Dying HDD question

[shaked]

Alright, I'm getting a little irritated now. About 6 months ago, my hard drive (WD1200JB) started making noises as if it were booting up. I'm not sure how to explain it, but it would start spinning randomly more or less. When it did this, the computer basically froze. Eventually, I just pulled it out and RMA'd it. I got a new one, and the problem was solved...for the time being. Last night, it did it again. I'm not sure if the other HDD did it randomly before it really cut loose, but this one is still "usable." The question is, what do I do? What is causing this? Is it something OTHER than the HDDs?

I also have a WD2500JB as a slave that has given me no trouble (knock on wood).
Ambient temp is <30 C.

Is it just the drives? I mean, the one I have now is a refurb, but it seems like the board is going. I don't get it. Should I just get rid of it and start anew? I don't want to go out and buy a new Seagate drive or something else and have the same issue. Any ideas? Thanks

Rich

 

[shaked]

bump

 

[UB]

That is a very unusual situation Rich. You basically have had two different hard drives exhibiting the same symptom upon their demise. Although somewhat impossible, it is probable that they coincidentally died with the same unique problem. (It is important to remember that the failed drive you sent in is not the same drive returned back to you. Plus each drive that has been recertified has new firmware and passes a series of integrity tests.) The only other explanation is that some external problem is causing these drives to fail. One could easily point to heat being an issue without knowing the drives operating temperature. However, you obviously have another Western Digital drive that generates the same heat (and presumably receives the same type of cooling (please remember that drives dissipate their heat through the top plate, however some space around the circuit board is needed for adequate cooling)) and has not failed. The same could be said for other probable outside sources of contention.

Without skipping a beat, I would definitely replace the drive, and if you?ve lost some confidence in these recertified WD products, you could switch brands to someone like Samsung. If the problem persists after switching brands, you can definitely eliminate the drive as the source of your headaches and begin looking elsewhere.

Personally, I would be interested in seeing how the drive is mounted and the type of case/case clutter you have.

 

[shaked]

I first thought that heat was an issue. The HDD is located in a standard cage set up for 3 drives. The failing drive is at the top and the middle space has been left unoccupied and the larger drive at the bottom of the cage. There is an 80mm intake fan blowing on both of the drives. Above the drive there is nothing but some cables that have been tucked away. I really can't figure out what's going on with it. I plan to RMA it again, but if the problem occurs again I just don't know what i'm going to do. I've seen these drives sit in dusty cages with no intake fans anywhere. My case is adequately ventilated as far as I know. I'm going to give WD a call and see if they can give me some help.

Rich

 

[shaked]

Any one else got ideas? Midnight crew bump.