This isn’t quite what the openpleb category is looking for, but it’s a little related. Currently trying to update to the latest firmware in some X18 exos drives before I make a NAS with them. Their firmware update instructions basically read as “step one: update the firmware with bootable USB creator”. Trying to run that tool returns an error message. multiple drives, multiple computers even tried. always error code 164. currently in absolute customer support HELL as I write this. It has been an hour and a half, and this guy still hasn’t even grasped what the problem is. He said something about memory being removed from the system board when I asked what that error code meant (lead a horse to water), and STILL thinks I’m talking about the HDD being broken despite telling him multiple times I haven’t even used it yet.
Beyond the all-too-common incompetent support, if there was anything in the firmware updating instructions other than “here’s some files, good luck” maybe I could figure out if I was doing something wrong or their software is just borked.