scriptasylum

I don't get it: 2 different 120GB WD (8MB) harddrives bad within three days of hooking them up!

I really don't understand it though. The drive was hooked up as slave and after about three days of use, it simply stops being recognized by BIOS. I can hook any other of my extra drives in the same configuration for many days with no problems. The drive won't work in any configuration anymore in any computer in the house. Has anyone else had issues with these drives (model WD1200JB) before?

Luckily Newegg is good about RMAs: they are going to refund the money. Newegg offered to replace it again, but I'm not too confident with the product now. I guess I'll just have to get a Maxtor or something.

It's really a pain in the butt because I was using the drive for backups and to store HD images from the other two computers in the house. Luckily I'm paranoid and have another backup drive (USB2 enclosure) that I can use until the new one comes in.

*sigh* OK, I've vented enough.

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SkazzyUK

is smart enabled? give it a try

Skazz

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Krux

seems funny that u should loose 2 hard drives that fast.... You might have really bad luck or there might be something wrong with your pc that is messing up the slave channel.

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scriptasylum

Oh yeah, SMART is enabled, but SMART never utters a peep. I never even got any "imminent failure" warnings.

The PC POSTS, then hangs while it presumably searches the IDE ports and finds the bad drive. Once it decides the drive is bad (or not there) it moves on. If the WD is on the same IDE cable as my main drive, neither drive will be recognized. If the WD is on a different cable, just the WD drive won't be recognized. The bad drive is pulling down the whole IDE channel. Therefore, I think the problem is the controller card on the drive itself. I hear the drive spin up, but then it doesn't go any further.

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scriptasylum

You would think. I know the channel is OK because while the first drive was shipped to Newegg and I waited for the RMA to be processed and the return product to arrive (about 12 days incl weekends), I was using my old 30GB drive as slave with no issues. Each time I hook up a WD drive, it lasts three days before it goes kaput. And before I got the WD drive, I used an IBM 60GB drive on that same channel for about 1.5 years.

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XP Abuser

maybe bad ide cable. happened to me i ripped it while adding new drive to system and thought drive was broke till i moved it to other cable also set jumper to cable select. might solve it.

GoNz0

matched pairs can be a pain in the ass, i say try a new cable and use cable select jumpers as well.

Zedric

My WD1200JB got went noicy after about 3 months so I sent it back before the bearings had a chance to brake down on me.

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scriptasylum

XP Abuser: Well, an IDE cable sure sounds feasible, but why do my other drives work without a hitch and the WD does not? I also tried it on my other IDE port which uses a different cable. Plus, the drive was hooked up in other computers (diff cable) with the same result.

GoNz0: This isn't a matched pair issue. I had only one WD 120GB HD. I sent it back and got a replacement already, so that is my second one. I also tried different master/slave/cable select configurations as well. Perhaps you misunderstood what I meant, sorry for the confusion.

Zedric: I only wish mine had lasted that long...

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rettahc

Well if you insist on using Western Digital drives you better get used to RMA's in the last year and a half I've RMA 4 drives to WD. I'm never buying another WD drive again.

scriptasylum

It's not that I insist on using WD drives, it's because I got it because of the 8MB cache, the price at Newegg, and the performance reviews I've seen online. Newegg sent me another WD drive as a replacement because I thought maybe I got a lemon.

I still want a 120GB drive, and I figure I'll pay about $150. Once Newegg refunds my money, I'll just find something local instead; maybe Bestbuy or CompUSA has something I can use for a decent price. I really don't have to have a drive with 8MB cache because its really just for backups and stuff. It just so happens Newegg had a sale on the 1200JB so I went for that. This last time the drive went bad, I called a rep at Newegg and requested a Maxtor as a replacement, but they wanted to refund my money instead and said to order a different drive from their site once the return is processed.

Buying online has some advantages, but returning things and waiting for the return product bites. So I think from now on I'll buy from a local shop that has the product I want in stock and for the same approximate price. I might pay a bit more, but at least I can return the product and get a replacement in an hour as opposed to several days. I'll save the online shopping for more exotic items that aren't locally in stock.

I must say Newegg has been good about the returns so far and the other stuff I got in the same order has been trouble-free.

It just sucks that I went through the whole process of partitioning and copying my backup files to the drive and then it goes bad afew days later....TWICE!

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LeeJend

I've used only WD drives for years but last (Fall?) they came out with a "new product line" and cut their warantee from 3 to 1 year to "keep in line with the rest of the industry". And they claim "there is no change in the reliability of our drives".

