new HGST drive bad?


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The main question here is To RMA or Not RMA?

 

I purchased a HGST 4TB (HDN724040ALE640) with plans to install this new drive as my Parity drive.  I ran Preclear, all went perfect and now the drive is ready to be installed.  Unrelated, my 2nd hard drive in my primary Windows pc died.  In a pinch, I decided to just use the HGST drive for now.  After installing this drive in my Window rig, the OS started loading very slowly, so I had to start investigating.  While I think the slow OS load is not related to this HGST drive, I did discover some things I do not like - and that is why I write this note to ask for feedback.

 

I installed WinDFT (HGST tool) to review SMART data.  First I found that the HGST application WinDFT was recognizing my drive as only a 3tb.  The really bad part is that my brand new drive has been running for only 2 days and SMART shows;

Raw Read Error Rate = 16

Reallocation Sector Count = 5

Seek ErSror Rate = 67

Spin Retry Count = 60

 

When I look at my other hard drives, they all show zeros for everything listed above.  This is my first HGST drive, so perhaps this is ok - assuming that the errors are not increasing.  I will have to run it for a couple more days and see if the counts increase.

 

I purchased this drive from B&H Photo so I only have a few days remaining to initiate a return / exchange.  I decided to load up HD Tune Pro and to my surprise, the counts were all different - all errors were gone, zeros.  The weird part of HD Tune is that for the Temp and Spin Up Time, the numbers were clearly not correct, reading into the millions+.

 

I have attached a screenshot of both SMART screens.

 

I contacted HGST and again to my surprise, they told me that I should not return my drive because there is nothing wrong with it.  They tell me this after their own WinDFT application reported several SMART errors and even thought my drive was a 3tb instead of a 4tb.  HGST said they will look into why their app isn't reconizing the drive correctly.  When I asked which SMART report is correct, they would not answer me.  If the WinDFT report is correct, then the drive is bad and should be returned - if or nothing else the Reallocation errors.  If the HD Tune report is correct, then perhaps they are right and my drive is fine.  Still doesn't explain why the spin up time and temp readings are all messed up though.

 

Did running Preclear on this drive, and then putting it into a Windows pc have an effect?  I would think not, as Preclear tested the drive and it had no errors on the preclear summary.  I also had to create a GPT parition and format NTFS when I installed, so again I don't think running Preclear had any impact on this - but I list this here just in case I'm wrong.

 

My question to everyone out there with HGST drives - did your drive come with reallocation errors, what does WinDFT say for your drive?  I want to understand if this is normal for HGST drives.

 

With all of this, I'm trying to make a quick decision if I need / should return the drive (which is a PITA) or is the one I have really Good.

 

suggestions?

hgst_errors.jpg.60e9b0f81320dcbd3d881acdba3c5a7c.jpg

hgst_errors_HD_Tune_Pro.jpg.00158cca2184e1158452dee49198eb8d.jpg

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LOL, I forget it logs were on the flash, duh.  I attached preclear report and like I said, all looked good to me.

 

@ c3 - that's just it, the tool says it is bad, but HGST support says it's good.  Their tool is not recognizing the drive correctly, again showing it as a 3tb.  When I contacted HGST support and sent them the same screenshot, they tell me the tool is just not working and the drive is still within specs.  But they would not confirm the errors.  They told me that the drive was still good, and if I did rma it, I would get a re-certified one - when I just paid full price for a new one.  The goal for me right now is to determine if the drive is bad or not, which SMART report is correct.  It's a pain to do the RMA, especially now that I have all my data on the drive.

 

I'd like to hear from others with HGST 4tb drives - what SMART data looks like to compare to mine.

preclear_finish_PK1334PCGEZ41S_2014-10-26.txt

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The drive is fine.

 

The values reported are from the "Threshold" column - these are not the actual values.

 

The posted smart report looks perfect.

Super!  So the HGST support guys were right, no issues and they just need to fix their app.  That also means the HD tune was correct, as it showed no serious errors.  Again, many thanks :)

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