Re:Originally posted by: guy
I have the same exact issue as you, but with my 200gb drive. i have tried everything you have, but its still red.
btw i have been hearing some sounds from my comp. like thrashed gears. imo the drive is on its last leg.
Thanks for the reply.
A few questions: Is it the only HD in your PC? If so, then I guess it is making the sound (if you've ruled out fans).
What do benchmarks show on the drive–have you tried others beside Sandra? Are you getting about 14-18MB/sec Drive Index on the latest Sandra version with "Use overlapped I/O requests" checked, and 45-53MB/sec with the box UNchecked?
Was your drive ever showing errors with the SeaTools diags in DOS? If so, did writing zeroes to it fix that issue? (It did on mine).
What is your exact "UltraATA CRC error rate" numerical data?
Remember, I hooked up an 80gb Seagate of the same specs and it got the SAME EXACT Sandra results as the 120gb that is showing the SpeedFan SMART error.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, or think otherwise, but I'm most inclined to believe in my case there was something wrong with the drive's MFT, MBR, hidden file structure, etc., that the LL format fixed. And, the SMART data cannot be reset from all I've found on the subject. So once you have the SMART errors, they are somehow written into the drive's firmware permanently, and the only thing that might possibly get rid of the error is TIME.
Re:I have the same exact issue as you, but with my 200gb drive. i have tried everything you have, but its still red.
btw i have been hearing some sounds from my comp. like thrashed gears. imo the drive is on its last leg.
Re:The numbers are different from what I get with mine, I'm getting 200-1-0 respectively for "Value", "Worst", "Warn". Your screenshot doesn't mention "warn", but you have 2 "200" figures for "worst" and "value".
I don't know what to think about unchecking that "Use overlapped I/O requests" box and getting normal results after that. Since this is on BOTH Seagate drives, I can only conclude it's some kind of an "issue" with Seagate drives, and the new Sandra version, and/or the mobo controllers.
As for the SMART data, I still can't find out how to reset that. ICOH that it will get back to "green" as time passes but I can't get any definitive into regarding that.
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Originally posted by: guy
Also try Everest (http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1<=en).
SMART readout (http://www.jeff7.com/anandtech/smart%20readout.png) for one of my Seagate 200's.
Isn't Everest "the newer AIDA32" without the benchmarks? I tried that, I mentioned above it gives the same exact data, but next to UltraATA CRC Error rate in it, it says "Always passing"!!!!
What program is that you used to get your SMART data, is that Everest?
Yes, that screenshot there is from Everest. The numbers look the same too – 0 Threshold, 200 Value, 200 Worst, and 0 Data.
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Also try Everest (http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en).
SMART readout (http://www.jeff7.com/anandtech/smart%20readout.png) for one of my Seagate 200's.
Isn't Everest "the newer AIDA32" without the benchmarks? I tried that, I mentioned above it gives the same exact data, but next to UltraATA CRC Error rate in it, it says "Always passing"!!!!
What program is that you used to get your SMART data, is that Everest?
Re:Also try Everest (http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en).
SMART readout (http://www.jeff7.com/anandtech/smart%20readout.png) for one of my Seagate 200's.
Re:I unchecked the box "Use overlapped I/O requests" in the options and now, I get 54MB Drive Index! No more horrible 18MB. So what is this an indication of?
Re:This issue is partially fixed, and I have NO IDEA why, but only when the box is checked to "bypass OS disk cache". It's still only about 18MB Drive Index with cache on. See http://{$MySite}/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=1714300 , and the post "10/16/2005 12:46 PM" (although your time may be different). Post starts out "Well this just BLOWS me away".
I still have the red flag for "UltraATA CRC error rate". I did search for "restart SMART data" and from what I found, it's impossible. So I'm still waiting for anyone to tell me if it really is impossible to reset SMART data. Apparently, from what I read, the SMART data will eventually go back to "green" since I zero-filled the HD. Is this true?
Re:Originally posted by: guy
smart is enabled in the bios?
Any overclock on the system?
