Ant <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

> Weird, I missed this post.

Yeah, I have had a few that showed up much later too.

>>>>> http://store.antec.com/Product/acces...5-77150-4.aspx
>>>>> ... I find it weird that they use PS/2 connection for its power.

>>>> Yeah, and given that I wouldn???t bother to replace it myself.

>>> I sent an e-mail to its support about replacement parts.

> I got an e-mail reply. I will think about this.
> I need to confirm it is an enclosure problem or not.

Bet its that stupid PS2 connector for power.

That certainly explains all the symptoms you have seen,
the drive going missing. The original problem of not
being able to use it as a destination for a backup, and
the single pending sector, likely that was caused by a
write being done when the connector failed to connect.

A replacement power supply is unlikely to help at all.

>>>> Bet that???s the problem, that pathetically inadequate power connector.

>>>> Even a replacement won't fix that.

>>> Based on Amazon.com's reviews, people had problems with the fan,
>>> connections, etc. I bet I am having these problems too!

>> Yeah, that's very likely why the long term max temp is 60C

> Sheesh.

>>>>> I might have to buy a new/different enclosure.

>>>> Yeah, I like the Samsung Story USB3 external drives myself.

>>> Is this it?
>>> http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-3-0-St...dp/B004BDOTA4/
>>> ...

>> Yep.

> Cool. I need confirm that the enclosure is the problem and not that HDD
> first.

>>>> Very solid aluminium case, no fan, but the physical hard drive doesn't
>>>> take a lot of power given than it???s a 4500 RPM green drive.

>>> Ah.

>>>> Didn???t mention it previously because you said you wanted a 2.5"
>>>> drive and I haven't tried Samsung's, just because I want best $/TB
>>>> because I get them for overflow of the PVR because I am too lazy
>>>> to clean up the ones I have with drives so cheap now.

>>> Assuming my HDD is still good, I could just replace it

>> Replace the housing you mean ?

> Uh, yes the enclosure.

>>> OR just get one of those external adapter cables.

>> Yeah, tho it wouldn't be as protected against physical
>> damage like that and that might not be a great idea
>> depending on the detail of how you are disabled.

> I won't be carrying it around a lot. Just need to swap
> between computers EXTERNALLY often with cables.

>> It wouldn't be a great idea to drop it like that.

> Uh, wouldn't dropping enclosures be the same?

Nope, the better enclosures do prove some protection
for the drive inside them for the milder drops.

Very easy to break off a component with a bare drive.

>>>> A 2/5" drive would have the advantage that you could likely
>>>> get away with no external power supply at all in some situations
>>>> when the USB connectors provide enough power. Not all do tho.
>>>> No big deal when you can use an external USB power supply when
>>>> they don't.

>>>> Drives with both eSATA and USB3 are rare tho so if you
>>>> demand that, that does restrict your choices drastically.

>>> I don't have any USB3 ports yet. Only one PC with eSATA port so far.

>> OK, then you definitely do need an external drive which supports eSATA.

> Heh, even ESATA ports are rare

True.

> like Firewire (OK, dead technology now)!
> Dang USB!

Yeah, tho it does have a cleaner cabling system than eSATA.

Ant <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

>>>> Power strip looked OK to me. I checked its power brick too. I am going
>>>> to check on its unused ESATA cable instead of its USB2 cable.

>>> Do that. It might be almost as good as removing the disk from the
>>> enclosure.

>> OK, I will try it next week.

> OK, I am back!

That’s your front, not your back.

> Chkdsk.exe /f /r finally completed/finished, but it found bad sectors:
> http://pastie.org/private/z7rjb1qrpgqp3npdguhtw ...

> SMART showed more problems: http://pastie.org/4467559 ...

I don’t find those very readable, show the SMART stats again.

> Its self extended long tests still failed.

> I tried ESATA cable on a newer PC with its updated 64-bit W7,
> but it didn't even see the drive or detect it connected!

Do you know if that actually works with other eSATA drives ?

> Do I have to do anything special to use it?

