Warning about Maxtor ATA-133 Drives

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Thread: Warning about Maxtor ATA-133 Drives

  1. #1
    Expensive Sushi SpysLikeUs's Avatar
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    Warning about Maxtor ATA-133 Drives

    I noticed many on the OT threads have these drive.

    It's no surprise, since it got great spec's;
    40mb density platters, ATA-133, 7200rpm,
    40pin EIDE, liquid baring(quite) mechanism.

    I just wanted to warn you guys about
    pushing these D740X-6L's too hard.

    I got the latest Promise RAID controller with
    support of ATA-133 drives, and Promise worked
    closely with Maxtor to develope this controller.

    After 72 hours one of my new Maxtor's siezed up and died.
    www.newegg.com generously replaced it, and the new set
    of drives are running fine, but here's what I noticed;

    The drive that died was very different from it's twin.

    It had a completely different controller board from
    a much earlier serial number series. Also the houseing
    around the spindle was manufactured differently, and
    the IDE connection housing was different, and copper.

    I suspect this drive was not fully ATA-133 complient
    until enough controllers were in the market for them
    to uncover problems; then Maxtor re-engineered it.

    My advice is before you push your D740X-6L drive to
    the limit make sure they fit the following profile:

    SN 662206XXXXXX or higher (front side sticker)
    PGSXX controller or higher (front side sticker)
    aluminum IDE connector pins (bottom back side)
    exposed spindle core (bottom center)

  2. #2
    Evil Monkey Shark thebove's Avatar
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    maybe your dead drive was just a fluke, but thanks for the heads up
    Abit IP35 Pro - Core2Duo E8400 - 4GB Crucial Ballistix 1066 - ATI 4850HD
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    Dave? Dave?! Dave's not here...

  3. #3
    Expensive Sushi SpysLikeUs's Avatar
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    If the drive had died mechanically,
    I would agree with you.

    But what's queer is how Maxtor's own utilities
    don't see this drive, while Partition Magic 7 does!

    after the failure, I was able to get the drive
    spinning up and working, but it was no longer
    formatable on an older ATA-100 bus.

    Leaving me to believe the controller on the drive
    simply could not handle the ATA-133 bus correctly.
    Since the Promise ATA-133 controller refused to
    deal with this drive, and reported a false status.

    Also the 1720 error's using that new early warning
    for drive failure only occured on the ATA-100 not
    the ATA-133 bus. I can't blame Promise since my
    new replacement drives are RAID'ing wonderfully.

    I'm just putting you guys on the Q.T.

    You are free to draw your own conclusions.

    Peace

  4. #4
    Mako Shark ZhaoYun's Avatar
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    Originally posted by thebove
    maybe your dead drive was just a fluke, but thanks for the heads up
    Ditto, the Maxtor D740x L series hds are working great for me. Although I must agree that the MaxBlast software is flaky and I had to use some other utility.
    ~Knight of the OC Crusaders~
    ~Sigma Dir of the Cooler's Guild~

    I'm still saving up to build a new rig... While everyone else has already joined the darkside.

  5. #5
    nuclear launch detected kpxgq's Avatar
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    Originally posted by ZhaoYun

    Ditto, the Maxtor D740x L series hds are working great for me. Although I must agree that the MaxBlast software is flaky and I had to use some other utility.
    bitfenix prodigy, i5 4670k, asrock z87e-itx, zotac gtx 970, crucial m500 msata, seasonic x650, dell st2220t

  6. #6
    Tiger Shark AMD maniac's Avatar
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    Never buy a Maxtor.
    AMD XP 2600+ Barton
    768MB 2700 DDR
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    My Toy:
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  7. #7
    Great White Shark AMD Soldier's Avatar
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    Originally posted by AMD maniac
    Never buy a Maxtor.
    Never buy a IBM.

  8. #8
    Mako Shark ZhaoYun's Avatar
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    Originally posted by AMD Soldier
    Never buy a IBM.
    Love that 8 hour a day limit.
    ~Knight of the OC Crusaders~
    ~Sigma Dir of the Cooler's Guild~

    I'm still saving up to build a new rig... While everyone else has already joined the darkside.

  9. #9
    GO BENGALS!!!!! gateways_rule's Avatar
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    Originally posted by AMD Soldier


    Never buy a IBM.
    Yeah no kidding! I've had one die and it wasn't pleasant.

  10. #10
    Tiger Shark Stratus Fear's Avatar
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    Originally posted by AMD maniac
    Never buy a Maxtor.
    Why not? I've had my Maxtor for nearly three years -- no problems, and still runs great.
    Apple iMac 20" :: Intel Core Duo @ 2.0GHz (Yonah) :: 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 RAM :: Western Digital 250GB SATA HDD :: ATi Radeon X1600 256MB :: Matsushita UJ-846 DVD-+RW

    Mac OS X 10.4.8. Booya, Windows users.
    Disclaimer: THIS IS A JOKE. Thanks.

  11. #11
    Reef Shark Rich1988's Avatar
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    thanks!

    thanks from the info, know we know...
    Proud Member of the SFOT Advocates

    "It's the little things you do while others aren't looking that end up shaping your future..."
    -me

    "Take the road less taken and......... run into less traffic..."
    -lol

  12. #12
    BANANARAMA FOFANA tu2thepoo's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Stratus Fear
    Why not? I've had my Maxtor for nearly three years -- no problems, and still runs great.
    on the other hand, the only drives I ever had problems with were maxtors. then again, my dad's 30gb maxtor works fine. it all boils down to personal experience, i suppose.

  13. #13
    Tiger Shark DaSuperhick's Avatar
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    I've had Quantum 850mb for almost 7years now, hehe beat that!

    and I've read earlier how ppl hate quantum...

  14. #14
    Hammerhead Shark BMGundam's Avatar
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    Originally posted by ZhaoYun

    Love that 8 hour a day limit.
    It's 11 hr a day.

  15. #15
    Sleeps with the Fishes talldude's Avatar
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    I've got a 8 year old 2.5Gb (it was HUGE for the time ) hdd. I think it was a seagate, can't remember and don't feel like looking it up. Anyways, still going strong. Also got a 3 year old 28.5Gb barracuda ATA that's going strong. Newest one is a maxtor D740X 60Gb w/fluid bearing. Nice HDD.

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