I would try another cable, make sure the hd is on the END connector, not middle. Cable should be less than 18". Try lowering the DMA mode to udma 4 or 5 (1 lower than current). Some round ide cables have a ground strap, try it grounded and ungrounded.
edit btw llf does nothing on ide/sata drives except zeriong sector data. Only old mfm/rll drives truley llf.
a manufactures diag may do something, maybe lots of bad sectors have been remapped to the spare track, that will screw up benchmarks pretty good as the heads constantly seek to the spare sector track. some diags will reset some of the smart data as well as try to reclaim bad sectors that have appeared since the factory llf. btw bad sectors dont show up to the end user (like during a surface scan) until the bad sector track has been filled.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I mentioned I tried another cable, that was about the first thing I tried (and it's connected properly, it's the Gigabyte branded 18" cables that came with the mobo. I tried another ATA66+ cable I had here in case the GB cables were flaky. All cables were flat ribbon since I've seen rounded cables hurt performance).
I don't see anything in the BIOS pertaining to "SMART", that's one of the first things I disable in the BIOS in PC builds when I see it. There's no way of changing UDMA modes.
So do you know of any diags that reset SMART data? I'm beginning to think that's what the problem is, it just needs to be reset after I zeroed it out since the 80gb Seagate drive also had the same benchmark results.
Thanks.
Re:smart is enabled in the bios?
Any overclock on the system?
I would try another cable, make sure the hd is on the END connector, not middle. Cable should be less than 18". Try lowering the DMA mode to udma 4 or 5 (1 lower than current). Some round ide cables have a ground strap, try it grounded and ungrounded.
edit btw llf does nothing on ide/sata drives except zeriong sector data. Only old mfm/rll drives truley llf.
a manufactures diag may do something, maybe lots of bad sectors have been remapped to the spare track, that will screw up benchmarks pretty good as the heads constantly seek to the spare sector track. some diags will reset some of the smart data as well as try to reclaim bad sectors that have appeared since the factory llf. btw bad sectors dont show up to the end user (like during a surface scan) until the bad sector track has been filled.
Re:It gets yet even more confusing. After 5 hours of LL formatting, I ran the DOS Seatools again and this time it says it passed all tests, all were green. :thumbsup: :laugh: So, I'm thinking……great, it's fixed now! I go back to SpeedFan and it's the same "UltraATA CRC" error crap!! I run Sandra again, and it too is the same crap of 15-18MB's Drive Index!! Windows SeaTools still says "no SMART drives attached". :shocked:
So I thought I would uninstall then reinstall SpeedFan since maybe it has some type of config file that saves old SMART data regarding that UltraATA area that may be cumulative. Same thing! 
:Q :frown: 
Next I uninstalled the drive via the Device Manager, install the 80gb Seagate, and it PASSES SpeedFan. I run Sandra, and what happens??? The SAME 18MB Drive Index!! I don't know WHAT the hell to think, other than the latest version of Sandra has "some kind of issue" with Seagate drives!!! But, no one here will run Sandra on their Seagate drives so I can verify that. :disgust: But that still leaves the issue with the 120gb having the SMART errors in SpeedFan! Windows SeaTools still says "no SMART drives attached" even with the 80gb hooked up!! Obviously yet another crappy bogus manufacturer's "utility" that doesn't work. [Place icon here of animated figure beating head against brick wall]
Re:Sandra's hard drive benchmark isn't exactly reliable, and never seems to be accurate, so I wouldn't put much in to it. HDtach is probably the best hard drive benchmark.
Re:This is really confusing. I ran the new version of HDTach and this drive gets BETTER results that any comparative drives in its database! All HD benchmarks are good, except for Sandra! I put the 80gb HD on it and I don't have any problems with it passing the Seagate DOS diags. Apparently something is wrong with the 120gb drive…but what that may be, or if it can be fixed I have no idea! I'm trying a zero-fill of the entire HD since Seagate claims that's a LL format. This takes HOURS so it better be worth it. Mean while I'm looking to see if I can find how to do, and IF a typical old style LL format in DOS can be done, I can't remember how. (I don't think you can technically LLF new drives any longer).
Re:Originally posted by: guy
Have you tried testing the Seagate drive on the primary IDE channel? Since you know that channel is working with your other drive, it would be a good way to determine whether the problem is with the Seagate drive or with the secondary channel controller…
Thanks for the reply. Yeah I mentioned I tried the other controller. If you mean the NATIVE IDE controller, no I haven't. That would screw up Windows (DVD-ROM connected to it now). I could do that and run in safe mode, but spastic Sandra won't run in safe mode!! I could hook it to that Native controller and do the DOS diags though. First though I'm going to hook up an 80gb Seagate to see if the same things happen.
Re:Have you tried testing the Seagate drive on the primary IDE channel? Since you know that channel is working with your other drive, it would be a good way to determine whether the problem is with the Seagate drive or with the secondary channel controller…
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