Maxtor 160GB problems

T

tay829

Gawd
Joined
May 12, 2000
Messages
523
Has anyone had any issues with the Maxtor 8MB cache drives slowing down your system making it almost useless? If you know of a possible solution, please let me know.
 
I have found that the slow down only occurs when the full 160GB is enabled. When the drive is only setup as 137GB it performs ok. Anyone else had this issue?
 
I can not say I have that problem, I have 2 of them and they work just fine at 160gb but only show up as 152gb in windows. Maybe you could run maxtor hard drive program to see if there is a problem with yours, maybe like bad sectors or something.
 
do you have indexing turned on?

Is this mobo BIOS supported with SP1 or is it an addon IDE Card ?
(they use a SCSI driver)
http://www.storagereview.com/php/ti...ms&PHPSESSID=8420af95f08e6aa591637a22aa6a6204

Is write cache enabled ?

are you patched?
Hard Disk May Become Corrupted When Entering Standby or Hibernation or When Writing a Memory Dump
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];331958 < youll need to cut and paste that sorry

what is the fragmentation level of the HDD

how many partitions are there per HDD?
 
I have tried with indexing both on and off, currently on.

I am running W2K SP4 and I cannot get the storagereview link to pull up. The drive is running on raid ATA 133 controller Soyo P4I Fire Dragon latest BIOS.

Write cache is enabled

I since I am running W2K, the XP patch does not apply, but I do have the large drive patch applied.

I assume that since the drive is new, fragmentation is not an issue, but it is much too slow to try to get the current percent.

I have tried one 160GB partition and two 80GB partitions.

I have also come to the conclusion that if the drive is only formated to 137GB the issue does NOT occur, only once the full 160GB is utilized.

Any thoughts?
 
well turn indexing OFF :p
its a horrible performance hog

wow SR is offline :eek:
cant find a cache for that specific FAQ

there is a SCSI driver problem with XP and W2K SP3 and higher with write cache enabled, check back to the SR link when you can, but in the mean time
http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid5_gci919227,00.html
http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cach...228+storagereview+FAQ+Xp+Scsi+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
for the best performance many W2K SCSI users run SP2

but what I think is the real issue is the RAID BIOS level support for drives larger than 137GBs, and since its an onboard chip...well I dont even know if it can be upgraded, Im not even sure exactly how onboard RAID BIOS's are integrated, much less upgraded.
 
I have a SIIG RAID ATA133 controller that I forgot about and I am going to give that a run in the morning. I might just try setting up that drive with W2K in a stand alone install mode? I wish I had just stuck with Seagate, never had an issue with them, but I got this maxtor cheap and now I guess I know why they are always on rebate. :(
 
it has nothing to do with the maxtor.

So, you're running it off a RAID controller?
try going into Device Manager, hit Properties on the Raid controller, under the Properties tab ensure that "pass Windows flush-drive-cache commands to disk drives" is UN-checked.
 
Originally posted by jagec
it has nothing to do with the maxtor.

So, you're running it off a RAID controller?
try going into Device Manager, hit Properties on the Raid controller, under the Properties tab ensure that "pass Windows flush-drive-cache commands to disk drives" is UN-checked.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ, I have not had this issue with any of my Seagates, but I will take your advice and check the settings.
 
If it were a problem with the Maxtor drive it would probably occur at <137GB also. Sounds like a controller problem.
 
Ive been through MANY of these drives. Mine right now is flakey, but I think its my mobos fault now. I will never buy another Maxtor again though. I hate Maxtor.
 
I stand partially corrected. The drive was defective, but the controller was causing the slow down past the 137GB mark.
 
yeh its often the luck of the draw with HDDs
or the due diligence of your supplier\shipper
Which Brand of Hard Drive is Most Reliable

but after you get it, proper handling and environment goes a long way ;)

sounds like its resolved?
XP SP2 is just around the corner
hopefully the SCSI driver issue will be addressed and obviously the SR links above are now working

Good Luck
 
Everything is working well now.

As for XP SP2, will not do anything for this system as it is running W2K SP4, but maybe they will release a fix in SP5?
 
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