List of Toshiba drive revision codes
This is a list of Toshiba drive revision codes. A drive revision is printed on the label of Toshiba 2.5" drives (except high-speed rotation rate models), as well as 3.5" drives based on Hitachi HDAs. 3.5" drives based on a native Toshiba HDA do not have drive revision codes, opting instead for a Fujitsu-style part number and two-digit revision.
Drive revisions will be detailed in this article as split into different "blocks", which denotes characters separated by a space. For example, for "ARA AA34 / JU000A", the first block is ARA, the second block AA34, and the third/firmware block is JU000A.
First block
The first block gives information on the drive itself, including its purpose and intended customer.
| Code | Customer/Purpose | Notes (including changes to label) | Example image |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Standard | Exclusive to OEM models (e.g. TOSHIBA DT01ACA200). | |
| ARA | Retail | Exclusive to retail-rebranded models (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWL110). Overrides all other codes (including ASA, for example, HDWU110 is still ARA despite being based off the ASA-receiving TOSHIBA DT01ABA100V surveillance drive). | |
| ASA | Surveillance | Exclusive to surveillance drives except if overriden by ARA (e.g. TOSHIBA DT01ABA050V). | |
| AVA | Video | Exclusive to video/consumer electronics DVR drives except if overriden by ARA (e.g. TOSHIBA DT02ABA400V). | |
| AAD | Dell | Adds Dell-specific numbering, such as a Dell serial number and DP/N. Adds QR code. Adds interface, capacity, spindle speed and firmware version in a box similar to drives produced by Western Digital and Seagate for Dell. |  |
| AAH | HP | Adds HP-specific details such as CT, PN, as well as firmware version barcode. | |
| AAN | Lenovo | Adds Lenovo-specific numbering, including FRU and PN. Sometimes adds a "*Warranty Void if Removed*" notice if the drive does not already have one. | |
| AAT | Toshiba laptops | Used on Toshiba hard drives used in Toshiba laptops. Adds a Toshiba-specific part number. | |
| AZA | USB/Retail | Usually used on USB drives, but has been observed on SATA drives as well. In either case, this block is usually observed in tandem with a -U suffix firmware version (see below for more details) |
Second block
The second block indicates production revisions of the drive, including reprints and minor revisions to a production line. This block's meaning varies significantly across drives.
Firmware block
The last block of characters, separated by a forward slash, indicate the firmware revision. Prefixing letters often indicate drive generation and form factor/HDA.
This list will only include prefixes and suffixes for native Toshiba 2.5" and Hitachi HDA-based 3.5" drives (which have firmware versions like "JU000A"). Native Hitachi rebranded drives use Hitachi firmware versioning style and have their own subsection. For those, the last three letters of the firmware will be indicated in the drive revision. Native Toshiba 3.5" drives derived from Fujitsu HDAs (such as TOSHIBA MD04ACA400) have a Fujitsu-inspired four digit firmware version and also have their own subsection.
Note that 3.5" Hitachi HDA SMR drives do not have a firmware block printed in-line with the drive revision; instead, a new line titled "FW:" gives the firmware version.
Prefixes
2005 - 2011
| 1st | 2nd | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| L | V | 2.5" 160 GB/platter Toshiba MKxx52GSX drives |
| G | L | 2.5" 333 GB/platter TOSHIBA MK1059GSM drive (no Advanced Format) |
| U | 2.5" 333 GB/platter TOSHIBA MK1059GSMP drive (Advanced Format) |
Post-2011
| 1st | 2nd | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| A | M | 2.5" 7 mm slim drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWK105) |
| V | 2.5" 7 mm 7,200 RPM slim drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01ACF050) | |
| X | 2.5" 9.5 mm drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWJ110) | |
| K | 2.5" 9.5 mm 4,200 RPM drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01AAD020C) | |
| Z | 2.5" 9.5 mm video/surveiilance drives with STB DRM (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050VS) | |
| Q | 2.5" 12.5 mm thick drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01ABC150) | |
| Y | 2.5" 15 mm thick drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01ABB200) | |
| D | S | 2.5" 7 mm slim 2-platter drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ02ABF200) |
| J | P | 2.5" 15 mm thick drives (MQ03 CMR) (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ03ABB300) |
| U | 2.5" 7 mm slim SMR drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWL110) | |
| T | 2.5" 9.5 mm 2-platter SMR drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ01ABD200) | |
| S | 2.5" 15 mm thick SMR drives (e.g. TOSHIBA MQ04ABB400) | |
| K | P | 3.5" Hitachi 1-platter HDA SMR drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWT720) |
| Q | 3.5" Hitachi 2 or 3-platter HDA SMR drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWD240) |
Suffixes
Suffixes indicate customer, similarly to the first block above.
| Code | Customer/Purpose | Notes (including changes to firmware) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Standard (used on both OEM and retail drives) | |
| C | HP? | Does not report attributes DC, DE, DF, E0, E2 or F0. Adds B7 SATA Downshift Error Count, B8 End-to-End Error, BB Reported Uncorrectable Errors, BC Command Timeout, BD High Fly Writes and sometimes BE Airflow Temperature. Has been observed on HP drives. |
| D | Dell | Does not report attributes 02, 07, 08, C5, C6, DC, DE, DF, E0, or E2. Transfer Error Rate at F0 changed to Head Flying Hours, and F1 Total Host Writes and F2 Total Host Reads reported. All SMART statistics pertaining to missing attributes also removed. |
| R | Surveillance (128 MB cache) | Observed only on Hitachi HDA SMR surveillance drives (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWT740). |
| L | Surveillance (256 MB cache) | Observed only on Hitachi HDA SMR surveillance drives, and only those with 256 MB cache (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWT860). |
| U | Retail/USB | Usually used on USB drives, but has been observed on SATA drives as well, where they might throttle the SATA interface to SATA 2 speeds. |
Hitachi firmware versions
The last three letters of the firmware version on Toshiba drives with Hitachi firmware are indicated in the drive revision. Some general trends can be observed within the starting letter of these last three letters.
Single-platter HDA
- 6: Hitachi with Toshiba logo (versus 5 for native Hitachis sans Toshiba logo)
- 7: OEM models (e.g. TOSHIBA DT01ACA100)
- 8: Retail models (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWD110), sometimes used for OEM models with customer-specific firmware (810 has been spotted on an Dell-specific DT01ACA100)
Multi-platter HDA
- A: Hitachi with Toshiba logo
- B: OEM models (e.g. TOSHIBA DT01ACA300)
- C: Retail models (e.g. TOSHIBA HDWD130)
Toshiba/Fujitsu enterprise firmware versions
All Toshiba enterprise drives have a four-digit firmware version, based on the style used by Fujitsu shortly before their 2009 takeover. The first two digits are generally consistent across a family. Note that when an MG family is listed below, this includes all subfamilies that are rebrands of that model (so Toshiba MG04 also includes Toshiba MD04 and Toshiba MN04).
- MT: Toshiba MKxx02TSKB
- FP: Toshiba MG04
- GX: Toshiba MG05
- 01: All SAS drives, Toshiba MG06, Toshiba MG07ACA, Toshiba MG08, Toshiba MG08-D and Toshiba MG09.