Solved Seagate ST31000524AS 1TB RMA via www.synnex.com.au

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Windows-8 started warning me yesterday, that one of my Seagate HDD's is starting to fail. I already saw it some time ago when I checked my drives with CrystalDiskInfo, that this particular drive was not in a very good shape anymore, but didn't worry too much, as I had only recovered some speed issues when I checked the drive via ATTO DiskBench.

After the Windows-Warning-Messages kept coming-up, I checked the drive via SeaTools and as you can see above, the drive failed.

When I checked the Seagate Website about warranty info's, I was surprised that the HDD is still in warranty and that I would have the option to RMA it directly via Seagate or via Synnex.

Had someone ever to deal with Seagate or Synnex and could suggest which way would be better to go, as Synnex is only 10 minutes drive down the road from where I live ?

I'm assuming that the Seagate route would involve mailing the drive and waiting for the replacement. Where as with Synnex, as you say is right down the road and if they do warranty work (switching out drives in your case) then it's a no-brainer for me. Drive down the road and pick it up.

I have always mailed the dead drives back to Seagate/Western Digital and about a week or two later, the replacement drive is on my porch. The RMA process works very well, in my opinion. The replacement drives that I have received are all "refurbished" but I haven't noticed an increased failure rate among these drives... I have never had the option to return the drive to a local facility and I suspect the facility isn't really setup for that (just guessing here) and that you may inadvertently slow the process down by trying too return it locally.

Thanks @bassfisher6522 & azasadny for the info's. Will let you know how I go.

I bought the HDD 07/2011 from GameDude together with the same model, but different Part-Number.


I contacted Synnex and e-mailed them the requested paperwork and hope that I get a replacement.


That's my first failing Seagate since they bought Maxtor, so I'm not really complaining, especially where the HDD's are not really expensive anymore, but it would be still nice to get it replaced.


When you buy now Consumer-HDD's from Seagate, then you only get 12 month warranty, like from Western Digital.


They changed it soon after the Thailand Floods, when the HDD-Prices went through the roof.

I had the same model. Failed completely after 2 yrs, had a lot of trouble before that , but was unable to pin it down to that particular - not till it seized up.

It had a 3yr warranty. Seagate sent a brand new one back fast - exact same model.

I've never had any problems with Western Digital or Seagate honoring their Warranties, WD used to give you a whole 5 years but now it is only 2. Actually my brand new 2 TB My Book got kicked over by an idiot, and they gave me a brand new one. I did lose a TB and a half of irreplaceable programs and musical projects.

What is Synnex, do they offer elongated warranties on HDs? I'll have to look them up.

Anyways, to the OP - If the Seatools program says it is failing, then copy anything important off of the drive and send it back asap. Seatools is great in that it creates an RMA for you on the spot. WD does not, but the website does it all for you once you enter the SN of the Drive.

I've used ViVard to restore disks that had Smart Errors back to health, but it is risky and only works about half of the time. When I tried it, I made sure I had moved all important data somewhere else before I tried it. I've saved 2 hard drives this way, a 120gb Toshiba laptop drive and a WD 500GB, both were claiming Smart Error. Usually, Smart Error is just a deth knell, but Vivard can revive a drive under certain circumstances. I should have written down the exact smart error those drives were spouting, but since I didn't I am back to trial end error. Once I find out which Smart Errors can be fixed using Vivard, I'll post a tutorial if I can.

After dealing directly with Seagate, I got the same Model back, but as a repaired one. I can't complain, but I'm not using the replacement for important stuff.

Just a FYI. WD Black and VelociRaptor still have a 5 yr warranty.



Jim

Phone Man said:

Just a FYI. WD Black and VelociRaptor still have a 5 yr warranty.

View attachment 27600

Jim

Click to expand...

I found the article about it :

Click

But they changed maybe more later on:

Click

I have a Black WD 250 GB 7200 RPM drive I used to have in my Dell Laptop and Later in my Gateway, I paid 100 bucks for it, I hope to hell it is still under warranty!

It may even be a 10,000 RPMmer