Possible WD Raptor problems?

Admiral Huddy · 9 Jul 2006 at 16:57

I’ve just recently reinstalled my XP Os and thought I’d fit in a WD 74Gb Raptor hard drive as the primary drive at the same time.

Now since then, my system has been experiencing various lockups and a few BSODs.

As I said, the aforementioned are the only things that have changed (full system specification in siggy).

I’m up to date on drivers, hot-fixes etc.

I get most of the lock ups occur whilst in IE 6 (and most recently (IE7) but interestingly, my Folding@hone apps have been stalling too. This is weird, as there isn’t much to these little apps.

The only thing they have in common is they are loaded on a Raptor Partition.

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions from experience?

Cyber-Mav · 9 Jul 2006 at 18:03

run memory tests. its an easy test and will eliminate the ram from thsi equation/

Admiral Huddy · 9 Jul 2006 at 18:22

Def not the ram.. Tried and tested..

are there any special drivers for Raptors..? apart from the normal SCSi/SATA drivers?

jbloggs · 9 Jul 2006 at 18:56

No, you only need, as you say, the usual SATA drivers for your ASUS A8N SLi Premium.

div0 · 10 Jul 2006 at 08:44

What temperature is the Raptor running at?

What about other components in your case?

Admiral Huddy · 10 Jul 2006 at 10:32

div0 said:
What temperature is the Raptor running at?

What about other components in your case?

How do i tell what temp the H/D is running at, it right behind an incoming 120mm fan so heat should be an issue..

I'm wondering if it may be the new AV software i've loaded when i reinstalled windows.. I've started using AVAST in place of Norton.

div0 · 10 Jul 2006 at 10:43

Admiral Huddy said:
How do i tell what temp the H/D is running at, it right behind an incoming 120mm fan so heat should be an issue..

If there is a fan in front of the drives then there is a good chance everything should be fine.....

You can use the SMART feature that is built into your drive, to read the temperature. The free program that I use to read the temps is:

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/...nce_and_Repair_Utilities/HDD_Thermometer.html

It's a really simple to use program and provides you with information on all of your hard drives temps. Whenever you run it, it comes up with a "splash screen" thingy, cos its just a free version. But its not like its something that you need to use all the time, so I find it ideal for checking drive temps every now and again.

Admiral Huddy · 10 Jul 2006 at 14:10

cheers^

What about checking that raptor H/D foe errors?

Anyone recommend any software for checking or will the normal SCANDISK do?

It's only a month old.

div0 · 10 Jul 2006 at 14:43

I think the Western Digital - Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostic may be what you want......its the third link down

It should take you here I think:

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=3

This is a Windows version of the Data Lifeguard Diagnostics utility. The software can be used on a FireWire, USB, EIDE, or Serial ATA drive. It can perform the following tasks: quickly diagnose a drive for problems, write zeros to a drive, perform a full media scan for bad sectors, and provide the drive's serial and model number.

hope it helps

div0 · 10 Jul 2006 at 14:45

also - just out of interest, what PSU do you have? I take it that adding a new drive won't have caused a problem with a stable supply from your PSU?

just a thought.....

Admiral Huddy · 10 Jul 2006 at 15:29

spec in sigg..

It's a Seasonic 600W.. Had this for months now.. I'm pretty sure it's not that.

Will run those diagnotic check tonight and will post back.
EDIT -

When it says "write zeros to the drive".. what exactly does that mean.. Will it retain the data on the drive?

Cheers.

div0 · 10 Jul 2006 at 15:48

No - I believe that writing zeros to the drive is like an "advanced" formatting of the drive - think it makes it EVEN harder to recover the data!!

I'm guessing that there are several different features that that program allows you to do. One of which will be a performance/health test - and another will be erasing data and writing zeros, there will probably be many other things that you can use it for too.

I'm sure someone here will have used it before - if you want to wait and get feedback on it.

Sorry, missed your sig - nice psu

I've got one of them myself!!

Admiral Huddy · 10 Jul 2006 at 15:57

Found it.. ther are various other options including advanced scan..

Many thanks for your help.. Will run this overnight tonight

Admiral Huddy · 10 Jul 2006 at 20:54

div0 said:
I think the Western Digital - Windows Data Lifeguard Diagnostic may be what you want......its the third link down

It should take you here I think:

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&pid=1&swid=3

hope it helps

Ok i've ran the extended test and it passed - no problems

:confused:

chaparral · 10 Jul 2006 at 23:50

Hi Admiral Huddy

I been getting the same random lockups with my 150gb raptor...I was thinking it was my sata cable..But i have now tryed two different new ones and i still get the same lockups...

Am myself is thinking of RMAing my drive..

Just a right pain now..Because i have already sold my 200gb drive in the MM that this raptor replaced...

Admiral Huddy · 11 Jul 2006 at 08:40

I've noticed that some of my sevcies are dropping. One of my F@H cores this morning, for example, was inactive and the Avast service also needs an occasional restart ?

I'm thinking i'll uninstall Avast, then install AVG or something.. see how things go just to eliminate that.

If it persists, then it has to be the drive.

Admiral Huddy · 13 Jul 2006 at 13:19

Update - i have noticed that the SMART status is "Not available"?

What does that mean?