WD3200AKS Bad sector fixed?

Pinchy · Mar 13, 2009, 04:40 PM

I bought two 320GB of these WD SE16's mid last year for my RAID array. At the end of the year, the array crashed for no reason, which led me to believe a drive had died. So I backed everything up and did a LOT of scans and such with the WD diagnostic tools (in DOS, not windows).

I originally scanned both drives with the full media scan, both reporting bad sectors. I then wrote zero's to both the drives and one didnt come up with any problems while the other still had the bad sectors. The one that came up with no problems has been in my PC since that day, operating fine.

Now the second one, I ran a few write zero tests and extended tests all to still fail. I recently dug up the receipt from the shop, emailed the shop and got an RMA number. As I was going to package the drive, I decided to test it one more time. I wrote zero's to the drive and did a media scan. What do you know...no more errors.

I did that media scan then restarted the computer and did a second one, both coming up with no errors.

Question is, can I trust the drive? I really cant be bothered waiting 1-3 months for an RMA drive and would much prefer to keep this drive, but I must be certain its going to function 100%. Could the zero writing thing have fixed the sector problems up...or?

Thx in adv

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:00 PM

**Bump**

niko084 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:01 PM

It could have been an error or it could have re-mapped it and decided not to tell you about it..
Have to run the SMART test from Speedfan?

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko084

It could have been an error or it could have re-mapped it and decided not to tell you about it..
Have to run the SMART test from Speedfan?

Will run that test now. Thanks.

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:16 PM

Talking about that online scan on speedfan? If so, it looks all alrite to me.

niko084 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:21 PM

Check that from time to time and make sure the error's are not getting larger..

From the looks of that, you may at some point had a bad or lose sata cable, possibly an unstable mainboard.

Keep an eye on it for a bit, if those numbers start flying up *millions*, then get rid of the drive.

But looking at it, I wouldn't worry too much about the drive being shot.

PS- I check my drives like that religiously, like twice a week. It just takes a second, and will let you know if you are having any problems hopefully before you have any.

newtekie1 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:32 PM

A common way to fix bad sectors is to constantly write over them. Sometimes it fixes them and sometime it doesn't. Zero Filling the drives does this.

Personally, I wouldn't trust the drives and just RMA both. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:36 PM

Well I never even knew about it lol.

Also - it wasnt a bad cable, as I tried 3 or 4 brand new cables at the time I was testing them and one used one which was working fine on another HD.

The motherboard I was used is my current P5Q.

There was definately a problem, I mean my RAID array just crashed and was unreadable by windows. Had to use recovery software to get the little data that wasnt already backed up.

Attached is a SMART test I just ran on my current drive. This drive is the one that crashed in the RAID array and reported the bad sector on WD's full media scan but reported nothing after one Zero write test.

niko084 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:38 PM

RMA THAT ONE....

See the pending and uncorrectable sector counts?
That drive is as good as gone.. They say they have spare sectors, but man once I see even 1 there pending, it's gone. Drives are not like old ones that can run for years with bad sectors.

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtekie1

A common way to fix bad sectors is to constantly write over them. Sometimes it fixes them and sometime it doesn't. Zero Filling the drives does this.

Personally, I wouldn't trust the drives and just RMA both. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Yeah I agree with you there. If it was my drive I would probably just use it and see how it goes (esp coz I daily backup anyway). But seeing as I have no use for it anymore (sticking to one drive instead of going back to RAID), I dont want to risk it in someone elses computer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko084

RMA THAT ONE....

See the pending and uncorrectable sector counts?
That drive is as good as gone.. They say they have spare sectors, but man once I see even 1 there pending, it's gone. Drives are not like old ones that can run for years with bad sectors.

its been running in my PC for like 4 months now

.

Maybe I should just RMA everything LOL.

niko084 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:41 PM

Ya, I mean it may even go for a year, but as soon as you see pending / offline sectors the drive is damaged.

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko084

Ya, I mean it may even go for a year, but as soon as you see pending / offline sectors the drive is damaged.

Yeah I know what you mean. Better safe than sorry. A good reason to do it now is because they still arent a year old and so I can send it straight back to the shop instead of WD. Only problem is I will need to buy a new drive for myself for the meantime.

Unrelated, but worth a mention, I had a WD3200AKs sent back to me from a customer (purchased end of 07) with so many problems its not even funny. Ran the speedfan SMART test with around five of those green bars as "problems" and a lot of "notes" lol.

niko084 · Mar 14, 2009, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinchy

Yeah I know what you mean. Better safe than sorry. A good reason to do it now is because they still arent a year old and so I can send it straight back to the shop instead of WD. Only problem is I will need to buy a new drive for myself for the meantime.