Sounds like a different story from the posts. Glad I bought my latest HD just before the "policy alignment".

SO seagate I never liked, I've heard bad things about maxtor, and now WD looks kaput...

What's left to buy? IBM? Any recommendations?

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LeeJend

Oh yeah. The original question. Asylum you are using 80 pin ribbon cables or good quality round cables right?

The 40 pin ribbons and cheaper round cables may not handle the UDMA100-133 data rates withou dropouts.

The other possibility is heat. 120 gig drive may be running hotter than the samller drives were and toasting itself.

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ElementalDragon

Just as a word of advice, i'd say stick with WD. I trust Western Digital more than i trust maxtor or any other company for hard drives. Like other people said, there could have been a defect with the drive itself, maybe there was a power surge while you weren't home or something that kinda kicked it a bit. I always get WD hard drives.

There could be a couple reasons it could fail that quick. Maybe something wasn't connected entirely right, or maybe they weren't getting enough power and sorta crapped out or something. Just because 2 hard drives fail, don't start to hate the name Western Digital. They're a great company.

And rettahc, same thing to you. depending on where you buy them, you may not ALWAYS get top quality. I've heard some disturbing stories about some electronic stores like Circuit City and Best Buy. I still trust best buy though, cause they cleaned up their little act. CC didn't though from what i've heard.
ScriptAsylum, if you're gonna buy from a retailer, go with bestbuy. they never let me down.

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Master-J

Have you found out what actually failed on the drives?
Maybe you have a faulty power supply that is causing the circuit boards on the drives to blow. My power supply caused a short and it took out both my seagate and WD. The WD's circuit board got fried and the seagate's data got corrupted, but luckly it wasn't physically damaged. It might be possible that the WDs are really sensitive.

RaWShadow

WD fail all the freakin time, they are rubbish. If you read on Black Vipers website, he says hes used like 6 WD hard drives and they all failed in a short time, so he uses maxtor with no problems at all. I've always used maxtor too never had one fail in years. WD have a problem with there drives and they need to fix it.

JohnnyGreb

Not that I'm partial to any brand, but I've used WD for years and have never had a hard drive go bad on me. I still even have an old 20GB I use as a "portable" for going to friends' when we swap files. The other computer I have has a 40GB WD in it, and it's never had a problem with it in the about 2 years it's been in there.

I don't worry about brands of HD and usually go into a store with the size I want in mind. Whichever is cheapest gets the sale.

Maybe I'm lucky, but I really can't recall any harddrive *ever* going bad on me. My oldest working computer is a Kaypro 10 made in 1982. It's got a 10GB HD in it, and it (the computer and the HD) still works 100%.

-Ryandor

jroc

uh huh....real sensitive to RMA's...Ive always used and will use Maxtor Fluid Drive (DiamondMax 8 or 9's)....they beat WD hands down in performance and quietness....and so far RMA free.

scriptasylum

LeeJend: Well, I really don't think it's a 80pin/40pin cable issue. A 40pin cable would just effect preformance not render the drive totally useless and bring down the other drive on that cable. Anyway, yes, I am using good 80pin cables, I even tried a brand new one to be sure. I even put the drive in another PC and BIOS simply does not recognize it.

ElementalDragon: I've had decent luck with WD in the past too. I still have a WD 2.5 GB from way back and it still works fine (slow though). The kids use a 20GB WD and works ok, and the wife has a 40GB WD which is fine. I might simply have gotten a bad batch, but it really has shaken my brand confidence, at least for now.

Master-J: No, I haven't figured that out. Judging by the symptoms, I would say it's the controller card on the drive itself. I can hear the drive spin, so it's not the spindle motor. I guess it could be the head actuator, but I'm leaning to the controller because the drive will render any other drive on the same IDE port unreadable too until they are put on their own IDE port. I don't want to experiment with taking things apart since that would void any warranty. $150 bucks is a little pricey to "play" with (at least for poor folk like me).

RaWShadow: I wonder if they simply have a bad batch. I haven't had the issues that Black Viper has had. It's just two of these 1200JBs in a row.

Ryandor: Same here. The reason why I went for the WD in the first place was the sale price on Newegg. I have had an IBM fail on me during its bad time, and a WD somewhat fail on me (I think the drive jumper was loose), but that's it for HD issues.

jroc: My main 80GB Maxtor has been fine too, that's why I'll probably go with them.

Enyo: Lol, yeah, IBM had issues for a while there.

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RaWShadow

having 2 drives go bad on you though.. Maybe you could have got them to test it in store after it failed the first time ? Maybe it was a problem with your comp or the drives.