Windows 7 WDC 3TB Installation/Diagnosis

[seekermeister]

A new WD30EZRX that I order arrived today, so I wasted no time trying to install it. However, when I put it in my external case, Windows seven couldn't set it up, even though Disk Management did see it. I then tried using Acronis DDS11, but it hung right after it opened.

I then moved the drive to an internal location in the PC case, and though it gave me fits, I finally got it to initialize the drive using GPT, rather than MBR, so that the partition would include the entire drive.

I then attempted to test the drive with HD Tune, but the benchmark failed, saying that there was a read error. Despite fact that the SMART DATA said all was well, but when I ran the quick error scan, it showed the first block on the drive as damaged. There really was not point, but I then ran a partial extended test with the same block showing up as damaged.

HD Tune showed the drive as being only 2.2TBs, when would indicate that it was reading an MBR partiton, but Disk Management shows the entire 2794.39GBs in a single partiton.

I contacted the vendor, requesting an RMA, but the response I received asked that I use WDC's DLG to diagnose it instead. Even though that annoyed me, I went ahead and tried it. When I tried the quick scan, it froze when the progress bar got about 3 bars from completion. I don't think there is any point, but I then started an extended scan...which will take a number of hours to complete.

Regardless of what DLG says, I feel sure that the drive is a lemon, and if the vendor continues to give me problems, I shall go to WDC support instead.

I really don't expect anyone to explain all of this to me, but I am confused how Disk Management and HD Tune could be seeing different sizes for the partition? Can anyone shed any light on this?

 

[Saltgrass]

You may not want to run some of those utilities on a new drive. A GPT drive has a hidden partition at the front of the drive. I don't know for sure, but perhaps the utility is seeing that and mistaking it for something else.

You are correct about the GPT. Can you see it in Disk Management? Can you read and write to it?

Do you know if the External enclosure can handle large drives. Perhaps it is limited in some fashion. I currently have a 1 TB GPT drive running in my external, so you may work fine.

But if you think it is bad, call WD (or e-mail) and ask them. You may be able to return it to you provider and get a replacement.

 

[seekermeister]

I probably shouldn't have mentioned the external case, because that is not where I installed the partition, nor where I am now testing it, therefore the external case is not involved...at this point.

When you said that I may not want to run some of "those" utilities, exactly which ones do you mean...all, HD Tune, DLG or ?

I have not actually tried to read or write any data to the drive yet, because I felt that unnecessary to determine it health, and would add another factor that might complicate things.

In a tutorial I found elsewhere, it said that I could verify that the partition is GPT by using the right click menu in Disk Management, and see if convert to GPT is grayed out. However it is the convert to MBR that is grayed out, and I do not see the first option even on the list. That would seem to support the idea that HD Tune is right and the partition is MBR, not GPT, but if that is so, how can Windows show the size as being ~ 3TB, instead of 2.2TB?

 

[Saltgrass]

If MRB is greyed out, it is a GPT drive. It is Greyed out because you have it set up and converting it will wipe your data or configuration.

If you know about Diskpart, it will give you a definite indication when you list the drives.

I would use the drive for a few days and see if any problems occur. I did have a new 1.5 TB drive once that seemed to be OK, even installed Windows 7, but gave me problems after, such as refusing to boot back into Windows 7...

I just do not know which utilities may or may not be aware of hard drives larger than 2.2 TB.

 

[seekermeister]

Curious! The tutorial that I mentioned says that either Convert to MBR or Convert to GPT should be listed, depending on the type of partition involved, but not just be grayed out. I just checked Diskpart as suggested, and it does list the drive with an asterisk in the GPT column, so I guess it must be.

Even if HD Tune doesn't recognize partitions larger than 2.2TBs, wouldn't it still be able to determine if a block is damaged or not?

 

[Saltgrass]

I am not so concerned with utilities not recognizing GPT, but drives larger than 2.2 TB. But I do not have one and thus, no experience with it.

Sound like you will have to use your best judgement.

 

[seekermeister]

DLG finally finished the test, and said about the same thing as HD Tune did...at least in terms of the bad block:

Test Option:	EXTENDED TEST
Model Number:	WDC WD30EZRX-00MMMB0
Unit Serial Number:	WD-XXXXXXXXXXXX
Firmware Number:	80.00A80
Capacity:	3000.59 GB
SMART Status:	PASS
Test Result:	FAIL
Test Error Code:	08-

I also tried to attach the image of the error dialog, but when I clicked the upload button, nothing happened.

I have of course renewed my RMA request with the vendor, so I guess there isn't much more that I can do now...at least until I get another drive.

 

[Saltgrass]

Hear anything back yet? I have gotten 2 bad drives in the last year.

The WD diagnostics says it may be able to repair problems on a drive, but I have not seen that.

 

[seekermeister]

I finally received the RMA today, and have started testing it. So far, it appears to be okay, but one little thing bugs me. I ran HD Tune, though I know that it falls short of being ideal for this drive, because it is much faster, and it gives a lot more info than a simple Pass/Fail, like DLG. On the Transfer Speed Test, it gives the usual erose graph, with speeds that I imagine are normal, but at exact 30% intervals, it gives sharp drops in transfer speeds. It is not the drops, but the regularity of them that worries me. Should I be?

EDIT: I attempted to include a screenshot, but when I drag/dropped the image file, the attachment window transformed into a window displaying the image, but no controls to upload it. When I submitted the post, the image was not included. How should this be done?

 

[Saltgrass]

To load an image, you use the paperclip, browse and find the file, then upload. There are some limits on file sizes, so see what the file size you want to use is. after you browse and select the file, upload it. Then it should be included.

Again, I would use the drive for a while to make sure it is working before running some possibly incompatible tests.

 

[seekermeister]

Okay, thanks for the attachment tip. I still don't understand your reluctance to benchmark/test a new drive, because the tests that I do, don't fix bad sectors, only finds them.

 

[seekermeister]

While shuffling data around the drives, I noticed something else that I want ask about, and since it is very similar to the nature of this thread, I don't see any point in starting another.

I'm somewhat familiar with the aspect of hard drive noise (parking heads), but a different drive than what I've been talking about has developed a noise with a twist. Instead of being noisy under a load, this one is noisy at an idle, and quiet under a load. Instead of sort of a tapping noise, it sounds more like a bad wheel bearing on an automobile...just much more muffled.

The drive benchmarks and tests good, so I doubt that I could RMA it, but I'm wondering if anyone might have some kind of suggestion as to how to deal with it, other than simply waiting until it locks up? I wish that there was a way to lube it, but I've never seen any provision for that sort of thing.

 

[ELiTEFX]

A lot of new drives require the SATA settings in the bios be changed from "IDE" to "AHCI". Make sure "SMART" is enabled.