Seagate 400gb USB External hard drive - faulty?

[Dom Robinson]

In replacing a duff Lacie 250Gb external USB 2.0 hard drive (after just
four months of use, and it turns out it was a Maxtor anyway which I've
since heard are crap), I took delivery on Thursday of a Seagate 400Gb
external USB 2.0 hard drive, but after copying a number of files
across, despite it being USB 2.0, that night it was playing back video
files sluggish as hell, if at all.

It's not a problem in XP (using SP1) as I copied the same file to my C
drive and played it from there and it was fine.

When playing back from the Seagate the hard drive light (showing
activity) flashes about once a second as it accesses it.

This isn't what I bought a replacement hard drive to do, and given that
the box states you could even store 100 2hr movies at DVD quality on
it, you'd expect to be able to play them back on it. It also runs at
the usual speed of 7200rpm and has an 8Mb cache like the Lacie it's
replacing.

I thought the delay might be because the Lacie, which behaves in a
dicky fashion, was having a knock-on effect on the Seagate when it was
still attached at the time, but it was still the same after removal.

The Lacie had no problems in playing back video files as smooth as they
would on the C drive, so I really don't know what the problem is.

I was recommended to update the drivers, but the only drivers that come
with it on the disc are for Win98. It states if you have a more recent
OS (I'm using XP on a P4 2.66Ghz machine with 512Mb RAM) then it'll
detect it automatically. Which it did.

Playing a few files on Friday morning, VCD quality avi and mpg files
were playing more normally, albeit with occasional jerkiness as they
get going, and skipping to a later part of the file makes it wait a bit
longer than the Lacie did before continuing while it finds it.

Playing an MPEG2 mpg file was still sluggish and still not doing it
right. I'm wondering if since installing the Seagate it takes time to
warm up? I only thought of that possibility when
I went to bed on Thurs, but like plugging in a VCR that's come back
from the repair shop they always tell you to plug it in for an hour or
two to let it warm up, so I'm thinking along those lines there.

On Saturday mrning, I did a reboot to see if that might help at all.
VCD quality avi and mpgs are mostly fine but occasionally take a second
or two to get going, during which time they stall for a moment, but
MPEG2 mpg files are still sluggish and trying to check one to make sure
it's okay is impossible as you click to a later part in the file and it
practically grinds
to a halt while it tries to catch up. I don't often need to watch these
but always check them after I've converted a .vob to .mpg to make sure
it's okay, and I don't like the restriction of not being able to play
them properly. (I create DVDs with programmes from TV and am using this
external drive primarily to store them until a series has finished and
I can create the full DVD.) I also use it for storing other video
files.

I'm viewing the files in Windows Media Player 9, as I did from the
Lacie hard drive, and have connected it via the same USB port, so I'm
doing nothing different with the Seagate that I did with the Lacie so
there should be no change in the operation.

However, what could be the cause is that the Seagate parks itself
whereas the Lacie didn't AFAIK, and when it's playing the MPEG2 files I
can see the drive activity light coming on as if it can't seem to catch
up properly even though it's meant to have the same cache and seek time
as the Lacie. Is it possible to tell it to keep going and not park?

In response to someone asking me if the problem may be the way in which
my files were recovered or restored from when the Lacie went down
(using Getdataback) compared to how they play on my usual IDE drive
(C), they play perfectly fine.

I ran HD Tach and the results look interesting. In the program itself,
it gives a high reading at the start for some internal drives (couldn't
find an external example) which tails off as the graph goes on.

Mine is high all the way, except for a Kinga-sized gap in the middle of
around 120Gb where it drops to zero.

I thought that might be where there's no data, but the amount of data
on the hard drive at presents comes to... 119Gb.

