If the hard drive is broken

What is the article about?

Many people have already been in a situation where the hard disk suddenly began to crackle, refused to write or read files, the OS or any file system magically disappeared from it.

This usually means that so-called bad blocks have formed on the hard drive, and our further story about the return of such a damaged hard drive.

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Couple of assumptions

I am not a lawyer. Everything described below is the result of communication with real service centers, culminating in several successful returns. I would love to hear the opinions of real lawyers about all of the following tips.

I mean that all of the following will be used for good purposes. That is, to return your money for a damaged hard drive and improve the quality of the service center of your store. Some people will rush to use tips to annoy the service center employees. Then know: I do not love you.

I describe the “worst case” of developing a dialogue with a service center. This does not mean that such a worse situation should be deliberately created to test your own strength.

Technical part

First, know that hard drives are not repaired if at least one badblock is found on them. This is a warranty case in which the store's service center sends a hard disk for replacement. All sorts of vile insinuations on the theme "we will fix it for you" - reject. They mean that the employee of the service center wants to read and fix the badblocks (which will certainly make the screw work, but it will not make it any less broken).

To understand that the problem is in badblocks - download MHDD, burn it to CD, reboot from under it, and skip write test.
For more information on how this is done, see the MHDD manual. It is very short, and is in Russian.
Once to master this procedure is very worth the effort. It is clear that the contents of the screw at the same time is lost, so you have to make a backup.
If suddenly MHDD did not find anything, and the screw is obviously non-working - check it with the utility of the manufacturer, if it exists. I’m sure of the existence of these programs for Seagate and Western Digital, you can download them from official sites.

Run those tests that overwrite the contents of the hard drive. They allow you to get more information.

Employees of service centers claim that chips often burn on sigates. Not encountered, but quite possible.

Details about the essence of remapping

Remap is not done by you, not mhdd, not the next tool downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. Remap makes a hard disk by itself, according to the criteria laid down in its firmware, mhdd simply zadalbyvaet his appeals to the address of the broken sector, so that the firmwareman did the same remap. Under the remap on the hard disk, there are sectors that are not accessible to you at all (until the hard disk drops the broken sector into the G-List and reassigns the backup to its place). When this place ends ... hehe, then badblocks appear (their interpretation, by the way, is entrusted entirely to the OS). What you mean by remap in the SC is a kind of low-level formatting, with the internal tables (P-List, G-List, etc.) hard recalculated. And maybe the repairmen will be forced to turn off a pair of heads. But the ficus is that after that you will get a smaller hard disk. (And this is a deterioration in consumer qualities). However, SC, which "repair" the hard daily run of mhdd, must be bypassed per kilometer.
(author - JerleShannara )

What you should pay attention when reading the data smart.

First, you need to pay attention to the columns VALUE WORST and THRESH. Well, on TYPE.
Different manufacturers consider differently, but usually the value changes from 100 to 0. Or from 255 to 0. The larger the number, the more alive the disk. As soon as value equals the threshold, then FAILED will appear in TYPE, and usually something like In_the_past in WHEN_FAILED.

If smartctl knows this vendor / model and was able to parse a parameter, then RAW_VALUE can be quite human readable data. If not, it will be, as the weather on Mars has already said.

And finally, I will write the parameters that need to be paid attention to in a quick analysis of the state:

Start_Stop_Count - the number of spindle start cycles. indirect wear indicator
Reallocated_Sector_Ct - the same parameter
Seek_Error_Rate - positioning errors. everyone has; The question is only in the assessment of value
Power_On_Hours - the number of hours the drive
Spin_Retry_Count - spindle start errors. if it appears already gut
Power_Cycle_Count - the number of power cycles
Airflow_Temperature_Cel - air flow temperature. must be evaluated, given the environment
Temperature_Celsius - see above
Load_Cycle_Count is the number of parking / output cycles of the block of heads. indirect measure of wear
Offline_Uncorrectable - only makes sense if offline testing has been performed.

(author - Halt in this thread)

Legal part

(At first, a warning. As PavelPavlov correctly noted ( here ), the activity of specialized service centers is poorly regalmented here. Therefore, in the following, I mean authorized employees of the seller, not a specialized organization. If you have to deal with a separate organization, then everything is more complicated .)

Let's get started

First, download, read and print the Consumer Rights Protection Act. There is an online consultant-plus site. Printed ZZPP can and should be taken with you to the service center when you hand over the hard drive. At a minimum, this will instill in you the reverent fear of SC employees. As a maximum, this will be the best guide to action.

There are many letters in ZZPP. But if you really got down to business, it is strongly recommended to read it from beginning to end. He is your only real protector and the only guaranteed weapon.

Remember that in the case of a hard disk in the event of a malfunction they are required to return the money . Remember: do not repair , namely, return the money . Never, never be distracted by despicable suggestions to fix corrupted electronics: immediately demand to pick up a broken thing and get money for it. This applies not only to hard drives, but in general to everything.

(attention, according to the forgotten data, since January 1, 2008, money can be demanded not for any damage, but only for “substantial”.)

There is a list of things that are technically sophisticated devices. Link to it is in ZZPP. He sometimes changes. Ordinary employees of the SC usually do not remember by heart this list. Use the fact of its existence with the mind.

Remember items ZZPP, which states that they are required to return the money. Remember items ZZPP, which say, in what time they should return the money. If possible, memorize them and use them in speech and documents in any case where possible.

In the documents, be sure to support any of your statements with a quotation from the RFP stating the item number.

Remember that the laws of Russia are higher than any service agreement. A contract contrary to law is not valid. Acknowledging that the seller wrote an illegal contract theoretically means that they hit.

Most service contracts contain some errors. In the style of: "we can repair your device for four months, and if there are no spare parts, then generally as many as you like." Use the fact of the wrong contract as an argument in the negotiations.

