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Apple Acknowledges Reports Of MacBook Hard Drive Failures
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failed drive
When I got my new MacBook a few months ago, I was pumped. I loved it. I still do, actually. However, after one month, the hard drive failed. I went to sleep, MacBook running fine, and I was woken up by the sound of my fan going (I assume) as fast as it could go. My screen was on, and although the mouse pointer moved around the screen, when I clicked on anything I got no response. My dock animation still worked (I assume it was still in RAM) and my pointer was that stupid pinwheel/beach ball thing that everybody hates to see. I thought maybe it was crunching some serious numbers (although I have no idea why it would be) so I left it while I got ready for my day. I came back to my computer, only to find that it had done nothing.
I shut it off, and it never booted back up. It took a lengthy two minutes or so for the computer to realize that the hard drive was bad, and the flashing "question mark" folder came up. I called Apple, and they tried to troubleshoot a few things. It turns out that my hard drive was in fact a Seagate, and that it did in fact crash. Miserably.
Luckily, Apple replaced the hard drive free of charge, and they replaced it with a Hitachi.
Two months later, I'm still running fine!
When I got my new MacBook a few months ago, I was pumped. I loved it. I still do, actually. However, after one month, the hard drive failed. I went to sleep, MacBook running fine, and I was woken up by the sound of my fan going (I assume) as fast as it could go. My screen was on, and although the mouse pointer moved around the screen, when I clicked on anything I got no response. My dock animation still worked (I assume it was still in RAM) and my pointer was that stupid pinwheel/beach ball thing that everybody hates to see. I thought maybe it was crunching some serious numbers (although I have no idea why it would be) so I left it while I got ready for my day. I came back to my computer, only to find that it had done nothing.
I shut it off, and it never booted back up. It took a lengthy two minutes or so for the computer to realize that the hard drive was bad, and the flashing "question mark" folder came up. I called Apple, and they tried to troubleshoot a few things. It turns out that my hard drive was in fact a Seagate, and that it did in fact crash. Miserably.
Luckily, Apple replaced the hard drive free of charge, and they replaced it with a Hitachi.
Two months later, I'm still running fine!
happened to me
Aha, so i'm not the only one. The hard drive in my MacBook just failed a few weeks ago. My drive was a Seagate 60gb, and it reads "FW: 7.01" on it.
Aha, so i'm not the only one. The hard drive in my MacBook just failed a few weeks ago. My drive was a Seagate 60gb, and it reads "FW: 7.01" on it.
My CD 1.83 Mini bought in March has the same drive (80 GB). It's always had data corruption issues, from day 1, just minor enough to make me wonder if it was my imagination.
My C2D 1.83 Mini bought last month came with an Hitachi 80 GB drive and hasn't had a single data corruption issue.
I just upgraded the C2D to a Samsung Spinpoint 120 GB, so the Hitachi 80 GB is going into the CD Mini.
Peace of mind.
My C2D 1.83 Mini bought last month came with an Hitachi 80 GB drive and hasn't had a single data corruption issue.
I just upgraded the C2D to a Samsung Spinpoint 120 GB, so the Hitachi 80 GB is going into the CD Mini.
Peace of mind.
Capacity: 55.89 GB
Model: ST96812AS
Revision: 7.01
i swear i had a fujitsu before mailing my laptop to them.
Model: ST96812AS
Revision: 7.01
i swear i had a fujitsu before mailing my laptop to them.
Bad Timing
It seems everyone at least knows someone who has had a bad HD. My friends last week crashed when he was working on all his papers for his grad classes. of course I feel bad because I am the person who convinced him to get a mac in the first place. Poor form apple. Poor form Seagate.
It seems everyone at least knows someone who has had a bad HD. My friends last week crashed when he was working on all his papers for his grad classes. of course I feel bad because I am the person who convinced him to get a mac in the first place. Poor form apple. Poor form Seagate.
My daughter's Macbook C2D had a bad hard drive 3 months after being bought new.
Then the keyboard plate cracked on the edges.
Then the power adapter frayed.
I went out and bought Applecare after the last time in the shop... looks like QC is slipping.
Then the keyboard plate cracked on the edges.
