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05-11-2007, 09:32 AM
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Member
Group: Member
Location: melbourne
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Macbook Failing Hdd Problem!
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Originally Posted by MacObserver
Some MacBook Drives Suspected of Fatal Design Flaw
by John Martellaro, 4:20 PM EDT, November 2nd, 2007
Investigators are looking at a possible design flaw in some Seagate hard drives found in MacBooks and MacBook Pros, according to Techworld on Friday. The problems leads to catastrophic data loss.
The problem is suspected with Seagate 2.5-inch SATA drives made in China and loaded with firmware version 7.01. Model numbers affected include ST96812AS and ST98823AS. The read/write head can detach and cause a catastrophic failiure of the drive and loss of all data.
"There is absolutely, definitely a flaw with these drives," said Duncan Clark, the managing director of Retrodata in the UK. "I have seen enough to know there is a problem with them ... any Apple Mac that uses a 2.5 inch drive is at risk."
While the number of reported instances is still small, and Mr. Clark conceded that one would need to see several hundred or thousand drives fail in this way to be sure of a design flaw, the problem reports are still being looked at carefully.
Also, it is not clear if the problem is related to Macs shipped only to the UK or worldwide. In any case, MacBook owners would be wise to check their drive models and be sure their daily backup procedures are firmly in place.
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source: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/11/02.14.shtml
worrying stuff!! any one here experienced or heard about this problem? |
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05-11-2007, 09:47 AM
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Regular
Group: Regulars
Location: Australia
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This line is a bit misleading: "any Apple Mac that uses a 2.5 inch drive is at risk." considering it only applies to Seagate drives. I've seen Apple laptops with all manner of drives fitted. My last three had Toshiba drives.
__________________
Macbook Pro C2D 2.2/4GB/250GB
Mac Pro Quad 3Ghz/4GB 8800GT 30"
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05-11-2007, 10:09 AM
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Inactive
Group: Inactive
Location: SA, 5174
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Quote:
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MacBook owners would be wise to check their drive models and be sure their daily backup procedures are firmly in place.
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What could anyone realistically do even if they had a MacBook or MacBook Pro with one of the 'suspect' drives? Worry? Resort to prayer?
No one with a portable should rely on the HD as the sole repository for their data as they are always, due to the way in which they are used, going to be more prone to HD failure than desktops. If the drive fails in warranty get it replaced. Out of warranty pretty much the same. |
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05-11-2007, 10:19 AM
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Member
Group: Member
Location: melbourne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrah
This line is a bit misleading: "any Apple Mac that uses a 2.5 inch drive is at risk." considering it only applies to Seagate drives. I've seen Apple laptops with all manner of drives fitted. My last three had Toshiba drives.
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yea it says to check the hdd in ur machine to see if it matches the part number. this news comes from the uk, and as it says in the article, it might only affect users in the uk. just hope this isnt a wide spread problem leading to a massive recall.  |
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05-11-2007, 10:39 AM
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Member
Group: Member
Location: melbourne
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it looks like the problem, or "epidemic" as its starting to be referred on the web, has only started a few days ago. the articles surfaced mostly on 30th of october, and the original aritcle has been reaffirmed by discussion forums on the apple support website of people experiencing the same problem in their macbooks or macbook pro's. but the discussion threads ont he apple forum appeared much earlier. people affected have received replacement drives, not seagate but fujitsu, from apple. but the problem lies with the loss of date that cant be retrieved even professionally. because of the phisical damage to the surface of the hard disk caused by a broken read/write head.
To see if your harddrive is the model affected:
- Seagate 2.5" SATA
- Firmware 7.01
- To check your firmware version: under SYSTEM PROFILER, in Serial-ATA Revision to check if it is 7.01 version.
IF IT IS BACK UP ALL YOUR DATA!!
Neither Apple nor Seagate have responded to the problems, even though the hdd mentioned is failing 20-30 times more than other brands or even other models within the Seagate range.
sources: http://www.retrodata.co.uk/notice_ap...ate_drives.php
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?p=4470912
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=5667570
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....art=0&tstart=0
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/10...drive_warning/ |
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05-11-2007, 10:47 AM
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Regular
Group: Regulars
Location: Hobart
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I have one of those drives, already had one replacement, not due to data loss but weird things were happening to my computer...slow downs space disappearing. I have a time machine backup going so should be fine.
William
__________________
Macbook Pro 2.5Ghz Core Duo 2, 250Gb HD, 4Gb Ram.
