EC-DFLT firmware blocks access to previous data/backups

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  paulofonseca

  9/7/25, 4:00 PM

  I'm having a serious problem due to Sabrent, and I'm not receiving any support.

  I purchased the EC-DFLT docking station to use with my 12TB Seagate NAS 3.5 drives.

  3 months later I updated the EC-DFLT docking station's firmware.

  This firmware update caused the docking station to no longer read the drives correctly, displaying incorrect partition information.

  After some research, I realized that:
  "The issue here is that the old firmware was addressing the drive in 512kb blocks, and the new firmware is addressing it in 4096kb blocks. This is technically an upgrade because it allows you to use larger drives in the enclosure. The problem is that the drive formatted with 512kb blocks is now being presented to your computer in 4096kb blocks, and it simply can't see the data—it's all still there."

  https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1hggll9/warning_story_to_avoid_sabrent_lack_of_support/

  I confronted Sabrent about this problem their upgrade created, and they suggested I connect the drives to another brand device that can read them, back up the drives, and then format them so I can use them again in Sabrent's docking stations...

  It makes no sense that Sabrent doesn't have a solution to the problem they created with this upgrade.

  I can't access 32TB of that because of this...

  At the very least, they should provide the previous firmware, which can read the data on the drive...

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• S

  Sabrent Admin Staff

  9/8/25, 1:41 PM

  @paulofonseca If you need to read the data use the DMDE tool. It should be able to still see the data for recovery. Not ideal but it will work as this is just a problem in parsing the partitioning due to a change in sector size.

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  paulofonseca

  9/9/25, 6:14 AM

  Ideally, Sabrent would find a solution to the SERIOUS problem it created.

  
  This is a problem that will happen to many people, who probably even think they've lost all the data on the drive, but in reality, what happened was simply that the new Sabrent firmware can't read what the previous firmware wrote...

  It's absurd to talk about data recovery. As you know, this recovery will recover data that had previously been deleted and is of no interest whatsoever.

  
  This recovery won't guarantee the integrity of the data structure, nor will it guarantee whether all the data is there or not...

  Sabrent just needs to find a way to provide the old firmware, and the whole problem will be solved.

   

  I'm unable to access 36TB of data saved with the Sabrent EC-DFLT docking station simply because they decided to distribute a firmware upgrade that prevents access to previously saved data...

  Can't you see the severity of this error?

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  paulofonseca

  9/11/25, 5:53 AM

  Hi Sabrent, I'm still waiting for a solution.

  But not the previous solution, where they suggest I buy software to read the discs and copy them elsewhere.

  I remember it was your firmware update that caused your docking stations to stop reading what had previously been written to the discs...

  Is this the level of Sabrent's support and after-sales service?

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• S

  Stefan

  9/13/25, 11:13 AM

  Hello,

  I have the same problem. 

  After Firmware Upgrade, the previous data/ hdd's are no longer readable. We need the old firmware back.

  Regards

  Stefan

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• p

  paulofonseca

  9/15/25, 10:18 AM

  Anyone who upgrades the firmware will experience this problem and will no longer be able to access the data they've stored.
  
  Sabrent knows this, but as you can see, they do nothing to respond to a situation like this, which results in data loss.
  
  Many users will format their drives, thinking it's a drive problem when, in fact, it's just a problem with the Sabrent external drive enclosure.
  
  SHAMEFUL...
  
  

  It would be so simple to make the previous version of the software available...
  
  I would even consider buying a box with the old firmware, but Sabret suggests buying software to copy the data and buying another drive to copy the data to...

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