Is it time to say Scan have sold me a duffer?

http://dvdfever.co.uk/seagate400gb.jpg

FWIW, I tried the same program on my Lacie but it crapped out during
the Random Access Test on both Quick and Long Bench tests (the Seagate
crapped out during the Sequential access on the Long Bench test, BTW)

Thanks in advance for any help,

Dom Robinson
Editor, http://DVDfever.co.uk and http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk

 

[Rod Speed]

In replacing a duff Lacie 250Gb external USB 2.0 hard drive (after just
four months of use, and it turns out it was a Maxtor anyway which I've
since heard are crap), I took delivery on Thursday of a Seagate 400Gb
external USB 2.0 hard drive, but after copying a number of files
across, despite it being USB 2.0, that night it was playing back video
files sluggish as hell, if at all.

It's not a problem in XP (using SP1) as I copied the same file to my C
drive and played it from there and it was fine.

When playing back from the Seagate the hard drive light (showing
activity) flashes about once a second as it accesses it.

This isn't what I bought a replacement hard drive to do, and given that
the box states you could even store 100 2hr movies at DVD quality on
it, you'd expect to be able to play them back on it. It also runs at
the usual speed of 7200rpm and has an 8Mb cache like the Lacie it's
replacing.

I thought the delay might be because the Lacie, which behaves in a
dicky fashion, was having a knock-on effect on the Seagate when it was
still attached at the time, but it was still the same after removal.

The Lacie had no problems in playing back video files as smooth as they
would on the C drive, so I really don't know what the problem is.

I was recommended to update the drivers, but the only drivers that come
with it on the disc are for Win98. It states if you have a more recent
OS (I'm using XP on a P4 2.66Ghz machine with 512Mb RAM) then it'll
detect it automatically. Which it did.

Playing a few files on Friday morning, VCD quality avi and mpg files
were playing more normally, albeit with occasional jerkiness as they
get going, and skipping to a later part of the file makes it wait a bit
longer than the Lacie did before continuing while it finds it.

Playing an MPEG2 mpg file was still sluggish and still not doing it
right. I'm wondering if since installing the Seagate it takes time to
warm up? I only thought of that possibility when
I went to bed on Thurs, but like plugging in a VCR that's come back
from the repair shop they always tell you to plug it in for an hour or
two to let it warm up, so I'm thinking along those lines there.

Thats done with VCRs to eliminate any possibility of moisture on the heads
which isnt good for the tape. You dont get that effect with a hard drive.

On Saturday mrning, I did a reboot to see if that might help at
all. VCD quality avi and mpgs are mostly fine but occasionally
take a second or two to get going, during which time they
stall for a moment, but MPEG2 mpg files are still sluggish

Most likely the reason you get a different effect with mpeg2 files
is that they are much bigger for say an hour of viewing time, so
there is more data to move from the drive per minute etc.

and trying to check one to make sure it's okay is
impossible as you click to a later part in the file and
it practically grinds to a halt while it tries to catch up.

That needs much more of the file to be read from the drive.

I don't often need to watch these but always check them after
I've converted a .vob to .mpg to make sure it's okay, and I don't
like the restriction of not being able to play them properly.

Yeah, very unsatisfactory.

(I create DVDs with programmes from TV and am
using this external drive primarily to store them until
a series has finished and I can create the full DVD.)

I just write mpeg2 files to data DVDs and
use a DVD player that can play those.

I also use it for storing other video files.

I'm viewing the files in Windows Media Player 9, as I did from
the Lacie hard drive, and have connected it via the same USB
port, so I'm doing nothing different with the Seagate that I did
with the Lacie so there should be no change in the operation.

Maybe you never did have USB2 working and its always
been using USB1 and there is something about the
Seagate that makes that more obvious than with the Lacie.

Do some timing tests with a stopwatch and just copying files from
the external drive to an internal and see what MBs/sec you are getting.

However, what could be the cause is that the Seagate
parks itself whereas the Lacie didn't AFAIK,

I doubt its that.

and when it's playing the MPEG2 files I can see the drive
activity light coming on as if it can't seem to catch up properly

That may just be because its running at USB1 speed and not USB2.

even though it's meant to have the same cache and seek time
as the Lacie. Is it possible to tell it to keep going and not park?

I doubt its parking.

In response to someone asking me if the problem may be the
way in which my files were recovered or restored from when
the Lacie went down (using Getdataback) compared to how
they play on my usual IDE drive (C), they play perfectly fine.

