Weird problem with a laptop drive

[PeterB]

Here's one maybe you guys can help with:

Drive is a Hitachi Travelstar IC25N080ATMR04-0 (80GB, 4200rpm drive). I bought it used for very cheap. Here's what I know so far:

1) It was pulled from a Powerbook because it appeared to cause system weirdness, hangs, etc. and was making strange noises. Owner had put in heavy use on the drive over time, and did not want to risk it failing again (his work is such that it is crucial to have NO drive failures), so rather than messing with it, he just pulled it and replaced with a new drive, then sold it to me for cheap since he had no use for it.

2) The owner low-level formatted it (all zeroes), this went fine.

3) The owner checked the SMART status, said it was fine.

4) When he sent it to me, I got it, and have been testing it with Techtool, Drive Genius, etc. For the purposes of testing, I'm using it in external Firewire enclosure. So far, it has passed ALL the tests (drive electronics, read/write, drive scan, integrity check, etc.) at least twice.

5) While idling in the external enclosure (e.g., not being tested), it has caused my machine to lock up once. The drive activity light came on and stayed on, and the machine locked up apparently while trying to access the drive (not being able to, seemingly that's why it locked up). I am currently running an "Integrity Check" through Drive Genius (that's the only test I think I haven't done yet) and will see what it does. I will also try leaving the drive to idle and see if the freeze happens again... maybe the one lockup was a fluke?

Anybody ever seen something like this before? Are there any other tests I should try running?

I could conceivably swap out the drive's circuit board, but I'm not actually sure that it's necessary, or if there really is a problem with the drive, as so far it has passed all the tests I've been able to throw at it...

Oh, one more thing -- neither Hitachi nor Apple will replace the drive, even though it is probably still under warranty-- because apparently the drive's warranty is under Apple (since it was sold as part of a Powerbook), and they will only repair it if it's in the machine (Hitachi says there is no "pass through" warranty, e.g., the warranty is up to the purchaser of the drive, in this case Apple...).

[BigGuynRusty]

HEAT

BGnR

[PeterB]

BGnR, care to explain that comment?

[OWC Larry]

Was it initialized after installing in the enclosure or inside the computer?

That model drive was not known for heat issues - none of the recent notebook drives, and especially not a 4200RPM, have had that kind of issue the last couple few years.

[BigGuynRusty]

When the drive heats up, it causes problems, most likely a circuit board (interface) problem. Happened to me on my Pismo, was still under AppleCare, drove me a little loopy when I was troubleshooting the problem. Never failed a test, would only lock up the computer if it had been sitting idle for an extended period.

The "Strange Noises" are indicative of "Thermal Recalibration", but that is on older drives, modern drives don't do that, they use embedded servo tracks to calibrate themselves.

BGnR

[hal]

Look like you rolled the dice and lost... Many things could be wrong with the drive...

[PeterB]

hal, possibly -- but I'm not sure that anything is definitely wrong with it (yet)... and if as you say, I rolled the dice and lost, I didn't lose very much ;-)

OWC Larry, drive was formatted in his machine; I just put it directly into my enclosure (no reinitialization was necessary), and as I say, it's tested fine so far, and has worked fine except for the one lockup. Maybe that could be the issue? Initialization on his machine, and he had some problem with his IDE bus such that somehow it now locks up while idling? Should I reinitialize it with it in the enclosure?

I am now running the third cycle of one hour long integrity check using Drive Genius -- e.g., the drive will have been through sustained read/writes for three hours total -- and so far, no problems (!). If it passes this, I will let it idle overnight and see what happens...

[PeterB]

Update: it just finished the third hour of drive integrity testing... no apparent problems. I'm doing another round of testing with Techtool, then I'll let it idle overnight and see what happens...

[OWC Larry]

If there is a problem - I'd agree that it could be something that doesn't manifest till after the components come up to temp.

On the initialization issue...

We do now and again see problems in cases where a drive was initilialized on one interface/bus and then connected up via a different means.

Except for data recovery - it is always our recommendation that a device be initialized via the means it is to be used... In the enclosure, on the controller card, on the computer's stock bus - etc.

Also - if nothing else, the enclosure could be the problem point too. Especially if after re-initializing in that enclosure, the problem recurs. Bad cable could cause too. But sounds like the drive, assuming passes the latest test round, is find itself.

[PeterB]

Larry, curious, because I wouldn't have expected heat buildup as a function of idling. Extreme drive activity, like what I've just been doing to it for the last five hours or so, yes-- but not idling. (And it has passed all the tests, no problem, and without locking up.)

I will take your advice and reinitialize in its final destination location...