Then the power adapter frayed.
I went out and bought Applecare after the last time in the shop... looks like QC is slipping.
So what are Apple going to do about this? My mother-in-law's MacBook had this issue. At the time I just thought it was bad luck (HD failures happen), but now I know that the drive was at fault rather than just being random chance. I already swapped out the dead drive and bought a new one (MB HDs are easy to swap out plus the replacement from Fry's was $80). Can we expect some sort of rebate from Apple to refund this, or what? I certainly wasn't going to let the MB sit around dead for months until Apple realised it was an issue, and as the MB was out of warrantee when it happened I never bothered calling them. The dead HD went in the recycling a while ago.
Quite annoying.
Quite annoying.
For the user with the cracking, my computer had this problem, I took it to the Apple Store and the top case was replaced under Apple Care free of charge. They had the part in stock, it only took about an hour.
Hopefully my 7.01 hard drive will last me through finals....
Hopefully my 7.01 hard drive will last me through finals....
Ya, I had it fixed under warranty... just like the hard drive and the adapter. What is going to break next?
Check out the Seagate warranty
Seagate drives typically come with a five year warranty. So even if your Apple warranty period is expired you may be covered by Seagate. In the past I have been able to use the Seagate web site to determine if a given drive was still covered.
Seagate drives typically come with a five year warranty. So even if your Apple warranty period is expired you may be covered by Seagate. In the past I have been able to use the Seagate web site to determine if a given drive was still covered.
To bad. You should have sent it back to Seagate. The drive either had a three or five year warranty.
I also ordered an external from OWC and it comes with a Seagate. I hope I don't need to worry about my backup too...
This is why the basic rule of thumb about backups is that "data needs to be on at least three different media and at two different geographical locations".
If you are wanting to keep data "alive" for years having two copies is not enough. because when one copy fails you then have unbacked up data that is at risk. Yes it is expansive and a PITA to do and that is why I'm sure there will be very few 25 year old digital photos 25 years from now.
And for this reason I have also backed up pictures to DVD. I figure I can replace the music.
Macbook failure sound
Basically, your Macbook drive dies. When you start up your Macbook, you'll hear three clicks from the drive, and nothing. Drive recovery is impossible, because apparently the read/write head detached and gouged your platters. Game over.
My drive was a Seagate Momentus 5400.2.
Not sure what Apple is going to do. Reimburse me the $250in drive recovery costs? I already bought a WD 160gb drive, so I don't need another one.
Does anyone know if there are particular simptoms of this kind of failure? Or is it maybe just kind of random... and puff! all the info is gone.
Basically, your Macbook drive dies. When you start up your Macbook, you'll hear three clicks from the drive, and nothing. Drive recovery is impossible, because apparently the read/write head detached and gouged your platters. Game over.
My drive was a Seagate Momentus 5400.2.
Not sure what Apple is going to do. Reimburse me the $250in drive recovery costs? I already bought a WD 160gb drive, so I don't need another one.
Update to my previous post about the failed hard drive - I had a look at my drive and it's got the dreaded 7.01 firmware on it. Fingers crossed Apple replace the old dead drive with a higher capacity drive - I'm in need of an external drive which i can carry around for dire emergency backups.
Well, Apple better do something and quick. I got my MacBook back when they first came out around June 2006. Over the summer (July 2007), the hard drive crashed. I guess this explains it. I'm almost sure that it was the same firmware 7.01 and I'm definitely sure it was Seagate. Not surprisingly, when Apple replaced my HD, it's the exact same model and firmware. Shame on Apple.
The only difference between now and then is that I have a backup of my stuff. Before, I didn't prepare because I didn't have an external HD yet and come on, Apple is not known for these kind of things. To tell you the truth, PCs aren't known for having hard drives crashing because of a physical problem. Mmmm.
The only difference between now and then is that I have a backup of my stuff. Before, I didn't prepare because I didn't have an external HD yet and come on, Apple is not known for these kind of things. To tell you the truth, PCs aren't known for having hard drives crashing because of a physical problem. Mmmm.
How do you identify the faulty Seagate drive?
