Maxtor 200g speed problems

Discussion in 'Storage Devices' started by TonyB, Aug 20, 2005.

  1. TonyB

    TonyB Geek Trainee

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    Hi all,

    I have 3 Maxtor drives (60g, 200g & 160 ext)

    I recently bought the 200g for video editing and storage.

    When I play a video on the 200g, the video is choppy, but when I move the video to the 160 external and the 60g, it plays fine.

    Don't know what could be the problem.

    Any insight?

    Thanks,
    Tony
     
    TonyB, Aug 20, 2005
    #1
  2. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Maxtor, sheesh, we dont want to go there!
    Have you tried defragging it?
     
    pelvis_3, Aug 20, 2005
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  3. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Hate to say it, but pelvis_3 is right. Maxtor has been known for some time for their poor quality. It seems they use defective bearing grease, which breaks down quickly over time and causes the drives to slow down and eventually fail. However, there are some things you can do to get some more speed out of them. First of all, make sure you are using 80-conductor ribbon cables for your hard drives, not 40-conductor. Otherwise, the transfer rate will be limited to 33MHz. Next, do not put two hard drives one the same IDE chain, or performance for both drives (master & slave) will be crippled. Finally, make sure the jumpers on the drives are set to properly take advantage of the 80-conductor ribbon cable -- some drives have a '40-conductor' jumper setting.

    All the best,
    -AT
     
    Anti-Trend, Aug 20, 2005
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  4. TonyB

    TonyB Geek Trainee

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    Thanks for the replies.

    It's the 200g that's giving me the problem and it's only about 2 months old.

    I do have them on the same IDE cable, but I tried putting one HD and a cd rom on one cable, and the other HD with the cd burner.

    The cables aren't really long enough, but after I tried hooking it up this way and fired it up, it wouldn't find the master HD, so I had to hook it back the way I had it.
     
    TonyB, Aug 21, 2005
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  5. Nic

    Nic Sleepy Head

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    Did you remember to change the jumpers when you did this, if not that could be the reason why it couldnt find it.
     
    Nic, Aug 21, 2005
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  6. TonyB

    TonyB Geek Trainee

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    I have the 60g set to master (it has the OS) and the 200 set to slave.
    Do I set them both to cable select and retry the HD and cd on one cable and HD and burner on the other?

    Thanks for the help,

    Tony
     
    TonyB, Aug 22, 2005
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  7. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    The 'master/slave' designation applies to the drive's location on the IDE chain, not boot order. In other words, if you put the drives on seperate chains by themselves, they'd both be masters.
     
    Anti-Trend, Aug 22, 2005
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  8. TonyB

    TonyB Geek Trainee

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    Thanks guys. Got it fixed, video runs smooth now. I just wish they would make those IDE cables a little longer.

    Thanks again!
     
    TonyB, Aug 22, 2005
    #8
  9. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    No problem. :) By the way, you can always buy yourself a longer cable.
     
    Anti-Trend, Aug 22, 2005
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