Yeah, it wont be that and running one of those
mpeg2 files from an internal drive proves that.

I ran HD Tach and the results look interesting. In the program itself,
it gives a high reading at the start for some internal drives (couldn't
find an external example) which tails off as the graph goes on.

Mine is high all the way, except for a Kinga-sized gap
in the middle of around 120Gb where it drops to zero.

I thought that might be where there's no data, but the amount
of data on the hard drive at presents comes to... 119Gb.

Is it time to say Scan have sold me a duffer?

It looks more likely that you've never had USB2 working.

http://dvdfever.co.uk/seagate400gb.jpg

Looks like HDTach is just getting very confused about an external drive.

Try manually copying files from the external to the internal and timing
them with a stopwatch. Bet you dont get that bizarre result with those.
You may well find that the time to copy is USB1 speed tho.

FWIW, I tried the same program on my Lacie but it crapped out during
the Random Access Test on both Quick and Long Bench tests (the Seagate
crapped out during the Sequential access on the Long Bench test, BTW)

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

In replacing a duff Lacie 250Gb external USB 2.0 hard drive (after just
four months of use, and it turns out it was a Maxtor anyway which I've
since heard are crap), I took delivery on Thursday of a Seagate 400Gb
external USB 2.0 hard drive, but after copying a number of files
across, despite it being USB 2.0, that night it was playing back video
files sluggish as hell, if at all.

It's not a problem in XP (using SP1) as I copied the same file to my C
drive and played it from there and it was fine.

Any difference in access pattern re harddrive light?

When playing back from the Seagate the hard drive light (showing
activity) flashes about once a second as it accesses it.

That could be normal as the data is read ahead in large chunks and possibly
even from drive cache.

This isn't what I bought a replacement hard drive to do, and given that
the box states you could even store 100 2hr movies at DVD quality on it,
you'd expect to be able to play them back on it. It also runs at the usual
speed of 7200rpm and has an 8Mb cache like the Lacie it's replacing.

I thought the delay might be because the Lacie, which behaves in a
dickey fashion, was having a knock-on effect on the Seagate when it was
still attached at the time, but it was still the same after removal.

The Lacie had no problems in playing back video files as smooth as they
would on the C drive, so I really don't know what the problem is.

How was drive light activity there?

I was recommended to update the drivers, but the only drivers that come
with it on the disc are for Win98. It states if you have a more recent
OS (I'm using XP on a P4 2.66Ghz machine with 512Mb RAM) then it'll
detect it automatically. Which it did.

Playing a few files on Friday morning, VCD quality avi and mpg files
were playing more normally, albeit with occasional jerkiness as they
get going, and skipping to a later part of the file makes it wait a bit
longer than the Lacie did before continuing while it finds it.

Playing an MPEG2 mpg file was still sluggish and still not doing it right.
I'm wondering if since installing the Seagate it takes time to warm up?
I only thought of that possibility when I went to bed on Thurs, but like
plugging in a VCR that's come back from the repair shop they always tell
you to plug it in for an hour or two to let it warm up, so I'm thinking
along those lines there.
Nah.


On Saturday morning, I did a reboot to see if that might help at all.
VCD quality avi and mpgs are mostly fine but occasionally take a second
or two to get going, during which time they stall for a moment, but MPEG2
mpg files are still sluggish and trying to check one to make sure it's okay
is impossible as you click to a later part in the file and it practically
grinds to a halt while it tries to catch up. I don't often need to watch these
but always check them after I've converted a .vob to .mpg to make sure
it's okay, and I don't like the restriction of not being able to play them
properly. (I create DVDs with programmes from TV and am using this
external drive primarily to store them until a series has finished and
I can create the full DVD.) I also use it for storing other video files.

I'm viewing the files in Windows Media Player 9, as I did from the
Lacie hard drive, and have connected it via the same USB port, so I'm
doing nothing different with the Seagate that I did with the Lacie so
there should be no change in the operation.

However, what could be the cause is that the Seagate parks itself
whereas the Lacie didn't AFAIK, and when it's playing the MPEG2 files
I can see the drive activity light coming on as if it can't seem to catch
up properly even though it's meant to have the same cache and seek time
as the Lacie. Is it possible to tell it to keep going and not park?

