Another One Kicks The Bucket (IBM HD)

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 7:02am

Another One Kicks The Bucket (IBM HD)

Yes Sir. Went up to install Win XP on my nieces computer. It was brand new last August. Thinking that I would be clever, I decided to shrink, then copy her partition to the end of her HD, hide it, then do a clean install of XP (she had 98se). I figured this would make restoring her data (lots of mp3's) easier, since it would be a fast transfer from the old partition to the new one. PQMagic kept giving me errors. Fortunately, I had her back everything up to CD beforehand, just in case something went wrong.

Then what do I hear? The famous IBM HD "Tssst-Tssst-Tssst, Tssst-Tssst-Tssst" Hiss Of Death. (Not to be confused with the Iomega "Click Of Death").

A Little history:

Several years ago I bought two identical IBM Deskstars to use in a raid configuration. Last summer one died, followed by the other a few weeks later. RMA time. This led me to give up on raid for the time being. One of the replacements was put in my girlfriends computer. It died this June, and the replacement for IT is in the US mail right now. Now the other replacement (remember, this is the second go-round) in my nieces comp is toast. That's four out of four gone bad.

I am praying that they will send me a different model drive to replace these two. If they don't, both will likely end up on ebay - I'm not going down the RMA road again. If you see two IBM HD's for sale STEER CLEAR! I don't want it to turn out that the sucker who buys them is a fellow S-M member - or this time I really will get banned.

(Right, Spinner?

)

Prof

PS - I've spent enough on postage and insurance RMA'ing these four losers to have bought a DECENT drive. My only consolation is the fact that IBM (and now Hitachi) is getting the bum drives returned to them in the Maxtor boxes the more reliable drives I am using now came in.

__________________ ---Prof

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If it doesn't come naturally, leave it
- Al Stewart
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RIP Short-Media

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qparadox

I'll Think of Something

814 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 7:16am

I know the pain. I hope you get a 120 GXP. I'm not purposely killing my remaining IBM deathstars until i KNOW I'll get 120/180 GXP's back as I have one drive that's actually 4th generation (ie 3 of its parents have died and sent back). I've heard of one guy with a 9th generation drive ... now that's ****ty. It woulda been cheaper for IBM to go out and buy a WD drive retail and slap a new sticker on top than replace that many drives :P

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Geeky1

No comment.

7,972 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 7:24am

The lesson here is simple: Buying IBM? Buy SCSI. None of my IBM SCSIs have failed, or are showing any signs of failing, the oldest is going on 6 years old, and was in daily use until late last year.

//Edit... wouldn't "another one bites the dust" be a more appropriate title? (sorry... I've had that song stuck in my head for hours...

)

__________________ -MCCCXXXVII
"Ignorance is forgivable. Stupidity is inexcusable."

Resident Dual CPU Addict: 3 working duallies, 2 more in the parts drawer, and looking to add an Opteron dually to that list as soon as I can find a good motherboard...

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 7:24am

Wow

That's some story. If misery loves company, all the deathstar owners can at least know that they are not alone.

If I understand it correctly, the warranty on mine is good for about another year. Maybe I'll stick the replacements in comps which don't house any critical data and hope Hitachi says "Uncle" and starts sending out better replacements.

If you're in the same boat, make sure of your warranty status - I'm not sure about it, and would hate to steer you wrong.

Prof

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 9:56am

profdlp

My first RAID config before my current, which uses WD1200JB's, was made up of two IBM 75GXP's and I eventually sold them on to a fello member at Icrontic a few years back. They gave me a lot of problems, to say the least. You didn't mention what models your deskstars were mate?

When I originally bought my 75GXP's, they were seen as the one of the best drives on the market. Only a couple of months after I had bought mine, the tide turned. However saying that, my brother has an original (one of the first) 75GXP's running strong in his spare rig, and that rig has been running pretty much 24/7 for about 2 years. So I guess some people got lucky with them.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again, I personally think IBM in the last years or so have got their act together (Hitchi cough cough), but I still wouldn't recommend them to anyone simply because of the problems they had with the 75 and 60GXP's.

WD anyone?

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EQuito

Icrontian

933 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 11:09am

Spinner said
However saying that, my brother has an original (one of the first) 75GXP's running strong in his spare rig, and that rig has been running pretty much 24/7 for about 2 years. So I guess some people got lucky with them.

I guess I'm one of those cause I still have'em and they're working just fine.
I bought two (30GB) 75GXP's at the same time I bought my original KT7-R (mid 2000), that's when I found and became member of Icrontic btw.
These drives have been running in RAID-0 24/7 since then (UD/F@H), not to mention countless formats (several low-level), re-partitions, OS installations, OC'ing and everything else you can imagine.

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 10:37pm

Here Come The Lawyers!

The sharks are now circling the IBM HD fiasco:

http://www.tech-report.com/news_reply.x/3035

75GXP class-action suit filed
by Andy "Dr. Evil" Brown - 03:40 pm, October 22, 2001

You will recall that I previously posted asking about problems with IBM 75GXP hard drives. The response was overwhelming. More recently, a web hosting outfit announced they were pulling all 75GXP drives from production because of "amazingly high" failure rates.
But the big news is this: I just got an e-mail (apparently from plaintiff's counsel) letting me know that a class action lawsuit has been filed against IBM. The lawsuit (surprise, surprise) asserts that there is a defect in the 75GXP line that causes abnormally high failure rates. You can take a look at the complaint in PDF form here.

