ST3500418AS: Anyone else with problems?

Hi,

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Arno

--
1,Raw Read Error Rate,6,116,99,OK,102703376
3,Spin Up Time,0,97,97,OK,0
4,Start/Stop Count,20,100,100,OK,118,0,Enabled
5,Reallocated Sectors Count,36,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled
9,Power On Time Count,0,99,99,OK (Always passing),1060,0,Enabled
10,Spin Retry Count,97,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
12,Drive Power Cycle Count,20,100,100,OK,118,0,Enabled
183,Vendor-specific,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
184,End-to-End error,99,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
187,Reported Uncorrectable Errors,0,50,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
188,Command Timeout,0,100,96,OK (Always passing),466,0,Enabled
189,High Fly Writes,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
190,Airflow Temperature,45,67,54,OK,33,0,Enabled
194,Disk Temperature,0,33,46,OK (Always passing),19; 33,0,Enabled
195,Hardware ECC Recovered,0,47,25,OK (Always passing),102703376,0,Enabled
197,Current Pending Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
198,Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
199,Ultra ATA CRC Error Count,0,200,200,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
240,Head Flying Hours,0,100,253,OK (Always passing),1383,0,Enabled





--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans

Arno wrote:
Hi,

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Hmm, don't have that exact model, I got a 500GB ST3500830AS, which is
running inside one of my oldest USB external drives. It's only problem
is that it runs continuously hot, over 50C even at idle. That's probably
because it's running in an external case. It would be much cooler if it
were inside my computer case.

Yousuf Khan

"Arno" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Not surprising given that they are the only manufacturer
stupid enough to manufacture in china.


Arno

--
1,Raw Read Error Rate,6,116,99,OK,102703376
3,Spin Up Time,0,97,97,OK,0
4,Start/Stop Count,20,100,100,OK,118,0,Enabled
5,Reallocated Sectors Count,36,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled
9,Power On Time Count,0,99,99,OK (Always passing),1060,0,Enabled
10,Spin Retry Count,97,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
12,Drive Power Cycle Count,20,100,100,OK,118,0,Enabled
183,Vendor-specific,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
184,End-to-End error,99,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
187,Reported Uncorrectable Errors,0,50,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
188,Command Timeout,0,100,96,OK (Always passing),466,0,Enabled
189,High Fly Writes,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
190,Airflow Temperature,45,67,54,OK,33,0,Enabled
194,Disk Temperature,0,33,46,OK (Always passing),19; 33,0,Enabled
195,Hardware ECC Recovered,0,47,25,OK (Always passing),102703376,0,Enabled
197,Current Pending Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
198,Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
199,Ultra ATA CRC Error Count,0,200,200,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
240,Head Flying Hours,0,100,253,OK (Always passing),1383,0,Enabled





--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans

zappo wrote:

"Arno" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Not surprising given that they are the only manufacturer
stupid enough to manufacture in china.

Indeed.

Arno
--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans

Hi!

Not surprising given that they are the only manufacturer
stupid enough to manufacture in china.

Indeed.

Oh no they're not. A great many Hitachi drives are made in China these days,
typically by ExcelStor.

I may be mistaken, but I thought that Hitachi actually bought ExcelStor. Not
sure about that.

William

On 5 Apr 2010 12:14:48 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Arno

5,Reallocated Sectors Count,36,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled
9,Power On Time Count,0,99,99,OK (Always passing),1060,0,Enabled
187,Reported Uncorrectable Errors,0,50,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
188,Command Timeout,0,100,96,OK (Always passing),466,0,Enabled
197,Current Pending Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
198,Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
199,Ultra ATA CRC Error Count,0,200,200,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
240,Head Flying Hours,0,100,253,OK (Always passing),1383,0,Enabled

AFAICT, after watching the Seagate and HDD Guru forums for over a
year, Seagate's 7200.11 and 7200.12 series (and related Maxtor
families) appear to be plagued with head problems.

BTW, SMART is reporting 0 seek errors.

