sticker on drive doesn't match electronic info

relativist · 02-25-2013, 03:49 PM

Hello!
I purchased a WD scorpio black 500GB 2.5 SATA drive from Amazon. When it arrived I plugged it in to format it to prep for install.

However, I noticed that the electronic signature of the Manufacturer in Disk Utility and System Profiler say it's a Seagate drive.

Is this something I should be aware of? Or is this normal?

DeltaMac · 02-25-2013, 04:08 PM

Disk Utility (as well as System Profiler) will show you the manufacturer's model number.
You can google for that number, which can show you a spec page for the model number.
Does a spec page also tell you that you have a Seagate drive?
How does that compare to the ID label on the drive itself?

relativist · 02-25-2013, 04:13 PM

yes, the spec page tells me I have a seagate drive.
i even searched the digital serial number on seagate's site and it comes up as being part of the "blackarmour" family of seagate drives.

the sticker on the drive, however, has an entirely different serial and says it's a WD scorpio black drive. this drive i purchased directly from amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

am i to assume this is some kind of scam?

trevor · 02-25-2013, 04:34 PM

Is this hard drive mounted inside a case (like a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt case)? Or is it mounted directly inside your computer? If it is in a case, you are seeing information from the case, not from the hard drive itself. Bridge boards routinely identify themselves to a computer, so if it's in a case, this just means that your CASE is telling you it's a Seagate.

What computer exactly are you seeing the information telling you that the drive is a Seagate on? I don't have a theory around this question, it's just for information's sake.

Seagate and Western Digital are NOT the same company at all. Seagate has recently gobbled up Samsung's hard drive operations, and Western has recently gobbled up Hitachi's hard drive operations. This leaves those Seagate and WD as the huge players in the hard drive field--i.e. they are big competitors to each other.

I can't imagine a legitimate scenario where a drive is labeled as WD but whose firmware shows it to be Seagate.

Trevor

relativist · 02-25-2013, 04:56 PM

ah hah!
great catch.

the cable i was using to attach it to my macbook pro was taken from the external drive encasing of a seagate. i tested a hitachi and the WD drive and they both came up as Seagate.

Then i changed the USB cable to some random cheapo company and they show up as Hitachi and WDC with that cable.

very informational. good to know that info!
thank you!

02-25-2013, 03:49 PM	#1
relativist Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 119	sticker on drive doesn't match electronic info Hello! I purchased a WD scorpio black 500GB 2.5 SATA drive from Amazon. When it arrived I plugged it in to format it to prep for install. However, I noticed that the electronic signature of the Manufacturer in Disk Utility and System Profiler say it's a Seagate drive. Is this something I should be aware of? Or is this normal?

02-25-2013, 04:34 PM	#4
trevor Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boulder, CO USA Posts: 19,560	Is this hard drive mounted inside a case (like a USB, FireWire, or Thunderbolt case)? Or is it mounted directly inside your computer? If it is in a case, you are seeing information from the case, not from the hard drive itself. Bridge boards routinely identify themselves to a computer, so if it's in a case, this just means that your CASE is telling you it's a Seagate. What computer exactly are you seeing the information telling you that the drive is a Seagate on? I don't have a theory around this question, it's just for information's sake. Seagate and Western Digital are NOT the same company at all. Seagate has recently gobbled up Samsung's hard drive operations, and Western has recently gobbled up Hitachi's hard drive operations. This leaves those Seagate and WD as the huge players in the hard drive field--i.e. they are big competitors to each other. I can't imagine a legitimate scenario where a drive is labeled as WD but whose firmware shows it to be Seagate. Trevor __________________ How to ask questions the smart way

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02-25-2013, 04:08 PM	#2
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 7,996	Disk Utility (as well as System Profiler) will show you the manufacturer's model number. You can google for that number, which can show you a spec page for the model number. Does a spec page also tell you that you have a Seagate drive? How does that compare to the ID label on the drive itself?

02-25-2013, 04:13 PM	#3
relativist Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 119	yes, the spec page tells me I have a seagate drive. i even searched the digital serial number on seagate's site and it comes up as being part of the "blackarmour" family of seagate drives. the sticker on the drive, however, has an entirely different serial and says it's a WD scorpio black drive. this drive i purchased directly from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 am i to assume this is some kind of scam?

02-25-2013, 04:56 PM	#5
relativist Triple-A Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 119	ah hah! great catch. the cable i was using to attach it to my macbook pro was taken from the external drive encasing of a seagate. i tested a hitachi and the WD drive and they both came up as Seagate. Then i changed the USB cable to some random cheapo company and they show up as Hitachi and WDC with that cable. very informational. good to know that info! thank you!