Unrelated, but worth a mention, I had a WD3200AKs sent back to me from a customer (purchased end of 07) with so many problems its not even funny. Ran the speedfan SMART test with around five of those green bars as "problems" and a lot of "notes" lol.

If you send them to WD, you can get an "advance" replacement if you give them a cc #.

Pinchy · Mar 14, 2009, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by niko084

If you send them to WD, you can get an "advance" replacement if you give them a cc #.

Three questions about WD though:

How long does it take for them to RMA (shop says they will replace in 2-4 weeks).
Where do I have to send it?
What is a cc # :\

I mean I have to send this new drive from that computer I was talking about anyway (bought back in 07 means the year of RTB is over), I might as well send three at once lol.

EDIT- Ah rite the credit card thing.

Not offered to Aus unfortunately

Double edit - I can choose Aus from the list although they say US/Can/Eu countries only. I'll look into it.

Mar 13, 2009, 04:40 PM	#1
Pinchy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,650 (1.80/day) Thanks: 302 Thanked 360 Times in 344 Posts System Specs	WD3200AKS Bad sector fixed? I bought two 320GB of these WD SE16's mid last year for my RAID array. At the end of the year, the array crashed for no reason, which led me to believe a drive had died. So I backed everything up and did a LOT of scans and such with the WD diagnostic tools (in DOS, not windows). I originally scanned both drives with the full media scan, both reporting bad sectors. I then wrote zero's to both the drives and one didnt come up with any problems while the other still had the bad sectors. The one that came up with no problems has been in my PC since that day, operating fine. Now the second one, I ran a few write zero tests and extended tests all to still fail. I recently dug up the receipt from the shop, emailed the shop and got an RMA number. As I was going to package the drive, I decided to test it one more time. I wrote zero's to the drive and did a media scan. What do you know...no more errors. I did that media scan then restarted the computer and did a second one, both coming up with no errors. Question is, can I trust the drive? I really cant be bothered waiting 1-3 months for an RMA drive and would much prefer to keep this drive, but I must be certain its going to function 100%. Could the zero writing thing have fixed the sector problems up...or? Thx in adv __________________ mATX rig: TT Lanbox Lite, GA-G33M-DS2R, q9300, 4GB G.Skill Pi PC8000, 2x640GB Samsung F1's in RAID 0, LG 20x DVD+/RW, HIS IceQ HD4670 512MB, Gigabyte G-Power PRO, TT 450W TR2 RX Modular PSU HTPC: i-Cute iBox, GA-MA780GM-S2H, 4850e, 2GB G.Skill PC6400, 1x640GB WD SE16, Onboard HD3200, D-link XtremeN PCIe, Leadtek WinFast DVR3100 H Tuner, 450W Vantec PSU Server: Custom made case, EPIA Mini-ITX mobo, 1GHz VIA, 1GB PC2700 SO-DIMM, 1TB WD, Gigabit PCI LAN card, 60W 12V AC adapter

System Name:	UltraPC
Processor:	E8500 Core 2 Duo, 1333Mhz FSB, 3.16Ghz @ 4.5GHz (got into Windows @ 4.75GHz)
Motherboard:	ASUS P5Q-e
Cooling:	CPU Cooler - TT V14 Pro, 2x120mm CM Blue LED fans, 1x90mm CM Blue LED fan
Memory:	G.Skill Pi 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel DDR2 PC8000 (1000MHz), 5-5-5-15
Video Card:	Sapphire HD4850 512mb with ASUS EAH4850 BIOS
Hard Disk:	2x 500GB Seagate 7200.12 Raid 0
Optical Drive:	Dual layer 22x SATA II Samsung DVD burner
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer AL1912, 19" LCD screen
Case:	Thermaltake Soprano Black ATX case
Sound Card:	Onboard 7.1, Speakers - 5 + Sub + Monitor speakers
PSU:	Thermaltake 850W Toughpower Cable Management - Quad (2x18A and 2x30A) 12V rails
Software:	Win 7 Pro x64, MSN, CS:Source, etc etc

