Warning: IBM HD Suck

Jerry Polyak · Oct 10, 2003

Well, yet another IBM hard drive took a dump on me, taking my RAID Array with it. It was the same drive I suspected about 2-3 months ago since it was benchmarking with some unusual spikes in performance. But of course IBM would not RMA the damn thing until it failed completely. This is a third IBM GXP60 drive I've had fail on me. Mind you that I only bought two of them (figure it out, one of the warranty drives has failed). I know IBM have sold their HD division to Hitachi, so now I will be making sure that I don't buy either of the manufacturers drives. The only saving grace was a recent back up. Although it's on a IBM GXP120 drive. I wonder when that one will pass on to the HD afterlife.

Morgan (archive) · Oct 10, 2003

What is also annoying is when you get your replacement drive from IBM (as was) and it is marked as a ' Serviceable Used Part ' and it too fails.

To end the cycle I will just place it on a shelf, along with another failed IBM drive that I was considering returning for a replacement. Unfortunately I can't even access the other drive and I would have liked to get access to the data before returning it.

TomG · Oct 10, 2003

I know that folks have varying opinions about Maxtor but, touch wood, I have been using Maxtor for years and I have yet to have a drive fail on me. My original Western Digital drives died a while back and those were more than 7 years old with TONS of hours on them and while one of them died a few weeks after purchase and WD replaced it in a jiffy, I have to say they lived a long and prosperous life. Still, over the last several years, I have been using Maxtor and have had excellent results.

Jerry Polyak · Oct 10, 2003

I hear ya.

I will save the option of buying new drives untill I'm ready to build a new box. Till then I will suffer along.

P.S. I believe it was you who told me long time ago about WindowsKey + Q being a shortcut for fast user switching. Do you remember how to activate that? Doesn't seem to be working at the moment.

Thanks.

"TomG" wrote:

I know that folks have varying opinions about Maxtor but, touch wood, I have been using Maxtor for years and I have yet to have a drive fail on me. My original Western Digital drives died a while back and those were more than 7 years old with TONS of hours on them and while one of them died a few weeks after purchase and WD replaced it in a jiffy, I have to say they lived a long and prosperous life. Still, over the last several years, I have been using Maxtor and have had excellent results.

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified

ftp://geerynet.d2g.com
ftp://68.98.180.8 Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
... it was benchmarking with some unusual spikes in performance. But of course IBM
would not RMA the damn thing until it failed completely. This is a

third

IBM GXP60 drive I've had fail on me. Mind you that I only bought two of
them (figure it out, one of the warranty drives has failed). I know IBM
have sold their HD division to Hitachi, so now I will be making sure

that

I
don't buy either of the manufacturers drives. The only saving grace was a recent back up. Although it's on a IBM GXP120 drive. I wonder when that one will pass on to the HD afterlife.

Leon Rowell · Oct 10, 2003

I've been using Maxtors since 1992 and I have never had one fail. Just for kicks I plugged in my original 120MB HD the other day and up pops DOS 6.22 in all it's glory.... It also has Windows 3.1 but I had it set up so I had to go to the Windows directory and type in win to start it.

Leon Rowell

TomG wrote:

I know that folks have varying opinions about Maxtor but, touch wood, I have been using Maxtor for years and I have yet to have a drive fail on me. My original Western Digital drives died a while back and those were more than 7 years old with TONS of hours on them and while one of them died a few weeks after purchase and WD replaced it in a jiffy, I have to say they lived a long and prosperous life. Still, over the last several years, I have been using Maxtor and have had excellent results.

TomG · Oct 10, 2003

can you manually select Log Off > Switch User? If it is supported on your installation then TweakUI has a setting to enable it under the category Explorer and then in the settings window it is listed as Windows+X Hotkeys.

FireFox · Oct 11, 2003

I think all manufacturers have "bad batches" I have a 6gb Travelstar in my laptop (almost 6 years now) and loved the 16gb Deskstar I had before moving to larger Western Digital drives (for their size, not because I had any trouble with the IBM's). I guess, someone needs to play devil's advocate here. IBM was the first to use the technology required for large drives (giant magito-resistive heads, glass platters), as they are the first to develop and use alot of technologies. I don't work for IBM, but have had the opportunity to use alot of their technology and know it's usually very well built. The E-3 Sentry's that are so valuable to the defense of the U.S. use a modified IBM 360 mainframe, from the 1960's to control everything. Anyway, what I'm saying is all companies have their problems (Intel, AMD, Maxtor, Connor (remember them), ATI, NVidia, etc). Don't flame me, like I said just playing devil's advocate, but there are alot more satisfied customers of IBM than unsatisfied. As a last comment, always talk to someone that knows what you are talking about when you try a return. That usually means someone other than the first or even second person you talk to.

BB
(-: FireFox

"Jerry Polyak" wrote:

Well, yet another IBM hard drive took a dump on me *snip*

Jerry Polyak · Oct 11, 2003

Thanks, I actually found it as part of XP Power Toys.

