Cliff - BTW, I found an external drive kit on eBay that had a neat little power supply. That might be a decent option for powering your Seagate if you stick with it.
Neil.
Neil,
You did better than me yesterday then! - I tried every conceivable search phrase I could think of on ebay to find an external drive housing that INCLUDED a 5V/12V PSU but came up with nothing. They're almost all powered off the USB bus it seems. Do you have an item reference number for the one you found.
Alternatively it looks as if www.ebuyer.com have something suitable around the £17 mark anyway - might get that.
But I'm gonna wait for Ash to try the downgraded SP1604N first cos that'd be a nice fit inside the case and no additional cost/hassle if it works.
Cliff
EDIT: Oops, that'll teach me to wait until I've read the entire thread before posting. So, Ash, any chance I could "borrow" a copy of the drive firmware loader - my email is
can I have a copy of the old firmware too please - I've got a new SP1203N which won't talk to my Fusion.
email:
david AT french1 DOT freeserve DOT co DOT uk
I tried to eMail samsung but the eMail form on their website (under faqs) has a required product field which it won't let you fill in. Bet their customer service dept don't get many eMails !!
Err, any chance of a copy of the Samsung utility also? Big disappointment when my SP1203N failed to initialize so I've been lurking, hoping some clever folk might come up with the solution. Had almost given up hope!
Not sure if this is going to work on an SP1203N - it's supposedly just for SP1604N - but...
I was going to give Ash the "glory" of announcing this but as he won't get a chance until tonight...
He sent me the firmware "down grader" and (with Ash's confirmation of Samsung's permission to make it available) I have put together a little web page at:
As to whether that firmware upgrade will work with other Spinpoint drives - the actual firmware image is in the file tj26n_m.dn2 within the .ZIP and dumping part of that shows:
And although SP1604N (or SP1203N) does not appear directly in there the table does give the impression that the software may work for multiple drives as those look like the recognisable model numbers "mixed up" a bit.
I think the drives are listed in that dump of the firmware in Cliff's post, it's just that the numbers are jumbled :
- NPS8020 = SP0802N
- NPS6140 = SP1604N
- NPS2130 = SP1203N
etc.
So it looks like the SP1203N should work with this downgrade - I certainly hope so as I have one gathering dust following a "hold" situation !! Just got to find someone who will let me put it in a PC to do the deed as I have a laptop.
Cliff: great stuff - thanks for "hosting" the firmware download.
David/Andrew: the firmware I was sent is ONLY for the SP1604N. I do have contact details for the extremely helpful man at Samsung who has said that it is alright to give out his email address. I suggest you contact him: andrew DOT meikle AT samsung DOT com
I'm pretty hopeful he will be able to provide you with the firmware downgrade for your model(s).
If you do get a firmware patch for your HDDs, then perhaps (if we ask nicely), Cliff will also make those available to others on his web page?
Cliff: great stuff - thanks for "hosting" the firmware download.
David/Andrew: the firmware I was sent is ONLY for the SP1604N. I do have contact details for the extremely helpful man at Samsung who has said that it is alright to give out his email address.
Ash
.....and if anyone wants the code that I used on my SP1614N then please let me know....
if anyone wants the code that I used on my SP1614N
It would be interesting if the two of you could swap firmware files and run a binary compare program (Windows 'comp' command would do) against the firmware file to see if they are in fact the same. The table that Cliff posted has SP1614N in it so I suspect that they will be the same file.
Any chance of you sending me your version of the firmware so that I can do as TrevorPH suggests and run a binary comparison of the two? PM'd you with my email address.
Any chance of you sending me your version of the firmware so that I can do as TrevorPH suggests and run a binary comparison of the two? PM'd you with my email address.
Thanks,
Ashley
Ashley - sure I'll send it. What's your email address?
I don't know if it's something that I've done, but by 160Gb disk seems to be limited to 32Gb now that I've got the new (old) firmware. Any suggestions anyone? Anyone else having the same problem?
Ashley - sure I'll send it. What's your email address?
Neil.
Neil,
My email address is ash AT earwaker DOT net
Regarding the 32Gb size, there are jumper settings (on the 1604) which I think limit the drive to that size. My disk came with a slip of paper showing the jumper settings; when viewed from the back of the disk, with the IDE cable at the left and power connector at the right, the layout of the jumper pins is thus:
B D F H
A C E G
The "normal" settings are: AB = Master; no jumpers = Slave; EF = Cable Select
The 32Gb settings are: AB+CD = Master; CD = Slave; CD+EF = Cable Select
Your disk may be different, but I think it's unlikely. See what HUTIL makes of the size of the drive. Hope this helps.
