Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Hard drive RPMs and data speed.

[Michael Mol]

(oi, it's getting harder and harder to snip this thing properly)

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:55 AM, Volker Armin Hemmann
<volkerarmin@××××××××××.com> wrote:
> Am Donnerstag 27 Oktober 2011, 16:00:09 schrieb Michael Mol:
>> On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 3:41 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann
>> <volkerarmin@××××××××××.com> wrote:
>> > Am Donnerstag 27 Oktober 2011, 15:17:45 schrieb Michael Mol:
>> >> You've got six working drives of various sizes, models and firmware
>> >> revisions. Good for you. I've got a still-functional 40GB IBM
>> >> DeathStar. (It's not powered up right now, but it never failed on me
>> >> after five years of use.)
>> >
>> > and I had 5 death stars failing on me.
>>
>> My point is that the numbers aren't what mattered here. My point is
>> that SAMSUNG sold me a shoddy product, replaced it with another
>> instance of the the same shoddy product, wouldn't replace it again,
>> and never addressed a detailed technical report of a systemic problem
>> in the same. Bad tech, bad customer service, and it looked like this
>> was a more common scenario than among other manufacturers. All of it
>> boiled down to a nasty case of being a bad candidate for spending time
>> and money.
>
> Samsung replaced my two drives (one 500gb drive from a known shady series and
> the SSD when the firmware overwrote itself) without any fuss.
>
> Of course, I included the results of their check tool. No problem.
>
>>
>> Did IBM refuse to replace your failing drives?
>
> no, but 5 out of 5 died and took tons of valuable data with them.
>
> That is the worst case scenario. All other harddrives had no problems at all.
> Different mobos, PSUs - nothing changed the fact that all death stars I ever
> owned died violently - except the last one, because I sold the computer it was
> built in in time.
>
>> Did you include
>> detailed technical information that should have allowed them to
>> resolve issues leading to those drives' failures? For me, SAMSUNG's
>> behavior in the customer service department indicated that I wasn't
>> likely to get good service in the future, and the rapidly-failing
>> drives (combined with my analysis of the SMART output and the history
>> of SMART problems with SAMSUNG drives) indicated to me that I'd need
>> to use that customer service department in the future if I bought more
>> of their drives.
>
> there was one smart related problem with Samsung in the last year. With their
> 2tb drives. Samsung released a firmware patch after they were informed of the
> problem.
>
> Apart from that Samsung drives just work for me - and the people around me.
>
> I also had no problems with drives getting replaced - but the replacing was
> always the problem of my trusted hardware dealer. That is why you buy hdds
> from a trusted, local guy. The rest was the problem of Samsung. They can't
> wiggle out of Germany's warranty laws ;)

Yeah, I bought mine from Newegg. Hard drive warranty through Newegg
means "see manufacturer". I've had no problem with WD's customer
service. Haven't had occasion to try anyone but SAMSUNG and WD.

Problem with buying locally where I am is that it generally means a
50% markup above what I'd pay Newegg. There are several big-box stores
in the area whose prices and selections aren't great. There are three
small computer stores within a 45 minute drive, and their selection
tends to be better, but their prices tend to be worse.

>> So you've got six working drives, and a drive that works now that you
>> patched the firmware. Congrats on choosing a model for which a
>> firmware patch was made available (unless that was just luck...).
>> Also, good luck if you have a failing drive that was sent to you by
>> RMA. It's been a few years; if you're lucky, they may have cleaned up
>> their act.
>
> In fact there were two: a 500gb from a known series, and the SSD. Both got
> replaced because both failed in the warranty period. They had no chance but
> had to replace them. It went quickly and without any fuss. I did run their
> check tool and reported the results. No more questions asked. Here is the old
> one, thanks for the new one.

Heh.

> Western Digital - two drives. They worked. They were lousy, noisy, lame, hot,
> but worked.

Yup. I've had a couple WD drives fail, but most were replaced for
other reasons first. I've got three WD drives spinning at home in
various machines.

> Seagate: now 3 drives, 1 had to be replaced. It was pretty much dead on
> arrival, with a severe spindle defect. All three worked just fine until I
> replaced them

Loving my Seagates. I've got four Seagates spinning at home, including
one that's been my core drive since 2005 or 2005.

> Toshiba&co have to check my Dell Poweredge what drives are in there...

Yeah, I don't have any current Toshibas.

> IBM all death stars I ever owned failed except the last one - which was given
> away (and failed with its new owner). Which is the worst possible outcome. No
> customer support can outweight such a disaster.

Not a unique story, by any stretch. IBM earned a reputation on that
line. My point with bringing up my DeathStar was to highlight that all
manufacturers have their good and bad drives; I had 2/2 bad SAMSUNG
drives, you've have 6/8 good ones. I've had 1/1 good DeathStar drives,
you've had 6/6 bad ones.

My chief complaint with SAMSUNG was their failure rate and terrible
customer service followup, at least per my experience. I notified them
of the firmware flaw, they ignored it, and it bit me again when the
replacement drive failed. Even if my experience _were_ a contemporary
statistical fluke, your account suggests their current state doesn't
match my experience, at least in terms of failure rate. You never
dealt with their customer service for replacements, so there are
obviously workarounds to that side of my experience if one is willing
to pay a bit more.

-- 
:wq