"TomG" wrote:

can you manually select Log Off > Switch User? If it is supported on your installation then TweakUI has a setting to enable it under the category Explorer and then in the settings window it is listed as Windows+X

Hotkeys.

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified

ftp://geerynet.d2g.com
ftp://68.98.180.8 Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
over 117,000 FTP users served!
^^^^^^^

... Q being a shortcut for fast user switching. Do you remember how to activate that? Doesn't seem to be working at the moment.

Thanks.

"TomG" wrote:

I know that folks have varying opinions about Maxtor but, touch wood, I have
been using Maxtor for years and I have yet to have a drive fail on me. My original Western Digital drives died a while back and those were more than 7
years old with TONS of hours on them and while one of them died a few weeks
after purchase and WD replaced it in a jiffy, I have to say they lived a long and prosperous life. Still, over the last several years, I have been using Maxtor and have had excellent results.

--

Thomas Geery
Network+ certified

ftp://geerynet.d2g.com
ftp://68.98.180.8 Abit Mirror <----- Cable modem IP
This IP is dynamic so it *could* change!...
... since it
was benchmarking with some unusual spikes in performance. But of course IBM
would not RMA the damn thing until it failed completely. This is a third
IBM GXP60 drive I've had fail on me. Mind you that I only bought two of
them (figure it out, one of the warranty drives has failed). I know IBM have sold their HD division to Hitachi, so now I will be making sure that
I
don't buy either of the manufacturers drives. The only saving grace was a
recent back up. Although it's on a IBM GXP120 drive. I wonder when that
one will pass on to the HD afterlife.
...

Jerry Polyak · Oct 11, 2003

I hear what you are saying. As a point a company with more unsatisfied customers then satisfied would probably not stay in business too long. <VBG>

Unfortunately, I don't get to talk to anyone at IBM. I just use their online RMA system (becoming quiet proficient at it). Last drive I returned got back to me about 10 days after I shipped it. That is one thing I can't complain about. What it comes down to is a personal preference I guess. For example, I had the misfortune of renting a Ford Fuckus while my car is in the shop. All it did was to remind me what a P. of Sh*t my mom's Ford Escort Station wagon was back in the day and how uncomfortable it was to get my girlfriend's panties off in the back of it, and what a big mistake my 1978 Mustang II was. Needless to say I would never again purchase a Ford, even if it was gold plated and cost a $1 and wiped my ass when I farted. That is about the way I feel about IBM drives right now. In my book a 150% failure rate is unacceptable.

"FireFox" wrote:

I think all manufacturers have "bad batches" I have a 6gb Travelstar in my laptop (almost 6 years now) and loved the 16gb Deskstar I had before moving to larger Western Digital drives (for their size, not because I had any trouble with the IBM's). I guess, someone needs to play devil's advocate here. IBM was the first to use the technology required for large drives (giant magito-resistive heads, glass platters), as they are the first to develop and use alot of technologies. I don't work for IBM, but have had the opportunity to use alot of their technology and know it's usually very well built. The E-3 Sentry's that are so valuable to the defense of the U.S. use a modified IBM 360 mainframe, from the 1960's to control everything. Anyway, what I'm saying is all companies have their problems (Intel, AMD, Maxtor, Connor (remember them), ATI, NVidia, etc). Don't flame me, like I said just playing devil's advocate, but there are alot more satisfied customers of IBM than unsatisfied. As a last comment, always talk to someone that knows what you are talking about when you try a return. That usually means someone other than the first or even second person you talk to.

BB
(-: FireFox

"Jerry Polyak" wrote:

Well, yet another IBM hard drive took a dump on me *snip*

FireFox · Oct 11, 2003

Your position is totally supported by your experiences, and I agree about the ford fuckus....I think they really screwed up when they didn't promote the ZX2 (the only ford competition against the foreign sport compacts) like they have the focus....but that is another news group

"Jerry Polyak" wrote:

*snip*

and what a big mistake my
1978 Mustang II was (I know from experience about the Mustang II). *snip* In my book a 150% failure rate is unacceptable.

AD C · Oct 11, 2003

Morgan wrote:

What is also annoying is when you get your replacement drive from IBM (as was) and it is marked as a ' Serviceable Used Part ' and it too fails.

To end the cycle I will just place it on a shelf, along with another failed IBM drive that I was considering returning for a replacement. Unfortunately I can't even access the other drive and I would have liked to get access to the data before returning it.

IBM do nnot make drives anymore, so i been told.
Seagate are about the best I think, had seagates for years. I may try Maxtor with my next one.

