IBM hard drives.

[flaninacupboard]

I've just had my 60GB IBM hard drive die on me (not at all pleased, i'd just finished encoding a laserdisc conversion of natural born killers, but hadn't burnt it yet. Grrrrrr.) and looking on the web this isn't unusual. so does anyone out there own an IBM desk star that hasn't died/makes the clicking clucking clunks of doom (meaning it's just ABOUT to die) ?

The drive is still covered by IBM (not even 2 years old!) so i should get a replacement one. woo and indeed hoo.

[Cobra]

I have an IBM 80GB drive. It's nice and quiet, and has been running for six months no trouble.

However, I have found IBM drives to be very unreliable new (as in dead on arrival), but when they work they don't give me problems.

You'd have thought the companies would perfect their production, instead of having all these failures.

Cobra

[flaninacupboard]

why do you think ibm sold off their drive manufacturing to hitachi.....?

Looks like i have to pay to post this hunk of junk back to them.

[Craig Tucker]

I have 3 120GB IBM Deskstars, no problems so far. I guess the oldest one is 18 months old.

[Roundabout]

Why do you think they call them "deathstars"? :P

And my 20GB Travelstar in my IBM laptop took a dive and with it, at least 10 GB of irreplacable data. It will cost at least $500 - $1500 to restore the data, so I'm not too enamored of IBM these days, to say the least. The drive was still in warranty when it died, but I can't afford to pay for the data recovery right now. The data is more important than a replacement drive ( new one now about $100 ) so I guess I'll be keeping it until I can afford to recover the data. One thing I won't be doing is buying another IBM HDD.

[redwudz]

Rule no. 1, never keep anything on a HD that you can't afford to lose. I have had several name brands of HD's die on me over the years. Shit happens, get used to it. Pick a HD with a good warranty. I have sent several Maxtor drives back for replacement in the last few years; Warranties are good. Longer is better. Fortunatelly, they usually die in the first few months. I'm not sure that any drive will last for years without any problems. At least when they die it is usually 100%, instead of causing minor problems for a long period.

[flaninacupboard]

n my experience hard drives have only had an operational lifespan of about 5-6 years - after that their size is so small they're not worth using anymore, so get comitted to the PC graveyard.

think i'll get one of these http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3...duct_uid=50952

guaranteed for 1,000,000 hours! that's 114 years

The drive ran for about 6 minutes yesterday, enough to grab some software i didn't want to lose, and even grabbed a copy of my encode.

I downloaded the IBM drive checking software, it makes a bootable floppy to check your drive status. just one small problem, i don't have a floppy drive. i haven't been including them in my computers since about 1998. maybe there's one in the aforementioned PC graveyard...

[Faustus]

I have 2 80gb IBMs, nice drives personally. I know that one series had problems dying but its not nearly as common in the newer ones. If you have an 80gb or bigger you should be out of the danger area.

On the same note... drive do die reguardless.

[SLK001]

I think that IBM had a problem with the design of their 60GB hard drives. Of the two that I have, both failed (sent the last one out on Monday). Hitachi has bought IBM's HD division, but everything is the same as before (address to send drive, RMA process, etc.). These are the only two drives that I have ever had fail on me.

[Capmaster]

The drive ran for about 6 minutes yesterday, enough to grab some software i didn't want to lose, and even grabbed a copy of my encode.

One trick you might try is to chill the drive before you plug it back in. This is temporary but might give you a little more up-time before it hoses again. If you have one try upending a duster can and spraying the liquid on the main body on the side the drive ...not the thin metal covers. maybe a quick shot for the exposed ICs too. Then quickly cable it up and try to transfer.

[Jayhawk]

They used to get great reviews several years ago but not anymore. I had two deskstars (a 40 and a 60) that both died after a couple of years time. I've since switched to Seagate and/or Maxtor. I've heard good things about the current Western Digitals with the 8mg buffers but have no personal experience.

My Seagate is around 3 years old, my Maxtor coming up on 2.

[The village idiot]

The drive ran for about 6 minutes yesterday, enough to grab some software i didn't want to lose, and even grabbed a copy of my encode.

One trick you might try is to chill the drive before you plug it back in. This is temporary but might give you a little more up-time before it hoses again. If you have one try upending a duster can and spraying the liquid on the main body on the side the drive ...not the thin metal covers. maybe a quick shot for the exposed ICs too. Then quickly cable it up and try to transfer.

I've read this also. It seems to be a recommend procedure when your micro drive stops. The full procedure is to seal the drive in a plastic bag, then place in your freezer. Wait for many hours until it is really frozen. Remove from freezer/bag and connect. Transfer everything you can get!!!!! Then bin the drive! Never tried this, but it might work, might make things worse, who knows?

