The Seagate failing HD saga continues

[rowan]

The replacement they sent me for the last failed drive makes repeated clicking noises, has noticeable higher noise and vibration levels, and failed the drive self test immediately. A bit more testing and SMART kicked in, saying the drive was unreliable and should be replaced.

They replaced a dud drive with another f@#$ing dud drive!

The count is now 9 x 300Gb drives, 5 have failed...

I will be asking for a full refund or replacement (of the 4 drives I originally purchased) with a different model.

[nikooo]

fucker.....what the hell.....take full refund or replacement or sue them

[RevSand]

I have three of the seagate externals and they have performed like champs for me...

[nekrom]

Still having probs mate? Bugger me this is like one on-going cluster fcuk for ya. I'd well and truly be spitting chips by now if I was you.

-N

[More Booze]

And it isn't a temperature problem with your computer/computers?

[rowan]

Originally Posted by More Booze

And it isn't a temperature problem with your computer/computers?

No, I have a full tower case with multiple fans, two of which sit in front of the HD bays and keep them cool.

Anyway, the replacement started clunking from the moment it powered up. I also used a utility to spin it down then up again to confirm that it was the device that was making the extra vibration/humming noise... it sounds like a high speed CD/DVD drive, definitely not the sort of noise that should be coming from a modern HD.

So, to recap...

October 2005: 4 x Seagate 300Gb SATA drives purchased. Source was 3 different factories/countries so it was not a batch problem.

1 was DOA (October 2005)
- replaced by retailer
1 reported S.M.A.R.T. errors within 24 hours (October 2005)
- replaced by retailer
1 suddenly developed a bunch of read errors and bad sectors (March 2007)
- replaced by Seagate with reconditioned drive
1 started clicking and alternately tested OK and faulty (April 2007)
- replaced by Seagate with reconditioned drive (dud)

Seagate

[KILL_FRENZY]

Sata 1 or sata 2 ?

[Kard63]

Maybe next time you'll get Western Digital.

[Jarmusch]

Do you work for Western Digital or Maxtor? Cause you sure as hell are scaring everyone away from Seagate here.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by KILL_FRENZY

Sata 1 or sata 2 ?

Seagate ST3300831AS 300Gb <-- for google
It is SATA 1

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Kard63

Maybe next time you'll get Western Digital.

If I get a cash refund then I'll probably be going with 4 WD Raptor drives. Although I buy relatively few drives Seagate was my supplier of choice as I'd heard lots of bad things about other manufacturers, particularly Western Digital.

Here's where that choice gets ironic: there are also 2 WD drives in this computer that have been there nearly as long as the Seagates (a deliberate crossover to another brand+model to avoid catastrophic data loss if there was a major flaw somewhere). The Seagate drives in this comp have been a nightmare; the WD drives have not had a single issue. Not one.

[RevSand]

Originally Posted by Jarmusch

Do you work for Western Digital or Maxtor? Cause you sure as hell are scaring everyone away from Seagate here.

Seagate owns maxtor now...

[tony286]

WD is the only drive I use got burnt with seagates

[dav3]

My seagate has been awesome, but then again so have my raptors. When you get these hard drives home, do you just like throw the box on the floor or something? All that bad luck with hard drives, maybe they aren't the problem.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by dav3

My seagate has been awesome, but then again so have my raptors. When you get these hard drives home, do you just like throw the box on the floor or something? All that bad luck with hard drives, maybe they aren't the problem.

No, I am very careful with them. Even though I have a redundant RAID setup I'm always aware that HDs are fragile, and will fail one day. This latest round of problems has made me super glad that I did plan for such a failure. (The failure in March would have definitely lost some serious amounts of data were it a dedicated, single drive)

Some people have suggested it may be the power supply, so I recently upgraded from a 550W unit to an 800W unit.

There is still the fact that Seagate sent me a reconditioned lemon. It started making noises that a HD shouldn't from the moment it was powered on.

[notabook]

Hey rowan, which psu did you get @ 800W?

[rowan]

Originally Posted by notabook

Hey rowan, which psu did you get @ 800W?

Coolermaster 850W Real Power Pro (not 800W as I thought).

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...mba_psu/2.html

The mass of cables coming out of the supply - eg there are 4 PCI-e connectors each on their own cable & sheath - are "tightish fitting" even in my full tower.

[notabook]

Originally Posted by rowan

Coolermaster 850W Real Power Pro (not 800W as I thought).

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...mba_psu/2.html

The mass of cables coming out of the supply - eg there are 4 PCI-e connectors each on their own cable & sheath - are "tightish fitting" even in my full tower.

Nice nice. I wanted to get a high power unit with modular cables but I couldn't justify the price just for a little extra clutter lol. I ended up going with a OCZ 700 watt GameXStream, best price I found for a (then) powerful psu. The 850 coolermaster looks damn solid

[Kard63]

Originally Posted by rowan

If I get a cash refund then I'll probably be going with 4 WD Raptor drives. Although I buy relatively few drives Seagate was my supplier of choice as I'd heard lots of bad things about other manufacturers, particularly Western Digital.

Here's where that choice gets ironic: there are also 2 WD drives in this computer that have been there nearly as long as the Seagates (a deliberate crossover to another brand+model to avoid catastrophic data loss if there was a major flaw somewhere). The Seagate drives in this comp have been a nightmare; the WD drives have not had a single issue. Not one.

Western Digital is the best of the ones that are comparably priced.