In response to someone asking me if the problem may be the way in which
my files were recovered or restored from when the Lacie went down
(using Getdataback) compared to how they play on my usual IDE drive
(C), they play perfectly fine.

I ran HD Tach and the results look interesting. In the program itself,
it gives a high reading at the start for some internal drives (couldn't
find an external example) which tails off as the graph goes on.

Mine is high all the way,

That's USB limiting the drive's speed to it's ceiling.

except for a Kinga-sized gap in the middle of around 120Gb

where it drops to zero.

Or perhaps ~1MB/s which is USB1 speed.

I thought that might be where there's no data, but the amount
of data on the hard drive at present comes to... 119Gb.

Is it time to say Scan have sold me a duffer?

Maybe, if this turns out not to be USB but drive related.

http://dvdfever.co.uk/seagate400gb.jpg

Definitely runs at USB2 speed, but looks like it switched back
temporarily to USB1 and back again during the HD Tach run.

Have you done several runs of HD Tach and are they all alike?

Any diff between warm and cold?

FWIW, I tried the same program on my Lacie but it crapped out during
the Random Access Test on both Quick and Long Bench tests (the Seagate
crapped out during the Sequential access on the Long Bench test, BTW)

Try an older version from before Simply Soft rewrote it.
I believe that's v 2.61. Don't know if that runs on XP though.

 

[tonerhead]

I have the first generation of Seagate external drive (160 gb)
and that works beautifully.

I also have bought the Seagate 400gb external drive,
and I am severely disappointed by it and is mulling
a RMA. There are lot of complaints on the web on
this drive, and if you can get a refund, do it!!!

Here are my problems:

1. A loud clank whenever the disk is going to sleep.
The sound is not assuring.

2. Very slow access time, and it takes 12 sec or more
to wake up. This is very annoying when playing video files.

3. Numerous warnings shown by XP's system viewer about
paging errors.

4. Lots of fragmented files even when the drive is less 5% full.
And this is very odd as compared with the other external and
internal drives that I have. The drive is used to store
video files but the framentation is much worst
than my system drive.

chkdsk shows no error and Sandra shows decent numbers,
but the drive seems sick.

This looks like a lemon, and the warranty is only one year.

 

[Ron Reaugh]

In replacing a duff Lacie 250Gb external USB 2.0 hard drive (after just
four months of use, and it turns out it was a Maxtor anyway which I've
since heard are crap),

Nonsense, Maxtors are fine.

 

[Dom Robinson]

Nonsense, Maxtors are fine.

In that case, why did mine die after four months?
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[J. Clarke]

In that case, why did mine die after four months?

Because you got a lemon?

 

[Dom Robinson]

Maybe you never did have USB2 working and its always
been using USB1 and there is something about the
Seagate that makes that more obvious than with the Lacie.

Do some timing tests with a stopwatch and just copying files from
the external drive to an internal and see what MBs/sec you are getting.

I hadn't thought about doing that, or suspecting the USB 2.0 might not be
activated as the Lacie was fine on the same port (round the back) and when
I've connected my MP3 player (Creative 60Gb Zen) to the front USB port it's
transferred songs across to it at the expected a song/second approx.

Anyway, then came the weirdest thing. I transferred a 100Mb file (well 99.9Mb)
from the Seagate to the internal drive and it took a ridiculous 10mins 16secs.

I transferred the same file back to the Seagate (to another directory so it
didn't overwrite) and it took only a few seconds. Just to be on the safe side,
I had a 200Mb file to test so transferred that to the Seagate and it took a
matter of seconds too.

Realising I had the option of Firewire on the Seagate, I unplugged the USB and
connected it via the Firewire (which after unplugging for the next USB test, I
realised isn't as hot-swappable and I had to plug the firewire cable into the
PC, then the Seagate and then switch the Seagate on - or at least that's how
it worked out for me), even though I know Firewire is about 4/5 the max speed
of USB2.0.

