Re: Hard Drive Failing - Worried about turn around time

This was my experience with a G-Technology 500GB G-RAID2. Maybe this will help you.

1) Drive failed to mount via any port (FW800, FW400, or USB). Power and pilot are fine, the drive audibly powers up, spins (one drive as it turns out), clicks a couple relays and fails to mount on any computer. Same day, I completed online support form on Oct. 27, '08 My RMA (return authorization) came within a few hours.

2) Sent carefully packed drive back to them next day - with a detailed description of malfunction and excessive heat problem.

3) Heard nothing from them for 2 months.

4) Sent email inquiring about status Dec. 23, '08

5) They replied same day (Dec. 23rd), "You should have gotten a message from us back on 11/18. Unfortunately we are not able to recover your data. We need to know if you would like the drive back as is so you can look into additional recovery or if you would like the drive repaired and returned blank."

6) Later that day - I asked if they were able to determine the cause of the problem. They replied promptly, "I only know that the actual drive was bad. We don't have anyway to determine the specific failure. It was just completely inaccessible."

7) Still Dec. 23rd, I decided I would rather have a working blank drive rather than a non-functional drive. Informed them of my decision and wished them "Happy Holidays".

8) Dec. 24, '08 they ship my blanked drive back to me via FedEx. The drive arrives a few days later.

9) I used the drive sparingly over the next 9 months because it still ran very hot and I didn't trust it. If I intended to use it for prolonged periods of time I would put a 3" fan against the front to force air through it. But I did not use the additional fan for shorter 10 or 15 minute back-up sessions.

10) Oct. 14, '09, same drive, same symptoms, same failure, lost data again.

11) Oct. 20, '09, contacted G-Tech support to inquire about length of warranty on repairs. (30 days)

12) Same day, got out my tools and repaired the fan they never fixed, which was a simple 5-minute resolder job that a complete novice technician should have been able to find and fix. I have no doubt the non-functional fan was the cause of the initial failure and the subsequent failure of this drive. As they used to say on this very site, "heat kills hard drives."

13) Same day, determined that only the upper drive was not spinning up and began my quest to find a suitable replacement SATA drive.

14) Oct. 22, '09 Ordered nearly identical Hitachi Deskstar SATA drive. (slight variation in suffix)

15) Oct. 24, '09 Received and installed replacement SATA drive. (5-minute job.)

16) Same day, installed the new drive which spins up to speed, but apparently is not addressed in a way that can be recognized by controller. Later scoured through this forum for methods to take control and format a drive that doesn't want to mount. Found useful recommendations like "run Disk Warrior", (which can't do anything for an unmounted drive), and "go to the online form and get an RMA to send your drive back".


LASTLY) Oct. 30, '09 Thought I'd come here and rationally share my experience in an effort to help others make an informed decision.

Next time I've got nothing better to do - I will continue to look for a solution to this problem and a more reliable new 500GB or 1TB drive.

Best of luck to you though!