Some preclear and hd upgrade questions

[SpaceInvaderOne]

Hi I currently have  4 x 2tb and 1x2tb parity. My array is becoming full and i need more storage.

I have been looking buying two Toshiba HDWC250EK3J1 5TB Stor.e Canvio USB 3.0 3.5 then take apart and remove the 3.5 drive inside (as is about £35 cheaper the standard internal 5tb drive not in a caddy)

I have 2 questions:-

 

1.  Can i preclear the 2 new drives attached as a usb unassigned device. (I hope so as i dont want to take the drives out of the enclosure until i know they are fine, so if they fail i can still return the drives.)

 

2.  I will put the old parity drive back into the array as a data drive. i assume there is no point in preclearing this drive since its has been active in the array without error except a few reclocated sectors?

 

[John_M]

I love those 5TB Canvio drives! They are a fantastic bargain. During the past 12 months I've extracted 15 of them from their cases without problems and one of my unRID servers has nothing but them inside it.

 

Yes, you can pre-clear them without removing them from their cases but I don't. The reason for that is I haven't been able to get SMART reports from them via the USB interface and therefore I haven't been able to monitor their temperatures. They will get hot if you pre-clear them inside the case so if you insist you'll need to aim a cooling fan at them.

 

EDIT: It's probably worth running Toshiba's own test routine on the drives, if you can find it, before breaking open the cases.

 

I do a quick test of functionality to make sure they are not damaged and then liberate them from their cases and install them as bare drives. The cases are hard to open but my advice is to start in the corner nearest the power and USB connectors. I use a putty knife that I bought to open up the old style white Mac Mini. You could use a flat screwdriver but be careful not to jab the hard drive with it.

 

I have a pile of 12-volt power supplies, case parts, RFI shields and USB-SATA bridge cards left over. The bridge cards are much more useful than the Western Digital equivalents, which use hardware encryption and therefore can't be used to read a hard drive that wasn't formatted "through" it. The Toshiba ones don't encrypt and are therefore quite handy to have.

 

I'm dubious of disks that have any errors recorded in their SMART history but if you're happy to use them it's your choice. If you want to add an old parity drive into your array as a new data drive it will need to be cleared, just like any other. I'd run a pre-clear cycle on it rather than have unRAID clear it itself.

 

[John_M]

I'm in the UK too and I've bought them from amazon.co.uk. The price varies. The cheapest I've got them for is £95 and the most I've paid is £109. A quick check shows them listed at £92.48 + 70p delivery right at this moment! Do you have an even cheaper source?

 

Here's a relevant article: http://www.servethehome.com/getting-5tb-toshiba-hard-drives-22-off/

[SpaceInvaderOne]

I'm in the UK too and I've bought them from amazon.co.uk. The price varies. The cheapest I've got them for is £95 and the most I've paid is £109. A quick check shows them listed at £92.48 + 70p delivery right at this moment! Do you have an even cheaper source?

 

Here's a relevant article: http://www.servethehome.com/getting-5tb-toshiba-hard-drives-22-off/

 

Thanks for such a detailed reply and great info.

Yes the £92.48 amazon deal is what i have seen aswell which i think is a great price esp considering the 4tb ext tosh drive is £85 so £7 more for an extra terrabyte!

[John_M]

I've just spotted even more of a bargain from the same source as the cheap Toshiba Canvio drives. Have a look at this offer on the 8TB WD My Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Book-External-Drive/dp/B01BBZ4Q0C. Absolutely astonishing value - way better than even the Seagate Archive drives... if it's genuine, that is. What the hell, I've ordered two and if they turn out to be bogus I have Amazon's protection.

 

[SpaceInvaderOne]

I've just spotted even more of a bargain from the same source as the cheap Toshiba Canvio drives. Have a look at this offer on the 8TB WD My Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Book-External-Drive/dp/B01BBZ4Q0C. Absolutely astonishing value - way better than even the Seagate Archive drives... if it's genuine, that is. What the hell, I've ordered two and if they turn out to be bogus I have Amazon's protection.

 

Yeah thats a good price but i am going to stick with the 5tb, as 5tb works out at £18.40 per terrabyte whilst the 8tb works out at 17.98 per terrabyte.

Buying 2 , 8 tb drives will take my array including old parity from 8tb to 18tb and cost £288.

But if i bought 3, 5tb drives it will boost my array from 8tb to 20tb and cost me only £276

 

However I think I will just get  2  to start with,  so that will boost me from 8tb array to 15tb. Lets hope that this seller is genuine !!

 

[John_M]

Well, I can't fault your logic You'll be able to buy another at a later date, if you need to. I've bought them in twos and threes over the last year and they've always been in stock, though supplied by Amazon, not by this marc.maurin. I have every faith that this guy is genuine - Amazon must require certain standards to be met, I would think. Nevertheless, it's reassuring to see a button labelled "File/View Claim" on the My Orders page! I'll post back here when the My Books arrive.

