Hacking Seagate 500gb freeagent pro external HDD

[Alexrose]

Now.. it's very ambiguous on the compatibility page and through discussions I've had with people which ones of these actually work. It seems Seagate Freeagent Gos are really good, however, does this stand for freeagent pro's as well?

I read through here:

http://www.gbatemp.net/lofiversion/index.php/t146239.html

But I'm still not convinced.

Anyone got any ideas? I really don't want to shell out a huge amount of money on a drive and then find it won't actually work, or it'll go to sleep or something.

I was thinking that I should just use a third party app to format it to FAT32, then use WBFS manager, use the seagate software to disable sleep mode, then use USB Loader GX to run it.

I'm also wondering if newer versions of the USB Loader have made these concerns obselete.

Also, is it true that I should have 1.1 as well for really fast dumping?

 

[maximusprimate]

I have both the Seagate FreeAgent Pro and the FreeAgent Desk. The Pro is, well, pro... it's got firewire ports, spins fast and is quiet, but was expensive. It's for my computer, and only my computer. The Desk however is a fraction of the cost (I got mine for about $90 Canadian), and does the trick for USB loaders. It's quiet, sleek, and doesn't sleep. Keep in mind, if you don't want it to sleep, you have to download the Seagate program (I forget what it's called, but it's on their website), and change the sleep settings to "never". I unplug mine when I'm not using it to save energy, and I also turned power light off.

Definitely the best HD I can imagine, the only one I've tried, but from the complaints I hear about other people's drives, DON'T BUY ANYTHING ELSE!

 

[G2K]

I have the Seagate FreeAgent... uh... not sure about wther or not it's Pro or Desk, but it has a power cable. I've got the 500B model which I also got for about $90 Canadian. Works like a charm

. One problem though, not sure if it's universal, but mine only works with my computer if my wireless adapter is unplugged, but sometimes it will work even if it is plugged in.

 

[Knocks]

I got the portable version with a dock, and it works great with only one USB cable connected.

 

[thc42O]

i have a freeagent desk, 500gb only problem is i have to unplug the power to get the loaders to read it, after that u can play hours and hours without any problems.

 

[Moose13]

I have the 500 pro, with teh triple interface. I can't get the wii to recognize it no matter how many times I unplug it. I went with the 750G WD esential, I got for a steal at $55. Works like a charm. No problems with spindown or anything, the newer models down't shut down until the PC (or wii) shuts down. My kids leave games paused for hours, and come back to play it with no problems what so ever.

There's a mix of people that had problems with teh Freeagent. Many didn't have problems at all.
Even if I did get the drive working by unplugging it, it's a fail for me, beacuse I don't want my little guys to unplug anything.

 

[Innovative1]

I have the 500GB FreeAgent Desk with the swirly lights on the front. It works great (after putting it in 'never sleep' mode). I also occasionally have to power cycle the drive after launching the USB Loader but not every time.

 

[ShaneC]

It works great (after putting it in 'never sleep' mode). I also occasionally have to power cycle the drive after launching the USB Loader but not every time.

640gig here, but same thing. If the Wii is on before the HD, then it works great. If the HD is on first, I have to power cycle it.

 

[Empyr69er]

I got the 500 gig freeagent desk and it works like a beauty!

 

[robman62]

seagate outlet was just selling the 500g desks for 60 w/free shipping....I got one for my lappy, but have heard bad things about sgate drives