What is causing my hard drives to die?

[bigboxes]

I am having problems with hard drives failing in my file server. I have six hdds (ide) connected to an Abit KX7-333 raid mobo. About two months ago one of my video drives (Western Digital) died and I replaced it with a new Seagate. About 3 weeks ago one of my music drives (Seagate) died. After talking with another techie I thought it would be my old Antec TruePower 430 that had been the culprit. So, I bought a Seasonic S12 430. Yesterday I bought a replacement Seagate drive from Fry's and installed it and the new psu into the system. The file server booted up quickly and without issue. After I copied over the lost files from a backup drive everything seemed fine. Later last night, realizing that the file server was still up, I attempted to access another music drive (Seagate) and it would not respond. So, today I wanted to run a diagnostic on that hdd, but the file server will not boot to the desktop. It only gets as far as the WinXP loading screen. It will boot fine if I disconnect the drive (just like the other previous failures). Any other specs you can view in my sig (Boxes' file server). I don't think that the Seasonic is causing this failure. Is it possible that the Antec had damaged this hdd prior to it's replacement or is there something else that is killing my drives? HELP!

 

[bigboxes]

Quick note: I am not using a RAID array, just the extra controllers. The chipset (VIA) fan has been failing (makes a whining noise at times), but keeps on spinning. I'm not sure if that would damage the hdds, but I mention it to give you all the info I have.

 

[hardcandy2]

How about the motherboard chipset? I would think about that next if various brands of HD's are all "failing" in a short time span. Not sure about any testing programs for the Abit MB.
Edit: Now that you said the word "VIA", I would get another MB with a decent chipset.

 

[bigboxes]

Yeah, I know all the bad feelings about VIA. I have 4 working mobos with VIA chipsets and they all work fine. Now, can the northbridge ruin a hdd? Plus, this is a socket A mobo. They are getting harder to find. I spend a lot on computer parts and really don't want to keep spending endlessly. Thanks for the input. Anyone else?

 

[Bozo Galora]

leaking caps

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: Bozo Galora
leaking caps

Now, is this a serious reply? Can leaky caps damage the hdds?

 

[willtriv]

leaky caps don't cause more voltage... but they can cause inconsistancies in signalling. If there was gibberish being thrown around its nearly impossible to say what the outcome would actually be, your computer could be telling the drives impossible things. Have all the failures been electronic? meaning do they all fail to be detected, come out as weird id strings or cause no post? or do some make loud click clack noises though the id is detected flawlessly in bios?

mechanical errors usually come from shocks in the past (ive seen drives fail 8 months after rough shipping, some die instantly but either way they are doomed a shorter life span) and heat.

Electronic could even be your household eletricity, psu, or mobo. I too use a via chipset in my file server but have only ever had drives start dying weirdly on an old intel server I had. It was the motherboard then... it caused lack of post, id string failures, and random noboot/errors across both ide channels and different cables. I replaced the mobo and the drives i had previously retired to my stack of "dead" were revived (except the ones with click clack noises).

i hope this helps
wt

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Originally posted by: bigboxes

Originally posted by: Bozo Galora
leaking caps

Now, is this a serious reply? Can leaky caps damage the hdds?

YES! Bozo is no dumby like me
Your HDD's logic chips could have been damage by the Antec with leaking Fuhjyyu craps.
and just waiting to die.
http://www.theflyingpenguin.com/ > My Blog > 09/17/05 Be sure to check out his links.

Note: The vast majority of PSU issues on this board are cause by 3+ year old TP or SP PSUs.

 

[willtriv]

yeah thats possible, or it could be ur mobo, who knows. Another via skt a mobo is like 35 bucks tho and each drive is around 80. ur gamble.

 

[AMCRambler]

I'm think a heat issue. How is the ventilation in the case? Six hard disks will generate a lot of heat. What do the case temps look like?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

OP, open the Antec PSU for inspection and inspect your mainboard well. Flacky/foul voltage can work board caps hard. http://www.badcaps.net/Ident/ might as well get a simple inspection out of the way first.
There is an Abit section in the badcaps forum. You must register to view attachments. Please give the referral to Galvanized if you do sign up over there.

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee

Originally posted by: bigboxes

Originally posted by: Bozo Galora
leaking caps

Now, is this a serious reply? Can leaky caps damage the hdds?

YES! Bozo is no dumby like me
Your HDD's logic chips could have been damage by the Antec with leaking Fuhjyyu craps.
and just waiting to die.
http://www.theflyingpenguin.com/ > My Blog > 09/17/05 Be sure to check out his links.

Note: The vast majority of PSU issues on this board are cause by 3+ year old TP or SP PSUs.

I've been awaiting your anti-Antec reply! Seriously, last night I noticed that the old Antec had three burned pins on the main atx connector. Also, I just noticed three small caps that were indeed bulging (with two leaking) next to this connector. I was getting weird id strings prior to the psu replacement. With the new psu in place all of the hdds' (Seagate) IDs are correct, but the latest hdd seems to have gone bad. You'll be happy to know that I've replaced my main rig's psu (antec) with a Fortron 700w epsilon. My old 300w Antec (wife's rig) and 550w TruePower is still chugging along fine.

Now, can anyone link me a socket A mobo with FOUR IDE connectors?? Or at least have two ide and two sata connectors. I don't want to spend $100+ on this but I need to be able run six hdds. I already have the cpu and ram so I'd rather not have to change platforms if at all possible.

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: AMCRambler
I'm think a heat issue. How is the ventilation in the case? Six hard disks will generate a lot of heat. What do the case temps look like?

I don't think it's a heat issue. My file server is currently housed in an Antec P180 case (as is my main rig).

 

[willtriv]

im not sure, but i don't think skt a mobo's have sata... any of them... man this certainly does suck. Buy a lottery ticket, ur lucks bound to turn soon. snake a mobo + ide card. i got a dual ide raid card for 7 dollars on ebay and its been working fine for 4 years now. Other than that, skt 775 celeron 2.8 ghz chips go for $45 and decent intel 945 board can go for cheap too.

good luck deciding, i just hope my antec psu doesnt die on me :S I've got 640 gigs of crud i dont wanna lose.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

bigboxes, I am not Anti-Antec I just dislike PSUs that kill hardware.
The NeoHE units are just OK. The Trio units are not as good as the NeoHE units.
The TP and SP are just good as temporary back-up PSUs, AFAIC.

If I were you, I'd contact Topcat the site Admin at badcaps for a re-capped socket A board.
I bet he has one for cheap. Your's could be re-capped but the burnt jack makes it not worth while.
He might want it in exchange. He does good work and is in it for the long haul.
You would get a board populated with better than what was original caps and far cheaper than $100.

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
bigboxes, I am not Anti-Antec I just dislike PSUs that kill hardware.
The NeoHE units are just OK. The Trio units are not as good as the NeoHE units.
The TP and SP are just good as temporary back-up PSUs, AFAIC.

If I were you, I'd contact Topcat the site Admin at badcaps for a re-capped socket A board.
I bet he has one for cheap. Your's could be re-capped but the burnt jack makes it not worth while.
He might want it in exchange. He does good work and is in it for the long haul.
You would get a board populated with better than what was original caps and far cheaper than $100.

I'm just giving ya a hard time. I used to think that you were overly zealous, but I respect your helpful nature. I'm really more p.o.'d with Antec for not improving their QA than anything. If they'd build a quality unit then I'd stick with them. I heard that they are rebadging Seasonic psus for their top end units. It might be a little late to repair their reputation, but I'll give them time. I like a lot of their products.

The mobo connector (power) does not have any burnt pins. It is the Antec's 12v connector that has the 3 burnt pins. At first I did not see any bad caps, but upon further inspection I saw 3 small caps right next to the mobo's connector that were bulging and two of them had leakage.

I have sent an e-mail to badcaps. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

[Nocturnal]

Have you ever thought about heat? Do you have active cooling blowing directly over the drives? If you put your hand on any of the drives, is it cool enough that you can rest it there without feeling like you may burn yourself? I know when my Maxtor Maxline III was not actively cooled, it would get extremely hot. Also when I work on certain computers I notice the hard drive gets extremely hot, almost to the point where you cannot keep it in your hands unless you want to be burnt.

 

[bigboxes]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
Have you ever thought about heat? Do you have active cooling blowing directly over the drives? If you put your hand on any of the drives, is it cool enough that you can rest it there without feeling like you may burn yourself? I know when my Maxtor Maxline III was not actively cooled, it would get extremely hot. Also when I work on certain computers I notice the hard drive gets extremely hot, almost to the point where you cannot keep it in your hands unless you want to be burnt.

As I have stated above, I use an Antec P180 for my file server case and use four 120mm fans to push pull air over the hdds. I also clean the air filters at least once a week with handy-dandy anti-static vaccuum. It keeps things quite cool.

 

[bigboxes]

Update time! Didn't hear back from the admin @ badcaps. Well, got a good deal on a Socket A mobo from a peep on another board I'm moderator on. Plus, I have good news! The first two hard drives that supposedly went bad work in an external enclosure. If the third one behaves the same then everything should be back to normal after I build the new rig. I can use the new hard drive to back up one of those video drives. I really needed some good news.

 

[Bozo Galora]

http://motherboardrepair.com/

 

[piasabird]

If it is not the power supply it must be something else. That leaves the raid controller, the motherboard, the Memory, and the processor. Take your pick. XP can be very picky with Memory. It might be cheaper to just get a new Intel Motherboard than to keep replacing hard drives. You do not need the fastest or the most powerful processor.

Sometimes the fans on motherboards for the chipsets quit spinning and overheat or there is not enough air circulation around the hard drives.

 

[bigboxes]

Well, since it's an amd cpu, ddr ram, and ide drives I think I'll stick with socket A mobo. It's just for the file server. Yes, I need another mobo, but like I said an online friend is coming through for me. Also, as I said above, two of the drives are NOT bad. The third drive to go "bad" may not be bad afterall. I'll know when I put together the new build. I've got a good feeling about this. This is the best scenario considering what could have been. If that third drive is good as well, then I can use the new 400gb drive to backup one of the video drives. I hate not having them all backed up, but it's a lot of $$ to back up 'em all. That's hdd + external enclosure. It's well worth it though and it is a goal of mine. It's a lot easier than backup to dvd. Heh, boxes is a happy camper all things considered!