 

[SpaceInvaderOne]

Well, I can't fault your logic You'll be able to buy another at a later date, if you need to. I've bought them in twos and threes over the last year and they've always been in stock, though supplied by Amazon, not by this marc.maurin. I have every faith that this guy is genuine - Amazon must require certain standards to be met, I would think. Nevertheless, it's reassuring to see a button labelled "File/View Claim" on the My Orders page! I'll post back here when the My Books arrive.

 

Yeah just ordered mine too. He has got 4.9 stars over the past 12 months on his rating but nothing since feb. Seems like hes been selling cat flaps mainly!!

Anyway yes i seen the file claim button too. As soon as i get mine ill post back here too to let you know too.

[testdasi]

I do not buy anything important from 3rd party seller on Amazon (HDD counts as important for me).

 

2 reasons:

 

(1) Section 75 credit card protection does NOT apply to 3rd party seller on Amazon (or 3rd party seller anywhere else). Side note: it also doesn't cover if you pay directly to a seller using credit card but via Paypal.

You will have to rely on Amazon / seller's good will / policy to cover your return. Amazon policy is pretty robust but what if, for example, the seller goes out of business? Section 75 provides an additional layer of (legal) protection by allowing you to claim back from the credit card company.

 

(2) A lot of Amazon sellers actually have their own website and services. I'm sure they would appreciate not having to pay Amazon commission.

 

[John_M]

I'm quite happy with Amazon's warranty for marketplace purchases here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161010

[SpaceInvaderOne]

I'm quite happy with Amazon's warranty for marketplace purchases here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161010

 

John  I got a dispatch email yesterday saying its been shipped using yodel. So lets hope they arrive as it said expected delivery date would be 20 to 29 july!! Will keep you posted

[John_M]

I received a similar email, too. Same dates, same carrier!

 

[SpaceInvaderOne]

John_M bad news im afraid we are not getting our drives

 

Seller has just got a whole load of people saying he is a scammer since we ordered. check this.

 

1/5:
"This seller is a total con merchant. He takes your money, says the item is dispatched , gives a very long delivery date, never provides any tracking despite requests and the item never arrives. He needs to be banned from ebay but I suspect he would just re - register under a different name. If you don't wish to be disappointed and inconvenienced then please avoid him. He is an online thief."
A. Young, 22 July 2016
1/5:
"Worst experience on Amazon to date. This seller is a scammer, avoid like the plague. You will never receive anything."
MR ANDREW TATE, 22 July 2016
1/5:
"This guy is a total fraud.Do not buy from him.Thankfully I was able to get a full refund through the amazon a-z guarantee."
keith s., 21 July 2016
1/5:
"marc maurin is a bottom feeding low life. DONT BUY FROM THIS SCUM! I was so excited to have ordered my DJI Phatom 4 at a great price and was excitedly waiting for delivery. The day i found out he was a fraudster my heart sunk and I was panicked that i had just lost over £700. Thanks to the other customer feedback and advice i have managed to arrange a refund through Amazon live chat."
Matthew R., 21 July 2016
1/5:
"Scam. No goods. Refund arranged with Amazon."
Andrew W, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"As others I have discovered this seller is a fraudster, nothing will be posted out to you despite what the seller may have told you. You won't hear anything else from the seller now since they've left Amazon so I'd advise contacting Amazon via the live chat as they were very helpful in arranging an immediate refund. Great service from Amazon as always."
Amazon Customer, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"Seller is a scammer. Contacted Amazon via Phone but was told to wait until delivery estimated time was past before I could get Amazon A-Z Guarantee refund. Contacted Amazon via Live Chat and got an instant refund that will be in my account within 3 days. Amazon also contacted the seller on my behalf to ask where the item is and I got an email back saying the seller is no longer on Amazon!"
RacingGuy, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"Amazon's A-Z investigative team is dealing with this fraudster. If you've ordered anything from him, I advise you to contact Amazon for a refund, because the item will never arrive. The seller has now disabled communications too, so don't bother trying to reason with him or ask for a refund directly. Use Amazon's help pages, find the live chat button and you'll be taken care of."
Scum, 21 July 2016
A rogue seller - DO NOT DEAL WITH UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES"
Amazon Customer, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"He's a fraud! I accidentally ordered through this 3rd party and my order has not arrived. He initially made up a story about refugees blocking the courier in Germany, gave changing arrival dates, differing couriers & despatch dates. As soon as I asked for a refund - not received - & said I didn't believe he'd ever sent it he stopped responding. DO NOT USE! As other reviews testify, he's a con man."
MrTwaddle, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"I ordered the Phantom 4 from Marc Maurin, via Amazon on 20th June 2016.Waited 1 month & 3 different arrival dates. No tracking information given by seller and not been given a reason for the delay. One month on I tearing out my hair as no response from MARC MAURIN to my messages.BUYER BE VERY WARY OF THIS SELLER!!!!. I suspect the reason is drop in £ value left them out of pocket. NOT MY PROBLEM"
Tweater, 21 July 2016
1/5:
"This buyer is will say he has shipped your goods, but then does not ship any goods, fails to respond to any mail requests - AVOID at all costs"
Lee C., 21 July 2016
1/5:
"This seller does not respond to e-mails, says he has sent but hasn't, seems to be from outside the UK despite saying in the UK. Amazon claim filed. Avoid at all costs, con artist."
Mr M., 21 July 2016
1/5:
"Claimed as shipped from the UK by Yodel on 24th Jun, but still not arrived. Seller ignores my emails......................................................"
Amazon byer, 20 July 2016
1/5:
""Claimed as shipped from the UK by Yodel on 9th July, but still not arrived. Seller ignores my emails.""
DingDong, 20 July 2016
1/5:
"this guy its a con they take your Money and dont send nothing"
montella , 20 July 2016
"VERY DISAPPOINTED! After contacting the seller several times requesting a tracking number, I was informed that my item would arrive on 8th July but it didn't. The seller claimed it was held up by refugees in Germany and would be delivered the next week. But it was advertised as dispatched from the UK which it clearly isn't and it wasn't delivered the following week or within the estimated date."
Amazon Customer, 20 July 2016
1/5:
"WARNING do not purchase from this seller. Seller is holding your money in their bank account to make interest when your item has not been dispatched and will never be dispatched. You will get your money back after waiting 1 month then it takes 1/2 weeks to reclaim your money via Amazon so your talking 6 weeks to get your money back and the disappointment of not receiving your item."
Shane, 20 July 2016
1/5:
"Allegedly shipped from the UK by Yodel on 4th July, but still not arrived. Looks suspicious - very similar to marketplace seller WIGGhoff Retail INT (check their feedback) - i.e. 5TB drive at "low price, last few in stock", but stock strangely continuously replenished at same low price. Email sent next day stating item shipped from UK, but crazy 20 to 30-day delivery lead-time and ignores emails."
Andy, 20 July 2016
2/5:
"Delivery took FAR too long with no reply after mailing. I want to buy from the u.k. so STATE where you're really from!"
Mr D., 18 July 2016
1/5:
"The long delivery time was not mentioned in the order. Where is it coming from. I was under the impression I was buying from the UK."
Amazon Customer, 18 July 2016