Mar 14, 2009, 03:00 PM	#2
Pinchy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,650 (1.80/day) Thanks: 302 Thanked 360 Times in 344 Posts System Specs	Bump __________________ mATX rig: TT Lanbox Lite, GA-G33M-DS2R, q9300, 4GB G.Skill Pi PC8000, 2x640GB Samsung F1's in RAID 0, LG 20x DVD+/RW, HIS IceQ HD4670 512MB, Gigabyte G-Power PRO, TT 450W TR2 RX Modular PSU HTPC: i-Cute iBox, GA-MA780GM-S2H, 4850e, 2GB G.Skill PC6400, 1x640GB WD SE16, Onboard HD3200, D-link XtremeN PCIe, Leadtek WinFast DVR3100 H Tuner, 450W Vantec PSU Server: Custom made case, EPIA Mini-ITX mobo, 1GHz VIA, 1GB PC2700 SO-DIMM, 1TB WD, Gigabit PCI LAN card, 60W 12V AC adapter

System Name:	UltraPC
Processor:	E8500 Core 2 Duo, 1333Mhz FSB, 3.16Ghz @ 4.5GHz (got into Windows @ 4.75GHz)
Motherboard:	ASUS P5Q-e
Cooling:	CPU Cooler - TT V14 Pro, 2x120mm CM Blue LED fans, 1x90mm CM Blue LED fan
Memory:	G.Skill Pi 4GB (2x2GB) Dual Channel DDR2 PC8000 (1000MHz), 5-5-5-15
Video Card:	Sapphire HD4850 512mb with ASUS EAH4850 BIOS
Hard Disk:	2x 500GB Seagate 7200.12 Raid 0
Optical Drive:	Dual layer 22x SATA II Samsung DVD burner
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer AL1912, 19" LCD screen
Case:	Thermaltake Soprano Black ATX case
Sound Card:	Onboard 7.1, Speakers - 5 + Sub + Monitor speakers
PSU:	Thermaltake 850W Toughpower Cable Management - Quad (2x18A and 2x30A) 12V rails
Software:	Win 7 Pro x64, MSN, CS:Source, etc etc

Mar 14, 2009, 03:01 PM	#3
niko084 Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota Posts: 6,387 (2.70/day) Thanks: 190 Thanked 739 Times in 599 Posts System Specs	It could have been an error or it could have re-mapped it and decided not to tell you about it.. Have to run the SMART test from Speedfan? __________________ This electronic post is encrypted in the 'English language method', any attempt to decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols into a form conducive to oral interpretation. HWBOT HEATWARE

Processor:	Intel i7 3770K @ 3.5ghz
Motherboard:	Asus P8P67 Pro
Cooling:	CoolIt Eco120 (Push/Pull A.C. 120mm)
Memory:	4x4GB Gskill Sniper @ 9-9-9-24 1600mhz
Video Card:	HD7850 1150/1200
Hard Disk:	240GB Hyper-X 3k SSD, 2x WD Black 640 Raid 1
Optical Drive:	Sony/NEC AD-7241S
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VE228H 21.5 1920x1080
Case:	Antec 300
Sound Card:	Focusrite Saffire PRO 14 -> Mackie MR8 Monitors
PSU:	Seasonic SS520-GB 520W
Software:	Windows 7 Pro x64

Mar 14, 2009, 03:16 PM	#5
Pinchy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,650 (1.80/day) Thanks: 302 Thanked 360 Times in 344 Posts System Specs	Talking about that online scan on speedfan? If so, it looks all alrite to me. Attached Thumbnails __________________ mATX rig: TT Lanbox Lite, GA-G33M-DS2R, q9300, 4GB G.Skill Pi PC8000, 2x640GB Samsung F1's in RAID 0, LG 20x DVD+/RW, HIS IceQ HD4670 512MB, Gigabyte G-Power PRO, TT 450W TR2 RX Modular PSU HTPC: i-Cute iBox, GA-MA780GM-S2H, 4850e, 2GB G.Skill PC6400, 1x640GB WD SE16, Onboard HD3200, D-link XtremeN PCIe, Leadtek WinFast DVR3100 H Tuner, 450W Vantec PSU Server: Custom made case, EPIA Mini-ITX mobo, 1GHz VIA, 1GB PC2700 SO-DIMM, 1TB WD, Gigabit PCI LAN card, 60W 12V AC adapter

Mar 14, 2009, 03:21 PM	#6
niko084 Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota Posts: 6,387 (2.70/day) Thanks: 190 Thanked 739 Times in 599 Posts System Specs	Check that from time to time and make sure the error's are not getting larger.. From the looks of that, you may at some point had a bad or lose sata cable, possibly an unstable mainboard. Keep an eye on it for a bit, if those numbers start flying up millions, then get rid of the drive. But looking at it, I wouldn't worry too much about the drive being shot. PS- I check my drives like that religiously, like twice a week. It just takes a second, and will let you know if you are having any problems hopefully before you have any. __________________ This electronic post is encrypted in the 'English language method', any attempt to decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols into a form conducive to oral interpretation. HWBOT HEATWARE