Time to transfer? 4 seconds! Playing back the files that were giving me
trouble before were now an absolute dream! That nagging feeling of having to
send back the Seagate because it was playing up disappeared and was replaced
with elation. You, sir, are a genius!

Going back to the second USB test and I tried the Seagate in the front USB
port (one of three) with the same cable and it only took a few seconds.

I then connected the Seagate to the rear USB port (one of two, but the other's
taken with a Creative device for a wireless keyboard) with the USB cable from
the Lacie, which is much shorter, and the same 100Mb file transferred to the C
drive took 2mins 12secs.

I'll monitor how things go over the next couple of weeks before I set about
returning the Lacie drive (just want to make sure all is well first - call me
paranoid but clearly I don't need things to run anywhere near the max USB
2.0 speed to play back the MPEG2 files but I'll most likely stick with the
Firewire connection.

About the USB ports, could it be that at least one of the rear USB ports are a
bit on the crap side? Strange also that one cable provides much better results
(and better than USB1.1), but still not a patch on Firewire.

I doubt its parking.

I'm sure I read that it does, and if you don't use it for a while then when
accessing the same directories in Windows Explorer the drive has to whirr back
into motion.

Looks like HDTach is just getting very confused about an external drive.

Tried it again (and the Long Bench tests which now worked) and it was much
more what I expected compared to the Seagate bench tests saved within the
program.

Thankyou very much again - I owe you one!
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[Ron Reaugh]

(e-mail address removed) says...
In that case, why did mine die after four months?

Find a mirror.

 

[Dom Robinson]

I have the first generation of Seagate external drive (160 gb)
and that works beautifully.

I also have bought the Seagate 400gb external drive,
and I am severely disappointed by it and is mulling
a RMA. There are lot of complaints on the web on
this drive, and if you can get a refund, do it!!!

Here are my problems:

1. A loud clank whenever the disk is going to sleep.
The sound is not assuring.

Mine doesn't clank. The only sound I tend to notice is when waking it up and
it makes a beep that I first thought was someone setting their car alarm
outside.

2. Very slow access time, and it takes 12 sec or more
to wake up. This is very annoying when playing video files.

I checked the manual for the drive on Seagate's site and I recall times of 10
to 12 secs for that kind of thing, so that's one positive.

For me, once it's woken I have no problems playing them (since posting to this
group!

3. Numerous warnings shown by XP's system viewer about
paging errors.

That doesn't sound good.

4. Lots of fragmented files even when the drive is less 5% full.
And this is very odd as compared with the other external and
internal drives that I have. The drive is used to store
video files but the framentation is much worst
than my system drive.

How is it after defragging? Or does it refuse to defrag if it's a possible
duffer?

chkdsk shows no error and Sandra shows decent numbers,
but the drive seems sick.

This looks like a lemon, and the warranty is only one year.

The Lacie warranty was two years, but then most electrical things tend to crap
out either within 12 months or last for several years.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[Ron Reaugh]

The Lacie warranty was two years, but then most electrical things tend to crap
out either within 12 months or last for several years.

No, typical infant mortaility is within a month.

 

[Dom Robinson]

No, typical infant mortaility is within a month.

Are you posting to the right group?
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[Dom Robinson]

Find a mirror.

Can you explain that remark?
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed (e-mail address removed) wrote

I hadn't thought about doing that, or suspecting the USB 2.0 might not be
activated as the Lacie was fine on the same port (round the back) and when
I've connected my MP3 player (Creative 60Gb Zen) to the front USB port it's
transferred songs across to it at the expected a song/second approx.

Anyway, then came the weirdest thing. I transferred a 100Mb file (well 99.9Mb)
from the Seagate to the internal drive and it took a ridiculous 10mins 16secs.

I transferred the same file back to the Seagate (to another
directory so it didn't overwrite) and it took only a few seconds.
Just to be on the safe side, I had a 200Mb file to test so
transferred that to the Seagate and it took a matter of seconds too.

Looks like its got a significant problem somewhere.