Nope.

> And yes, I moved the enclosure's external cables to another computer
> and power strip outlet. Its self extended long tests still failed.

> I think I need to take this HDD out and connect it with external cables
> soon.

I wouldn’t bother myself. All the symptoms you have reported can be
explained by that lousy PS/2 power connector for the external housing.

Ant <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote

> OK, here is what I discovered.

> Enclosure's fan doesn't spin

Dunno, surely you can feel if its spinning or not ?

> that we saw from SMART's temperature readings

I saw no evidence of that from the SMART temperature reading
that you posted after Frank showed you how to get the series.

The drive does run too warm for my taste, but there isnt any
evidence that the fan wasn’t spinning during that particular test.

> and Amazon's reviews. Enclosure seems OK since the HDD
> still can't do self tests (both long and short ones) with
> different external cables and adapter with
> http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-CB-ISAT...dp/B000J01I1G/
> ... !

What ?

> So it looks like this HDD is hosed! Does everyone agree?

Nope, I haven't seen any evidence for anything except that
you have see the drive go missing at least once and its likely
that the pending sectors were just a result of the drive not
getting power during a write due to that lousy PS/2 connector.

> Also, I used the just released gsmartcontrol-0.8.7-win32.
> http://pastie.org/4467999 for the updated/new
> results which look bad and the same to me. :P

Still just one pending and one offline uncorrectable,
both of which could easily have happened just because
the power to the drive went missing during a write
due to the stupid PS/2 power connector.

> Time to find a new external 2.5" HDD then!

Why do you want a 2.5" HDD now instead of a 3.5" ?

"Ant" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >>>>> I am going to check on its unused ESATA cable instead of its USB2
>> >>>>> cable.
>> >>
>> >>>> I'd get another power pack if it was mine and try that.
>> >>
>> >>> Hmm, I would have to get another one then.
>> >>
>> >> Yeah, that?s what I meant.
>> >>
>> >>> It might be easier just remove the HDD into a PC OR maybe use one of
>> >>> those adapters externally?
>> >>
>> >> I wouldn?t bother with that approach now given
>> >> how awkward it is for you to do that now that we
>> >> have good evidence it?s a power pack problem.
>> >
>> >Hmm, I can't seem to find its replacements on
>> >http://store.antec.com/Product/acces...5-77150-4.aspx
>> >
>> >.... I find it weird that they use PS/2 connection for its power. I
>> >might
>> >have to buy a new/different enclosure.
>
>> I have that same enclosure , and other than at one time it developed a
>> noisy
>> fan issue, it has served me well. Its also one of the very few external
>> enclosure that you can use to make your own External DVR upgrade drive
>> for a
>> HD Tivo DVR or DirecTV DVR.
>
>> I would chalk up you experience to a one time problem and not sweat over
>> it .
>> If its working now you could have just experienced a brownout on your
>> power
>> line to your house.
>
>
>> But if you are worried, a replacement fan can be ordered for $13.41 right
>> from
>> antec
>
>> http://store.antec.
>> com/Product/accessory-spare_parts/mx-1-power-adapter/0-761345-30290-6.aspx

> When the HDD was taken out, I wiggled its power
> cable to the circuit board and it sometimes fan.

What ?

> It seems like a bad power cable?

Can't understand that previous sentence.

In article <V5ydnVoGCaZ-(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed) (Ant) wrote:
>OK, here is what I discovered.
>
>Enclosure's fan doesn't spin that we saw from SMART's temperature
>readings and Amazon's reviews. Enclosure seems OK since the HDD still
>can't do self tests (both long and short ones) with different external
>cables and adapter with
>http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-CB-ISAT...ch/dp/B000J01I
>1G/
>.... !
>
>So it looks like this HDD is hosed! Does everyone agree? Also, I used
>the just released gsmartcontrol-0.8.7-win32.
>http://pastie.org/4467999 for the updated/new results which look bad
>and the same to me. :P
>
>Time to find a new external 2.5" HDD then!

How much to sell the enclosure to me?