Seagate ST3500418AS 7200:12 500GB SLow Transfer rates..

[xtremegamer]

HI...

I have some problems noticed today while Copying , I'm Getting only 8MB/s sometimes it goesto 40-50 and then 8 like that, It's Varying so much, I have another 1TB Seagate ST31000528AS which is getting around 55-60MB/s , No problems with 1Tb one, The problem is with my 500GB Seagate ST3500418AS CC38 one... Then I tested With HD tune, Here is My Graph any idea what's causing It, i changed SATA Cable...





Hi



and then i Scanned for Bad Sectors, using HD Tune, While it Starts scanning the speed was around 117Mb/s [ Not Quick Scan] Deep Scan, then it goes down to around 18MB/s and Varying 24, 49,79 like that, It's slow on While Copying to My Portable too, im getting only 8-15Mb/s Instaed of 31MB/s, My Other Harddrive Seagate 1TB gives Constant Speed mostly 31Mb/s to My Portable, and Harddisk to harddisk to Is also slow, No S.M.A.R.T Errors, is it a Firmware issue or Mechanical Problem, Please Have a look at My Scan Graphs and Error Scan , U see the speed it's varying evrytime...... Please help me...... Waiting for an answer....... it's 1 Month Old Drive..

[Vulcan]

(FYI, you posted in the wrong forum - this is not a technology problem; it is a problem with your hard drive and should be in the "Hard Disk Drives: data recovery and repair" forum.)

Anyway, your drive has an internal problem - not a firmware problem. One possibility based on the SMART data and the performance graphs, is 1 weak head. So far, no data in unreadable, but the drive could deteriorate at any time and then you could lose access to any data since your last backup.

I recommend that you backup your data immediately and then do not use the drive for any critical data. I hope you can get a replacement drive.

[xtremegamer]

One week so that was the problem, Thank u "vulcan" for helping me, what do i tell the shopkeeper to replace the drive, i mean reason, they wont replace until they find us a Dead Drive .... Nobody knows if such thing happens , No S.M.A.R.T errors i though it was a problem with Drive SATA Contoller....

[Vulcan]

One week so that was the problem

Your meaning is not clear to me.

Now I have looked again at the graphs and text that you sent, and I see that your text is confusing me. You said that the 1TB disk was performing normally - so therefore I thought that the good (all green) error scan graphic that you sent, was from the 1TB disk. But now I see that both graphics are from 500GB disks - is this the same 500GB disk for both pictures? If so, why did you send 2 error scan graphics from one disk? Obviously the 2nd (all green) error scan looks normal - but why did you send 2 error scan graphics and only 1 benchmark graphic? It is not clear what you are trying to say

I still believe the 500GB drive has a marginal fault (the SMART 0xC3 "worst" value is unusually low) and that fits with a marginal problem for the drive to read the data. Also, a marginal read problem inside the drive could also produce the benchmark graph shape. The benchmark graph shape is usually a good indication of whether the drive is able to read normally or not. Compare the benchmark graph shapes between the 500GB disk and the 1TB disk, and you will see a difference.

Are you sure that the PC containing the 500GB drive is "innocent"? If you want to prove that the problem is inside that 500GB drive, then attach your "good" 1TB disk in the same PC, after removing the 500GB drive. Use exactly the same SATA cable and controller where the 500GB drive is installed when you see the slow speed, and again run the error scan and benchmark graphs. I expect they will be normal with the 1TB drive - because I think that is what you are reporting from your testing.

There is also extra evidence of the 500GB drive having a problem, although it is just a small piece of evidence - the SMART 0xBC attribute is not zero. That shows that the drive took a very long time to manage to read a sector at some point in the past. Again, this fits with the drive having a marginal internal fault.

Of course there is other testing you can do e.g. moving the 500GB drive to another PC where you are confident that the HD Tune Pro graphs look normal for another drive - and then install the 500GB drive into that other PC, instead of its drive. Does the slow transfer rate, and unusual benchmark graph shape, move with the 500GB drive to another PC?

It is your choice what tests you want to do. Since the SMART data is not showing an obvious fault, it sometimes needs careful testing by you to be really sure that there is a marginal fault. I have seen many examples of slow disk drives, and in most cases, there was little evidence in the SMART data, until the drive became even more "sick"

[xtremegamer]

sorry i mean one week Head, oops missed the word sorry mate...... Any way ur a Genius , i have posted this problem on Seagate forums, none replied don't knw why.......

"vulcan" yeah the problem is with Seagate 500Gb HDD, [Sorry For My Bad English] , The first one is Benchmark Graphs and the other is Error Scan and SpeedMap Graph....

I have a Question about my 1TB Seagate too.... Well i will post that....

[laptokowiec]

Check what mode does it use (UDMA or PIO).
It looks like PIO to me.

[xtremegamer]

Check what mode does it use (UDMA or PIO).
It looks like PIO to me.

I think it's set to Ultra DMA, ANyway where was that option, I have 8 Partitions, The last three partitions has showing slow transfer rates, When i write to that Partiton im getting almost 60-70Mb/s..... But Reading slow, It's Defragmented using Diskeeper.... Anyidea Like "vulcan " side may be it's because of One weak Head, How many Heads are there on Drives... What do i tell them when i RMA.... It's a Weird Problem, im worried about my data.......

[fzabkar]

Check what mode does it use (UDMA or PIO).
It looks like PIO to me.

In PIO mode the read benchmark graph would be a flat line, probably less than 10 MB/s.