As far as return for warranty, do you really want another deathstar drive?
about this time is when someone comes through and shouts how all Western Digital drives do the same thing, or shouts that all Maxtor do the same, or shouts...... All I can say is I've seen a few of the deathstar drives fail. I've seen 4 WD drives keep working after being in a computer in a smokey house fire, and they were running during the fire. Half of those drives still function 2 years later!

[HillJack]

The drive is still covered by IBM (not even 2 years old!) so i should get a replacement one. woo and indeed hoo.

Get your replacement and put it on eBay. That's what I did a couple years back when I had *2* of my 3 IBM Deskstar 60GXP's die on me in about a 2 month period -- The 3rd drive I said, "To hell with this" and got it replaced before I lost it all, and it went on eBay too with the others.

Use the money you get from eBay to buy another brand

[Capmaster]

I've read this also. It seems to be a recommend procedure when your micro drive stops. The full procedure is to seal the drive in a plastic bag, then place in your freezer. Wait for many hours until it is really frozen. Remove from freezer/bag and connect. Transfer everything you can get!!!!! Then bin the drive! Never tried this, but it might work, might make things worse, who knows?

I hadn't read this before. It's just common sense because it's usually heat that kills electromechanical devices. I've had to troubleshoot digital ICs by tipping the duster and looking for the heat intermittent problem. A number of years ago I had a drive that started the "tick-tock of death". I turned the machine off for several hours and then back on. I was able to get all my files off before it went into its death rattle that presumably started when it warmed up. I figure WTF? It's already dead and you can't really hurt it by getting it cold. Condensation will kill it, hence the freezer bag suggestion.

[mujahid7ia]

The drive ran for about 6 minutes yesterday, enough to grab some software i didn't want to lose, and even grabbed a copy of my encode.

One trick you might try is to chill the drive before you plug it back in. This is temporary but might give you a little more up-time before it hoses again. If you have one try upending a duster can and spraying the liquid on the main body on the side the drive ...not the thin metal covers. maybe a quick shot for the exposed ICs too. Then quickly cable it up and try to transfer.

I've read this also. It seems to be a recommend procedure when your micro drive stops. The full procedure is to seal the drive in a plastic bag, then place in your freezer. Wait for many hours until it is really frozen. Remove from freezer/bag and connect. Transfer everything you can get!!!!! Then bin the drive! Never tried this, but it might work, might make things worse, who knows?

As far as return for warranty, do you really want another deathstar drive?
about this time is when someone comes through and shouts how all Western Digital drives do the same thing, or shouts that all Maxtor do the same, or shouts...... All I can say is I've seen a few of the deathstar drives fail. I've seen 4 WD drives keep working after being in a computer in a smokey house fire, and they were running during the fire. Half of those drives still function 2 years later!

You can even do the freezer trick a few times, recovering some data each time. If you're fast, you can get a lot of it...

[flaninacupboard]

the only other PC i can plug it into is running 2000, and takes about 5 minutes to boot up!

I don't want to spray any coolant on the drive in case ibm tell me that's why it failed. may well try the freezer bag trick though...

[The village idiot]

the only other PC i can plug it into is running 2000, and takes about 5 minutes to boot up!

I don't want to spray any coolant on the drive in case ibm tell me that's why it failed. may well try the freezer bag trick though...

External firewire hard drive box! Stick the firewire card (if needed) in a slot, boot computer. Connect hard drive, and try to grab data. If you have an old drive laying around, put that in the firewire box to test the rest of the system while you are freezing the bad drive.

[RabidDog]

I have had a 40gb Ibm deathstar die on me. Very bad, 38gb of data lost. Was still able to run on my other Ibm drive tho.. which worryingly, has been clicking for the last three months . I think IBM sued an IC company for supplying faulty components.. not much good when you've built and shipped 100K+ drives. Hitachi drives are better than IBm my replacement hasnt had any problems.

[Tool Man]

I have heard of the 40Gb drives being dodgy, but honestly, I've never used anything else. My first PC was an IBM, with a 2Gb drive, and my nephew is still using it!! Since then I have built my own, with nothing but IBM drives, and I have NEVER had a problem. Right now I'm using an IBM 47Gb Deskstar, and 2x Hitatchi 120Gb drives. (the 47 is about 4 years old, the 120's are fairly new).

Have I just been lucky?

[fmctm1sw]

I heard horror stories about those drives. That's why I went with WD...

[Capmaster]

I have heard of the 40Gb drives being dodgy, but honestly, I've never used anything else. My first PC was an IBM, with a 2Gb drive, and my nephew is still using it!! Since then I have built my own, with nothing but IBM drives, and I have NEVER had a problem. Right now I'm using an IBM 47Gb Deskstar, and 2x Hitatchi 120Gb drives. (the 47 is about 4 years old, the 120's are fairly new).

Have I just been lucky?

If so, I've been lucky too ...I've owned many IBM drives and have never had one go tits-up on me. WD on the other hand ....had several bad ones starting with the infamous 1.6GB that made the "tick-tock of death". Just my opimion, but judging from friends and coworkers' experiences I've avoided WD and Maxtor and tried to stay with Seagate and IBM. More money but better drives, IMHO.

