Tom's Hardware > Forum > Storage > Hard Disks > Seagate HD 500GB issues lately (pics/benchmark), help

Seagate HD 500GB issues lately (pics/benchmark), help

Forum Storage : Hard Disks - Seagate HD 500GB issues lately (pics/benchmark), help

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potti10k   10-11-2009 at 05:24:45 AM

ok i have had this hard drive for less then 2 years, i have 3 hard drives in this computer, 1x 500gb and 2x 320gb, all seagate models. I work a lot with video editing and such so i need quite a bit of space and such. My 500gb has 2 partitions (90 and 390), the 90gb has the windows and programs and the 390gb as well the other HD's all host videos or other random files i need to use.

I recently got HD Tune 3.50 and PerfectDisk 10 for defrag and such because recently the 500gb been acting up. This is the first time a HD is giving me issues so i have no experience in this but here is a few pictures of HD tune so you guys can maybe help me out figure what is the issue with the Hard drive.

Now here is the pictures for my 500gb that is giving me issues.
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/500ben.jpg
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/500hea.jpg
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/500inf.jpg


I took screens of one 320gb as well so you guys can see the difference
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/320ben.jpg
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/320hea.jpg
http://signingmousepads.com/comp/320inf.jpg


Any help to fix my 500GB would be appreciated, thank you.

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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   10-11-2009 at 06:12:42 AM

The 500GB disk is using PIO mode, which causes very low performance and very high CPU utilization.

To fix this, go to Device Manager and delete the controller serving that drive, not the disk itself but the controller. If you delete it - it will be found when you reboot and the device will be 'reset' to use DMA or Direct Memory Access mode again.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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potti10k   10-11-2009 at 06:42:44 AM

sub mesa wrote :

The 500GB disk is using PIO mode, which causes very low performance and very high CPU utilization.

To fix this, go to Device Manager and delete the controller serving that drive, not the disk itself but the controller. If you delete it - it will be found when you reboot and the device will be 'reset' to use DMA or Direct Memory Access mode again.



I looked and the 3 primary's all said DMA on transfer mode (current transfer mode been ultra DMA 4 or 5 or 6) and i had 3 secondarys all are on DMA on transfer mode but 1 is saying no current transfer mode and the other one is current transfer mode pio even if DMA is selected on transfer mode. I dont know if its that one or not, also i dont see any delete, do you mean uninstall and also what happens if i actually do it while this HD is my main windows loader.

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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   10-11-2009 at 04:19:00 PM

Delete button on your keyboard uninstalls the controller. It will prompt you to reboot i think, do this and it will be found again; this time in DMA mode.

Even though your device supports DMA and DMA is "activated" its currently running in PIO mode. You're the third person in two days to come to these forums with such problems; its very common and windows nails their users by not helping them with this boring problem. A simple "reset to DMA mode" would do.

No device should ever use PIO. If they do, your whole computer gets transformed in a 486-class PC regarding performance.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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potti10k   10-11-2009 at 05:08:02 PM

ok i did what u said, deleted the one that said pio mode, restarted the computer (twice) i checked and it was on ultra mode 2 but then after i tried to extract a file it took about double the time of my other drive then i tried to extract another file and i went to check the controller again and i saw it switched itself back to pio.

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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   10-11-2009 at 05:52:19 PM

Then you got a hardware issue:

- bad cabling
- EMI (interferrence)
- power issues
- HDD issues

So replace cable and check HDD thoroughly. It is keeps switching to PIO something is wrong because DMA mode timeouts on your drive.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   10-11-2009 at 05:53:40 PM

By the way, 50 degrees celcius is not a good temperature to run your disk at, and 60 degrees is even worse. While high temperatures themselves are not that dangerous; temperature variations are because these contract/expand metal which likely has an impact on the lifespan of the drive.

I don't think its linked to your PIO issue though.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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potti10k   10-11-2009 at 08:56:18 PM

i think i found the issue, i changed the cable and now i am getting faster and better results. For the heat yes i know but the way my case is made i have no fan at the bottom so i am kinda stuck until i change the case or get a new comp

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Bronze Storage badge sub mesa   10-11-2009 at 10:49:29 PM

Your old cable caused the PIO issue, in all likelihood.

Make sure you got a good backup though, as the temperature issue might impact on the drive lifespan and chance on failure.

------------------------------ ...man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but usually manages to pick himself up, walk over or around it, and carry on.
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