct 9, 2018

Why you need firmware? Drives not working? Not recognized? I don't have firmware, but maybe you don't need.
SAS drives "exclusive" to HP/IBM/Dell working everywhere i need them. They sometimes have a bit less capacity (few MB) hidden to store proprietary information for them to be recognized by certain systems from same brand. Also they maybe "pre formated" for certain RAID cards, what may be reverted by filling disk with 0s.

coonbro · Oct 9, 2018

seems to be satisfied costumers with that drive from here ? [retail]

https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD1600HLFS-160GB-SATA/dp/B003FOJ7SO

maybe a dell or hp OEM part

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-160GB-Drive-N963M-WD1600HLFS-75G6U1/dp/B00BERFYU4

notice the difference in the housings ?? the top is a real looking vol rap the dell looks like any old hard drive

now seeing that you could be right with a dell / hp firmwere . and would not surprise me as you may see and get the hint from this

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverid=R294599

now you could find the firmware for the retail one at WD support , and try to flash the dell one with it , but no guarantees and may brick it in full ???

John Naylor · Oct 9, 2018

I have had boxes brought in which were manufactured by WD and couldn't be installed in a non Dell MoBo box because the connectors were proprietary. I cut off the connectors and wired it to a standard connector and problem solved. The reason this is done is so Dell can get a fat markup in replacements. We have no way of knowing how Dell made this proprietary and whether a firmware replacement is the only thing necessary to make it work or if it's even possible.

qubit · Oct 9, 2018

Why do you wanna flash them? Do they not work? You're more likely to brick them if you do.

@eidairaman1 BIOS flashing: this is your forte my friend.

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

There were some reported issues with these drives in RAID configurations (which I plan to run them in), and the firmware update was made to fix that. I've updated HDD firmware before and never had a problem.

qubit · Oct 9, 2018

I'd be careful with things like that. How trustworthy are the sources (just a forum post from some user, or better quality than that?) and do they list any BIOS versions that have the problem? Even if there's a later BIOS, how do you know that this isn't the one with the alleged problem? Is there a technical note from Dell about this issue?

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

The particular issue is that after a certain number of days (39 or 49, I think), a drive will report as faulty to the RAID controller and the array will need to be rebuilt, but there isn't actually anything wrong with the drive and it normally rebuilds without data loss. However, some people have reported being unable to successfully rebuild their arrays and having to restore from backups.

eidairaman1 · Oct 9, 2018

qubit said:
Why do you wanna flash them? Do they not work? You're more likely to brick them if you do.

@eidairaman1 BIOS flashing: this is your forte my friend.

Its GPU bios flashing but, I'll try to find 1.

Maybe ask Dell too

qubit · Oct 9, 2018

Red_Machine said:
The particular issue is that after a certain number of days (39 or 49, I think), a drive will report as faulty to the RAID controller and the array will need to be rebuilt, but there isn't actually anything wrong with the drive and it normally rebuilds without data loss. However, some people have reported being unable to successfully rebuild their arrays and having to restore from backups.

Ok, so that's the problem you wanna solve but I asked you several pertinent questions there, if you could please get back to me on those.

Also, it might be worth posting the BIOS versions you've already got on there, if possible.

jsfitz54 · Oct 9, 2018

Is this it: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=r294599

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

qubit said:
Ok, so that's the problem you wanna solve but I asked you several pertinent questions there, if you could please get back to me on those.

Also, it might be worth posting the BIOS versions you've already got on there, if possible.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/28/velociraptor_49day_bug/
http://forums.storagereview.com/ind...-failure-rate-bad-drives-premature-to-market/
https://hardforum.com/threads/velociraptors-raid-problems-new-firmware.1452275/

The problem with identifying specific firmware versions is that OEMs such as Dell and HP often use customised firmware that doesn't match up version number-wise with retail devices. You also can't use retail firmware to update the drives, so I need the Dell-specific firmware.

I can't get the current version on the drive because the machine lacks a power supply, Will report back when I've gotten it up and running.

jsfitz54 said:
Is this it: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=r294599

That seems to be what I'm after, thanks. I just wonder if there's a newer version floating around somewhere.

qubit · Oct 9, 2018

@Red_Machine ok thanks for that. I'll have a look at those links a bit later.

Will the drives work in a regular non-Dell PC for you to use a utility to read the BIOS off them? I'd hate for you to go to all this trouble only to find out that you've got the latest BIOS anyway.

Also, don't Dell use custom PSU connections for that vendor lock-in goodness? I think the connector even plugs in, but the PSU might go bang if it's wired differently. Please don't take this as definitive though, just be aware and check. I know that Dell and HP certainly did do this but I dunno if they still do that now, or if that PC is an old model from that era, etc.

Gasaraki · Oct 9, 2018

I've ran Velociraptors in RAID 0 without any issues. I actually still have the drives in storage... I should sell it or something.

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

The drives are standard, as far as I can tell. They're going into a new build with a retail motherboard. I can find the current firmware version by reading the hardware info through device manager, apparently. I plan to check before I try updating anything. If the enterprise that previously owned them kept up to date with patches, then they may well already have the latest version.

eidairaman1 · Oct 9, 2018

Red_Machine said:
I purchased a pair of WD1600HLFS drives, which according to Wikipedia are exclusive to Dell and HP (It appears mine were manufactured by Dell, so I would require a Dell-specific firmware). Can anyone help me source updated firmware for these? I'm not sure if the standard WD firmware updater software will support them. Thanks.

