On 20 Jul 2003 06:21:56 -0700
paul_moloney@hotmail.com (Paul Moloney) wrote:

If you search Google Groups on "Deskstar" you'll find numerous tales of
woe. Personally I've never had a problem with a Deskstar that I
couldn't trace to an external cause or handling damage, but others
tell a different story.

As for Deskstars leading to deaths in a hospital, any hospital that uses
single consumer-grade drives for anything whose failure can be
life-threatening deserves to have its license revoked, and I seriously
doubt that that story is true.

This has become a religious issue with some people and you are going to
get more heat than light I am afraid.


--
--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I'm thinking of picking up a new disk drive
(it's amazing how quickly you can fill up
40GB) and found a few good reviews for the
Deskstar GXP180 line, suggesting the drives
were faster and quieter than comparable drives.

I dropped into a local computer shop and
mentioned the name to the two guys, which
prompted them to look at me as if I'd suggested
trying to procure a small child for a Black mass.
They claimed that these drives were incredibily
unreliable, and had even led to the deaths of
several people in a New York hospital!

Can anyone tell me why the Deskstar would
produce such antipathy, and are these reliability
rumours true?

Cheers,

P.

Previously Paul Moloney <paul_moloney@hotmail.com> wrote:
The 75GXP and 60GXP series had a massive problem, which IBM
did never admit. There is speculation that it was the main
reason IBM sold its storage business. Personally I have
seen every (3 of them) 75GXP and 60GXP I ever used going
bad and some additional ones going bad as well.

Since IBM never admitted the problem, it is unclear whether
and to what extend the problem was fixed. And it still
is a reason to distrust the later models.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

On 20 Jul 2003 06:21:56 -0700, paul_moloney@hotmail.com (Paul Moloney)
wrote:




groups.google.com is your friend.
Personally, unless I see compelling evidence I would avoid ibm/hitachi
drives. The new series may be better than the older stuff which a lot
of people had problems with, but with wd, seagate and maxtor in the
business, why would a sane person even want to try?

paul_moloney@hotmail.com (Paul Moloney) wrote in
news:b917d6bd.0307200521.3aa5ae4b@posting.google.c om:

It's true: I had a 75 GXP and it went belly up in under a year. The
replacement drive from IBM went belly up about a month later! They
then sent me a brand new drive which was a different model which I
promptly sold on eBay. I still have a 20 GB Deskstar that is still
humming to this day. Something in the batch for the 75 GXP series went
horribly wrong.

Adam

Chris Hill wrote:

I agree. Let somebody else take the chance.

Rod Speed wrote:
Mmmm... Trusty old Deathstars :-)


I have yet to see a problem with the 180GXP line. I have
4 of the 180Gigs in my server and 2 (raid 0) in my gaming
box...

The75GXP on the other hand. I can't remember how many of
those I've replaced here at work... That was a sucky disk if there
ever was..

Cheers

/S

Steffler <Steffen.Hansen@OBVIOUSdba.dk> wrote in
message news:wjOSa.59$Mc1.13@news.get2net.dk...
It usually took quite a while before a 75GXP
died too. Thats presumably how the problem
managed to get out into the field undetected.

The 60GXPs werent much better if better at all.

"shawn" <shawn@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:ho5uhv8ve7fn7ihas0mak9grufg766fuj0@4ax.com...


Do you have some wood to firmly knock on? I hate to be a doomsayer, but
tomorrow is another day. If I were you I'd back up diligently.

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 19:17:02 -0400, shawn <shawn@spamcop.net> wrote:

My 60GXP has performed flawlessly for over 2 years now.

Previously chrisv <chrisv@nospam.invalid> wrote:
Mine too. As a paperweight.

In our department we now have dead 75GXP/60GXPs as a regular event
once or twice a month. With about 40 of these initially installed
that is pretty bad.

Arno
--
For email address: lastname AT tik DOT ee DOT ethz DOT ch
GnuPG: ID:1E25338F FP:0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws" - Tacitus

I guess that there may be a problem because they used cheap GMR heads
in the Deskstar range, ONLY a guess mind you ;O)



paul_moloney@hotmail.com (Paul Moloney) wrote in message news:<b917d6bd.0307200521.3aa5ae4b@posting.google. com>...

Joshua P. Hill <joshhill.REMOVE.THIS@snet.net> wrote in
message news:3oe5ivkhg13kgfu0gre8uscdberqebi1td@4ax.com...
So did the 75GXPs and 60GXPs for a while.

Which is basically why they got out into the field like that.

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 13:01:56 -0400, shawn <shawn@spamcop.net> wrote:

No, it's a problem in the conception of the drive. The glue that
sticks the magnetic stuff to the platter is not good enough and after
a time the magnetic unsticks from the platter.
Quite bad, huh ?

Nick

"Nick" <charles@NO-SPAM.iie.cnam.fr> wrote in message news:rd87iv47ohcbdf3r6ov4nc06caicguh5ft@4ax.com...
Then it has nothing to do with the "conception" "of the drive".

Yeah, 'crash'ingly bad.
Not consistent with the bad sector errors that go away after the use of DFT, often even _without_ using spares.

Heads would be flying (pun intended) loose and the actuator arms carve-up the platters in an spectacular audible way if "the
magnetic stuff" came loose from the platters.