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Locked HGST drives: Difference between revisions
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fixed formatting stuffs
(added problems 2 and 3 and fixed up a lot of stuff) |
(fixed formatting stuffs) |
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Of note, formatting with the ten-byte variant of <code>MODE SENSE</code>+<code>MODE SELECT</code> (the default) versus the six-byte variant (toggled with <code>--six</code>) will depend on what brand of disk you're using.
* Netapp needs ten-byte, while our drives should need six-byte (based on a comment from someone in a ServeTheHome thread,
* We probably won't know for sure until we unlock the firmware ourselves though.▼
▲We probably won't know for sure until we unlock the firmware ourselves though.
== Problem 2: (Hitachi VSP firmware) ==
The primary issue with these drives is the firmware
* They will experience I/O errors when used on a regular system, even
* Apparently it is related to the firmware only accepting <code>SCSI_WRITE_WITH_VERIFY</code> commands [https://old.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/7raoz8/firmware_for_hgst_10k_sas_huc109090css600/idxmolz/]▼
These exact physical drives are also sold as OEM variants that work in generic systems without issue.
▲Apparently it is related to the firmware only accepting <code>SCSI_WRITE_WITH_VERIFY</code> commands [https://old.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/7raoz8/firmware_for_hgst_10k_sas_huc109090css600/idxmolz/]
* It should be possible to put OEM firmware onto the disks to allow them to work in our servers. (this leads into problem 3)
== Problem 3: (Firmware lock) ==
In addition to the previous problem, the drives also have a lock that prevents rewriting the firmware.
=== Russian dude (WD Niagara) ===
There is a Russian dude who, for the price of ~$10/drive, will RDP into a Windows environment and flash the drives for you. [https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=39927&sid=121a6e12d2d1fdaf816fe00eedac1745]
Should we have the money, this is the easiest route to solve the problem. However, by that point, it makes more sense to just buy new drives.▼
He has uploaded a video of the process to YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAhS_sk3wKE]
▲
According to a Chinese dude who paid for Hydata SCSITools in another ServeTheHome thread, this program can also send the command to unlock the drives and flash the firmware.▼
=== Hydata SCSITools ===
SCSITools is $2800 for a license, so same as above, at that price it makes more sense to buy different drives.▼
▲According to a Chinese dude who paid for Hydata SCSITools in another ServeTheHome thread, this program can also send the command to unlock the drives and flash the firmware.
▲A SCSITools license is $2800.
SartenX recommended asking them for a free license as students, I doubt they'd hand out a free license though.▼
▲* SartenX recommended asking them for a free license as students, I seriously doubt they'd
Preliminarily poking at the Windows program, the check for a license key seems really basic.▼
It just pulls in <code>hasp_windows_102966.dll</code> which is the Sentinel HASP (Hardware Against Software Piracy) all-in-one check that looks for a valid USB hardware key plugged into the computer.▼
▲* It just pulls in <code>hasp_windows_102966.dll</code> which is the Sentinel HASP (Hardware Against Software Piracy) all-in-one check that looks for a valid USB hardware key plugged into the computer.
* I doubt fiddling with Sentinel HASP would be easy, it has checks for VMs, emulated dongles, and even WINE for some reason
* However, the SCSITools binary itself could probably be modded to ignore the HASP check
=== Hardware ===
We also considered flashing the drives via the hardware, with a Pomona SOIP8 clip (SOIP8 is the same form-factor as SOP8)
We identified the following chips on the drive's mainboard:
## Drive Spindle controller?
* LSI TNNKU873 BJR12034: microcontroller▼
## DDR2 memory
* MAXIC 25U40325 M1-126: the SOP8 ROM (this is the big one)▼
## Microcontroller
# MAXIC 25U40325 M1-126
Apparently only disk-specific calibration information is stored on the ROM and not the actual firmware.
^ (Josh found a forum post from someone trying
So the hardware route is a dead-end :(
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