On 15 May 2007 00:52:26 GMT, Pecos
<anortRemOveThIs&2on21@mindspring.com> wrote:


>I am seeking advice from all of you experienced hardware experts out
>there to write the final chapter in A Case of Maxtaken Identity.
>
>I am still trying to replace my now defunct Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB
>SATA I 1.5 GB/s 16 MB hard drive, one of two drives in my RAID array. I
>now have several options. During a call to Seagate/Maxtor to get some
>information about their Maxtor Maxline III models, I happened to ask them
>if there was a warranty on my refurbished drive. The surprise answer was
>that it was still under warranty.

I don't understand what the problem is. The drive fails,
you get the RMA, and ship it to Maxtor. They send the
replacement. End of story, except for packing material
which I mention below.




>
>I was very happy to hear this. After I received the email stating what I
>needed to do to send the drive to them, I noted that they have a program
>that would allow me to receive a hard drive via two day air before
>returning the bad drive. They would also send the packaging needed for
>returning the bad drive (which I need) and prepay for the return
>shipping. This would cost $19.99.

No you do not need to buy more packing material. When you
get the replacement drive cross-shipped in advance, you can
take the packing material from THAT drive and use it to pack
your failed drive. I have done this many times (every time
I could, actually) without problems. So the cross-ship
means you have a limited time (think it's 30 days) within
which to send them the failed drive or else you are billed
for the replacement drive at that point. Your only cost is
postage to return the failed drive to them.



>
>I also noticed in the email that physical damage to the drive would void
>the warranty. When I called Seagate/Maxtor back to cancel the original
>RMA and sign up for the Advanced Replacement program, I was honest and
>told them that after the drive had failed, I had taken it out and tapped
>it on the floor to free any possible stuck heads.

1) Do not tap the drive.
2) When asking for an RMA, less information is better than
more. At this point I think you could have voided the
warranty andn possibly, rightly so.



>I knew this trick
>sometimes worked with older drives. The support person told me that if
>the drive was damaged internally, I would be charged for a replacement
>drive.

You are lucky they didn't tell you that the warranty was
void. Forget about the incident and just send in the drive.



> I also told her that the drive clicks five or more times during
>POST, although I don't know if it did that before my 'last chance' risky
>fix, that wasn't a last chance risky fix after all now that I know it had
>a warranty. ;-)

The CSR you contact is not a diagnostic technician nor the
designer, all that is required is to inform that the drive
doesn't work, and if they require you run the Diagnostics,
you do so.




>
>I have two options:
>
>Option 1:
>Return the bad Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L250S0 250 GB SATA I 16 MB NCQ drive
>to Seagate/Maxtor for a replacement. The replacement drive will most
>likely also be a refurbished drive.
>Risk the additional cost of a replacement drive if the warranty has been
>voided.
>The warranty expires April 16, 2009.
>
>Option 2:
>Buy two new Maxtor Maxline III 7V250F0 250 GB SATA II 16 MB NCQ drives
>with 3 year warranties.
>Cost: $130 more than Option 1 if the warranty on old drive is good
> $50 more than Option 1 if the warranty on old drive is void
>
>This seemed like a no-brainer until I read about the possibility that I
>may have voided the warranty.


I recommend you stop making a simple thing into a difficult
one. Forget about all the issues you have mentioned thus
far, and I mean ALL of them.

Make a choice. Do you want to store your data on "possibly"
refurbished drives and if so, on a RAID1 array? If the
answer is yes, get the replacement sent and reuse that
packing material to send them your failed drive. You
already mentioned the tapping of the drive so don't go out
of your way to give them another reason to reject it.

If the answer is no, buy the new drives and use them for the
array or without an array, and use the packing material from
the new drive to repack the old one, plus put that retail
box inside of a larger shipping box padded on all sides.
Return the failed drive without getting an advanced
replacement, only waiting for their acceptance of the drive
and to send the replacement.




>
>So all of you esteemed hardware veterans out there - have I toasted my
>old drive and will it have internal damage? Has this in fact voided my
>warranty?

Forget about this issue, see the two paragraphs I wrote
above.


>
>Please help me write the final chapter in my article:
>http://www.mindspring.com/~anorton1/..._Identity.html
>
>I will tally up the votes for Options 1 and 2 and will update my webpage
>with a summary of who voted and how you voted. I am doing this as a sort
>of an experiment. Unless I have a really good reason not to, I am
>letting you make the final(??) choice for me.

You are out of your mind. This is a very simple process
which you are turning into a saga. Next time just get a
good repair shop to do it all for you, the whole process is
much easier and less time consuming than you have pretended
it is.