In "About this Mac" my MacBook hard drive looks like it was supplied by Intel. But the model number begins with an "ST..." which I understand means it was made by Seagate. Is that right?
As far as the 7.01 designation, I don't see that anywhere. Under "Revision" I see "3.CAE" but I dont know if that refers to the firmware, which I understand the 7.01 refers to. The "3.CAE" looks like a different designation format than the numerical 7.01
In "About this Mac" my MacBook hard drive looks like it was supplied by Intel. But the model number begins with an "ST..." which I understand means it was made by Seagate. Is that right?
As far as the 7.01 designation, I don't see that anywhere. Under "Revision" I see "3.CAE" but I dont know if that refers to the firmware, which I understand the 7.01 refers to. The "3.CAE" looks like a different designation format than the numerical 7.01
To the poster above, I think if it doesn't say 7.01 you are fine. As for the warranty issue, as noted above the drive is OEM. My understanding is that Apple agrees to provide support for fixing the drive in return for receiving the drive at a lower cost. Therefore, Seagate can't help you, they'd just refer you back to Apple.
ive seen a zillion of these
I run an Apple retail business and I've seen more than 40 of these hard drives come into my shop... theyre all Seagate Momentus 5400.2 drives in either 60 or 80GB ALL from Core Duo MacBooks NONE from Core 2 Duo, white or black, I had a 120gb one do the same thing but I thing it wasnt related ot this epidemy... and it started happening during the 10th - 11th month of the warranty and I could get some in there for warranty but after its over theres pretty much nothing you can do for the customer... I sent an email to all my customers that had these macbooks and told them to check their system profiles and check for that ST and told them to back all their files up but not all of them have and theyve been coming in 2 or 3 a week... one time 2 at the same time... and basically ALL is lost... they all say that the machine just freezes and when they force shut down and come back up it just doesnt do anything, just the gray screen... and after a whiiiiiile the folder comes out displaying the question mark folder.... I took it to a shop where they do hard drive recoveries and the tech told me that there was a flaw in one of the solderings of the drive and the reader just loses contact with the drive plates and thats why you cant recover files with the usual softwares...
So I gave them some good exact hard drives to fiddle with and they managed to change the reader and got some hard drives to read files, some they didnt have luck with...
I hope they fix this and put it on an extended warranty program... I wrote to seagate and they said its apple's responsability to warrant the faulty drives... but they did not say anything of the problem they just told us to go through apple for the exchange....
so basically,
Core Duo
60GB 80GB
Seagate Momentus 5400.2
if you have one, back up your files! or do get it changed ASAP
luck
I run an Apple retail business and I've seen more than 40 of these hard drives come into my shop... theyre all Seagate Momentus 5400.2 drives in either 60 or 80GB ALL from Core Duo MacBooks NONE from Core 2 Duo, white or black, I had a 120gb one do the same thing but I thing it wasnt related ot this epidemy... and it started happening during the 10th - 11th month of the warranty and I could get some in there for warranty but after its over theres pretty much nothing you can do for the customer... I sent an email to all my customers that had these macbooks and told them to check their system profiles and check for that ST and told them to back all their files up but not all of them have and theyve been coming in 2 or 3 a week... one time 2 at the same time... and basically ALL is lost... they all say that the machine just freezes and when they force shut down and come back up it just doesnt do anything, just the gray screen... and after a whiiiiiile the folder comes out displaying the question mark folder.... I took it to a shop where they do hard drive recoveries and the tech told me that there was a flaw in one of the solderings of the drive and the reader just loses contact with the drive plates and thats why you cant recover files with the usual softwares...
So I gave them some good exact hard drives to fiddle with and they managed to change the reader and got some hard drives to read files, some they didnt have luck with...
I hope they fix this and put it on an extended warranty program... I wrote to seagate and they said its apple's responsability to warrant the faulty drives... but they did not say anything of the problem they just told us to go through apple for the exchange....
so basically,
Core Duo
60GB 80GB
Seagate Momentus 5400.2
if you have one, back up your files! or do get it changed ASAP
luck
Intel supplies the chipset that interfaces with the drive, that's all.
You do have a Seagate drive, but if you don't have "7.01" anywhere in the description, you're fine.