Old HDD discussion

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I can't make sense of the 7200.9 or 7200.10.

7200.9:

Platters according to the model number - 4 (500GB), 3 (320-400GB), 2 (200-300GB), 1 (40-160GB)
KBPI - 790.1 (200-500GB), 840.0 (80-160GB), 611.5 (40GB)
KTPI - 124.5 (200-500GB), 141.5 (80-160GB), 103.9 (40GB)
Mb/s - 815.2 (400-500GB), 867.2 (40-320GB)
STR - 65.0 (400-500GB), 76.6 (200-320GB), 83.0 (80-160GB), 69.4 (40GB)
Weight - 710 (400-500GB), 655 (300-320GB), 580 (80-250GB), 525 (40GB)
Sound power (idle/seek) - 2.8/3.2 (400-500GB), 2.7/3.0 (200-320GB), 2.5/2.8 (120-160GB), 2.5/2.7 (80GB), 2.0/2.4 (40GB)

I don't know how the 80GB and 250GB models can weigh the same.

If the 200GB and 500GB models have the same geometry, then they must have the same data rate.

7200.10:

Heads - 8 (750GB), 6 (500GB), 5 (400GB), 4 (320GB), 3 (200/250/300GB), 2 (120/160GB), 1 (40/80GB)
KBPI - 769 (Galaxy), 732 (Nighthawk), 1,049 (Superhawk)
KTPI - 141 (Galaxy), 137 (Nighthawk), 155 (Superhawk)
Mb/s - 1,030 (Galaxy), 930 (Nighthawk), 1,212 (Superhawk)
STR - 72 (Galaxy up to 500GB), 78 (Galaxy 750GB, Nighthawk), 106 (Superhawk)
Weight - as in the manual...

ST3750640A(S) and ST3750840A(S) - 720g
ST3500630A(S), ST3500830A(S), ST3400620A(S), ST3400820A(S), ST3320620A(S) and ST3320820A(S) - 635g
ST3300620A(S), ST3300820A(S), ST3250620A(S), ST3250820A(S) and ST3250410AS - 600g
ST3250310AS, ST3200820A(S), ST3160815A(S), ST3160310AS, ST3160215A(S), ST3120815A(S) and ST3120215A(S) - 380g
ST380815A(S), ST380215A(S), ST340815A(S) and ST340215A(S) - 365g

The placement of the ST3200820A(S) and ST3250410AS are obvious errors, but the real confusing thing is that the 320GB (2 platter) and 500GB (3 platter) models are specified as weighing the same.

Also, the 400GB models are specified as having 5 heads, but the model number suggests they should have 2 platters.

(That trick works for Barracuda ATA I/II/III/IV, 7200.7, 7200.11, 7200.12, and the entire U Series.)

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

Page 30 of the 7200.7 SATA manual. Can you see what's wrong???

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

No-one's responded??? It specifies that word 94 is the AAM setting BUT it also says the drives don't support AAM.

[Pentium4]

Re: Old HDD discussion

Ran into a 500Mhz Pentium 3 build today with a Quantum fireball. Stock from its 9/7/99 manufacture date. 77,000 running hours on that SOB. DUST VOLCANO EXPLODED INSIDE IT....Tough machine

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

What model Fireball??? I bet it makes a hell of a racket...

[Pentium4]

Re: Old HDD discussion

it's very loud, I will check tomorrow at work!

[eccerr0r]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I haven't met a quiet Quantum yet...
All I'll remember of Quantum is what my friend told me of (seems old quantum drives less than 100MB can succumb to stiction) and my 30GB quantum that died less than 24 hours after it was put in service...

It was noisy from the get go (bearing noise) until the bearing couldn't take it any more... and neither would my data

Fortunately the data was freshly restored from a backup so no data lost

BTW, this was a Quantum Fireball LM30 that died in less than a day of service...

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

PCB photos of the ST3320620A I have

[DJduck]

Re: Old HDD discussion

Got two old drives in my athlon 64 system. One is a seagate i think and the other one should be a maxtor. both are around 2gb. Not big, but since it is just a workshop PC then it's ok.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Old HDD discussion

Oldest HDD I have now that's with me (not including parents house) is an ST351AX 40 *M*B HDD. I think it's a stepper motor design but not 100% sure. It is 3.5" though and is IDE.

It's in the spare pile however, unlike the 120G disks that are still racking up hours. I don't think it even supports SMART so I can't get the POH off of it...

[lti]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I used to have a 2.1GB Quantum Fireball drive.

I still have a Seagate ST34323A. It has a huge amount of Ultra ATA CRC errors from being used in an unstable computer (bad motherboard or CPU).

