Great discussion! I must say we have not tried (Level T command m) 2b - Enable format seacos, enable reformat zone, enable log, enable certify, disable format, enable corrupt primary defects argument so far! We did "2d"
Locked terminal or even encrypted FW is used to comply with the FIPS Level 2 standard. Seagate is here to stay! Unless they don't cancel the entire diagnostic command port program development, Seagate drives will continue to use their way. This is why we made a simple AIR application (HDD Serial Commander). We translated commands to English and made command builder so one can play with it, run or export the command set to text file. Basic set of commands including Toshiba and Samsung is free to download. Even free version is a very useful tool for those who want to learn more about diagnostic command port. Mostly because its all in one place. If you like what we do you can contribute the project and download full version. Full version can also read/write FIDs (if it is enabled with the drive). Current goal is to finish "translation" of every single command including all their arguments (properties). I must also say over the past 11 months we discovered a great deal!
Full version is Public Beta 2.2.3 while current with our research group is 2.2.5 (Goal is 2.3.0 - all translated and verified
). May easily take another year
It is actually possible to create/run a batch file (script) and even store it to a drive. See Level 6 for more details (Seagate F3). This is also great "place" (level 6) for those who want to learn more about self-diagnostics.
Not to be confused since we had many questions related to Samsung, Toshiba or even WD (which is not currently supported). Full version will not have any more details nor commands for these drives. We currently work only on Seagate F3 series.
Thank you.