Maxtor One Touch, user comments???

James Emory · March 10th, 2006, 03:10 PM

Okay, I just got my drive back from the local compture store and I got all of my data back!! They just took the actual drive, plugged it into a tower and copied the files over to my new drive. It only cost $65 instead of the minimum $1000 if I had sent it off!! So, it was in fact the interface that was bad and not the drive. Thanks for all of your help!

James Emory · March 10th, 2006, 07:16 PM

I have now realized that I could have done this myself and even saved that $65 by simply switching the drive with the bad interface unit with the new warranty replacement and then copied the files over to my third brand new drive! UHHHHHHHH! The only catch was that I had to break the seal on this replacement unit that I just received. I went ahead and opened it because there's only 6 months left on it anyway and I want to keep my original drive because I know what how much time is on it and don't with the replacement certified or not. Maxtor doesn't care, they'll just keep sending replacement drives until the warranty runs out. Basically I did what Maxtor should have done, replaced the bad interface with the good one and kept the orginal good drive. One thing's for sure, I sure as hell know the inner workings of an external drive now!!

Boyd Ostroff · March 10th, 2006, 07:22 PM

Glad that it ended happily for you!

James Emory · March 10th, 2006, 07:47 PM

Thanks but this situation is not over yet. I have simply changed the drives in the casings and am going to send back the warranty replacement instead of my drive which is still fine. I don't think it should matter which one they get back because they're still going to check it out to certify it and they'll just be checking a drive that's already been certified. Basically what it amounts to is that I am only keeping the interface from the replacement drive and returning the replacement drive that they sent with the bad interface from my original drive unit. I know how much time is on my original drive which is still perfectly fine but I don't know what that replacement has been through so it is just another trainwreck waiting to happen. I hope they don't make things difficult for me when they receive that unit and the serial numbers on the returned drive don't match the paperwork from the original.

Boyd Ostroff · March 10th, 2006, 07:56 PM

I understand, but the important thing is that you got your data back. The rest is just money :-)

Steve McDonald · March 19th, 2006, 09:23 PM

James, it's good to hear that all those files have been taken off the disabled list. It seems to me that $65. was a pretty low tuition rate to pay for that harddrive management course. Thanks to your experience and the help that was provided here, we all will be better prepared to deal with a similar problem.

I just hooked up a Maxtor One-touch 300GB external HDD three days ago. It has recorded and played videos just fine and is quiet. I will keep it propped up on end, in one of its plastic brackets (one way it is intended to be used) and away from other units, so it should get good air circulation around it. I'll glue a round piece of thin plywood under the bracket to make it more tip-resistant. I have a tiny, 4-inch fan that I will use on it, when it's running during hot weather, or for more than an hour or so at a time. I will always turn off its power switch and a switch I have for its power adaptor, when I'm not using it.

It's a FireWire/USB 2.0 type, but I couldn't get it to function with FireWire. That's just as well, as I have more USB ports than I need.

It turns out, that after I placed the order, I discovered that it is a re-furbished unit, hence the $80. price break. There's only a 90 day warranty on it. But, with all the gadgets I have in that price range, I can't get too concerned about any one of them. I will just hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

A large number of re-furbished units never have been in the hands of another owner. They have been pulled off the production line for a fault and are run back through the re-furb line to be corrected. This could lead to them being more carefully inspected, than those that made it through the first time. Sometimes, they are units that were opened and then returned to a dealer, perhaps with a fault and perhaps not. I wouldn't think that a large percentage were actually used for an extended time and then after breaking down, were replaced under warranty. This one of mine, has not the slightest trace of a nick or scrape on it.