I believe this might be what you are looking for.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=r294599

coonbro · Oct 9, 2018

Red_Machine said:
The drives are standard, as far as I can tell. They're going into a new build with a retail motherboard. I can find the current firmware version by reading the hardware info through device manager, apparently. I plan to check before I try updating anything. If the enterprise that previously owned them kept up to date with patches, then they may well already have the latest version.

thing is its going to be the dell firmware like I posted above and may not work outside of a non dell or certain models of dell's without that dell motherboards dell proprietary bios .

why you see a lot of guys buy new graphics cards for there dell's and hp's and they find that's a no go as well dell acer hp and whoever makes a lot of proprietary models and may not '''upgrade '' as our retail aftermarket motherboards and hardware will...

like when the gtx 900 cards came out dell had to release a new bios so them cards woulsd work like the xps 8700 computers .

so seeing that dell offers firmware for that hard drive and there computer and WD seems not to for any retail drive you may be stuck

good luck

jsfitz54 · Oct 9, 2018

@Red_Machine : You should try running the WD Data Life Guard Test Suite prior to implementing the drives.
https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=3&lang=en

Make sure to wipe the old tables with the utility as they are used drives.

coonbro · Oct 9, 2018

eidairaman1 said:
I believe this might be what you are looking for.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=r294599

all ready posted that above ???

Bones · Oct 9, 2018

If you're not having issues with the drives there is no need to flash anything.
I'd only flash it IF issues do appear, otherwise it's best left as is.

Red_Machine · Oct 9, 2018

But if I flash the drives after I've built an array, I need to break the array to flash them. Which means I have to start from scratch.

Bones · Oct 9, 2018

Thing is a firmware flash can totally brick a device and it does happen.
You'd only want to flash it if you are having problems of some kind, aside from that if all is working as it should, leave it as is.

Or to put it another way; "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

patryk86s · Jan 23, 2024

Red_Machine said:
I purchased a pair of WD1600HLFS drives, which according to Wikipedia are exclusive to Dell and HP (It appears mine were manufactured by Dell, so I would require a Dell-specific firmware). Can anyone help me source updated firmware for these? I'm not sure if the standard WD firmware updater software will support them. Thanks.

Hi, I realise it's been many years since this post was created, but I'm building a retro PC and would love the firmware Version 04.04V04 for my WD1600HLFS-75G6U1
Would you happen to have a copy or a working link to one?
Many thanks

System Name	Chachamaru-IV \| Retro Battlestation
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X \| Intel Pentium II 450MHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F Gaming \| MSI MS-6116 (Intel 440BX chipset)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
Memory	32GB Corsair DDR4-3000 (16-20-20-38) \| 512MB PC133 SDRAM
Video Card(s)	nVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 FE \| 3dfx Voodoo3 3000
Storage	1TB WD_Black SN850 NVME SSD (OS), Toshiba 3TB (Storage), Toshiba 3TB (Steam)
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Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 750 G2 \| 250W ASETEC
Mouse	Roccat Kone Air\| Microsoft Serial Mouse v2.0A
Keyboard	Vortex Race3 \| Dell AT102W
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 Pro \| Microsoft Windows 98SE

Processor	FX 8320 @4.2 \| i7 2600 @3.8 \| Xeon W3670 @ 3.6
Motherboard	Asus Sabertooth R2.0 \| Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe \| Gigabyte X58-UD7
Cooling	Zalman Performa 10+ \| Zalman Performa 11+ \| Zalman Performa 10+
Memory	Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 32GB @ 1866 \| Corsair Vengeance 32GB @1866 \| Samsung 24GB @ 1600
Video Card(s)	XFX Radeon 390x \| Zotac GTX 1070 AMP Extreme \| Zotac GTX 980 AMP Extreme
Storage	Intel SSD / SAS 15k Fujitsu \| Intel SSD / Velociraptors / Hitachi 2TB \| Intel SSD / Samsung 1TB
Display(s)	Samsung 245T \| HP ZR30w \| IBM 20" 4x3
Case	Chieftec \| Corsair Graphite 600T \| Thermaltake Xaser IV
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Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Chachamaru-IV \| Retro Battlestation
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900X \| Intel Pentium II 450MHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F Gaming \| MSI MS-6116 (Intel 440BX chipset)
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 SE-AM4
Memory	32GB Corsair DDR4-3000 (16-20-20-38) \| 512MB PC133 SDRAM
Video Card(s)	nVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 FE \| 3dfx Voodoo3 3000
Storage	1TB WD_Black SN850 NVME SSD (OS), Toshiba 3TB (Storage), Toshiba 3TB (Steam)
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey G5 27" @ 1440p144 & Dell P2312H @ 1080p60
Case	SilverStone Seta A1 \| Beige box
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE-7 (Speakers), Creative Zen Hybrid headset \| Sound Blaster AWE64
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 750 G2 \| 250W ASETEC
Mouse	Roccat Kone Air\| Microsoft Serial Mouse v2.0A
Keyboard	Vortex Race3 \| Dell AT102W
Software	Microsoft Windows 11 Pro \| Microsoft Windows 98SE

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

WD Velociraptor firmware

Red_Machine

_UV_

coonbro

John Naylor

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

Red_Machine

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

Red_Machine

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

jsfitz54

Red_Machine

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

Gasaraki

Red_Machine

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

coonbro

jsfitz54

coonbro

Bones

Red_Machine

Bones

patryk86s

New Member

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Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
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