IBM GXP Problems: The Truth Exposed and Possible Fixes

[thorin]

CrackRabbit
"Good article, you know now that im thinking about it, the problem may not just be with the 60 and 75GXP drives but with thier Travelstar Drives as well, anyone who owns a recent Dell Laptop or has visited thier forums should know exactly what im talking about, all of the same symptoms, and all. This doesnt bode well for IBM's HDD Department.... "

Although that is a good thought it's highly unlikely. Laptop HDs usually run at 4200 rpm (some newer models run at 5400 rpm) which is 25-40% slower then the Deskstar GXPs (7200rpm) that people have been seeing problems with. Not to mention that laptop drives are 2.5" not 3.5" thus creating alot less 'drag' or 'friction' or whatever you want to call it.

Thorin

 

[AluminumStudios]

I think posts that say "My IBM drives have been running fine with no problems" are silly. More often than not a HD picks a time then rolls over and dies without much warning. If I had an IBM I'd be scared right now because of all of the reports of problems.

I've never owned a GXP but I seriously dislike IBM HDs because I have two Sun Solaris machines at work here, one blew an IBM 10k rpm SCSI drive it had (I forget the model number). The replacement IBM sent me sounds like it pops a spring every few minutes. And the second machine's drive frequently makes this horrendous screatching sound like a nail being drug across a chalk board. They also run hot as mothers!

With other good comopetition out there, why take the chance a be loyal to a company that is developing a history of problems?

 

[Agent004]

Well, it seems IBM were perfecting its pixeldust technology, so it may not as reliable.



<< With other good comopetition out there, why take the chance a be loyal to a company that is developing a history of problems? >>



Good question,but competition is always good. You do know that Maxtor also had a terrible record also before they came out a certain lines of hard drive (I forgotten the name) .

 

[Eug]

<< I think posts that say "My IBM drives have been running fine with no problems" are silly. More often than not a HD picks a time then rolls over and dies without much warning. If I had an IBM I'd be scared right now because of all of the reports of problems. >>

Yep it's silly to say that. It's also silly to say (like some are) that all IBM's are suck because theirs died.

Using that logic, for me Maxtors, Fujitsu, Seagate, and Quantum all are suck too.

Until you work for an OEM or store or whatever and have RMA'd thousands of drives, all these personal observations are statistically irrelevant.

Plus we still don't know how many of these drives are in overclocked systems.

 

[ToBeMe]

<< I think posts that say "My IBM drives have been running fine with no problems" are silly. More often than not a HD picks a time then rolls over and dies without much warning. If I had an IBM I'd be scared right now because of all of the reports of problems.

I've never owned a GXP but I seriously dislike IBM HDs because I have two Sun Solaris machines at work here, one blew an IBM 10k rpm SCSI drive it had (I forget the model number). The replacement IBM sent me sounds like it pops a spring every few minutes. And the second machine's drive frequently makes this horrendous screatching sound like a nail being drug across a chalk board. They also run hot as mothers!

With other good comopetition out there, why take the chance a be loyal to a company that is developing a history of problems? >>



Well.....in some cases posts saying "My IBM H.D.'s are running with no problems" are NOT silly!😉 Why, in my case as well as several other people I know would this be any sillier than starting a thread about 3 W.D. hard drives failing within a few weeks and in different systems???? At least with IBM everyone seems to get their drives back in a fairly timely manner...............I'm still waiting on W.D.!:Q I now seriously dislike W.D., through the past five years, in addition to the three recent ones, no other drive has failed me as often as W.D.. As far as running hot, all drives 7200rpm+ run "warm" and I'd wager to say my IBM's don't run any hotter than my Maxtors!😉

Just remember.......a few years ago W.D. couldn't make a decent drive.......and some people, besides myself, are still having trouble with them including a few of the "JB's" according to ZDNet. Now, it's IBM whom has had a run of bad luck with their drives, next, it could be Maxtor......who knows! I still buy the 120GXP's................they are fast as hell and very quiet! I also like my Maxtors and will buy them, but, W.D.'s won't touch my systems or the systems I build in my shop for some time to come..............😉

 

[fs5]

Post any "My IBM 75GXP is running fine" replies is just asking for your IBM drive to fail. Everytime a 75GXP failed post came up, I replied, "Mine is working fine." Then last month it died 🙁 If only this article was written a month ago, I could've tried to replace the circuit board with a working one to recover my data.

 

[Eug]

<< Post any "My IBM 75GXP is running fine" replies is just asking for your IBM drive to fail. Everytime a 75GXP failed post came up, I replied, "Mine is working fine." Then last month it died 🙁 If only this article was written a month ago, I could've tried to replace the circuit board with a working one to recover my data. >>


Are you overclocking?

Anyways, my point was that no matter what drive you have there runs a risk of failing.

Are IBM 75GXPs worse than others? I dunno, but personally I believe most of what's out there on the net is what I call the internet effect.

Even if say the average RMA rate was 3% and the IBM 75GXP RMA rate was 50% higher at 4.5%, there would be no way for the average person to know, unless they bought like 400 drives of each brand. If the RMA rate was say 15% then that's a different story, but so far from the reports that OEM type guys have been giving, it's nowhere near that high. Indeed, from the reports from store owners, etc, I've been seeing, they're no better and no worse than others. (IBM claims this too, but I always take the manufacturer's statements with a grain of salt for obvious reasons.) I think one of the reasons why reports are so numerous is because on these types of forums the 75GXP was such a popular drive because of their comparative performance. If 100 computer geeks buy 75GXP and 10 people buy Fujitsu, and the RMA rate is the same, reports of 75GXP failures are going to be 10 times as high. But like I've said I've had so many brands of drives fail, I just have learned to accept the fact that magnetic media is inherently potentially unreliable regardless of the brand.

That said there's always a possibility the reports are true. However, on an individual basis it should be irrelevant since like I said earlier, ALL drives are gonna fail sooner or later. That's why I always keep multiple backups of everything. Indeed, I have a 45 drive for MP3, and then I have an external 60 GB drive whose sole purpose is backup those MP3s and other files. And I periodically backup my other important files to CD (and zip).

That article is full of supposition. And when I read it I thought, "Man if you had properly backed up in the first place you wouldn't have to transfer circuit boards, etc."

 

[PlatinumGold]

EUG

but PCRESOURCES tested THOUSANDS.

btw, this is not a SERIOUS POST.

 

[Eug]

<< EUG

but PCRESOURCES tested THOUSANDS.

btw, this is not a SERIOUS POST. >>

Haha... errr.. I mean no comment.

 

[Pariah]

Well, now we know Platinum is a liar. How could PC test thousands when he died in Afghanistan, while still perfecting his 8-way SMP Athlon system?

 

[oldfart]

<< but PCRESOURCES tested THOUSANDS. >>


LOL!!! He also designed his own drives and sold thousands of them to the military! Where is that web site of his again? Oh yeah, he is still waiting for his girlfriend to finish it.