WHAT?!

[hansolo77]

Still going good. I started seeding on uTorrent again. Gonna let to go for a few days more before I try to download again. I'm gonna try and get a small like 250 gb drive or something and dedicate to uTorrent. Gonna have to be external though, and I'm not sure how well that will work. I'm missing my emulations, gonna have to redownload everything.. again. I'm hoping everything's good now for a while.

[rockyrocket]

Glad to hear it!.

You could use a portable install of utorrent on the external drive, then you could move it from puter to puter.

[hansolo77]

I didn't even know there was a portable install. uTorrent is so small already. At least it use to be; now they got all this extra crap in it that I don't use.

[rockyrocket]

Think if you google you can find the older versions, but heres an up to date one..

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/utorrent_portable

Or this is something I keep meaning to try as it looks really handy..

http://www.cameyo.com/

And heres a vid..

http://hak5.org/episodes/haktip-34

What I like is the ability to unplug the drive then say "what torrents?" I kind of have that as all my p2p stuff is on a tiny headless atom pc that lives above my router (just roms and linux distros obviously

[hansolo77]

Bad news again today. The drive has once again failed. Going to try some repairs today. I hope the prices drop soon.

[hansolo77]

Whats strange, is I just tried something new. I opened up the device manage, and did a "Find New Hardware". After a second or two, the drive popped back up in the list.

[rockyrocket]

what a shame!,not playing nice at all is it.

[hansolo77]

You know whats the wierdest part? I did a low level format last time as part of my exhausted repair tests. Prior to all that, I had written down the 30 or so sector's that were "BAD". Running through this new test, it's all exactly the same sectors. When I had low level'd and then reran the scans, they came up perfectly fine before, which is why I put it back in the server. But then last night I was watching a tv show on the server, then shut down Media Center before going to bed. That was when I noticed the icon went RED. Got up this morning and found out it was the drive again. All the tests/repairs I'm doing are still pointing to the exact same sectors as problematic. I thought that with the new technology on hard drives, they're assembled with built in 'spare' sectors that the drive's internal memory remembers and swaps out as new locations to bad sectors. So if they were repaired before, how can they be the same sectors again?

[hansolo77]

Ok, so 24 hours of heavy repairs, and the drive is still not working. I tried using SeaTools' built in Warranty Checker. This has always failed me in the past. What it does, is take you to a website where all the fields are automatically typed in; the model number, serial number, and error code. From my point of view, all I have to do is hit submit. Thats where it fails. So today I tried it on another computer (dad's) to see if it's my problem or the website. Turns out, there's a CAPTCHA request before you hit submit, which isn't being displayed. I still don't know how to make it display on my main computer. Anyway, dad's computer let me submit with the CAPTCHA and it reports it is still available in warranty until sometime in May, 2015! So, I click the link start the RMA process. It takes you to another page, asking for what country you're in. I select United States. All the rest is already filled in (like the model/serial, etc). So I click submit. Then it goes to an error page saying something about something being null {0}. I didn't copy it down. So my task of RMA is still a bust. God their website sucks. I tried to create an account to post a forum message about all this, and it says the account already exists. I try to login, and it says the password is wrong. I try to reset the password, and it SAYS it took it, but I still can't login. So I tried to contact their support. Firstly, they wanted me to SNAIL MAIL them my request. Then I found a link for something like "I NEED HELP NOW". And it took me to a page with an 800 number or email support. I'm not about to try and explain myself to some Indian retard who doesn't understand English. So I emailed them my problem. I told them their website sucked, that I can't create an RMA because of some error code in the backend webcode. I also told them that I've probably spent 2 or 3 days total just trying to verify my drive is under warranty because of their stupid CAPTCHA not displaying. They don't even have an error page saying the code I entered was invalid. So I gave them all the information and asked that they PLEASE help me. I included a screen shot of the warranty status page so they can't say it's not in warranty. Then the submit button takes me to an automated search function about looking for a similar issue in their forums. Of course, there's nothing there, so I hit SUBMIT again.... Then it says a representative will contact me via the email registered, and gave me a ticket number. At least with a ticket number, I have something I can report on.

So anyway, whats the deal with my computer not displaying CAPTCHA? I've noticed recently that it doesn't work. I've searched google, and everybody's help is more for website programmers getting it to work, rather than the end user. The only suggestions I've found for my situation is clear cache/cookies and make sure java is installed/enabled. I did both of those, and still nothing. Has anybody else had CAPTCHA issues?

[hansolo77]

LOL!! Wow....

Still waiting for a confirmation email that was promised that tech support got my request. I decided to try the RMA again with dad's computer, and it worked! I chose the option to send them an extra $10 for me to get the replacement sooner without having to send mine first, and a garaunteed safe/sufficient return packagaing. I could have done it all for free, but this turn around should take 3-7 days compared to 7-14 for me to come up with a box and ship it myself. And the best part? I already got a confirmation email from them saying the order is in process! So, their customer service trouble ticket is still unreceived, yet a replacement RMA order was received within 5 minutes! Go figure... >.>

[hansolo77]

Lol get this. So originally I sent an email support request because the website was not functioning when I tried to process the RMA. The website was able to confirm for me that the drive was still in warranty. I screen captured that detail, and forwarded it with the original email request. I told them I knew the drive was in warranty, but their website wasn't working to process RMA requests. Of course, I was able to make it work an hour or so later, so my email support was no longer needed. But the funny thing is what they actually replied back to me:

