Two Bad WD Drives..?

[ac892]

I have a WD IDE HD that just froze up my system one day.. No warning,
no nothing! I shut down and rebooted and noticed that the HD was
"clicking" from time to time and would lock up and that was the end.
After a signiicant rest I could boot the system up but eventually, the
clicking and freeze would reoccur. Figuring that my HD was dead, I
went out and purchased a new WD IDE HD. I experience the same problem
with the brand new drive! I thought then that the IDE controller on my
MB could be the culpret, so I purchased a SATA to IDE converter. Now
running from the SATA controller, I STILL have the HD issue. Whats
next? Could I possibly have TWO bad WD drives..? Any ideas..???
Thanks.

 

[CWatters]

I have a WD IDE HD that just froze up my system one day.. No warning,
no nothing! I shut down and rebooted and noticed that the HD was
"clicking" from time to time and would lock up and that was the end.
After a signiicant rest I could boot the system up but eventually, the
clicking and freeze would reoccur. Figuring that my HD was dead, I
went out and purchased a new WD IDE HD. I experience the same problem
with the brand new drive! I thought then that the IDE controller on my
MB could be the culpret, so I purchased a SATA to IDE converter. Now
running from the SATA controller, I STILL have the HD issue. Whats
next? Could I possibly have TWO bad WD drives..? Any ideas..???

Faulty power supply?

 

[Bob]

I have a WD IDE HD that just froze up my system one day.. No warning,
no nothing! I shut down and rebooted and noticed that the HD was
"clicking" from time to time and would lock up and that was the end.
After a signiicant rest I could boot the system up but eventually, the
clicking and freeze would reoccur. Figuring that my HD was dead, I
went out and purchased a new WD IDE HD. I experience the same problem
with the brand new drive! I thought then that the IDE controller on my
MB could be the culpret, so I purchased a SATA to IDE converter. Now
running from the SATA controller, I STILL have the HD issue. Whats
next? Could I possibly have TWO bad WD drives..? Any ideas..???

What does Everest have to say about the condition of the drives? How
hot are they getting? WD states that the operating range is 15C - 55C.


--

Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
--John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

 

[Ron Reaugh]

I have a WD IDE HD that just froze up my system one day.. No warning,
no nothing! I shut down and rebooted and noticed that the HD was
"clicking" from time to time and would lock up and that was the end.

Did the drive receive sufficient cooling? Was it running hot?

After a signiicant rest I could boot the system up but eventually, the
clicking and freeze would reoccur. Figuring that my HD was dead, I
went out and purchased a new WD IDE HD. I experience the same problem
with the brand new drive! I thought then that the IDE controller on my
MB could be the culpret, so I purchased a SATA to IDE converter. Now
running from the SATA controller, I STILL have the HD issue. Whats
next? Could I possibly have TWO bad WD drives..? Any ideas..???
Thanks.

Drive temperature.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

What does Everest have to say about the condition of the drives? How
hot are they getting? WD states that the operating range is 15C - 55C.

55C will cause early drive death.

 

[Impmon]

I have a WD IDE HD that just froze up my system one day.. No warning,
no nothing! I shut down and rebooted and noticed that the HD was
"clicking" from time to time and would lock up and that was the end.
After a signiicant rest I could boot the system up but eventually, the
clicking and freeze would reoccur. Figuring that my HD was dead, I
went out and purchased a new WD IDE HD. I experience the same problem
with the brand new drive! I thought then that the IDE controller on my
MB could be the culpret, so I purchased a SATA to IDE converter. Now
running from the SATA controller, I STILL have the HD issue. Whats
next? Could I possibly have TWO bad WD drives..? Any ideas..???
Thanks.

Cheap or dying power supply? Some cheap no name power supply may
advertise (for example) 350 watts but in reality cannot do a full 350
watts and only compares to a decent 250 or 300 watts supply. Also if
you power supply is about 5 years old, chances are it's full of faulty
capacitors made from Taiwan and it's failing now.

Try a good power supply and see if that helps.

 

[Bob]

55C will cause early drive death.

Here's the correspondence I got from WD. As you can see I misquoted
the lower figure. The correct temperature range is 5 - 55C.

I fully agree that 55C is far too hot but it is within WD specs.

+++

Western Digital Tech Support-

I have several utilities that report the temperature of my WD 800JB HD.

What is the maximum allowed temperature?

Dear Bob,

Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support.

The operating temperature of the drive is between 5 C to 55 C (41 F
to 131F).

Sincerely,
Shahram R.
Western Digital Service and Support
http://support.wdc.com
+++

--

Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
--John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Here's the correspondence I got from WD. As you can see I misquoted
the lower figure. The correct temperature range is 5 - 55C.

I fully agree that 55C is far too hot but it is within WD specs.

Drive life at the max temp spec is significantly reduced.

 

[CWatters]

Drive life at the max temp spec is significantly reduced.

... but it's not usually instant death.

