hdds Concerned about used HDD packaging

[Display Name-]

Hello,

I bought a HDD on ebay. And would like an estimate on the price in relation to the potential shortened runtime.

I am quite concerned about the packaging. And therefore also about the price. (see attachment)

I currently have H2testw running, but I am still unsure.

It is a "3TB Western Digital Blue" for which I paid 32€(33,92USD).

 

[Gian]

The price is good but the packaging does look subpar to say the least... Is it bubblewrap lined one the inside or just cardboard?
Ebay has a pretty good money back policy so you should be fine.

[tkitch]

hook it up, make sure it runs, and check CrystalDiskInfo on it.

 

If it works, without making funny noises?  It's probably fine.

 

And for comparison:  Last year I bought 3 *brand new* NAS HDDs from the `Egg.  There was no padding in the box, and the drives were literally #@$#@ dented when I got them.  It was absolutely absurd.  

[Display Name-]

1 hour ago, Gian said:

The price is good but the packaging does look subpar to say the least... Is it bubblewrap lined one the inside or just cardboard?
Ebay has a pretty good money back policy so you should be fine.

The sleeve is lined with bubblewrap yes.....

1 hour ago, tkitch said:

hook it up, make sure it runs, and check CrystalDiskInfo on it.

 

If it works, without making funny noises?  It's probably fine.

 

And for comparison:  Last year I bought 3 *brand new* NAS HDDs from the `Egg.  There was no padding in the box, and the drives were literally #@$#@ dented when I got them.  It was absolutely absurd.  

The plate runs well as I estimate that.

 

Did you connect your plates at that time to test them?

 

The disk has only run 35303 hours.

The price seems to be ok, as "Gian" mentioned, I tend to just keep it.

 

I make regular backups of the important data anyway, so it would "only" be a loss of money.

[LIGISTX]

Personally, I wouldn’t trust that shipping. 
 

I always run badblocks (it’s a linux tool) on all of my drives before deploying them. If it passes badblocks which is likely a 1.5-2 day test in a 3TB drive, and no smart errors pop up after I run badblocks, I call them good. You can run badblocks under linux subsystem for windows, but it may be a little more complicated then you are comfortable doing. But that is s pretty definitive test to find infant mortality (or in this case, just mortality) or drives. Maybe what you are using in windows does the same, I am just not sure. 

[tkitch]

23 minutes ago, Display Name- said:

Did you connect your plates at that time to test them?

I did, one of the drives clicked funny, and one wasn't even recognized in the BIOS.  

I RMA's all 3 drives very very quickly.  They were very apologetic, because it was all their fault!

 

[Poinkachu]

Geez.

I packed a lot more better when I sold a single Magic The Gathering booster pack.

It was like a layer of used cardboard then covered with 2 layers of used bubble wrap <_>

[Display Name-]

21 hours ago, LIGISTX said:

Personally, I wouldn’t trust that shipping. 
 

I always run badblocks (it’s a linux tool) on all of my drives before deploying them. If it passes badblocks which is likely a 1.5-2 day test in a 3TB drive, and no smart errors pop up after I run badblocks, I call them good. You can run badblocks under linux subsystem for windows, but it may be a little more complicated then you are comfortable doing. But that is s pretty definitive test to find infant mortality (or in this case, just mortality) or drives. Maybe what you are using in windows does the same, I am just not sure. 

I have now tested 70% of the plate and found no errors.

Would the problem of defective blocks be corrupt files?

[LIGISTX]

57 minutes ago, Display Name- said:

I have now tested 70% of the plate and found no errors.

Would the problem of defective blocks be corrupt files?

A tool like backblocks tests every single part of the drive via writing and reading to each block. This confirms the drive is in fact good, and if you get any errors on either read or write you know you have issues. 
 

Since harddrive firmware does a lot of hidden magic in the background, you would also want to run a long SMART test after you do this so you can verify there are not any reallocated sectors (or at least not to many, a few isn’t a big issue, but many would be a sign of issue).