neese@adaptx1.UUCP (03/03/91)
>>>/* ---------- "Maxtor drive problems (LONG)" ---------- */ > >>>I have a Maxtor XT-8760S that I bought in "untested" condition at >>>Read Capacity: hard Drive 1 error reported >>>sense key 03: medium error >>>error code 31: format failed >>>STUFF DELETED< > >>It sounds like the drive cannot find the firmware on the media. This >more deleted. > > I beleive the format command was interrupted mid-stream and the 'firmware' >area of the disk is partially or completely cleared. We had a occaision >to see the exact same error, and the same conditions. In fact the same >drives. Perhaps Roy can enlighten me if this is not possible. The recourse >is to return the drive to the factory, unless there is a format data recovery >proceedure available via Roy's scsicntl contributions - which I beleive >are very nice - thanks to Roy's work. The location of the firmware is on data areas of the disk that cannot be reached by the user. All the manufacturers that have put the firmware on the disk do it in a couple of different ways. Some use a special mini-port on the disk controller to download/upload the firmware, while others use the SCSI bus to do it, but use a special non-documented command to get the task accomplished. I have had the chance to write code for one manufacturer so they could upload/download firmware at the field level using the 154x adapter. This kept thier FAE's from having to haul around a special adapter to do the job with as they have noted most of thier drives are being connected to 154x adapters. They also asked me to do this under non-disclosure, so I cannot provide any code to the public that would allow you to do the same thing. In SCSI-II there is a command for acomplishing this very feat, but I haven't found anyone using it yet. If someone does, SCSICNTL will support it. Roy Neese Adaptec Senior SCSI Applications Engineer UUCP @ neese@adaptex