Regarding the 32Gb size, there are jumper settings (on the 1604) which I think limit the drive to that size. My disk came with a slip of paper showing the jumper settings; when viewed from the back of the disk, with the IDE cable at the left and power connector at the right, the layout of the jumper pins is thus:
B D F H
A C E G
The "normal" settings are: AB = Master; no jumpers = Slave; EF = Cable Select
The 32Gb settings are: AB+CD = Master; CD = Slave; CD+EF = Cable Select
Your disk may be different, but I think it's unlikely. See what HUTIL makes of the size of the drive. Hope this helps.
Ashley
Thanks Ash - the firmware code is on its way to you.
All the jumpers are set ok on the drive (it does have the same pin layout as yours), but HUTIL only shows it as having a max size of 32Gb (actually 32,000 Mb).
I tried the software on Friday night and lo and behold it got my SP1604N past the "hold" stage and onto the channel scan. It all looked so promising after weeks (or is it months now) of failed attempts to get the SP1604N this far.
Unfortunately, once the channel scan was done and the drive actually started I got the same problem as I had with the 160GB Seagate - every button press was taking 30-40 seconds to respond and it simply wouldn't pause TV.
On the Seagate I cured this by using an external PC power supply to power the drive so figured that would be the same solution with the downgraded SP1604N - but sadly it wasn't. Even with external PSU it was still in "wading through treacle" mode so I've decided to stick with the Seagate as a Fusion upgrade and put the SP1604N in my PC after all.
I've asked the Samsung contact if he's got any details of the different firmware "enhancements" - ie what might cause the incompatibility of the later version- as well as the firmware for my SP1203N. Apparently he's out of the country this week but should get back to me next week.
I think we could do with the TM100-30 upgrader as well - I don't fancy getting stuck with a £50 drive limited to 32Gb !
Neil - Did you power cycle the PC/HDD after the firmware flash? I think this may be an important step in the process. Perhaps worth "flashing again?
Thanks for sending me your firmware. I can confirm that all your files (for the SP1614N) are identical to the ones I was sent (for the SP1604N); I have done a UNIX "cmp" on all 4 files. I did ask AM at Samsung if the version he sent to me was generic or specific, and he said that "The f/w is only for the SP1604N", so I'm a bit confused (I've emailed him for confimation or otherwise of this). Also, as Cliff/Trevor have pointed out, the binary file contains many Samsung model numbers. Doing a byte-swap (to make the dump clearer) and then a dump shows:
0013856 ! V ^ 033 \b \0 A 300 n ) P 220 355 205 \0 007
0013872 P B A 300 y 342 A 201 373 360 ^ 032 004 A 200
0013888 352 341 1 0 0 - 2 6 n S A M S
0013904 U N G S P 0 4 0 1 N S P 0 8
0013920 0 2 N S P 1 2 0 3 N S P 1 6
0013936 0 4 N S V 0 4 0 1 N S V 0 8
0013952 0 2 N S V 1 2 0 3 N S V 1 6
0013968 0 4 N S P 0 3 1 1 N S P 0 6
0013984 1 2 N S P 0 8 0 2 N S P 1 2
0014000 0 3 N S V 0 4 0 1 N S V 0 8
0014016 0 2 N S V 1 2 0 3 N S V 1 6
0014032 0 4 N S V 0 3 0 1 N S V 0 6
0014048 0 2 N S V 0 9 0 3 N S V 1 2
0014064 0 4 N S V 0 3 0 1 N S V 0 6
0014080 0 2 N S V 0 9 0 3 N S V 1 2
0014096 0 4 N S P 0 4 2 1 N S P 0 8
0014112 1 2 N S P 1 2 1 3 N S P 1 6
0014128 1 4 N S V 0 4 0 1 N S V 0 8
0014144 0 2 N S V 1 2 0 3 N S V 1 6
0014160 0 4 N S P 0 3 1 1 N S P 0 6
0014176 2 2 N S P 0 8 1 2 N S P 1 2
0014192 1 3 N S V 0 4 1 1 N S V 0 8
0014208 1 2 N S V 1 2 1 3 N S V 1 6
0014224 1 4 N S V 0 3 0 1 N S V 0 6
0014240 0 2 N S V 0 9 0 3 N S V 1 2
0014256 0 4 N S V 0 3 0 1 N S V 0 6
0014272 0 2 N S V 0 9 0 3 N S V 1 2
0014288 0 4 N
0014304 T J T K
0014320 T L T M T N T P T Q T R T S T T
0014336 T U T V T N T P T Q T R U J U K
good news everyone
after the TM100-26 firmware downgrade (kindly sent me by ash_earwig) and a hutil low level format my SP1614N is now working in my thomson
by the way, the firmware downgrade didn't go smoothly. i first tried the SP1604N firmware and after the instructed power cycle i was told this model was not supported. then the same thing happened with the SP1614N version but hutil now reported the firmware as 26 not 30
Having had an SP1203N gathering dust after the "hold" problem (and being a gung-ho sort of a person) I decided to apply the SP1604N firmware downgrade and see what happened. Pleased to report that all seems well. It fired up immediately and I got the full channel search after only a few seconds on "hold".
