My Experience with RMA and Parity Rebuild


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So, it all started one day at the end of May when I noticed that my 14 TB parity drive was no longer part of the array…...

 

Of course, I immediately freak out and start clicking like mad to make sure everything else is working and I haven’t lost any data, which thankfully it seemed everything was ok, and it was just the parity drive. I pull the drive and check the tape on the pins to make sure it still covering the pins and I even re-tape it to make sure there isn’t an issue with that. Still nothing! Well, I pull the drive out of the server again and connect it back up to a USB connector and power it up that way. When plugged into my windows laptop it doesn’t pop up at all as a USB device. I used the Disk Manager, Diskpart, and finally moved it over to a Linux box to see if I could get anything off that system. Needless to say, nothing I tried had any effect or was able to read the drive.

To this day I am still not sure what is the matter with that drive but if anyone is interested, I attached some diagnostics to this post that are a before after kind of thing.

 

So on to the next idea! The drive was only about 8 months old so I guess RMA was the next thing to try especially since a new 14TB drive costs more than my whole build now…...

Ahh the RMA process is so special *insert sarcasm*. I go to the WD site and start the process and right off the bat I get a sour taste about how this process is going to happen. I ended up selecting shipping through WD and inputting my info to buy the shipping label. I get the confirmation and wait for the email. One day, two days, and on the third day I log back in to see what’s going on with my RMA. Its still processing but says there is an issue with getting the label. Ok, no biggy; I start the label process over and use a different payment method. Same thing happens I check the statements and of course I see pending payment for both labels on the different cards. At this point it’s time to open up a in person chat/email with WD and figure this out. Spent two days in an email chain with them only to come to the conclusion that I can’t get a shipping label from their site. I get the correct information to ship them the drive via the last email from the RMA ticket I opened and head to the post office to send it. Ewwuhfff, finally the hard part is over! or so I think at the time.

 

I track the package a few days later to make sure it arrives and see that is has been delivered to the WD RMA address, Ahh success! But alas an email arrives in my inbox the next day saying

 

     “Per our warranty policy: “If upon inspection of your returned Product WD suspects fraud or deems such Product to be counterfeit, WD may, in its sole discretion, confiscate such Product or take such other actions as it deems necessary.””

 

This was not a response I was expecting. The drive was registered to my WD account and had been there for the 8 months since I bought it. Also, I am not sure how to counterfeit a drive, but I guess it’s a scam that goes around and could even be a big deal now that Chia is driving up prices on hard drives and reducing inventory. Well, I waited a few hours before replying so I wouldn’t say anything harsh because they are just doing their job. I ended up replying with screenshots of my RMA account and registration to reiterate the drive was mine and to ask if they had run any diagnostics on the drive to determine what the issue could be. The next email I received was

     

“Upon inspection of your returned (DRIVE-SN XXX) product, it was determined the product was altered. The drive returned is an internal bare drive only. The model returned is not a user-serviceable unit and not intended to opened. WD's limited warranty provides that, subject to the following limitations, each Product will be free from defects in material and workmanship and will conform to WD's specification for the particular Product.https://support.wdc.com/warranty/warrantypolicy.aspx?lang=en     

As a one-time accommodation, as well with an acceptable Proof of Purchase (POP); a replacement will be shipped to you.”

 

So while WD RMA gave me a hard time at first they did end up replacing the drive for me, as a one time accommodation….

 

Well, this process took month and for that time I only had one of two parity disks in my array. It left me pretty nervous this whole time but my data made it through. The parity-Sync/Data-Rebuild is in process and will be completed in about 17 hours. Now I wonder if need to just have an extra drive on hand at all times, but I would need to wait for the prices to drop/even out before I get a drive that sits on the shelf?????

 

What do yall think about this RMA experience and what are your stories about RMA if you have used it. Also do you keep a spare drive sitting around or just wait till a drive goes out for replacement?         

tworivers-diagnostics-20210528-While Bad HHD is in the server.zip tworivers-diagnostics-20210528-While Bad HHD is plugged in as USB.zip

Edited by Herbiewalker
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You won't get anything off parity because parity has no format and no data. If other systems aren't able to see the disk and its single partition then maybe it is dead.

 

There is a disk in those "USB connected" diagnostics that doesn't appear in the other. For the USB connected disk, no SMART information is provided but that isn't unusual for USB connections.

 

Bad connections are much, much, more common than bad disks.

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57 minutes ago, Herbiewalker said:

What do yall think about this RMA experience and what are your stories about RMA if you have used it. Also do you keep a spare drive sitting around or just wait till a drive goes out for replacement?

I have several RMA with internal harddisk but all with local dealer, sure it is fastest in whole processing time. I never apply RMA for shuck disk, only got one defect disk but out of warranty.  I always prepare a spare new drive, if need more in urgent, I will buy locally.

 

For oversea online shopping, Amazon RMA processing also great at least no much issue. But dealing with individual company / brand product RMA really trouble, I think most reason are the shipping cost and the resources need of handling.

 

For example, two times in Crucial memory module RMA

 

1st case - Quite easy to fill-in the online form and got the RMA ticket and shipping label, waiting less then a month than got RMA.

2nd case - No more online RMA, need email to Crucial and communicate in few days, then shipout need more then a month ( COVID-19 ) and receive the RMA in another month.

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16 hours ago, trurl said:

Seems very generous considering you had shucked it.


In the US, being shucked is not automatically grounds for rejecting a repair.  It's certainly more of a hassle, but the right-to-repair laws are normally on your side.

After having my internal drive repair rejected because of "evidence of tampering", I quit worrying about it. I'll save the approx. $120 per drive (x15 so far) and take my chances in small claims court if it fails within the warranty period.

 

Edited by whipdancer
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8 hours ago, whipdancer said:

 


In the US, being shucked is not automatically grounds for rejecting a repair.  It's certainly more of a hassle, but the right-to-repair laws are normally on your side.

After having my internal drive repair rejected because of "evidence of tampering", I quit worrying about it. I'll save the approx. $120 per drive (x15 so far) and take my chances in small claims court if it fails within the warranty period.

 

I am glad WD did help out. I since I had bought the drive for about $13.5 a TB I dont want to pay current prices if I can help it. I do plan to keep all the drive cases from now on tho....

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