FreeAgent Products

[PJK]

The other night at the same time that I docked my iPod (connected to my XP Home PC via USB on a new off-brand dock), I received a “Delayed Write Failed” warning on the file $Mft on my Seagate FreeAgent 250 USB external hard drive that I keep connected to my PC at all times for additional storage.

I am assuming that the two events were related, as 1) I have never had any issues before I connected the dock to my PC and 2) the dock also tends to freak out my USB scanner when the iPod is connected. I had to unplug and reconnect the scanner to wake it up.

I Googled $Mft and learned that this is the NTFS file table.  That would explain why I was able to browse the root of the external drive, but not find any files with the folders in the root.

I shut down and unplugged the iPod dock, returning my PC to its previous state.  Upon reboot, everything appeared normal with the external and continues to look fine since then.

However, after reviewing the Event log I found hundred of --- errors in the second before I received the “Delayed Write Failed” warning and hundreds more after. The errors slowed down to one every few hours after I rebooted.

The System log only goes back to 1/1/08. I assume all of these new entries pushed the older entries out, so I have no idea if this was happening before I used the dock (or before 1/1/08).

I used SeaTools on the drive and it passed. 

This morning I removed the drive from this system and connected it to another PC (also XP Home, fairly fresh install, no other USB devices used on it except flash drives).  After a few hours, I noticed that the same error appeared in the log (just once so far though).  This leads me to think that maybe this is a problem inherent in XP or a problem with the drive. I have another scratch built external HDD that I am tempted to connect continuously to a machine and see if the error occurs again.

I use this drive for backups and to store larger files, so its stability is important to me (besides the fact that I paid $80 for it and don’t want to spend that much on something I can’t trust)

I have read some posts here about this problem, but do not know what to do with the information. 

What do I do next?

PK

[PJK]

I chatted with Seagate support last night.  I told him the whole story and he said it sounds like a harware issue that could lead to failure. He suggested I try a different USB cable (which I did) and see if the problem persists (which it did).  If the problem persists with the new cable, I should contact them for an RMA.

He was rather certain that this was the problem.

My fear now is that the replacement will do the same thing.

I will follow through with the RMA and see what happens.

Does anyone here agree or disagree with the support rep?

pk

[Saro]

@PJK

I also have a FreeAgent Desktop 250 and have also experienced the same problem. I've spent almost 2 weeks troubleshooting this (I've also contacted Seagate support but they are of no help) and have come to my conclusion...

The FA drive enclosure is poorly designed. I have search the Internet and have found many others also experiencing this problem. Seagate support was correct when they tell you it is a hardware issue... it was a hardware issue alright and it was the FA enclosure.

I've given up on the FA and removed the SATA disk inside it (I didn't care about the 5-year warranty anymore, I'm also not comfortable returning my disk to Seagate, even with my data erased already). I bought a Vantec NexStar MX enclosure, put the drive in it and it worked perfectly! Now I sleep better at night knowing my data is safe.

Seagate makes very good Hard Drives though.

[PJK]

Wow, that's harsh.

I went ahead and sent mine back. We will see what happens with the replacement. I will be keeping a close eye on it.  I did shred mine twice and format twice before I sent it back though.

So what did you find was wrong about the enclosure?  If the SATA drive inside works OK in another case, then it must be something on the controller board in the Seagate case?

I guess that could be a Plan B option.  I don't really want to have to buy a SATA enclosure though.  If the replacement has issues, I don't know what I will do.  It cost me $10 to ship the stupid thing!  This "great deal" at $80 could turn into a money pit!.

PK

Message Edited by PJK on 01-06-2008 11:11 AM

[Saro]

@PK

Well, my solution is a bit harsh alright, but I lost confidence already on the FA & I needed extra storage right away. I do hope the replacement drive you will be getting is good. Anyway, if all troubleshooting fails on this replacement drive, you still have the option of getting an external SATA enclosure; or could you still ask for a refund?

I think the little controller board (at the base of the FA) must be the problem. I have another external enclosure (Non-SATA) prior to getting the FA, where I could transfer 80GB of large files in one operation, file sizes of 50-60MBs while still working on the same computer and none of the delayed write failures or paging operation errors would occur. I can now also do the same with my new Vantec enclosure with the SATA drive from the FA. The only "thing" different between the Vantec & the FA is the controller board. Also, I have tested the FA on several computers already and all have experienced DWFs.