 

[ac892]

I will check into the power supply issue. I'm much more inclined to go
in that direction rather than the overheating one for two reasons. 1st
is that I have a BRAND NEW DRIVE doing the SAME exact thing! Other
than getting the OS loaded and letting it run for an hour or so, same
problem. Other issue is that I have two intake and two exhaust fans in
the case. Tons of airflow and I do not think the inside environment
has ever gone beyond maybe 38°C. (ambient room temp in summer) I
can't imagine 100°F is going to kill a brand new drive in an hour!
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.

 

[Peter]

While power supply might be the culprit, your remarks about
temperature are a bit misleading.
From the fact that ambient room temperature "has never gone
beyond maybe 38°C " you cannot draw conclusion that
"inside environment" has never exceeded that. Even with good
ventilation.
And there are diiferences between "room ambient temperature",
"hard disk ambient temperature" and "hard disk operating
temperature".
Usually the last one is listed in hard drive specs (as maximum),
and traditionally has been reported by S.M.A.R.T. (that is
my understanding) though hard drive manufacturers do not
specifically say that.
So I would check S.M.A.R.T (or using temperature probe
attached to the HD case) first, just to make sure.

BTW, learn how to post using Google, so replies to your
message can be quoted (until Google fixes that).

 

[Bob]

So I would check S.M.A.R.T (or using temperature probe
attached to the HD case) first, just to make sure.

Use Everest to get the SMART report.

--

Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
--John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

 

[Ron Reaugh]

I will check into the power supply issue. I'm much more inclined to go
in that direction rather than the overheating one for two reasons. 1st
is that I have a BRAND NEW DRIVE doing the SAME exact thing!

NOT RELEVANT. Run the system for a half hour or so and then touch(put a
hand on the drive). If you can't hold your hand on it for 15 seconds then
it's too hot.

Other
than getting the OS loaded and letting it run for an hour or so, same
problem. Other issue is that I have two intake and two exhaust fans in
the case. Tons of airflow and I do not think the inside environment
has ever gone beyond maybe 38°C. (ambient room temp in summer) I
can't imagine 100°F is going to kill a brand new drive in an hour!

NOT RELEVANT. Where/how is the drive mounted? Next to, on top of,
underneath what?

 

[Rod Speed]

NOT RELEVANT.

Corse it is.

Run the system for a half hour or so and then touch(put a hand on the drive).
If you can't hold your hand on it for 15 seconds then it's too hot.

Thats only relevant to full life, not quick death of a new drive.

NOT RELEVANT.

Completely relevant.

Where/how is the drive mounted? Next to, on top of, underneath what?

Wherever its mounted, with that sort of airflow thru the case, its very
very unlikely indeed that it would die that quickly due to overheating.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Corse it is.


Thats only relevant to full life, not quick death of a new drive.

WRONG! If you can hold hold your hand for a 2 seconds of LESS then it is a
harbinger of quick drive death.

Completely relevant.


Wherever its mounted, with that sort of airflow thru the case,

WRONG, what is relevant is the airflow at the drive surfaces.

 

[Rod Speed]

RIGHT!!!

If you can hold hold your hand for a 2 seconds
of LESS then it is a harbinger of quick drive death.

WRONG!!!

and nothing to do with your previous 15 seconds.

RIGHT.

what is relevant is the airflow at the drive surfaces.

Not with that sort of quick death of a new drive.

Bet the SMART temp wasnt anything special at all.

 

[Don]

I will check into the power supply issue. I'm much more inclined to go
in that direction rather than the overheating one for two reasons. 1st
is that I have a BRAND NEW DRIVE doing the SAME exact thing!

NOT RELEVANT.

Just like the drivel you offer up!

 

[Ron Reaugh]

Gain more experience in these matters.

hot.

WRONG!!!

and nothing to do with your previous 15 seconds.


Not with that sort of quick death of a new drive.

Bet the SMART temp wasnt anything special at all.

 

[Rod Speed]

Gain more experience in these matters.

Work on your bullshitting 'skills'

I've been doing it for a hell of a lot longer than you have.

 

[Impmon]

Completely relevant.


Wherever its mounted, with that sort of airflow thru the case, its very
very unlikely indeed that it would die that quickly due to overheating.

It's more than getting good airflow, positiong it near the top of the
case (for example) will get more hot air than on the bottom of the
case. If it's next to CPU fan/heatsink, your hard drive would fry
itself in a few hours. Also if the hard drive is in cramped space
(full of cable or several other drives) the airflow would be
restricted.

In my PC I have 4 hard drives (1 Samsung, 2 WD, and 1 Maxtor)
sandwiched on the bottom of the case with 1/4" (1 cm) space between
the drives. However it is protected by a powerful 80 cfm fan that
pulls the air from the bottom front vent and blows across the 4 hard
drives. Round IDE cable helps with the airflow too. The drive rarely
got past 90F (32C) (ambient air typically 65-70F or 19-21C)