Doughnut · Oct 11, 2003

Ive had 2 IBM GXP60's and both failed, I sent them both back and got 1 GXP120 & 1 of my old GXP60's back. The gxp60 failed and ive tried to rma it again and it just says rma already made! for this part. No-one will answer my emails so Ive not bought one since and will never buy again. You are totally right IBM / Hitachi suck!

doughnut

"FireFox" wrote:

Your position is totally supported by your experiences, and I agree about the ford fuckus....I think they really screwed up when they didn't promote the ZX2 (the only ford competition against the foreign sport compacts) like they have the focus....but that is another news group

"Jerry Polyak" wrote:

*snip*
and what a big mistake my
1978 Mustang II was (I know from experience about the Mustang II).

*snip*

In my book a 150% failure rate is unacceptable.

Michael George · Oct 11, 2003

The IBM GXP60's had a known fault along with one other series. Both of my 60's failed. They sorted it with the 120's and above (and maybe one series below, whichever that was, I think) and reliability increased to easily in line with (or above) the other manufacturers. I've been running a 120 and a 180 since they were first released, 24/7 with occasional reboot or PC move (and one drop!) without problem.

Mike

"Doughnut" wrote:

Ive had 2 IBM GXP60's and both failed, I sent them both back and got 1 GXP120 & 1 of my old GXP60's back. The gxp60 failed and ive tried to rma it again and it just says rma already made! for this part. No-one will answer my emails so Ive not bought one since and will never buy again. You are totally right IBM / Hitachi suck!

doughnut

"FireFox" wrote:

Your position is totally supported by your experiences, and I agree
about the ford fuckus....I think they really screwed up when they didn't
promote the ZX2 (the only ford competition against the foreign sport ...

borolad · Oct 11, 2003

In article <bm8rjb$hdc$>,
says...

Morgan wrote:

What is also annoying is when you get your replacement drive from IBM (as was) and it is marked as a ' Serviceable Used Part ' and it too fails.

To end the cycle I will just place it on a shelf, along with another failed IBM drive that I was considering returning for a replacement. Unfortunately I can't even access the other drive and I would have liked to get access to the data before returning it.

IBM do nnot make drives anymore, so i been told.
...

Not defending any manufacturer but I'm still running two 'Deathstar's' after, well I can't remember how many years!

Original first issue when IBM made them themselves.

BoroLad

TomG · Oct 11, 2003

TomG · Oct 11, 2003

LOL! (regarding the Ford stories...)

New Question · Oct 11, 2003

"Michael George" wrote:

The IBM GXP60's had a known fault along with one other series. Both of my

What known fault is that and where is it documented?

h2so4 · Oct 11, 2003

"New Question" wrote:

"Michael George" wrote:

The IBM GXP60's had a known fault along with one other series. Both of

my

What known fault is that and where is it documented?

The only reference to the so called Deathstar that I'm aware of was on storage review in a critical article referring to the fact that IBM had indicated or implied that a particular model of one of their drives was not guaranteed to run for 24/7. This led to a protracted discussion of the merits of IBM drives and IBM's guarantees.

I've been using IBM drives for about seven years and only had one fail. This was replaced by the retailer. I recently had a Maxtor Special addition with 8Mb cache fail on me after a few weeks, but I don't draw any general conclusions from that failure. Two of my five year old IBMs are continuing to run well in a friend's computer.

I believe that these Deathstar posts originate, in the main, from the fraternity out there who turn their system cases into neon lit ramjets and otherwise torture their systems to run benchmarks on them.

I shall be looking for a couple of true SATA drives soon and will be delighted if Hitachi drives are amongst the options available to me.

GlassVial · Oct 11, 2003

When drives start to flake out on me, they like to have 5-foot "accidents" an then they definitely DO get RMA'ed :-D

"How can I help you today?"

My drive doesn't work anymore.

"Ok, do you know what happened?"

Nope, it just all of a sudden stopped working and is now making funny noises, I think it's bad.

"Ok lets setup an RMA..."

;-D

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:06:56 GMT, "Jerry Polyak"
wrote:

Well, yet another IBM hard drive took a dump on me, taking my RAID Array with it. It was the same drive I suspected about 2-3 months ago since it was benchmarking with some unusual spikes in performance. But of course IBM would not RMA the damn thing until it failed completely. This is a third IBM GXP60 drive I've had fail on me. Mind you that I only bought two of them (figure it out, one of the warranty drives has failed). I know IBM have sold their HD division to Hitachi, so now I will be making sure that I don't buy either of the manufacturers drives. The only saving grace was a recent back up. Although it's on a IBM GXP120 drive. I wonder when that one will pass on to the HD afterlife.

-GV

GlassVial · Oct 11, 2003

Maxtor has admitted their 7000-series drives sucked major ass, and they did, however everything since then (knock on wood myself) has been good, and I run 100% Maxtor for my IDE needs now.

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:44:46 -0500, Leon Rowell
wrote:

I've been using Maxtors since 1992 and I have never had one fail. Just for kicks I plugged in my original 120MB HD the other day and up pops DOS 6.22 in all it's glory.... It also has Windows 3.1 but I had it set up so I had to go to the Windows directory and type in win to start it.

Leon Rowell

-GV