 

oh well. 

[SpaceInvaderOne]

Hah great......amazon customer service at its best!!

 

They have just told me that although the seller is now banned from amazon for fraud. I have to wait longer for delivery as it states delivery can be between 20th to 29th july before i can do anything.

 

So i ask to speak to supervisor

 

This idiot then says he will email the seller and give him 3 working days to respond.  Then if he doesnt respond they will open a refund case and if i am sucessful receive a refund within 2 weeks from that date. What is this for real? There about 20 people in last week complaining never receiving goods and they even told me they have banned him !! 

Got to love that logic!  yeah lets email him that will help lol

[John_M]

Thanks for the update. I guess I'll have to jump through the same hoops. In my case especially, it was too good a deal to be true, put still, I think, worth a punt. Lol.

 

[00b5]

At least you didn't drop a $1000 on a drone that will never show up!

 

Regarding OP first question, I bought WD desktop external drives, and precleared them all while in USB enclourses (but with USB3). They never really got too hot, and I did two passes on them (2 at a time, 4 total). Then I pulled them, and "upgraded" a 2TB disk in each case (so let it rebuild). Entire process took an weekend, but I feel better knowing they were precleared twice before using them.

[John_M]

The WD external drives are low power Green units and run cooler than the 7200 rpm Toshibas. The WDs also stand on end and make a vague attempt at providing air circulation slots. The Toshibas sit horizontally, like bricks with little scope for natural airflow. I wouldn't like to run pre-clears on the Toshibas without being able to monitor their temperature. I have pre-cleared a WD Green inside its case but, on removing it, had to do it again because of the encrypting USB-SATA bridge chip that WD uses. How did you get around that problem?

 

[isthisallowed]

Yes i had the same issue with this seller marc.maurin on amazon.

 

I ordered 1tb Samsung Evo 850 SSD £204.04 on 10 July

 

Delivery window was right up til today 29 July.

 

I just phoned amazon, they have began processing the refund which takes 5-7 days dependent on my bank apparently.

 

Here was the only site i could find information on this fraudster, so want to post again so that others don't get defrauded by this crook / find out sooner then i did, i waited 19 days for my parcel and now have to re-order.

 

Cheers!