Orange iPod Shuffle, 1st Gen 2Gb Nano, 16Gb iPod Touch
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05-11-2007, 12:33 PM
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Resident Pirate
Group: Regulars
Location: Sydney Metropolitan
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*Phew* mine's ST9160823AS but it doesn't actually seem to say Seagate anywhere... but at least I feel much safer than when I first read this.
__________________
Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.4, Still can't quicklook volume icons of greater than 128*128 when icon was pasted from picture.
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05-11-2007, 12:34 PM
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Regular
Group: Regulars
Location: Melbourne
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Yup!
hubby's macbook already has been replaced a few weeks ago.
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MacBook 2.16 GHz C2D
G4 MirrorDoor 1.25 GHz DP + 20" Cinema Display
iPod 5th gen 80GB
iPhone 3G White 16GB
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05-11-2007, 12:36 PM
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Still stuck in 1984
Group: Regulars
Location: Inside your head
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William, all 'STxxx' drives are Seagate.
B.
__________________
Tune into Psymbiensis, 24/7 chill music streaming straight to your desktop.
Cornell Univiersity says, "Watching TV shows makes you stupid." Break the addiction, visit White Dot today.
Wi-fi is a health risk, please use sparingly and with caution. |
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05-11-2007, 04:32 PM
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Member
Group: Member
Location: melbourne
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brains
William, all 'STxxx' drives are Seagate.
B.
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yea even so, i think only the particular model numbers are affected. so far anyway.
well this sucks. i was about to buy my first mac = macbook, today. yes i have been converted!  but i wouldnt want to get stuck with this problem. |
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05-11-2007, 04:52 PM
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Regular
Group: Regulars
Location: Adelaide
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my 160GB Seagate failed suddenly last month
__________________
MacBook White 2GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GB Ram, 250GB HD
PowerMac G4 Dual 1.25GHz, 1.75GB Ram, 250GB SATAII RAID 1, 2x80GB HD, Mac OS X Server 10.4 (dead psu)
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AusDataHost | My Flickr | Portfolio/Photoblog |
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05-11-2007, 05:05 PM
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It's a cruel, cruel summer
Group: Regulars
Location: NSW
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Anybody know how to check what firmware an external hard drive is using?
I am seeing this in Get Info...
Name : ST96812A S Media
Type : Disk
Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : ST96812A S Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : USB
USB Serial Number : 2222304047B2
Device Tree : /PCI0@0/USB7@1D,7/@9:0
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No
Location : External
Total Capacity : 55.9 GB (60,011,642,880 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0
Last edited by Huy; 05-11-2007 at 05:08 PM.
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05-11-2007, 05:41 PM
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Member
Group: Member
Location: melbourne
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i'd say its that number in the name "ST96812A S" which is one of the two models mentioned above.on what machine r u using this hdd? backed up yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huy
Anybody know how to check what firmware an external hard drive is using?
I am seeing this in Get Info...
Name : ST96812A S Media
Type : Disk
Partition Map Scheme : GUID Partition Table
Disk Identifier : disk1
Media Name : ST96812A S Media
Media Type : Generic
Connection Bus : USB
USB Serial Number : 2222304047B2
Device Tree : /PCI0@0/USB7@1D,7/@9:0
Writable : Yes
Ejectable : Yes
Mac OS 9 Drivers Installed : No
Location : External
Total Capacity : 55.9 GB (60,011,642,880 Bytes)
S.M.A.R.T. Status : Not Supported
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 0
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05-11-2007, 06:13 PM
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It's a cruel, cruel summer
Group: Regulars
Location: NSW
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It is a first generation Core Duo MacBook 2GHz.
It was originally in the MacBook (internal) but now acts as an external drive, so I don't really use it at all. There's nothing important on the drive either (just random files).
My main drive is a 160GB Seagate - unaffected (as far as I can tell) by this problem.
ST9160821AS:
Capacity: 149.05 GB
Model: ST9160821AS
Revision: 3.ALC
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05-11-2007, 06:41 PM
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King of the Carrot Flowers
Group: Regulars
Location: Gippsland, Victoria
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I have that drive..
Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: ST98823AS
Revision: 7.01
Serial Number: 5PK1AGHV
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
OS9 Drivers: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Gotta backup stuff D:
Going a tad off topic, my macbook doesnt even know its serial number :/
Serial Number: SystemSerialNumb and coconut battery goes haywire and thinks my computer is 24445 months old which equates to
2,037.08333333333 years.
I think have to get it checked out again, this time i'll get it replaced.
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