Eating Hard drives

[Gigabite]

I think the problem is with the power supply. Try another PS and see the result.
Otherwise post more details about any other problems if any, and if this problems started after you installed a certain HW/SW .

[GrApHiCTrOn]

As many had said it could be the power supply. But i would have to take a guess and also blame the MotherBoard i had amother board that used to fry Proccessors after 3 weeks of use, i just tossed the motherboard away and got a new one and that fixed the problem.

Also check if a cable or a metal piece from the motherboard isn't making a short circuit if you have the HD's directly facing the metal of the case.

[Und3ertak3r]

After re-reading the posts.. and my own earlier reply..

1/ The system runs 10-12 hrs a day.. hmm..
2/ Some of the drives become noisey or slow before failure.. some just out right fail.. mmmmm
3/ Your CPU and System temps seem normal..

The noisey failure drives were the bigger ones..right? maxtor and WD?

Question.. when your system has been running for an hour or so.. Put your hand on the top of the HDD.. is it warm.. or do you have to get first-aid for burn't fingies... (This applies to the large type drives.. BTW: this test is with the machine runn with the case on untill you test the hdd ..

Power probs/ spikes etc can be blamed for the sudden failure drives.. but not often do you have mechanics fail due to a controller card failure due to power probs.. heat stress is very likley.. ALSO.. Controller boards will fail due to high operating temps.. and suddenly..

I have machines here that run 24/7 and the HDD's never get more than 3 degrees over ambient temp.(oops I lie here.. in winter they run at 30deg..with room temp less than 10 deg). or max at 40 deg C (that is not bad when summer gets to over 42deg C)..
the drive can and will exceed 65deg C in under 30 mins if the drives heat is not dissapated by some means.. good metal on metal contact on the frame of the drive bay and hence the case as well as a reasonable air flow.. helps heaps..


cheers

[nihil]

This really is most strange?

The most common causes are:

1. Faulty PSU. But you have changed that
2. Power spikes/surges. But you have a protector.
3. Faulty connector/earth(ground). But you have changed the cable, and IMHO you have lost too many for it to be the drive ground in the machine............law of averages says you should have got at least 1 out of 5 "right"
4. Temperature.......we have not fully eliminated this one yet? I think you need to follow Und3ertak3r's advice and check that. But I would have expected your system temperature to be higher? It would depend on the position of the sensor and the drives, but it seems low enough to me.
5. EMF/EMP. But it is hard to figure where magnetic fields/pulses are coming from?
6. Mishandling. Well 5 seems too many, and I move computers around all the time without problems.

A lot of these I would expect to kill the drive right away? whereas your symptoms seem to suggest cumulative damage or an intermittent fault?

You say that these are "new" drives, and this has happened in the last year? have you tried sending the drives back to the manufacturer? They have labs and people who check what caused the problem, particularly when it is still under warranty. Basically we can only make educated guesses, they can investigate.

You might like to go to the Western digital website and get their toolkit. Install the dead WD drive as "D" and run their diagnostics. It should give you a fault code (used to be a three digit number). If you contact their technical support they should be able to tell you what it means?

I am over here in the UK. We have a 5amp ring main for the lights, and a 13 amp ring main for the sockets. It would thus be possible to have a faulty socket main, and the lights would work perfectly. I would get your power supply company/an electrician to check your mains supply, particularly that negative and ground (earth) are connected and functioning correctly.

I would certainly do this before spending more money on kit!

Keep us posted

Good luck

[Und3ertak3r]

you know nihil,

there is a question we haven't asked yet..

Did any one mention LAN Parties?.. if the machine attends a lot of these.. wellllll..
EMF/EMP.. old sewing machine near the system or thumping great SUB Woofer on desk next to Tower.. SUB SONIC VIBRATION KILLS HDD'S.. or Jack hammers working next-door for the past 12mths..
It is possable for the HDD's to be sitting in stagnet air in the case.. while there is excellent air flow over the mobo.. to action around the hdd.. just a thought.. there are some crappy case designs..

dambed.. I keep going back to the heat theory.. sry.. you know about the only bits not blamed sofar are the video card and the floppy drive..
Oh .. why "Replace the Cables regurly for maintainance"? ... the less I have to unplug and replug things the less problems I have with the equipment..

cheers

[nihil]

Hi Und3ertak3r,

You have a point there. Are there any other electrical appliances within 3 feet of the computer?

Also, are there any neon lights, a washing machine or a refrigerator on the same electrical circuit?

I have seen a faulty desk fan take down a screen. Neon lights were always a problem, but were usually on a different circuit. I have also seen systems crashed by devices that cut in and cut out such as electric motors. In a domestic situation that would be the washing machine and the freezer? And the machine is left on 12 hours per day.

Vibration is one I had not thought of. This might even be from traffic or aircraft?...time to move house.

I have never encountered LAN parties, so that is a new one on me

Heat would seem to be the favourite though?

Cheers

[asrrin29]

Elo, Just refound my password here and so I am gonna start being active on this forum, my other one crpped out on me. I had this happen tome, fried three hardrives, but I Knew the problem straight away. The circut board on most HDD's is exposed, and if the case touches one while the HDD is running, the HDD will go boom. No lie. Any loose pieces of metal or anything that come in contact with the HDD? Hope it helps.

[rapier57]

Allow me to throw out a couple additional ideas--tack these on to what nihil suggested:

1. How tightly is(are) the hard drive(s) packed into the case? How much air space around it(them)?
2. Have you tried to swap out the HDD controller? I suspect that you may have a problem there, that existed when the first HDD died. Likely, the controller is part of the motherboard, so you would have to swap the motherboard to test this.
3. What kind of surge protector do you have? Are all three lines filtered? If you are using a cheapie from the local department store, you may only be filtering one phase.
4. Get a multimeter (digital, preferrably) on the power outlet that feeds your system. What is the voltage output (AC) on the socket? Does the voltage fluctuate greatly (more than 10 perent either direction)? Be sure to measure each side.


Uh ... mmmmm ... anybody got a toothpick. Got an actuator stuck in a molar.

[PuReExcTacy]

I don't think anyone else mentioned this, but you may not want to use the power saving feature that slows down the harddrive. You will get more life out of your drive by keeping it always on and running at the same speed. Everytime the harddrive has to slow down and speed up, it adds more wear and tear if that makes sense to you. Hope the info helps.


--PuRe

[Chitchenitzu]

Well, sorry for being away so long. I believe Und3ertak3r has hit the nail on the head. I touched my HD and did infact discover that it was very warm. VERY warm. All this time I had been concentrating on adequate airflow for the MB and CPU, I hadnt realized that it was insufficient for the HD's as well. Like an idiot, I had both HD's and the floppy installed in the same bays together. I have seperated the floppy from them and with an adapter installed it in a 5.25 bay, and created a space between the HD's. I also installed another fan to eliminate heat from the HD's. Stupidity has a price lol. BTW, what is a lan party?