Replacing the drive in a G-Drive

VGurcu

VGurcu

Well-known member
Hi,
Did anybody successfully replaced a 250GB G-drive with a bigger size SATA HD? It is dying, you can hear the regular clicking sounds.
I called the G-Drive support and asked a simple question:
"Is there a limit on the G-Drives controller for the size of the replacement drive?"
He said they never tested it, so he wouldn't know and suggested me to ask in the forums ;) (Naturally a 250GB will work for sure)
Any ideas?
Thanks
 
I don't why you couldn't given the fact that the company sells the enclosure with drives up to 1TB I believe.

And if the drive is failing, what have you to lose?
 
Yeah I'd just replace it- typically when the hard drive clicks it means the drive controller has an issue and so the enclosure is useless. So if you want to do that- just buy an empty enclosure and another hard drive. Or just get another G-Drive- they're so cheap now. Are you under warranty?

Noah
 
And if the drive is failing, what have you to lose?
Click to expand...
Well I dont want to buy an internal SATA drive, replace it with the existing G-drive enclosure just to find out it doesnt work. So I'll be loosing time, and an unnecassary return.

Yeah I'd just replace it- typically when the hard drive clicks it means the drive controller has an issue and so the enclosure is useless. So if you want to do that- just buy an empty enclosure and another hard drive. Or just get another G-Drive- they're so cheap now. Are you under warranty?
Click to expand...
Sorry I couldnt explain well I guess. I want to keep the enclosure, take the 250GB internal drive out and replace with a new 1TB or 2TB SATA drive.
I want to keep the G-Drive enclosure as it is so well built and would be a waste to throw it. Now I am bit confused you are suggesting that the entire enclosure may be useless? I thought it was the drive itself, not the enclosure.
No, it is no longer under warranty.(I just got 4TB more G-Drive so yeah they are cheap but why waste a good enclosure)
 
Noah's right...that is usually indicative of the enclosure failing. When that happens and I take the drives out, the drives are fine, but the enclosure is hosed. Did this on more than one occasion.
 
Yeah my point is the enclosure isn't really worth much and is probably unreliable at best. For a little more you can get a whole new drive with a warranty.

Noah
 
If that's the case I wont bother replacing anything, tx for the answers.

When that happens and I take the drives out, the drives are fine, but the enclosure is hosed. Did this on more than one occasion.
Click to expand...
So how do you determine a faulty(dying) controller? Is there a software diagnosing tool some sort?

EDIT: So while we are on the subject; are these drive controllers generic and replaceable or brand specific?
 
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It's all a bunch of components- the case, the Firewire interface, drive controller, hard drive etc. When you buy a G-Tech or any ready to run drive you're getting the whole package with a warranty. Otherwise sure you can DIY. But you're saving so little and risking your data- I see this as ill-advised. BTW if you have an iPhone Drivesavers makes a hilarious app that simulates different types of drive failure:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/drivesaver/id317700244?mt=8

Noah
 
Noah,
That looks a like a funny little app, didnt work on my ipod unfortunately. (gotta update to version 3)
No desire for DIY drives, trying to get more information about drives & raids etc...
 
Your G-DRIVE (if it's not G-RAID etc..) should have a Hitachi KLA DeskStar/UltraStar E7K HD inside, attached to it is a Oxford Chipset which translates SATA3.0 into eSATA/USB/FW.
Click to expand...

DJDecay,
After reading the info you posted I opened my G-drive; turns out to be a ATA/IDE HD with an Oxford chip. A quick search on the serial(HDT722525DLAT80) number returned this info:

"Another quite common symptom Hitachi drives experience is clicking or knocking sound. The drive spins up and the head starts clicking from the start: , . Most often this a sign of bad heads and the drive needs head assembly swapped from a matching donor. Before doing any clean room work, it is very important to perform accurate diagnostics and eliminate a chance of possible firmware corruption that sometimes can also cause clicking."

http://www.datacent.com/datarecovery/hdd/hitachi/HDT722525DLAT80

There goes away my idea of recycling this enclosure, common sense tells me no SATA drive would work with it regardless of the controller's condition ;)
(No complains though as it is made in May 2005, served me well)
 
Replacing Drives

Replacing Drives

FWIW,
I recently took my graid-mini 320gb and replaced the 5400 drives with two 7200 500gb drives. Have been using it for over two months without any problems. Love having a 1tb portable 7200rpm hard drive for editing.
 
Were the drives easy to replace? Did you find instructions from G-Raid? Or is it easy enough to open it up and figure it out? Thanks.
 
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