Hard Drive Diagnostics and Issues

Originally Posted By domstar
RMA???whats that all about?it did give me codes but ill have to do it again and note thm. any idea is this kind of thing is fixable? Wat is RMA and how do i do it?

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An R.M.A is simply returning a piece of equipment to the Manufacturer. Normally best if you bought your H.D online, if you got it from a decent (or trustworthy store) then you can take it back to there and they should help you with an R.M.A request.

R.M.A stands for

Return
Manufacturers
Authorisation


To send an item back to the place that makes it (the manufacturer) you will need them to know whats the problem- you could just post it back saying "it's not fast anymore, I think it's on its way out" but it would take forever to get a response from the company- by using a diagnostic tool, the software can look at the S.M.A.R.T sensors inside the HardDrive and if there is a problem, a certain code will be displayed.

The manufacturers have a list of different codes for different problems, and if your code is the same as theirs then you will get a (relatively) fast and hassle free replacement.

Before you run your Diagnostic proggy, get a utility called SpeedFan (run a search HERE , there is a function that reads the S.M.A.R.T data and reports it in a damn simple format, it also (in most cases) says if the drive is on its way out. (Green OK sign if it's fine, Red sign if it's knackered). It will help figure out whats wrong- but it's not officially recognised by Maxtor/IBM/Western Diigital/ etc.

Cheers, i ran the powermax software but i didnt get any codes. I performed the first thre tests but niether would complete but it didnt tel me why. i am going to test it using Speedfan now and ill report back asap. Also when i enable S.M.A.R.T it telss me that the drive is bad and to back up and replace. anything to do with it?

DoM

just ran speed fan it has told me that reallocated sector count is of concer(well it maarked with the red symbol like a no entry sign). Everything else either has nothing or has green symbols???
What does this mean?what can I do about it?/
DoM

Like the thing says- Backup and replace, these things happen and hard-drives WILL fail. sorry bud.

Have you De-frag'd and the usual hard-drive maintenance? It may help.

Yeah I have-Speeds things up very slightly.
OK cheers for your help,
DoM

The Defrag worked?

Then you might be interested in THIS GUIDE.

They should speed up PC's that havn't been maintained for a while. Which reminds me- I've got an update due for that.

would a low level format performed by Powermax make any diference? Is that a particulraily thorough format?Beter than the windows format?
DoM

If you have been having trouble with the other tests, the odds are a lowlevel format won't help you much. The lowlevel format basically prepares the drive enough for Windows to see and format.

Maxtor have agred for an RMA on the drive as it is in warranty untill september 03. I am having problems finding packaging to send it in though-

Yeah- THAT could be tricky- I've heard manufactorers refusing previously agreed RMA's because of inadequate postage packaging.

A small (ish) box full of bubble-wrap/packing foam should be OK- just make sure it's all 100% secure.

Overkill is your friend

they state you have to have two inches of solid foam surrounding the whole drive, no bubble warp or chips. By solid foam do they mean polystyrene? I can apporved packaging from them but it going to cost me ten US$ and im based in Britian-this too is proving difacult.
DoM

OK everyone- think, we're all overclockers- most of us are Modders too... IMPROVISE.

2 inches of solid foam... one that instantly springs to mind of that foam that florists use to arrange fake flowers (I think it's called Oasis balls), you can get bricks of it for about £5- then all you need is a box to fit it in.

failing that- goto a local, independant PC store and ask if they have any empty Hard Drive boxes, this would nopt be a problem if they also make OEM systems in-store (they have to get the drives some how).

You might want to go in the Wanted forum- I'm sure someone's got an empty box they wouldn't mind getting rid of.

I have RMAed 12 drives now (I think...maybe more) anyway you take the drive and all the info to your favorite post office (or courier I imagine) and they do it all for you...for a few bucks. Just provide them the details of how it's to be shipped (some manufacturers are different).
Least that's the way it works for Canucks .
Oh and yes I've almost always needed a "reason code" from the manufacturer's app to get the RMA # (got lucky a couple times without one).

Psyko

Welcome to the forums.
Won't work at the USPS. You do your own packaging. Same with the major shippers. Mailboxes Etc. will do packaging, as will some UPS front stores.

Used to use an old utility called 'troubleshooter'

Spinrite would still be my pick however.

There is a guy who made the Ultimate Boot CD, and it includes a bunch of these diagnostic tools if not all of them in the CD. I think it is about a 50MB download. It also has a bunch of other apps on it so most of the things you would use your floppy for are all on this one disc, and I think it is a really good download that is good for all overclockers to have really. Here is his website: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ . I think this is worth putting at the top of the sticky.

Hitachi>> i dont know if i spelled it right, but thats my hd and i dont like it, it keeps clicking

I am almost certain not positive but close that Hitachi and IBM are synonymous, meaning that IBM's utility should most likely work with your Hitachi drive.

Edit: I just looked it up and found that yes they do use the same diagnostic software. If you go to www.ultimatebootcd.com you can get all the diagnostic software plus a bunch of extra goodies on one bootable CD, but the download is about 50MB or a bit more so hopefully you have broadband.

Edit 2: They also have the option to download it seperately, which is the exact same link as stool posted at the top for IBM drives.

Krzysd said:

Hitachi>> i dont know if i spelled it right, but thats my hd and i dont like it, it keeps clicking

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Clicking can be caused by faulty power connectors to the hdd, and/or other connectors to other devices on the same power cable ...

Psyko

Not too long ago, my 200GB seagate HD got about 40 bad sectors outta the blue (maybe a virus) well, I ran the official seagate Diagnostic tools, and it took 17 HOURS to check out the whole HD, and wound up saying, that it couldn't find anything, but windows did, so I just reformatted and the HD is been good ever since, but I'm still kinda nervous with it.