Realising I had the option of Firewire on the Seagate, I unplugged
the USB and connected it via the Firewire (which after unplugging
for the next USB test, I realised isn't as hot-swappable and I had
to plug the firewire cable into the PC, then the Seagate and then
switch the Seagate on - or at least that's how it worked out for me),
even though I know Firewire is about 4/5 the max speed of USB2.0.

In fact its a bit more complicated than that a firewire does usually
transfer at a little higher rate than USB2, and thats mainly because
the protocol stack is quite a bit simpler with firewire than USB2.

Time to transfer? 4 seconds! Playing back the files that were giving
me trouble before were now an absolute dream! That nagging feeling
of having to send back the Seagate because it was playing up
disappeared and was replaced with elation. You, sir, are a genius!

I wont argue with that |-)

Going back to the second USB test and I tried the Seagate in the front USB
port (one of three) with the same cable and it only took a few seconds.

I then connected the Seagate to the rear USB port (one of two, but
the other's taken with a Creative device for a wireless keyboard)

You can obviously swap them for a test.

with the USB cable from the Lacie, which is much shorter, and the
same 100Mb file transferred to the C drive took 2mins 12secs.

Looks like a real problem with some USB ports on that system.

I'll monitor how things go over the next couple of weeks before I
set about returning the Lacie drive (just want to make sure all is
well first - call me paranoid but clearly I don't need things to run
anywhere near the max USB 2.0 speed to play back the MPEG2 files

Yeah, I regularly do it fine over a lan connection.

but I'll most likely stick with the Firewire connection.

Yeah, thats certainly the simplest approach.

About the USB ports, could it be that at least one
of the rear USB ports are a bit on the crap side?

Certainly possible. How reproducible is the HDTach graph ?

Strange also that one cable provides much
better results (and better than USB1.1),

There certainly are some cables that dont do USB2 well.

but still not a patch on Firewire.

I'm sure I read that it does,

Sure, it certainly does, I just meant that it
shouldnt be parking while playing a mpeg file.

and if you don't use it for a while then when accessing the same
directories in Windows Explorer the drive has to whirr back into motion.

Sure, thats normal.

Not now tho. Bet you get a good result on the front USB port.

Tried it again (and the Long Bench tests which now worked)
and it was much more what I expected compared to the
Seagate bench tests saved within the program.

OK, looks like that quirk with the port/cable
you originally used is the problem, not HDTach.

Thankyou very much again - I owe you one!

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Rod Speed]

Can you explain that remark?

He means the problem is with you.

Ignore him, he never did manage to work out that the IBM 75GXP drives had
one hell of a design problem, even when that produced a full class action suit.

 

[Dom Robinson]

He means the problem is with you.

I know. I wasn't going to pander to his trolling as it was very poor.

Ignore him, he never did manage to work out that the IBM 75GXP drives had
one hell of a design problem, even when that produced a full class action suit.

Nice one!
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
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[Dom Robinson]

Looks like its got a significant problem somewhere.

The Seagate or my USB port?

In fact its a bit more complicated than that a firewire does usually
transfer at a little higher rate than USB2, and thats mainly because
the protocol stack is quite a bit simpler with firewire than USB2.

How come USB2 is always classed as having a faster rate then? (I'm a bit
confused now

I wont argue with that |-)




You can obviously swap them for a test.

As things stand at the mo, I've done enough tests for the moment and I just
want to leave it for a bit while it's working fine

Looks like a real problem with some USB ports on that system.

And something I've only just discovered after 22 months of use. Even still,
with the old Lacie USB cable it should've been workable but with the Firewire
it's a breeze.

This'll sound an odd question, but does the fact Firewire is whizzo fast might
slow anything down on the system instead? Probably not, but I'm always
thinking there's a catch somewhere.

Certainly possible. How reproducible is the HDTach graph ?

It'd probably be normal if I used the front USB port and as normal as when I
tried it with the Firewire (which I didn't screengrab as it looked fine)

There certainly are some cables that dont do USB2 well.

I used to think life would be boring if nothing changed, but in the near-two
weeks since the Lacie died I'd rather things were very boring for the next few
days at least

Sure, it certainly does, I just meant that it
shouldnt be parking while playing a mpeg file.