Here's what I will do with every video I have on that HDD and also on my main HDD: Every edited and raw camera video I have made, will be duplicated onto a Sony Excellence DV tape. I will also copy them onto one DVD-RAM and at least one DVD-R (several of each of these will go into the hands of friends) I'll also maintain M-PEG2 files of the more important ones on the 160GB HDD of my DVD recorder. The M-PEG2 ones are reduced in bits to 9.2mbps, but they'll be far better than nothing, if everything else fails. The storage on this external HDD is just one leg of several, that support my preservation of videos. I've just experienced a software fiasco with my main HDD and I may lose everything on it. But, every video stored on it is still on at least one DV tape and most of them on two or three. The Maxtor, being unpowered at the time, won't have its contents affected.

J. Stephen McDonald · March 21st, 2006, 06:46 AM

I spent the whole evening putting my new Maxtor 300-gig HDD through its paces. I loaded footage from two Digital8 edited tapes directly onto it, using WMM and moved three more hours of video to it from my main HDD. Oddly, there were some playback problems with half the hour-long programs, when I used WMM and MPC. They froze on the first frame of some, although they played the others. However, my Ulead video editing program played back everything from the Maxtor without a glitch and so did WinDV, the freeware utility that is less than 100Kb in size. It helps to have several players at your disposal to manuever around these problems. I'm going to look for a few more players, freeware or commercial, to broaden my options. Was there some instability in the DV/Digital8 footage or was it in something that happened during or after capture, that affected the playback on some players?

I still am unable to get a FireWire connection to work with my computer's capture-card, so I use USB 2.0. I know the FireWire ports on the card are good, as I use them often for capture from VCRs. I tried two new 6-pin to 6-pin cords, one that came bundled with the HDD and another by Belkin. I connected to both of the FireWire ports on the Maxtor, but got no recognition. I also unplugged all other cords from the two other ports on the card and on the Maxtor. I'd be interested to hear from other One-Touch users on this issue. The specs say that USB 2.0 can pass 480mbps and this version of FireWire can carry 400mbps

After running it for three hours, it got only moderately warm and as long as it's on end, I doubt there'll be an overheating issue, even in the Summer. You want to turn off its power switch when it's not in use, as the drive keeps spinning, otherwise. I forgot to do this tonight and it ran quietly for three more useless hours, after I'd finished with it.

Paul Deaney · April 9th, 2006, 10:26 AM

Hi James, I largely have the same problem at this point in time. I have two 300GB External Maxtor's and one has just failed after 90 days use. I'm currently waiting for the warranty replacement from Maxtor. I have 30 days in which to return the faulty drive to Maxtor.

Regarding your resolution I don't understand how you have exchanged the interface without disturbing the security seal.
PaulD

James Emory · April 9th, 2006, 02:31 PM

It's Ok if the seal is broken as long as you provide a copy of the receipt of the service center worked on it. Technically they have to break the seal but how do they know who really broke it. I'm just sending Maxtor the bad interface and the warranty drive that they sent and keeping my original drive with the new interface. Basically I just switched out the hard drives in the cases with the interfaces.