The actual firmware downgrade needed a full power cycle (i.e. turn off at the plug) before the drive was recognised by HUTIL - just powering the PC down didn't work and in fact the machine just froze, didn't even get the BIOS messages.
I'll give a further update if any problems are encountered.
Finally finished viewing/archiving-to-tape my old recordings this morning and installed the firmware-downgraded SP1203N for real. Done a series of test recordings and, so far, everything's fine. It's great to see lots in the library and 80% free space !!
Looking forward to the 1.7.3 update and 14-day EPG, hopefully sometime over the weekend.
Looking forward to the 1.7.3 update and 14-day EPG, hopefully sometime over the weekend.
Brian
Brian,
If it's anything like last week it'll be Monday 03:00 when you get 1.7.3 (i.e. Sunday night/Monday morning). My newly fitted Seagate got 1.7.3 at that time.
Comments
You did better than me yesterday then! - I tried every conceivable search phrase I could think of on ebay to find an external drive housing that INCLUDED a 5V/12V PSU but came up with nothing. They're almost all powered off the USB bus it seems. Do you have an item reference number for the one you found.
Alternatively it looks as if www.ebuyer.com have something suitable around the £17 mark anyway - might get that.
But I'm gonna wait for Ash to try the downgraded SP1604N first cos that'd be a nice fit inside the case and no additional cost/hassle if it works.
Cliff
EDIT: Oops, that'll teach me to wait until I've read the entire thread before posting. So, Ash, any chance I could "borrow" a copy of the drive firmware loader - my email is
clawson AT amstrad DOT com
can I have a copy of the old firmware too please - I've got a new SP1203N which won't talk to my Fusion.
email:
david AT french1 DOT freeserve DOT co DOT uk
I tried to eMail samsung but the eMail form on their website (under faqs) has a required product field which it won't let you fill in. Bet their customer service dept don't get many eMails !!
CJL
http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=1880&category_id=115&manufacturer_id=0
external HDD enclosure which has its own power supply - I've got one - currently has my sp1203n in it !
Err, any chance of a copy of the Samsung utility also? Big disappointment when my SP1203N failed to initialize so I've been lurking, hoping some clever folk might come up with the solution. Had almost given up hope!
email is andrew AT nauticalbooks DOT co DOT uk
Many thanks in anticipation.
Andrew M
Not sure if this is going to work on an SP1203N - it's supposedly just for SP1604N - but...
I was going to give Ash the "glory" of announcing this but as he won't get a chance until tonight...
He sent me the firmware "down grader" and (with Ash's confirmation of Samsung's permission to make it available) I have put together a little web page at:
www.ourcottage.plus.com/samsung
Enjoy!
(I don't get a chance to try this myself yet until I get home tonight!)
Cliff
PS As I said on that web page - if it works (or if it doesn't!) do post back to this thread to let us all know.
And although SP1604N (or SP1203N) does not appear directly in there the table does give the impression that the software may work for multiple drives as those look like the recognisable model numbers "mixed up" a bit.
Anyone want to risk trying it on thir SP1203N ??
Cliff
It worked.
My Samsung drive (with old firmware) is now happily installed in the Fusion! We got there in the end.
Neil....
Cliff,
I searched eBay for 'hard drive power supply' - there are loads listed!!
Here is what I bought (from the same seller) -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=41994&item=6760273371&rd=1
Happy shopping.
