[mythtv-users] OT: Need help diagnosing backend hardware failure

[Darren Richards]

On 11/18/05, Nick <knowledgejunkie at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 19/11/05, Darren Richards <darren.richards at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks everyone for the advice.  I was able to dig into it this
> > evening, and one of my hard drives bit the dust.  It seems to be
> > drawing too much current, which causes the power supply to shut itself
> > down.
> >
> > Those hard drives have been spinning 24/7 for a couple years now.  I
> > figured they'd give out sooner or later, but I was hoping for later.
> > This drive (a maxtor 250gb) only lasted two years...  I guess it's an
> > excuse to upgrade.  I found a great deal on newegg on a Western
> > Digital 400GB hard drive.  $157 after rebates.  (one rebate is
> > "hidden", and doesn't show up until you check out.  You can either
> > choose a $20 refund or a 1 year subscription to pc magazine.)
>
> When you get the new drive installed, I'd recommend running smartd (if
> you're not already) and running weekly tests on your drives,
> especially if they're on 24/7 (might give you a headstart on getting
> data saved before the drive finally bites the big one). I'd also look
> into the varying warranty levels between the different manufactures
> (I've been buying Seagate recently because they're quiet and have a
> 5yr warranty).
>
> Nick

I'm not even sure what smartd is.  I'll look into it.  I figure my
drives don't have any mission critical data on them.  The drive that
went out just contained my DVD's, and luckily I have all those backed
up on DVD already ;)

I agree about the seagate drives...  I already have one 400gb seagate
in my backend server.  I've had good luck with WD in the past, so I
think I'm going to take my chances...

-darren