Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

[dood]

Just digging through my box of old HDs waiting to be sent to the scrappers. Most of these drives came from Dell c640s

(6) Fujitsu MHS2030AT (all dated 2003-05)
(2) Fujitsu MHT2030AT (all dated 2003-07)
(6) Hitachi Travelstar DK23EA-30 (no date)
(2) Hitachi Travelstar DK23BA-20 (no Date)
(2) Hitachi Travelstar 30gb dated Jan and May '03
(1) Hitachi Travelstar DK23DA-30F (2002.06)
(1) Hitachi Travelstar 60gb (Aug-05) replacement for previously failed
(1) IBM Travelstar 40gb (Nov-02)
(3) Toshiba 20gb (no date)
(1) Samsung MP0402H (2006.01) was a replacement for a previously failed drive

(Newer SATA Drive, not from c640) Hitachi HTS541010G9SA00 Nov-06

And now, here's what's in the "good" pile. Good means no SMART errors, and passed 3 pass write test with no errors-

(3) Hitachi Travelstar DK23EB-40 (no date)
(1) Hitachi Travelstar IC25N040ATCS05-0 (APR-03)
(3) Fujitsu MHT2030AT (2 dated 2003-07, 1 dated 2005-07)
(1) Fujitsu MHS2030AT (2003-05)
(1) Fujitsu MHV2040AH (2005-11)
(1) Seagate Momentus ST94811A (date code of 04237, whatever that means. This was a replacement for a failed drive)
(1) Samsung MP0402H (2006.02, replacement for a failed drive)

So, basically, most of the failed drives are 30gb drives, and most of the good ones are 40gb. We're currently in the process of replacing every drive with Western Digital WD800BEVE drives as a pre-emptive strike for the high failure rate we're seeing. At the same time, we're also popping 2x512mb DDR in them to bring them to the max 1gb. With those two upgrades, speed is increased a ton. Every person I've done the upgrade to has emailed back saying they love how fast their "old" laptop is now. I mean, they are P4M 2.0ghz, so they should be working fine with WinXP, mail client, IE, and office...

Now all I have to worry about is failing motherboards. I've seen a few in our fleet, and when that happens, they just get scrapped.

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

BTW- we still have 41 C640's in circulation. 17 are still on my list to upgrade. Can't wait to have everyone done so I can breathe a sigh of relief. Normally, these drives die slowly... at least slow enough that I can still get a Ghost image off of them to salvage data. But sometimes... they just stop working.

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

Oh, and I forgot... I'm also taking the keyboard off to clean out the dust/crumbs that 5 years brings, and at the same time, replacing the CMOS batteries. I found a guy selling a bunch on eBay, and snagged 10 of them for now. They're all getting to the point where if you let the main battery die it'll lose the settings.

[NxB]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

I have stacks of hitachi travelstars. Many 02-04, most got the click of death even after mild use. 30-40G range was especially bad. Also seems like anything IBM branded is the worst off. My MH17951 just died taking my Rockwell PLC software with it. I left it downloading all night, rebooted the computer and got click of death.

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

Yeah, even the drives that "test good", I'm not really sure that I'm going to do anything with them, due to age. For now, they'll take up a little space in my cabinet 'til I decide to chuck them, too.

I'm hoping that these WD drives will last another 5 years (if the rest of the machine holds up). Really, when you think about how old those original drives are... and most didn't start failing until this year, it's really not too bad of a track record. They are in laptops used by our traveling salesmen, after all. Lots of abuse...

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

i have 2 6gb from 99 or 00. but my 30 pooped on me a while back. ibm sucks. i hope my 60gb seagate out of a one touch III lasts longer...

[kc8adu]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

i hope your luck with the wd drives is better than mine.
i rebuilt the computers,servo's,and power supplies on 4 deckle s20 turbo tool grinders.used wd scorpio 80's in all 4.these are rubber mounted and have good airflow.
none lasted more than a month.
glad i imaged these suckers after the overhaul and file transfer!
i replaced with seagates and they are still fine.

[NxB]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

For now, they'll take up a little space in my cabinet 'til I decide to chuck them, too.

Sometimes you can combine boards and platters to make a good drive. I see some older drives working perfectly, I think its hitachi/tosh/"ibm" making shitty drives.

I bought a WD scorpio 160 5400rpm, I'll see how long it lasts. My desktop drives run forever, my laptop drives keep dying. The hitachi ran fine in my desktop for over a year and a few days after I put it in a laptop.....

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

The WD drives I'm installing have a 3 year warranty. I'm guessing that these laptops will probably be retired by then.

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

i hope your luck with the wd drives is better than mine.
i rebuilt the computers,servo's,and power supplies on 4 deckle s20 turbo tool grinders.used wd scorpio 80's in all 4.these are rubber mounted and have good airflow.
none lasted more than a month.
glad i imaged these suckers after the overhaul and file transfer!
i replaced with seagates and they are still fine.

That's okay... I've had horrible luck with Seagate drives lately. It seems that no matter what you hear about one type of drive, someone's had the exact opposite experience...

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

we have a lot of wd desktop drives. all our desktop drives (functional):

2x wd 320gb pata
1x wd 160gb pata
2x wd 40gb pata (silver housing/cover, one might be dead)
1x wd 40gb pata (black housing/cover)
1x wd 6gb pata
1x maxtor 10gb pata (will be shipped to someone soon)
1x maxtor 250gb sata
1x quantum 2.5gb pata
1x conner 450mb pata
1x seagate 80gb pata
1x seagate 450mb pata


as for lappy drives:

1 hitachi 20gb pata ? (lost in an enclosure, may or may not work)
1 ibm 20gb pata
3 ibm 6gb pata (one thicker and dead, other two normal thickness and running)
1 ibm 30gb pata (clicker o' death)
1 seagate 60gb pata (pulled from a beat-up one touch III)
1 seagate 160gb sata (in eee pc off on warranty repair)

yup, ibm sucks. hope wd works! i have a 6 gb from 1998 to prove they last!

[i4004]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

>That's okay... I've had horrible luck with Seagate drives lately. It seems that no matter what you hear about one type of drive, someone's had the exact opposite experience...

exactly.

essentially no hdd should be trusted.

that said, i have good experience with wd.
<wink>

[Per Hansson]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

Yea, I think most manufacturers have equal quality, bar the lemon with firmwares or just plain crappy models every once in a while

What is much more important is probably if your batch of drives was built properly in the factory (monday ex etc?)
And how that batch of drives was handled by the shipping companies before you got them in your hands

[NxB]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

I'm gonna beat the shit out of the scorpio and see how it holds up. I had to buy it retail so if it fails in the first month i'm getting my money back and buying a drive off ebay.

[dood]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

Another dead Hitachi Travelstar
Model IC25N040ATCS05-0
PATA
5400rpm
40gb
Jul-03
Failure: Locked up spindle bearings
Currently chilling in the freezer.

[cheese007]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

Meh, I've had good experiences with WD and Seagate. I have a WD drive that's about 12 years old, it sounds awful and has sounded that way for the past 2 years, yet it keeps going. I don't think I've ever had a Seagate fail.

[Megawatt]

Re: Laptop Hard drive failure analysis

anyone had any problems with samsung drives? i recently got a few and was looking for some real world analysis