Neil.
- NPS8020 = SP0802N
- NPS6140 = SP1604N
- NPS2130 = SP1203N
etc.
So it looks like the SP1203N should work with this downgrade - I certainly hope so as I have one gathering dust following a "hold" situation !! Just got to find someone who will let me put it in a PC to do the deed as I have a laptop.
Brian
David/Andrew: the firmware I was sent is ONLY for the SP1604N. I do have contact details for the extremely helpful man at Samsung who has said that it is alright to give out his email address. I suggest you contact him: andrew DOT meikle AT samsung DOT com
I'm pretty hopeful he will be able to provide you with the firmware downgrade
If you do get a firmware patch for your HDDs, then perhaps (if we ask nicely), Cliff will also make those available to others on his web page?
Ash
.....and if anyone wants the code that I used on my SP1614N then please let me know....
Neil.
did you get your firmware from the same source?
Dave
Dave - yes, I received the code in an email from Samsung.
Neil.
Any chance of you sending me your version of the firmware so that I can do as TrevorPH suggests and run a binary comparison of the two? PM'd you with my email address.
Thanks,
Ashley
Ashley - sure I'll send it. What's your email address?
I don't know if it's something that I've done, but by 160Gb disk seems to be limited to 32Gb now that I've got the new (old) firmware. Any suggestions anyone? Anyone else having the same problem?
Neil.
My email address is ash AT earwaker DOT net
Regarding the 32Gb size, there are jumper settings (on the 1604) which I think limit the drive to that size. My disk came with a slip of paper showing the jumper settings; when viewed from the back of the disk, with the IDE cable at the left and power connector at the right, the layout of the jumper pins is thus:
B D F H
A C E G
The "normal" settings are: AB = Master; no jumpers = Slave; EF = Cable Select
The 32Gb settings are: AB+CD = Master; CD = Slave; CD+EF = Cable Select
Your disk may be different, but I think it's unlikely. See what HUTIL makes of the size of the drive. Hope this helps.
Ashley
Thanks Ash - the firmware code is on its way to you.
All the jumpers are set ok on the drive (it does have the same pin layout as yours), but HUTIL only shows it as having a max size of 32Gb (actually 32,000 Mb).
And it all looked so promising....
Neil.
Unfortunately, once the channel scan was done and the drive actually started I got the same problem as I had with the 160GB Seagate - every button press was taking 30-40 seconds to respond and it simply wouldn't pause TV.
On the Seagate I cured this by using an external PC power supply to power the drive so figured that would be the same solution with the downgraded SP1604N - but sadly it wasn't. Even with external PSU it was still in "wading through treacle" mode so I've decided to stick with the Seagate as a Fusion upgrade and put the SP1604N in my PC after all.
Cliff
I think we could do with the TM100-30 upgrader as well - I don't fancy getting stuck with a £50 drive limited to 32Gb !
Dave
Thanks for sending me your firmware. I can confirm that all your files (for the SP1614N) are identical to the ones I was sent (for the SP1604N); I have done a UNIX "cmp" on all 4 files. I did ask AM at Samsung if the version he sent to me was generic or specific, and he said that "The f/w is only for the SP1604N", so I'm a bit confused (I've emailed him for confimation or otherwise of this). Also, as Cliff/Trevor have pointed out, the binary file contains many Samsung model numbers. Doing a byte-swap (to make the dump clearer) and then a dump shows: Ashley
after the TM100-26 firmware downgrade (kindly sent me by ash_earwig) and a hutil low level format my SP1614N is now working in my thomson
by the way, the firmware downgrade didn't go smoothly. i first tried the SP1604N firmware and after the instructed power cycle i was told this model was not supported. then the same thing happened with the SP1614N version but hutil now reported the firmware as 26 not 30
thanks peeps
i'll report back if it screws up
The actual firmware downgrade needed a full power cycle (i.e. turn off at the plug) before the drive was recognised by HUTIL - just powering the PC down didn't work and in fact the machine just froze, didn't even get the BIOS messages.
I'll give a further update if any problems are encountered.
Brian
Dave
Looking forward to the 1.7.3 update and 14-day EPG, hopefully sometime over the weekend.
Brian
If it's anything like last week it'll be Monday 03:00 when you get 1.7.3 (i.e. Sunday night/Monday morning). My newly fitted Seagate got 1.7.3 at that time.
Cliff