Dead 13gig HD in iMac SE DV

[idogcow]

I just had to replace the stock 13 gig drive in my Graphite iMac SE DV due to a "bad controller chip." Repair guy here in Sunnyvale said he has 2 or 3 others with the exact same problem.

I know there is no more warranty on either the drive or the iMac itself, but is this a common problem? A search of the discussions on Apple Knowlegebase seemed to hint at a few others but their boards are disabled temporarily so all I can do is read of others with a similiar fate....

Thanks!

UPDATED: Having ComputerWare put in a new 20gig drive and am saving the old drive for reasons undetermined as of now. Drive is a Quantum Fireball if that helps anyone....

[AlphaTech]

If you still have the hard drive, I would check with the manufacturer. I had a 6GB drive on an iMac blow it's board not too long ago and obtained a free replacement from the maker. Granted it was a Quantum drive, who have since been bought by Maxtor. Maxtor support shipped out a new drive (exact same one that was in the iMac before) and I believe that it will be covered by a 3 year warranty. Since you have a larger drive, I would imagine that it would be covered as well, and not cost you anything to get a replacement.

Contact the maker and find out for certain.