TL;DR: The author successfully reversed the firmware updater for a Toshiba HDD to update it on Linux. Use caution with the commands provided. Despite Toshiba only offering a Windows updater, the author discovered update files on a dedicated webpage and reverse-engineered the flashing process using Wine. The update process involves reading registry values, verifying the drive type, model, and interacting with the drive using ATA commands. The firmware file was parsed, the relevant file downloaded, and it was discovered the firmware runs on an ARM SoC. By understanding the flashing process, the author created a method to update the firmware on Linux.
Controversial information: Reverse-engineering the firmware updater and updating the firmware through Linux without official support from Toshiba.
Surprising content: Discovering update files on a dedicated webpage and using Wine to run the Windows updater on Linux.
Unique content: Reversing the flashing process and parsing the firmware file to update the Toshiba HDD firmware on Linux.
https://syscall.eu/blog/2024/08/28/toshiba_hdd_firmware/