BTW, Microsoft knowledgebase said that if paging oper errors in the event viewer were found and it is for a non-primary drive, it can be ignored. Once, I copied several pictures (JPGs) to the FA and got paging oper errors. When I viewed the copied pictures, several pictures have colors distortions (for example, 1/2 of a picture would have incorrect colors or tint). I don't know why this happened; I thought a file copy operation would either be 2 things: success or failure. Well, something must have corrupted the data in transit. I ended up copying the pictures again and would be comfortable only when no errors/warnings are logged in the event viewer. I have been using computers for as long as I can remember, but to continously check the event viewer after a file copy to the FA is absurd. You might want to verify this to make sure this does not happen to you also. I also have not mentioned that I almost lost my entire digital content in the FA due to a corruption in the MFT? Hopefully, chkdsk was able to fix it. So, whenever I copy to the FA, I would run chkdsk first, copy file, check event viewer, then chkdsk again before disconnecting the FA. I now realize that I no longer trust FA with my data, so I did that "harsh" thing. BTW, my system is clean, no virus, spyware, adware, rootkits, etc. Have updated relevant Microsoft patches.

Well, I think this would be it for me now. Good luck and I hope you get back a good FA.

[PJK]

Yeah, that is crazy.  You should not have to go through all of that just to ensure that you data makes it to its destination safely.

I dunno, I think I may have a hard time trusting this model of drive now.  If the error does not appear immediately on the replacement, who is to say that it won't appear later?  I certainly do not want to spend the time watching and waiting.

Do you recall any of the links you found that led you to believe that this was a common problem with this drive?

PK

[Saro]

@PK

Sorry, I no longer recall the links anymore except for this one which specifically have tips on how to open up the FA enclosure.

http://www.forums.techgage.com/showthread.php?s=448d1d06392006fd13729806df992677&t=2481&page=2

But if you still care about your warranty, do not try to pry it open. The case seemed to be designed not to be opened and will bear marks that attempts to open it have been made.

Also btw, last night, I was transcoding some of my music files (FLAC to MP3) and found out the FLAC is corrupted. These files were transfered from my computer to the FA drive. I wonder how many other files were also affected.

[afumado]

hello all. its nice to join your conversation about delayed write / failed/paging error on FA.

previouse weeks ago, i got my FA Pro 500, and pluged it in USB2 , XPpro SP2. first time everything run smoothly. no problem at all. then i tried to install software bundled inside the drive, to test the software provided by seagate, everything ok. but i dont like to continue using it, so i didnt use it.

then i created two partitions of it, and format them in NTFS type. modifying data run smoothly, nothing wrong until i got same problem like u guys, "delayed write failed/paging error".

as i remember, this problem came after my FA power down because the electric plugged unproperly, my foot kicked the cable power, so make it turn off and on while the USB cable still plugged in my computer. when its on i got my FA back. the drives appeared in my computer. but when i copy files, i got delayed writed failed/paging error.
i tried to unplug and plug the USB using safe remove and without using safe and remove, still got the problem.

figure out the problem, i tried to safe remove the USB, and turn off the FA. unplug the usb and electric cable. i restart my windows, and plug the FA power and usb cable then turn it on. the problem solved. all files that copied while got the delayed error, still in the source file (other disk), and the copied file was not appear in my FA.

till now, no error appear yet. over 300GB files has been transfered successfully in both partition, include picture, audio and video with variative file size, kb - gb. my 11GB avi file played smoothly, no problem even i drag the slider to make sure its run smoothly.

my conclusion, FA maybe has its own SOP about this problem. maybe to make the transfer data run maximum, FA should be restart from begining, even i know, its little bit slow to turn FA on back after turn it OFF by pushing Power button.

if i got another problem, i'll share it here..

[StratsRUs]

I have a Seagate FreeAgent 250 which was giving me delayed write errors when I ran my nightly backups. After I found this forum, I decided to remove the hard drive from its enclosure and run it on a little USB<>SATA adapter I had lying around. It was an INSTANT fix. I could run my backups again and the drive stopped generating log errors. I ended up installing the drive in my system on a SATA port, and it is running flawlessly. Without your posts, I would STILL be trying to figure out what was wrong with this drive. Thanks very much for the excellent discussion. I just wanted to post this as a confirmation that it seems to be the little electronics package (a built-in USB-to-SATA adapter, actually) which is the source of the problem. As one user said, Seagate builds good drives.