How much instability can be caused via a HDD

joshlane

joshlane

joshlane

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Joined
15 Feb 2007
Posts
157
Location
Lincoln
Hi,

i posted a few days a go regarding some instability problems that we resolved were software based.

as i could not fix them i have done a clean install today.

whilst i did all the driver stuff etc. i left the new HDD unplugged so i knew that everything was going in the right place.

i then plugged my new drive in (it is formatted with my docs, music and vids on) and it has caused my system to hang all over the shop.

where it hangs is when WMP is searching for media (i have manually calibrated the folders to look in)

also with iMON (my home theatre software with RF remote control) the same hanging occurs leading to an eventual crash.

could it be a fault with the HDD its a WD 500gb AAKS SATAII on a Asus A8N-sli deluxe board, 2 gig of ram and a 3500+ cpu.

this is driving me crazy, i'm teaching tomorrow and can't let this go!!

thanks in advance,

Josh
 
right i ahve found memtest86, havn't a clue on how to get it to work, i've downloaded the usb pen one and popped on there but i'm in the middle of downloading some drivers and i'm getting a good speed lol.

my memory is:

Crucial DDR400 2.5 (2x 512mb sticks) pc3200

and

Geil DDR400 2.5 (2x512mb sticks) pc3200

CPUZ reports in the memory tab
DDR 2048Mb, dual channel
freq: 201
FSB:DRAM: cpu/11
2.5,3,3,8,11,2t,16 clocks

anything seem weird to you at all?
 
If the hanging stops when you disconnect the drive, the smart money's on the drive. It sounds like the drive is having trouble reading. Install something like HDtune, review the drive's SMART status indicators, particularly re-allocated sector count, and get the manufacturers diagnostics (typically an ISO that you burn to CD and then boot from) and put the drive through some tests. (See the sticky for where to get the manufacturers diagnostics.)
 
cheers bytejuggler,

i've run that memtest program for 100% check over and it reported no errors, also had the drive plugged and it hasn't frozen but also don't think its been accessed.

well at least my minds at rest about my ram now so tomorrow and run some diagnostics on the drive.

thanks all yet again,

Josh
 
Sounds silly but have you changed the sata/ide cable that the drive is plugged into? Also have you downloaded and ran the WD hard drive checking tools, they should have a tool that does a very thorough full scan of the hard drive checking for errors.
 
As Bytejuggler and flibby have suggested. Download Lifeguard tools from western digital's website which will perform a diagnostic of your drive and then give you a code to enter if you have to RMA. HDtune will also tell you what your SMART on that drive is reporting providing its turned on in BIOS.

Other thoughts are; have you fully done a windows update? 2k/XP in my own experience had problems with large drives if formatted into one big partition before service pack 4 (2k) or 2 (XP). I always partition my larger drives into smaller chunks.
 
right hi guys,

been teaching all day so this is the last thing i wanna be messing about with hey ho, onwards and upwards!!

i've run HD tune: 100% ok
Speedfan (in depth analysis: 100% overall performance/ 98% fitness

does this mean there is an error of some kind.

the bar charts that are displayed in speedfan online analysis show everything top apart from spin up time.

i presume this could cause hanging and potentially crash the system.

could this be a manufacturer error or lack of power?

Ran the WD lifeguard, it instantly recognised the system wasn't calibrated for drivers over 138gb so reset my comp and made the change.

is there anymore testing i can do to try and find a fault or has this been as extensive as need be.

thanks for your reply's late last night your wisdom is unparalelled,

Josh
 
some progress:

the thing that made me realsie there was something worng other than the hanging and crashing was the sheer reluctance of WMP and iMedian to find media files on the drive. it would start searching then hang and then crash (num lock light wouldn't turn on and off)

since running the WD software and presumably the change it made for allowing drives over 138MB it has solved the problem as iMedian and WMP are currently searching at the same time as me writing this!!

is the setting that the WD software changed within the BIOS, would just like to know how i could have solved it rather than some pesky program!!

Josh
 
Hard to say what else you could've done. Exactly what did the tools do anyway? Did it do something (read change config via firmware update) to the hard drive to make it use LBA addressing or something?

Let's just be glad the damn thing works now :)
 
i thats the thing, i think it was the WD software that solved it, it changed some settings and rebooted. i know in the first bios page where it list your drives you can select whether you want auto/lrg etc. i experimented with both.

like you said lets be happy that the simple task or installing a HDD is over albeit 3 days later :D

thanks for your help,


Josh
 
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