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A chronic firmware problem is triggering failures in Seagate's current-generation Barracuda 7200.11 hard drives, according to owners in the company's forums, NewEgg buyers and elsewhere. The disk series, particularly the 1TB model, reportedly suffers from a bug triggered on boot that incorrectly locks up the drive as a protective measure and prevents the system from recognizing the storage from then onwards. The problem appears tied to firmware from drives issued in Thailand but isn't exclusive to models from those factories.

The issues are common enough that data recovery firms have reported significantly higher failure rates on 7200.11 drives than on other Seagate models or storage from other vendors.

Although Seagate has reportedly acknowledged the problem and issued a firmware update with a fix, those with existing drives aren't being offered more than replacement drives that often have the same issue. The company has also taken to deleting posts on its forums suggesting possible fixes and insists that customers aren't entitled to additional compensation besides the warranty.

Seagate officials have reportedly ignored requests for comment on the drive failures.