Mar 14, 2009, 03:32 PM	#7
newtekie1 Semi-Retired Folder Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 17,763 (6.48/day) Thanks: 780 Thanked 5,119 Times in 3,709 Posts System Specs	A common way to fix bad sectors is to constantly write over them. Sometimes it fixes them and sometime it doesn't. Zero Filling the drives does this. Personally, I wouldn't trust the drives and just RMA both. I'd rather be safe than sorry. __________________ Rig1: System Specs. Rig2: A8-5600K@4.4GHz / AsRock FM2A75 Pro4 / 8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 9-9-9-24 / HD7560D / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB WD Green + 3x3TB WD RED in RAID5 Rig3: Athlon X2 4200+ / M4A79 Deluxe / 4GB G.Skill Pi DDR2-800 4-4-4-12 / GT430 / Sony DVD-Burner / 500GB WD Rig4: Phenom II x6 1605T @ 3.6GHz / Asus M5A99X Evo / 8GB PNY DDR3-1600 9-9-9 / GTX470 & GTX470 / Samsung DVD-Burner / 1.5TB Seagate

Processor:	Intel Core i7 875K@4.0GHz(200x20)
Motherboard:	eVGA P55 FTW 200
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme w/ Corsair SP120 High Performance Edition
Memory:	8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 7-7-7-20
Video Card:	ASUS GTX 670 4GB DirectCU II @ 1015/3600
Hard Disk:	1TB Seagate 7200.12(OS), 3x 1.5TB Seagate 7200.11 in RAID 5
Optical Drive:	Lite-On Blu-Ray Combo Drive IHES108
CRT/LCD Model:	HP 25" 2509m 1080p LCD
Case:	Lian-Li Lancool Metal Boned K7 w/ Windowed Side Panel
Sound Card:	Onboard is good enough for me
PSU:	Corsair HX850
Software:	Windows 7 x64 Professional

Mar 14, 2009, 03:36 PM	#8
Pinchy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 4,650 (1.80/day) Thanks: 302 Thanked 360 Times in 344 Posts System Specs	Well I never even knew about it lol. Also - it wasnt a bad cable, as I tried 3 or 4 brand new cables at the time I was testing them and one used one which was working fine on another HD. The motherboard I was used is my current P5Q. There was definately a problem, I mean my RAID array just crashed and was unreadable by windows. Had to use recovery software to get the little data that wasnt already backed up. Attached is a SMART test I just ran on my current drive. This drive is the one that crashed in the RAID array and reported the bad sector on WD's full media scan but reported nothing after one Zero write test. Attached Thumbnails __________________ mATX rig: TT Lanbox Lite, GA-G33M-DS2R, q9300, 4GB G.Skill Pi PC8000, 2x640GB Samsung F1's in RAID 0, LG 20x DVD+/RW, HIS IceQ HD4670 512MB, Gigabyte G-Power PRO, TT 450W TR2 RX Modular PSU HTPC: i-Cute iBox, GA-MA780GM-S2H, 4850e, 2GB G.Skill PC6400, 1x640GB WD SE16, Onboard HD3200, D-link XtremeN PCIe, Leadtek WinFast DVR3100 H Tuner, 450W Vantec PSU Server: Custom made case, EPIA Mini-ITX mobo, 1GHz VIA, 1GB PC2700 SO-DIMM, 1TB WD, Gigabit PCI LAN card, 60W 12V AC adapter

Mar 14, 2009, 03:38 PM	#9
niko084 Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota Posts: 6,387 (2.70/day) Thanks: 190 Thanked 739 Times in 599 Posts System Specs	RMA THAT ONE.... See the pending and uncorrectable sector counts? That drive is as good as gone.. They say they have spare sectors, but man once I see even 1 there pending, it's gone. Drives are not like old ones that can run for years with bad sectors. __________________ This electronic post is encrypted in the 'English language method', any attempt to decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols into a form conducive to oral interpretation. HWBOT HEATWARE

Mar 14, 2009, 03:41 PM	#11
niko084 Eligible for custom title Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota Posts: 6,387 (2.70/day) Thanks: 190 Thanked 739 Times in 599 Posts System Specs	Ya, I mean it may even go for a year, but as soon as you see pending / offline sectors the drive is damaged. __________________ This electronic post is encrypted in the 'English language method', any attempt to decipher meaning from these symbols is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This includes, but is not limited to: interpreting the symbols through use of biological, visual decryption devices, translating the symbols into another language encryption scheme, and digital processing the symbols into a form conducive to oral interpretation. HWBOT HEATWARE

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