If you are given an application form that does not satisfy you, write statements not in the form they offer you, but on a blank sheet of paper in any form. You have the right to do this.

Write applications addressed to the director of the service center, or any other person who is guaranteed to make decisions.

In response to the nonsense that the service center employees automatically (with incompetence, or according to the instructions), boldly say that if they, for example, refuse to accept the statement, in two weeks a subpoena and bailiffs will come to them. This is usually sobering great.

If you see that the employee of the service center is incompetent, immediately ask his boss, or "the person who makes decisions." If you refuse, threaten something scary.

Action algorithm

(the author of the algorithm is xpelled )

I returned quite a lot of any equipment under warranty. I have to say the following:

The main source of information - the site OZPP . There are two particularly useful sections: the law itself and samples of claims .

The algorithm itself is about the same for warranty equipment with a defect: a complaint is made in two copies (all requirements must be stated in it, including the requirements for the examination), together with the goods are delivered to the place of purchase and handed over to the seller. One copy with the word "Accepted (a)", the autograph of the representative of the seller and the date remains on hand (you can also ask for the seal and the number of the incoming, if it registers incoming documents). Within the time provided for by the law, the requested action usually takes place (repair, replacement, refund of the dough, recalculation of the cost - you can request any, but the terms are different). If it does not happen, you can safely file a lawsuit with a request for a corresponding late payment fee. how to do it correctly is written on the site.

About falsification of expertise

Any broken equipment, before its breakage is recognized, is examined. The result of the examination must be some kind of written confirmation.

First, if there is a suspicion of dishonest examination, you can demand a presence at this examination.
In the application, be sure to indicate that you do not need a badblock remapping.

Repainted blocks, if it is done using standard tools, are displayed in the remapped count field of the smart report. As I understand, the presence of tsiferki there more than 1 also leads to a warranty case.

BUT if you think that your seller is so vile and rotten that it will falsify the results of the examination, then find some of his worst enemy and competitor, and conduct an independent examination with him. The mere mention of the fact that they will review the work of the worst enemy will immediately hang indelible smiles on the faces of SC employees. And they will diagnose the hard drive for a penny.

Also threaten that during the examination will be present not only you, but your consultants. Specifically, it is possible to bring in as technical consultants for employees of the CC “The Most Enemy”. They will be very happy, and you can persuade them to do it for a nominal fee.

Even as a legal adviser, you can invite some of your classmate, lawyer or friend of a student from the latest courses in law school (so that any piece of paper was). Practically no sense, but in the face it is immediately clear that a lawyer. And speaks accordingly. It cuts the ideas of SC employees to produce some kind of nonsense “according to the XYZ law before the examination, you have to pledge your soul to me for nothing”, in the calculation that you have not read the XYZ law in life.

In general, just forget the way to the office, which can at least think about the falsification of expertise on such a trifle as a hard disk.

Common sense part

Hard drives, figuratively speaking, are consumables. Not because they are officially considered consumables, but because they break like matches.
It is good to deal with offices that understand this fact. To buy a new hard drive, I suggest using the services of large offices, for which an extra broken hard drive will not be a problem. Go to the company website, see what they do. Looking for those companies that have an expensive good site. Well-suited large companies (which are engaged in corporate services, have other activities other than the sale of components, such as air conditioning systems and network installation) and stores that specialize in hard drives.

We still have those laws. No, really. It is worthwhile to impose some idiocy on a person’s face (or even more, to sue) only when it’s really worth it. Before you show off any weighty argument, think: what will happen if you meet this person tomorrow, not at work anymore? Maybe this girl at the table opposite - your future wife or boss? If the conversation is just slightly strained and has not yet passed into the stage of direct confrontation, contact the SC staff members not with requirements, but with a request to advise how you should proceed. There is no need to believe these tips, but they set up the conversation in the desired fashion.

Hold the "we" frame. “How do we do better in this situation?” “How will we continue to communicate?” “How will we deal with this hard disk?”

Hold the frame of long duration. Imagine for a second that you will use the services of this company and this service center for another ten years, and build your phrases based on this hallucination. This will create a feeling for the SC employee that you are supposedly a regular customer.

These and other obvious tips can be obtained from any book on negotiation.

Negotiation tactics, provided that you are guaranteed to be right, I propose as in chess. Any move must be a check. The most weighty shah argument that an ordinary person can put forward is the laws of Russia. It is impossible to argue with them. It is not necessary to know all laws, but it is desirable to read in general terms the RFP.

Negotiation tactics, provided that you are wrong and just want to troll the SC, I do not consider here.

Be confident, for good reason. Raise ChSV to a level worthy of a conversation with the first persons of the service center. There is an option that you will have to communicate with the director. If you make a sad expression and shaking hands will grab the warranty card - most of the arguments (except for direct references to the Laws) will be wasted.

Speaking of communication with directors. They usually do not live in a vacuum. If you have negotiated with the director of the service center, then try to seek advice from the head of the sales department of the main company. He knows exactly what kind of disaster can create a disgruntled client. If nothing has helped, and you live in the region, then try to contact the company's central office in Moscow. Connect to warranty support for Seagate, Western Digital and others, especially if the company that refuses to repair your hard drive is their official partner.

Use your ability to communicate at 100%. Use arguments that are not directly related to the "case". For example, it is useful to remember that most cities are not so big, everyone knows everyone, and once having had a bad time talking to a client, who will believe you now? Something like that. Use facial expressions, gestures, movements. For this, it is not necessary to be a professional negotiator, it is enough to adequately express what you feel and think.

Additions

I would really like to see a bunch of additional tips in the comments so that the result will be a good FAQ on the exchange of hard drives.
I will try to correct typos, too, if you poke your finger where they are :)