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I'm pretty sure ST34323A was the last 4500RPM drive until the Quantum Fireball LCT15. Also, I don't remember you mentioning it. Which computer is it from???

[ratdude747]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I used to have a 2.1GB Quantum Fireball drive.

I have one of those at my old house. Whether it runs or not is another question.

[lti]

Re: Old HDD discussion

I'm pretty sure ST34323A was the last 4500RPM drive until the Quantum Fireball LCT15. Also, I don't remember you mentioning it. Which computer is it from???

That drive came out of my old Compaq Presario 2286. I replaced it with a larger drive after that computer's original CPU died. It was always unstable, and I don't know if the CPU was the only problem. I replaced the CPU, motherboard, and hard drive at the same time. That drive was too small, especially since Compaq makes the recovery partition one-fourth of the drive's capacity, no matter how large the drive is. The drive that is currently in that computer is a Seagate ST38410A.

[Shocker]

Up to 10,000RPM

I just happened to get a WD360GD-00FLA1 (37GB/platter, 2 heads, FDB). Transfer rate in h2benchw is 44.4-64.3MB/s and average access time is 10.2ms. For comparison, the ST3120026A gives 28.9-57.3MB/s and 14.7ms. Quite a difference, but not totally dramatic, and the Raptor is louder.

But it is heavy. So heavy that it makes the IV/V/7200.7 feel light, even with 2 platters. It's probably over 800g, possibly even a kilogram (I don't have a scale ).

...wait a minute. According to the label, the drive I have is 36.7GB. So shouldn't it be a WD367GD??? The actual capacity, though, is 37GB round. So you say it's 36.7GB, have a model number that says 36.0GB, and then it's actually 37.0GB??? Strange are the ways of Western Digital...

This Raptor has 31,435 hours, 416 cycles, and 0 bad sectors so far. Do you think it would be worth swapping out my current C:-drive (WD800JD-00LSA0; 80GB/platter, 2 heads, FDB) for the Raptor or should I save it for something else???

[Shocker]

Not everything is fine...

While the aforementioned ST3120026A still has a spotless S.M.A.R.T. record even after 34,149 hours, its smaller counterpart isn't doing quite as well even with only 1,692 hours. See the attachment.

Not to say I treated this ST340014A too well - anyone remember what happened to it last year??? Not surprising now that the last few attempts at loading S.M.A.R.T. on that drive were so slow.

So yeah, please don't store your only copy of something on a HDD that has been subjected to substantial operating shock. Not that you should use any HDD for storing your only copy, but you get the point.

EDIT: Reload, both of the alerted values have gone up by 1. I'd run KillDisk, except it doesn't work on this PC for whatever reason.

I also noticed that with said ST340014A powered up without a data connection, I heard, very faintly, something that bears a slight resemblance to the click of death.

By manufacturing date, the mentioned ST340014A is actually older than the ST3120026A by a bit (17/09/2003 and 12/10/2003 respectively). That's no explanation for what's happened, though.

EDIT 2: The real kicker is that I actually ran KillDisk after the incident (before KillDisk stopped working on this PC) and it seemed fine.

Of course such a short run-time does leave the opportunity for the drive to prematurely fail from a manufacturing defect.

I'll do what does work on this PC and see what happens. I still have that ST380011A I mentioned before and I might bring it back into use. At least it doesn't have any pending or uncorrectable sectors.

[Shocker]

Re: Old HDD discussion

Crap...now that ST340014A has completely disappeared from the system.

[Shocker]

Worst fears confirmed

What else does that ST340014A do but click.

I do have two more ST340014As. One of them worked fine the last time I checked, but has a SMOOTH chip. The other has a missing ceramic capacitor. I might use a capacitor from the dead ST340014A to fix the damaged PCB.

The ST380011A seems normal.

[larrymoencurly]

Re: Old HDD discussion

The oldest HDD I use is an 80GB for the computer in the garage.

The oldest HDD I have is either a 100MB 5.25" x 3" Toshiba or a 60MB 5.25" x 1.5" with an optical sensor on its head stepper. I think the latter's motor drive is controlled by an audio amplifier chip that was common to car stereos.

[Shocker]

Okay, SERIOUSLY?????

The ST380011A seems normal.

Scratch that. 27 and rising by the minute...



The reallocations and CRCs were there before. The pending and uncorrectable sectors are new. I don't know if it's some kind of demonic influence or such, or if it's just a really strange misfortune. The ST3120026A seems fine though.



Okay, but WHY did two similar drives get affected, but not a third???

And WHY did it happen on the same day I got a Raptor???