Re: [Thinkpad] Hard Drive Buys and Don'ts

And don't forget that IBM has special firmware for the FRU label parts that
do NOT use the same firmware that Hitachi offers... I need not remind the
old timers, but for the newer members...

My T41 came with an IBM FRU Hitachi 40GB/5400 drive and I replaced it with a
retail Hitachi 60GB/5400 drive. The IBM software that was being distributed
to flash new firmware on the IBM FRU 40, 60 and 80 GB Hitachi drives saw the
drive as the same model number as the IBM FRU models, yet it trashed the
drive when flashed. IBM said they don't support Hitachi drives; Hitachi
said that they don't support iBM firmware. These were the same drives, as
far as model number went, but there were differences in the firmware between
the two drives. I've also noticed a lot less noise from the HItachi branded
drive, but that's just me.

Moral of the story is that I've had better luck with Hitachi drives from
Hitachi directly.

>From: "Bruce Markowitz" <scosgt@worldnet.att.net>
>To: "Anthony R. Gold" <thinkpadlist@ahjg.co.uk>,"Thinkpad Mailing List"
><thinkpad@stderr.org>
>Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] Hard Drive Buys and Don'ts
>Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 19:26:53 -0400
>
>OK, you made me jump in.
>IBM laptop drives, especially those previously provided by Hitachi, are
>DEATHSTARS. The HItachi drives are prone to sudden death. No warning, they
>just drop dead. The IBM branded drives are NOTORIOUS for bad bearing
>whines,
>rendering them unsellable (and in many cases un usable anyplace but
>outdoors).
>I am of course referring to the 4, 6.4, 10, and 12 gig drives. I have also
>encountered 32 gig 5400 drives that felt like they were going to shake
>apart. And, I personally had a 48 gig 5400 that did sudden death.
>I ONLY buy Tosihba drives now. So far, no bad noise problems, none I have
>bought in two or three years have died.
>And the prices are quite competitive.
>As I do this for re-sale, and might have to eat a bad drive, this is not a
>scientific exercise for me. Stick with the Toshiba drives.
>Years ago, I bought new Toshibas that had IBM drives factory installed, and
>I have seen many brands of drives with FRU numbers (Sigma, Fujutsu,
>others).
>IBM buys and supplies what is available, most likely there ARE Toshiba
>drives supplied in IBM laptops from time to time.
>Just my two cents.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Anthony R. Gold" <thinkpadlist@ahjg.co.uk>
>To: "Thinkpad Mailing List" <thinkpad@stderr.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2004 6:32 PM
>Subject: Re: [Thinkpad] Hard Drive Buys and Don'ts
>
>
>On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 15:40:01 -0000 (GMT), Larry Silberstein wrote:
>
> > Gosh, Tony, pardon me for living. :) I didn't realize I'd get the third
> > degree here for trying to share my information. There was a posting
>either
> > here or in another forum from a Thinkpad repair shop owner who said he
> > frequently was called upon to replace Thinkpad hard drives. He said that
> > in his experience Hitachi was not terribly reliable but that Toshiba
> > seemed to be the most reliable (the one least frequently needing
> > replacement).
>
>My own anecdote is that several of the Thinkpads I'm using came with IBM
>supplied Hitachi drives but not one had an IBM supplied Toshiba. If that
>observation is an accurate reflection of how IBM supplies computers (and I
>have no separate knowledge of this one way or the other) then it would
>predict what you recall was claimed by that shop owner but without
>implying anything interesting or useful about relative reliability [other
>than IBM approves of Hitachi drives - which itself is quite interesting.]
>
> > I understand the difference between scientific data and anecdotal data,
> > but until one sees such a scientific study one can only refer to
> > andecdotal information. The alternate is to go with sheer pot luck.
>
>Drives are complex mechanical devices and I advise anyone to use them with
>the full expectation that they definitely all WILL eventually die, with
>all that that implies about making backups and keeping good track of both
>purchasing records and warranty information.
>
>Tony
>
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Received on Wed Sep 1 20:41:10 2004