The other comments are quite interesting.

Let's hope that this will stop their practice of sending you refurbished junk to replace your original junk.

Prof

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danball1976

Veteran Icrontian

2,634 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 11:14pm

I have a question, didn't Hitatchi buy IBM's hard drive business?

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 11:28pm

Yes

danball1976 said
I have a question, didn't Hitatchi buy IBM's hard drive business?

Yes, they did.

I'm no lawyer, but it probably depends on the details of the sale as to whether IBM or Hitachi will be the defendant. I guess it would be like me selling you a car we both knew had bad brakes. If someone is injured, they might just come after both of us.

Prof
(Blood in my eye

)

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RWB

Thank God for Blue Monsters

7,356 Posts

6 Jul 2003, 11:54pm

Same problems here, my First HDD for my first self built PC was an IBM 60GxP. A couple months after owning it, I was playing AvP2 and BAM BSOD! My PC would not reboot after that, nothing worked.

RMA'd to Newegg the very next day. Reinstalled Win2KPro, got everything back up and running, a few months later, CRASH. RMA'd to Newegg again.

After the third time, I RMA'd kept it in the Plastic and sold it to someone at Icrontic I think.

Appearently you have to treat the 60GxP's even better than you would treat a new born child. Any vibration or even breeze(ehehe) could end your happiness in a heartbeat.

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

7 Jul 2003, 1:05am

RWB said
After the third time, I RMA'd kept it in the Plastic and sold it to someone at Icrontic I think.

Appearently you have to treat the 60GxP's even better than you would treat a new born child. Any vibration or even breeze(ehehe) could end your happiness in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't make too much noise about who you sold it to - they might come looking for you. If you're lucky, they might have forgotten where they got it.

As far as babying them, one of the replacement drives I got went straight into my girlfriend's computer. I didn't even as much as take the side of the case off after that, much less move the comp around.

I guess leaving it in the plastic is the safest bet.

Prof

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RWB

Thank God for Blue Monsters

7,356 Posts

7 Jul 2003, 1:19am

Ohh no, I do not screw over people like that, I told them.. and of course it being a IBM 60GxP you should always inquire, which he did.

I am pretty sure my honesty is the reason why my parts don't always sell immediatly

But I take care of my stuff.

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

7 Jul 2003, 1:47am

I know what you mean

RWB said
Ohh no, I do not screw over people like that, I told them.. and of course it being a IBM 60GxP you should always inquire, which he did.

I am pretty sure my honesty is the reason why my parts don't always sell immediatly But I take care of my stuff.

I was just kidding about that. It's always better to disclose everything up front, and I applaud you for doing so.

If I end up selling my replacement drives I will make sure whoever buys them knows the score. If this lawsuit goes anywhere they could end up being able to trade them in for something really nice. I'll probably just stick the in a couple of F@H machines and wait and see what happens.

Prof

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RWB

Thank God for Blue Monsters

7,356 Posts

7 Jul 2003, 2:19am

If it helps... I have owned this Maxtor 40GB L series(liquid bearings) for a while now... and I have done everything to it I shouldn't have. Yet when I do a thorough check of it, there still arn't any errors

I wish I had the money for those WDSE HDD's, I could use an extra 350GB of space hehe.

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profdlp

Off To The Gym

21,407 Posts

8 Jul 2003, 6:41am

Rats!

Got the latest RMA rascal back from IBM today. (I know Hitachi bought them out, but the senders address said IBM).

Guess what? Another refurbished same-old same-old. I was really hoping they would send a different model this time.

And I imagine the other one they're sending me will be the same.

I know this sounds self-serving, but I would think Hitachi could make some points with the public if they sent decent replacements, at least by the time you're on your third time around.

I wouldn't even use these drives to store pictures of my ex-wife!

Prof
(I feel better now)

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Spinner

Getting it done!

5,003 Posts

8 Jul 2003, 6:58am

Sorry to here that mate. What can I say, life sucks.

Hopefully though these new drives will serve you better than the previous. Are they exactly the same as your old ones i.e they have IBM still plastered on the back instead of Hitachi? Eitherway, like you said, selling them on, might not be a bad idea.

Cheers

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Spinner edited : 8 Jul 2003 at 7:07am .

karatekid

All Three Baby

546 Posts

8 Jul 2003, 3:27pm

Well, I have 2 our of 3, and I don't have alot of confidence in the thrid one. My first 2 (75GXP in a RAID) lasted a realitivly long time, about 18 months

. So one died, and I went around the RMA marry go round. Took 3 whole months to get the replacement drive

and the one I got back had to one of the worst replacement anythings I have ever gotten. All kinds of scratch marks on it, a couple of the mounting holes were striped, and the thing died after two weeks. Rather than do the RMA thing again (and wait 3 months) I just said screw it, I had already gotten a WD 80GB 8MB drive to replace both of the IBMs, since my other original drive was also questionable, though it is still kicking around today. Moral of the story

As for the lawsuit, I think that happened about 2 years ago. I believe the plantiffs won and IBM had to pay some money to owners of failed drives. Obviously, that has not had much of an affect on IBM's crapy drives.

__________________ War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
GTA:VC: " On the toll road of life, you have to pay to prove you can"
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Another One Kicks The Bucket (IBM HD)

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