SOLVED WD Utility for RED drives with High Load Cycle Counts

[9C1 Newbee]

You sir, have a bad drive :D

 

[DJABE]

Mine are all good now (after update with WD utility for RED drives).
Only the specimen MFD mid november 2013. was having this issue with LCC.
Other three (3), MFD >= december 2013 are all good. LCC is increasing too, but in a really small increments.. I don't know why is that but I guess that's OK.

 

[Johhhn]

You sir, have a bad drive :D

hehehe I've been wanting to use this one for a while ;)

Just got off the phone with WDC (they didn't respond to my new case I submitted last night, so I wanted to call them). They're shipping another advanced replacement drive (with no credit card hold) and said they would make a note to pack it better.

We shall see!

 

[Johhhn]

Update:
Received 2nd replacement drive today- They nexted dayed it for me- VERY nice.

However, it was still packed the same-- tiny box bigger than the drive itself.

AND, this time, I didn't get a new drive :( I got a recertified black label drive dated 16 April 2014 and made in Thailand vs Malaysia. Thoughts? Should I buy a new one and replace this one and use it as a cold spare?

AND, I was still able to upgrade the firmware using the WD RED utility. So, all of my drives needed it. So far, it seems that the utility did change the timer from 8seconds.

Will update again once the resliver is done.

Code:

  pool: huge
state: DEGRADED
status: One or more devices is currently being resilvered.  The pool will
    continue to function, possibly in a degraded state.
action: Wait for the resilver to complete.
  scan: resilver in progress since Fri May  2 01:33:33 2014
        73.8G scanned out of 5.82T at 184M/s, 9h5m to go
        12.3G resilvered, 1.24% done

 

[cyberjock]

I'd call them up, tell them to pull their head out of their ass and pack it properly.

Actually, do you have a picture of this box? I'm wondering what the heck they are using now...

 

[Johhhn]

I'd call them up, tell them to pull their head out of their ass and pack it properly.

Have you RMA'd any WD drives recently? Wondering if you or anyone else received the tiny box as well.

I already asked them to pack it properly once. SIGH Time to wait and see how this recertified drive behaves. Getting 200M+/s resilvers-- that sound about right for a 6 drive setup?

 

[cyberjock]

I haven't in more than 6 months. But I edited my post above and asked if you could provide a picture.

 

[Johhhn]

Sure thing. I've ordered literally hundreds of drives over the years and have only received a couple shipped this way- and most of the time they were DOA.

 

[cyberjock]

Actually, that looks like the same box I've seen from WD, and Seagate, and HGST.

I'd say you got exactly what we all get.

You probably remember those foam boxes from long ago? They replaced them with the plastic that helps absorb force and "floats" the hard drive in the middle. I prefer the old foam boxes, but that's basically the industry standard now. :(

 

[Johhhn]

sigh. Guess I'm spoiled from ordering with amazon and new egg. I need to see if I have any RMA'd boxes from last year- I swear they were better. hmmmmmm

 

[cyberjock]

sigh. Guess I'm spoiled from ordering with amazon and new egg. I need to see if I have any RMA'd boxes from last year- I swear they were better. hmmmmmm

Well, to be honest, the Amazon and Newegg shipping is a bit over the top. Not that I'm complaining, just that i'd say it's more about looking good while not really being superior to other shipping options. And since so many people complain about crappy packaging, if it makes you go to Newegg and buy it over Amazon, then Newegg is doing something right.

 

[joeschmuck]

Oh yes, I prefer NewEgg always, you get a superior return policy. If I got a drive that failed within the first month, I'd contact NewEgg and get a new replacement, I wouldn't go to WD.

 

[panz]

I received my 12 WD Reds from Amazon packed into plastic air bubbles.

 

[Johhhn]

Oh yes, I prefer NewEgg always, you get a superior return policy. If I got a drive that failed within the first month, I'd contact NewEgg and get a new replacement, I wouldn't go to WD.

I prefer Amazon.. free 2 day shipping and they will do returns also if I bought stuff within a month.. AND, if you ask nicely, they'll give you credit back for stuff if you bought it a few months prior :D (I buy a LOT of stuff on amazon)

 

[9C1 Newbee]

Sure thing. I've ordered literally hundreds of drives over the years and have only received a couple shipped this way- and most of the time they were DOA.

I received 7 replacement green drives in the same packaging, Johhhhhhhhhhhhn.

 

[DJABE]

How do you people receive drives after initial purchase? In our continent, if you go to a retail shop (that means not online shop) all you got is "ESD protective" slim bag! I guess they ship those things from Thailand and Malaysia in a big boxes with tens of these drives with protective foam etc... otherwise they won't survive such a trip!

 

[Ericloewe]

How do you people receive drives after initial purchase? In our continent, if you go to a retail shop (that means not online shop) all you got is "ESD protective" slim bag! I guess they ship those things from Thailand and Malaysia in a big boxes with tens of these drives with protective foam etc... otherwise they won't survive such a trip!

The local hardware store sells them like yours, I can only hope they came decently packed.
Deliveries (Amazon, in my case) come packed to varying degrees of protection and pretty much everyone will tell you a different story. Generally, the packaging works.

 

[ser_rhaegar]

How do you people receive drives after initial purchase? In our continent, if you go to a retail shop (that means not online shop) all you got is "ESD protective" slim bag! I guess they ship those things from Thailand and Malaysia in a big boxes with tens of these drives with protective foam etc... otherwise they won't survive such a trip!

When you buy bulk like a retailer you get a large carton with foam inside that has 10-20 or more slots that drives sit in.

 

[panz]

My drives were within standard ESD bags (with Silica gel), then foiled into a lot of plastic air bubbles, then inside a box made of cardboard (with a lot of paper inside). Perfect Amazon-style packaging :) I think we're off topic now ;)

 

[thefox13]

Just found out about this issue on my 3TB Reds....LCC count was > 427k in 6000 hours...ouch.