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RMA Time?
- Thread starter dj_2004
- Start date
Dangman
Ninja Editor SuperMod
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- Dec 15, 2005
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Try w/e software Samsung offers to test their hard drives to confirm Everest's readings.
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2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
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SMART isn't the end-all, be-all in predicting disk failure. Have you been getting flaky performance from this drive, like delayed write failures or corruption? Are there noises out of the ordinary emanating from this drive?
While that's true, some raid controllers will kick a drive off an array if it fails SMART, making the drive useless.
As far as I'm concerned, SMART fail = drive fail...
The drive has been working fine. No weird noises either. I'll give Samsung's utility a try tonight.
SMART is better than nothing. Usually even if things seem fine errors are the harbringer of HDD death. I just had to RMA a Western Digital. I suspect that most other manufacturers are similar in their RMA policy. Your time to wait for a replacement will depend on the type. I did a credit card hold so they sent me one in a box and I sent back the old. The credit card is only charged if I backout on the deal. Total time was about 4 days total till I was up and running.
Drive is definitely bad as it is causing system hangs. Filled out the online XRA form today and will see if they respond. If not, then I will do the same procedure I did with this drive back in August 2008: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1332351
Hopefully this time I get more than a year out of the drive.
Edit: Ah Samsung, your support is horrible. Can't even boot the ESTool (very common problem) via CD. Only way to fix this is by making a bootable floppy or USB stick, of which I do not have the option or time to do. I'm going to just send it in and screw testing the drive... Same as what I did back in 2008 for the same reason. Hopefully this will be my last Samsung HDD as their (online) support is the worst I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with concerning HDDs. Their HDDs are good - cool, quiet, fast - but their support is just plain bad. The actual RMA company is excellent from my past experience, though (TTS is the company that handles the RMA, not Samsung).
Edit #2: Wow, I actually received my RMA # and label by filling out their online XRA form. Amazing.
Hopefully this time I get more than a year out of the drive.
Edit: Ah Samsung, your support is horrible. Can't even boot the ESTool (very common problem) via CD. Only way to fix this is by making a bootable floppy or USB stick, of which I do not have the option or time to do. I'm going to just send it in and screw testing the drive... Same as what I did back in 2008 for the same reason. Hopefully this will be my last Samsung HDD as their (online) support is the worst I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with concerning HDDs. Their HDDs are good - cool, quiet, fast - but their support is just plain bad. The actual RMA company is excellent from my past experience, though (TTS is the company that handles the RMA, not Samsung).
Edit #2: Wow, I actually received my RMA # and label by filling out their online XRA form. Amazing.
Last edited:
Well, the replacement drive was fine for three days then the B8 value went bad. I emailed tech support stating this, and what the B8 value actually is and if I should be worried about it. They emailed me back stating they'll issue another RMA and this time I get a pre-paid UPS shipping label (woohoo!). No word on my question, however.
So, back it goes to Samsung. Not sure why I'm having bad luck with this particular HDD. It stays the coolest of all six of my HDDs and it isn't worked too hard. Truthfully, the replacement drive has been performing fine, but I guess the B8 value is something of concern if Samsung is willing to issue a RMA for it.
Oh, and I've had no issues with Samsung's RMA procedure. I even shipped it in one of those $5 USPS Flate Rate boxes (else I would be paying $12 for shipping) and they accepted it. Replacement drives are sent via 2-day UPS shipping in the Samsung box that these drives are sold in. Signature is required for delivery (quite annoying when one is not home much). Email support is very helpful and quick to reply, never longer than one day for me.
So, back it goes to Samsung. Not sure why I'm having bad luck with this particular HDD. It stays the coolest of all six of my HDDs and it isn't worked too hard. Truthfully, the replacement drive has been performing fine, but I guess the B8 value is something of concern if Samsung is willing to issue a RMA for it.
Oh, and I've had no issues with Samsung's RMA procedure. I even shipped it in one of those $5 USPS Flate Rate boxes (else I would be paying $12 for shipping) and they accepted it. Replacement drives are sent via 2-day UPS shipping in the Samsung box that these drives are sold in. Signature is required for delivery (quite annoying when one is not home much). Email support is very helpful and quick to reply, never longer than one day for me.