One other thing I notice is that the Head Flying Hours (1383) is
greater than the Power On Time Count (1060).

FWIW, there is a CC3D firmware update for your model.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

William R. Walsh m wrote:
Hi!

Not surprising given that they are the only manufacturer
stupid enough to manufacture in china.

Indeed.

Oh no they're not. A great many Hitachi drives are made in China these days,
typically by ExcelStor.

I may be mistaken, but I thought that Hitachi actually bought ExcelStor. Not
sure about that.

Well, if you are right, then Hitachi managed to get chinese Q/A under
control, while Seagate did not...

Arno

--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans

Franc Zabkar wrote:
On 5 Apr 2010 12:14:48 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

I have had a 500GB ST3500418AS for 5 months now. The drive looks
good on the surface, fast and quiet. Unfortunately mine has
seek problems that are not due to any external problems. These
are now bad enough that I get frequent command timeouts, about
one per hour. SMART is below.

Does anybody else have a similar problem with this drive, or
have I just gotten a bad one? I think Seagate quality really
has been down the drain for about a year or so.

Arno

5,Reallocated Sectors Count,36,100,100,OK,0,0,Enabled
7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled
9,Power On Time Count,0,99,99,OK (Always passing),1060,0,Enabled
187,Reported Uncorrectable Errors,0,50,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
188,Command Timeout,0,100,96,OK (Always passing),466,0,Enabled
197,Current Pending Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
198,Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
199,Ultra ATA CRC Error Count,0,200,200,OK (Always passing),0,0,Enabled
240,Head Flying Hours,0,100,253,OK (Always passing),1383,0,Enabled

AFAICT, after watching the Seagate and HDD Guru forums for over a
year, Seagate's 7200.11 and 7200.12 series (and related Maxtor
families) appear to be plagued with head problems.

BTW, SMART is reporting 0 seek errors.

Aehm, that would be 8706938 seek errors and counting.
Raw value is in third from end position, this is a cur&paste
from HDD Sentinel and I was too lazy to edit it.

One other thing I notice is that the Head Flying Hours (1383) is
greater than the Power On Time Count (1060).

Hmm. That is indeed strange. Did not notice it myself.

FWIW, there is a CC3D firmware update for your model.

Could be worth a try. Not sure I have the nerve though,
and I will pick up a WD replacement tomorrow.

Arno

--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans

On 6 Apr 2010 20:48:03 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

Franc Zabkar wrote:
On 5 Apr 2010 12:14:48 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled

BTW, SMART is reporting 0 seek errors.

Aehm, that would be 8706938 seek errors and counting.
Raw value is in third from end position, this is a cur&paste
from HDD Sentinel and I was too lazy to edit it.

The lower 32 bits of the raw SER value count the number of seeks. The
upper 16 bits count the seek errors. So SMART is reporting 0 errors in
8706938 seeks.

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

Franc Zabkar wrote:
On 6 Apr 2010 20:48:03 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

Franc Zabkar wrote:
On 5 Apr 2010 12:14:48 GMT, Arno put finger to
keyboard and composed:

7,Seek Error Rate,30,69,60,OK,8706938,0,Enabled

BTW, SMART is reporting 0 seek errors.

Aehm, that would be 8706938 seek errors and counting.
Raw value is in third from end position, this is a cur&paste
from HDD Sentinel and I was too lazy to edit it.

The lower 32 bits of the raw SER value count the number of seeks. The
upper 16 bits count the seek errors. So SMART is reporting 0 errors in
8706938 seeks.

Hmm. Right. Seagate did handle that attribute differently. Thanks
for reminding me. I keep forgetting.

So basically what I have is the command timeouts. They are real and
what made me look at the disk in the first place. I also have
seen the occasional pending sector that vanished a short time later
(seconds).

That would indicate it is something like read errors and recovery
from that takes too long. With the hints that current Seagates may
have head problems, this one will definitely be turned into a
paperweight.

Arno
--
Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email:
GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
----
Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans