WD10EARS-00MVWB0/51.0AB51 keeps going offline (only a hard reset brings it online again)

[P_D_M]

Hi

    there I was thinking all WD10EARS drives were the one and same.  However, it seems there are different “flavours” of the the HDD out there.

I recently, a couple of weeks ago, wanted to purchase 4x WD10EARS HDDs but my local supplier only had 3 in stock.  Later on that evening I ordered the 4th drive from another supplier and I was surprised to see that it had a different “Product ID” and a different “firmware level” from the other 3 drives.

Anyway, I built a software based RAIDz (RAID-5 zfs file system) and the “WD10EARS-00MVWB0/51.0AB51” keeps going offline as soon as I start transferring data to the system.  The other 3 “WD10EARS-00Y5B1/80.00A80” are behaving normally (as expected).

Initially, I thought it could be a bad cable.  But even replacing the cable did not help.  Switching the drive to a different SATA II port also did not help.

The following thread “seems” similar to the issues I am having :

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Desktop/Raid0-Error-but-no-error-with-no-Raid/td-p/49187

Should I return the HDD under RMA and request another “WD10EARS-00Y5B1/80.00A80”???

What are the differences between the two drive types I have?

Any constructive assistance would be greatly appreciated…

PDM

[DavidSucesso]

try to return and if you can get the old firmware that works

[P_D_M]

Hi

  I think this disck will be RMA’d.

I ran Data Life Diagnostics late lastnight and the “Quick Test” passed however it stalled on the “Extended Test” with “BUSY TIMEOUT ERROR/STATUS CODE : 0134”.

On the second attempt it ran the “Extended Test” and finished with “TOO MANY ERRORS FOUND - PLEASE CONTACT TECHNICAL SUPPORT ERROR/STATUS CODE : 0225”.

It seems the HDD was more or less dying on arrival.  Shame I didn’t run the Extended Tests earlier.

What are the key differences between the drives?

kind regards,

PDM

[P_D_M]

The RMA process seems to me to need a MAJOR overhaul…

I sent the disk last Wednesday morning (9th March 2011) via registered post (as per RMA requirements).  It was delivered early on Friday 11th March.  However, I only received confirmation from WDC on Tuesday 15th March late in the evening stating they have been forwarded to their “service center for reception” & upon their reception they will update the system to state received int their system.

At the end of the day as an end consumer do I really care what they do with the faulty disk after their initial reception???  Why should I have to wait even longer for their  S L O W  process(es) to replace a faulty item whereby I have spent and additional €15 just for shipping back to their service center in another country.

To make matters even worse a second drive from the initial four I purchased is starting to show the same failure symptoms as the initial drive…  ANOTHER €15 down the drain and god knows how long befre I receive the repacement(s).

Why should I have to pay all these additional costs to have my BRAND NEW drives replaced???  Why cant WDC re-imburse me for my down time and additional costs re shipping (to another country) etc???

The W10EARS are starting to leave an extremely bad initial impression…

Come on WDC address your POOR QC procedures and reduce your own internal replacement costs (probably a different cost center) as well as the impact on your customers wallets too…

So, a simple QUESTION to the MODS from wdc… Can I return these 3x WD10EARS I still have (not including the disk that is in wdc’s lala land) and be full re-imbursed (in Europe)???  

How can I escalte this to another level within wdc???

Edit : RMA

RMA Turn-around Times and Shipping Information

European Union Countries 9-11 business days

Turn-around times for Advance Replacement and Standard RMA’s within the United States and European Union do include shipping time.

Extra Note :

Well, those 9-11 business days certainly will not be met!

[oxter]

Hello P_D_M, Unfortunately, we moderators, cannot tell you if  is possible re-imburse your money, why don’t you try to contact WD directly? They can tell you if this is possible or not.

http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

Also, take into consideration that the Caviar Green are not recommended for RAID 5, even if it’s software based.

This is from WD Site:

Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Caviar Green Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications. (RAID-0 / RAID-1)*

*Business Critical RAID Environments – WD Caviar Green Hard Drives are not recommended for and are not warranted for use in RAID environments utilizing Enterprise HBAs and/or expanders and in multi-bay chassis, as they are not designed for, nor tested in, these specific types of RAID applications. For all Business Critical RAID applications, please consider WD’s Enterprise Hard Drives that are specifically designed with RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER), are tested extensively in 24x7 RAID applications, and include features like enhanced RAFF technology and thermal extended burn-in testing.

[P_D_M]

Hi oxter
        I totally understand where you are coming from and I do not expect a MOD to refund my purches(s).

However, I must point out the drives were advertised as RAID compatible :

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=576

Ideal For Environmentally friendly PCs and external storage requiring lower power consumption and cool, quiet operation. Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Caviar Green Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications (i.e., Intel Matrix RAID technology).*

They were deployed in a HOME NAS using RAIDz (ZFS) utilising a software based RAID system.  NOT realy taxing when its only a TV and 1 user on the network.

Perhaps, you can escalate internally that the factories need to up their QA/QC process…

kind regards,

P_D_M

PS - Still awaiting delivery of replacement for initial disk that showed Error : 225 (and the second disk has the same error code - not shipped/replaced yet).

[P_D_M]

I am seriously regretting purchasing these disks. 

2 of the original 4 have failed with “Too many bad sectors” and now a RMA replacement disk has also died with same error on a different PC.

So far to-date the down time, P&P and the waiting has been totally unacceptable.

I must also say that some of the customer support personnel have been extremely helpful whilst others have just been totally unhelpful.  Unfortunately, the unhelpful ones seem to have issues in reading and responding accordingly…

[DavidSucesso]

what is happening with wd DRIVES?? 

i have old several old wd drives that is allways 100 - 100 in he status in hard disk sentinel

this generaion has been problematic…

[P_D_M]

@Mods: can you please PM e-mail address/contact details for European Head of Customer Care as “customer care” have not responded to my incident report from last week (spoke to Supervisor last Tuesday * sent e-mail as requested). 

I would like to escalate this non-responsiveness and the fact I am sitting here wirh defective hardware which I paid good money for…

thx in advamce…