[rallynavvie]

I've used IBM Ultrastar drives (36GB) and never had one fail. However they're SCSI so they're built to last

[gmatov]

They're all electronic, electrical, and mechanical. They wil all fail. Some of you have been extremely lucky, or you have little experience with a large number of drives.

Statistically, as is evidenced by the acronym MTBF, half wil fail in a given period of time, the other half will not. So if half fail in 3 years, and half still work, you are so damned lucky to be in the bunch whose drives may crap out tomorrow.

1/2 a million hours MTBF. Come on. You buy a drive, it runs for a month, statistically, you were unlucky, the same drive in the other machine has run and run and run.

It's gonna break, eventually, Deskstar notwithstanding.

What was the creed yesars ago, backup, backup, backup? But to where do you back up 160 or 200 gig drives?

A thousand buck tape drive/?

I dunno, I am not a bank nor an investment house, nor a government with unlimited funds.

Cheers,

George

[Capmaster]

What was the creed yesars ago, backup, backup, backup?

There are two kinds of people in the world - Those that backup and those that will

[gmatov]

Cap,

Ain't that the truth. I nag and nag and nag, and they tell me I was just gonna do it, can you help me?

I wish I didn't have so many. 4 drives in this machine, 3 in the other, and I have to consolidate some of this crap, get it off the drives to DVD, probably RW, if I can figure how to do incremental.

Cheers,

George

[Capmaster]

Cap,

Ain't that the truth. I nag and nag and nag, and they tell me I was just gonna do it, can you help me?

I wish I didn't have so many. 4 drives in this machine, 3 in the other, and I have to consolidate some of this crap, get it off the drives to DVD, probably RW, if I can figure how to do incremental.

Cheers,

George

I became a true believer one dark Tuesday at work. My hard disk tried to create its own abstract sculpture out of the read head cantilever and I lost 2 weeks' worth of work. Days of typing followed. After that I swore that it would never happen again. Now I have the following:

1) The files on my hard disk
2) Network drives mirror-raided that I refresh daily with any changed or added files using a folder sync app
3) Daily tape backups for the mirrored NW drives
4) My own backup set on my laptop and CD-RW.

Paranoid? Damn right. I've got an old WD 1.6GB HD on my desk this very minute that once held my work files. It was one of the first HDs with mode 4 PIO transfer to hit the market and WD rushed it a bit to get it to market. Everywhere on my floor you could hear these things self-destructing with the "tick-tock". It wasn't only the 1.6 but the 2.1 also (trusting my memory here). Luckily at the time I had already gotten into the habit of backing up.

[flaninacupboard]

Well boys and girls, my replacement drive was shipped today.

Gotta love em for their speedy service.......

[indolikaa]

Cap,

Ain't that the truth. I nag and nag and nag, and they tell me I was just gonna do it, can you help me?

I wish I didn't have so many. 4 drives in this machine, 3 in the other, and I have to consolidate some of this crap, get it off the drives to DVD, probably RW, if I can figure how to do incremental.

Cheers,

George

I became a true believer one dark Tuesday at work. My hard disk tried to create its own abstract sculpture out of the read head cantilever and I lost 2 weeks' worth of work. Days of typing followed. After that I swore that it would never happen again. Now I have the following:

1) The files on my hard disk
2) Network drives mirror-raided that I refresh daily with any changed or added files using a folder sync app
3) Daily tape backups for the mirrored NW drives
4) My own backup set on my laptop and CD-RW.

Paranoid? Damn right. I've got an old WD 1.6GB HD on my desk this very minute that once held my work files. It was one of the first HDs with mode 4 PIO transfer to hit the market and WD rushed it a bit to get it to market. Everywhere on my floor you could hear these things self-destructing with the "tick-tock". It wasn't only the 1.6 but the 2.1 also (trusting my memory here). Luckily at the time I had already gotten into the habit of backing up.

I didn't think there was another person on this planet that backed-up their data to as many sources as I did...

You wanna talk about tick-tock drives? How about that fantastic Quantum Fireball contraption? Whoever thought bringing back the 5.25" platters for nostalgia's sake was WAY off base with that idea.

[Capmaster]

Oh yeah .. the Bigfoot I still have one in a drawer somewhere at home (2.5GB?). They were cheap and actually had good streaming rates because of the larger platter. Random access was a bit slow though. Mine never died, just became obsolete.
The Fireball was a good drive. It was one of the early 7200 RPM IDE drives on the market.

[indolikaa]

Bigfoot! That was the drive I was thinking of. I don't how many Compaq RMA forms I filled out the year they decided to use that drive!

We used to have fun turning the drives on its axes while it was running. It was like an antigrav unit in your hands. That as about all the drives were good for.