Thank you for choosing Seagate. I do apologize for the inconveniences you are having. Here is your drive information
Serial 9VP6LY7H
Product    Seagate
    Serial ATA Drives
    Barracuda
Model Number    ST310005N1A1AS-RK
Part Number    9BX1A8-572
Warranty Status    In Warranty
Warranty End Date    05/26/2015
Use this drive information when processing your rma online. If you still have issues, contact an agent and let us process the rma for you.
In case you need to contact us, this is your case number:  02208780
When you contact us, refer to this case number and your information will be available to the agent for faster service for you.
Seagate Support

Lol! So I ripped into them and told them their support was not only untimely and unneccessary, but also NOT SUPPORTIVE!

[Draco1962]

I know it is kinda sad that the web site does not function right, etc., but, coming from a tech and customer service background, the behaviour you are expressing kinda makes you sound like a douche. As frustrating as some of the offshore support can be, and trust me, I have to deal with them a lot, they are people doing their best within the scope of the job they have to perform.

[hansolo77]

Well, the thing about it is.. this wasn't some offshore support. The email came from Texas, and the details in the email header confirmed it. This was just some moron who didn't take the time read the email or look at the picture. You have to submit the details about your hardware prior to even sending the email in the form. So of course I know what my model and serial numbers are. Why reply them back to me? And why not answer my question I posed to them? I'm not being a douche. They just need to get their stuff together and answer the question they're asked instead of just replying 'whatever' to make an attempt at providing service.

I worked in a tech support call center for like 10 years. I know the stuff they make you go through. And when I took email issues, I payed attention the guy on the other end. He's not some moron if he knows how to send emails. 9 times out of 10 though, it's some idiot who's rushed to go to break and doesn't want to be bothered with escalating the issue to the appropriate department. My message I sent them never said anything aside from the fact that their RMA website was broken on the 2nd page. They obviously fixed it because I was able to finish it on my own. It's just hilarious that they reply with the drive details, which I provided to them in the first place.

[nullPointer]

To be honest this looks like nothing more than an automated response telling you that a support ticket was created. Most corporations these days like to push the personal one-to-one support angle, so if you’re dealing with an actual person they often include a first name, email, and (maybe) a phone number. The message you got seems to translate as

Hi this is the Seagate Support Database! Thanks for using Seagate. I apologize for your recent difficulties.

Here’s all the information you entered into my web form (salted with warranty info from my friend the internal database). I’ve created an ID for your claim and entered your info into my tables.

If you are particularly enraged please contact a real person.

Thanks and Too-Da-Loo!

Typically this message is followed up by a response from an actual person in x days / weeks. I dunno, seems like pretty typical tech support to me. Certainly not saying it’s great or anything, but what can you do?

[hansolo77]

Well to be honest... there was more to the email. He did include his name, and the address/phone of where the support center was located. I took those out for anonimity. But yeah, he clearly didn't understand what the reason for my email was. It's all water under the bridge now. Don't really care anymore. Just waiting for my drive.

[rockyrocket]

So how is this progressing?.

[Adultery]

Its why I prefer WD over Seagate. I got a go drive that worked one time and died and their support center gave me the runaround. It was a gift with no receipt so no luck there either. I hope you're faring better than I did Han!

[Draco1962]

Seagate used to be the drives to go to and a retail industry standard. I used them almost exclusively late 80s to early 90s and then switched to Maxtor (which was later bought out by Seagate and killed - the bastards!). I have heard almost as bad things about WD and, to be honest, I am not pleased with the 1.5TB green that I bought from them.

[Adultery]

The ones I've bought haven't let me down so far, but its almost like comparing gfx cards. The resulting preference depends on the user.

2 TB MyBook standalones and many a WD Black still run fine on my machines. But one incident can easily sway my opinion.

[Draco1962]

All I can say is I miss Maxtor. They were reasonably priced and I have had only one failure that to this day I do not believe that it was the product but something the person did causing a hard crash (PC was jarred hard or knocked over during a write operation - they deny it but the scuffs on the case that I was familiar with having done previous servicing/upgrades told me otherwise). I still have the last 5 I purchased running my 2k3 server.

[hansolo77]

Didn't realize I hadn't updated...

After finally getting everything worked out with the RMA, the new drive arrived in like 3 days. I ran it through all my testing programs before actually installing it to make sure it was good drive. Then I ran it through a 24-hour burn test of random read/writes. Everything checked out, so I replaced my drive with theirs and shipped the box right back to them. I had a hiccup where they sent me an email saying they never received the old drive. I told them I sent it to them like a week before, and I kept the UPS receipt for proof if they didn't believe me. Then the next day I got another email saying they received it and all was well. So far, the replacement drive is working beautifully. I haven't had any further issues.

To be honest, I've never really had any trouble with Seagate. This is probably the only time I've ever had this kinda problem, and it turned out it was something on my end. That stupid captcha thing wasn't being 'rendered' on their website, which was causing me to miss a request on the form. The last time I RMA'd with them, they didn't have a Captcha. I think I've solved my Captcha problems too since then. Had something to do with website security, and the fact that the actual Captcha app, being coded by Google, was therefore assumed to be a 3rd party website and my browser blocked all 3rd party apps/ads/etc.