Ah, I didn't mean that but just thought it was being sluggish at that point.

Sure, thats normal.


Not now tho. Bet you get a good result on the front USB port.

Most likely would, yes. I wonder what would happen if I connected it via USB
*and* Firewire? I won't, but any ideas?

OK, looks like that quirk with the port/cable
you originally used is the problem, not HDTach.
Yep.


Thanks for the feedback.

You're welcome. Several things around the house could break down or go on the
fritz and I wouldn't bat an eyelid - I'd just get on with fixing it or calling
someone to sort it, but if something goes wrong with my PC for some reason it
feels like the world's caved in on itself.
--

Dom Robinson Gamertag: DVDfever email: dom at dvdfever dot co dot uk
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk (editor), http://LeilaniWeb.co.uk (editor)
/* 1056 DVDs, 306 games, 163 CDs, 96 cinema films, 27 concerts, videos & news
/* gta san andreas xbox, dr who finale, u2 live,in my father's den, halflife 2
Fight back against "PRESS RED": http://dvdfever.co.uk/pressrel/pressred.shtml
DVDfever.co.uk on BBC News 24's Click Online! - http://tinyurl.com/2mqj4

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed (e-mail address removed) wrote

The Seagate or my USB port?

The port or cable if its reproducibly bad in the HDTach
graph with one port and cable and not with any other config.

How come USB2 is always classed as having a faster rate then?

Thats because the physical layer speed is higher with USB2.

Thats only part of what determines thruput.

(I'm a bit confused now

Life wasnt meant to be confusiong free |-)

As things stand at the mo, I've done enough tests for the moment
and I just want to leave it for a bit while it's working fine
Sure.

And something I've only just discovered after 22 months of use.

Yeah, its often the way that new hardware shows up a problem
with existing hardware thats been used for quite a while.

Even still, with the old Lacie USB cable it should've
been workable but with the Firewire it's a breeze.

This'll sound an odd question, but does the fact Firewire is
whizzo fast might slow anything down on the system instead?

Nope, its the preferred approach connection wise for external hard
drives. The main problem is that its not as common as USB2 on PCs.
Virtually all come with USB2 now, not all come with firewire.

Probably not, but I'm always thinking there's a catch somewhere.

Nar, it works fine.

It'd probably be normal if I used the front USB port and as normal as when
I tried it with the Firewire (which I didn't screengrab as it looked fine)

Yeah, no point if it doesnt have that huge hole in it.

Its normal that its flat, thats because the external protocol
is the limit and why you dont see the slope that is due to
the different speed track bands on the physical hard drive.

I used to think life would be boring if nothing changed,
but in the near-two weeks since the Lacie died I'd rather
things were very boring for the next few days at least

Yeah, computers can be a real pain in the arse at times.

Ah, I didn't mean that but just thought it was being sluggish at that point.

Most likely would, yes. I wonder what would happen if I
connected it via USB *and* Firewire? I won't, but any ideas?

It should just use one or the other.

You're welcome. Several things around the house could break down
or go on the fritz and I wouldn't bat an eyelid - I'd just get on with
fixing it or calling someone to sort it, but if something goes wrong
with my PC for some reason it feels like the world's caved in on itself.

Yeah, I'm so dependent on them now that its a complete pain in the arse
when it stops working properly. I dont use VCRs at all anymore, replaced
them all with an HTPC/PVR with 3 digital TV channel cards and get most
of the movies off the net so there arent any ads in them anymore.

 

[J. Clarke]

I know. I wasn't going to pander to his trolling as it was very poor.


Nice one!

Not really. In the US the national pastime used to be baseball. Now it's
lawsuits. If they _win_ the class action then I'll be impressed.

 

[tonerhead]

Defrag works, write a few 600 meg files will require
deframentation again, even though the disk is only 20% full.

I was going to buy 2 seagate 400 gb internal sata drives,
but after spending $300+ on this crappy drive,
I have lost all my confidence in seagate.

I think they rushed the 7200.8 to the market, and they
are supposed to be one of the most reliable disk
drive manufacturers.

Sigh!!