March 19th, 2006, 09:23 PM	#36
Steve McDonald Major Player Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 366	James, it's good to hear that all those files have been taken off the disabled list. It seems to me that $65. was a pretty low tuition rate to pay for that harddrive management course. Thanks to your experience and the help that was provided here, we all will be better prepared to deal with a similar problem. I just hooked up a Maxtor One-touch 300GB external HDD three days ago. It has recorded and played videos just fine and is quiet. I will keep it propped up on end, in one of its plastic brackets (one way it is intended to be used) and away from other units, so it should get good air circulation around it. I'll glue a round piece of thin plywood under the bracket to make it more tip-resistant. I have a tiny, 4-inch fan that I will use on it, when it's running during hot weather, or for more than an hour or so at a time. I will always turn off its power switch and a switch I have for its power adaptor, when I'm not using it. It's a FireWire/USB 2.0 type, but I couldn't get it to function with FireWire. That's just as well, as I have more USB ports than I need. It turns out, that after I placed the order, I discovered that it is a re-furbished unit, hence the $80. price break. There's only a 90 day warranty on it. But, with all the gadgets I have in that price range, I can't get too concerned about any one of them. I will just hope for the best and prepare for the worst. A large number of re-furbished units never have been in the hands of another owner. They have been pulled off the production line for a fault and are run back through the re-furb line to be corrected. This could lead to them being more carefully inspected, than those that made it through the first time. Sometimes, they are units that were opened and then returned to a dealer, perhaps with a fault and perhaps not. I wouldn't think that a large percentage were actually used for an extended time and then after breaking down, were replaced under warranty. This one of mine, has not the slightest trace of a nick or scrape on it. Here's what I will do with every video I have on that HDD and also on my main HDD: Every edited and raw camera video I have made, will be duplicated onto a Sony Excellence DV tape. I will also copy them onto one DVD-RAM and at least one DVD-R (several of each of these will go into the hands of friends) I'll also maintain M-PEG2 files of the more important ones on the 160GB HDD of my DVD recorder. The M-PEG2 ones are reduced in bits to 9.2mbps, but they'll be far better than nothing, if everything else fails. The storage on this external HDD is just one leg of several, that support my preservation of videos. I've just experienced a software fiasco with my main HDD and I may lose everything on it. But, every video stored on it is still on at least one DV tape and most of them on two or three. The Maxtor, being unpowered at the time, won't have its contents affected. __________________ Steve McDonald

March 21st, 2006, 06:46 AM	#37
J. Stephen McDonald Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Eugene, Oregon Posts: 909	I spent the whole evening putting my new Maxtor 300-gig HDD through its paces. I loaded footage from two Digital8 edited tapes directly onto it, using WMM and moved three more hours of video to it from my main HDD. Oddly, there were some playback problems with half the hour-long programs, when I used WMM and MPC. They froze on the first frame of some, although they played the others. However, my Ulead video editing program played back everything from the Maxtor without a glitch and so did WinDV, the freeware utility that is less than 100Kb in size. It helps to have several players at your disposal to manuever around these problems. I'm going to look for a few more players, freeware or commercial, to broaden my options. Was there some instability in the DV/Digital8 footage or was it in something that happened during or after capture, that affected the playback on some players? I still am unable to get a FireWire connection to work with my computer's capture-card, so I use USB 2.0. I know the FireWire ports on the card are good, as I use them often for capture from VCRs. I tried two new 6-pin to 6-pin cords, one that came bundled with the HDD and another by Belkin. I connected to both of the FireWire ports on the Maxtor, but got no recognition. I also unplugged all other cords from the two other ports on the card and on the Maxtor. I'd be interested to hear from other One-Touch users on this issue. The specs say that USB 2.0 can pass 480mbps and this version of FireWire can carry 400mbps After running it for three hours, it got only moderately warm and as long as it's on end, I doubt there'll be an overheating issue, even in the Summer. You want to turn off its power switch when it's not in use, as the drive keeps spinning, otherwise. I forgot to do this tonight and it ran quietly for three more useless hours, after I'd finished with it. __________________ Steve McDonald https://onedrive.com/?cid=229807ce52dd4fe0 http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/ http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos

April 9th, 2006, 10:26 AM	#38
Paul Deaney New Boot Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Ireland Posts: 12	Maxtor Ontouch II failure Hi James, I largely have the same problem at this point in time. I have two 300GB External Maxtor's and one has just failed after 90 days use. I'm currently waiting for the warranty replacement from Maxtor. I have 30 days in which to return the faulty drive to Maxtor. Regarding your resolution I don't understand how you have exchanged the interface without disturbing the security seal. PaulD

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March 10th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#31
James Emory Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 1,892	Okay, I just got my drive back from the local compture store and I got all of my data back!! They just took the actual drive, plugged it into a tower and copied the files over to my new drive. It only cost $65 instead of the minimum $1000 if I had sent it off!! So, it was in fact the interface that was bad and not the drive. Thanks for all of your help!

March 10th, 2006, 07:16 PM	#32
James Emory Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 1,892	I have now realized that I could have done this myself and even saved that $65 by simply switching the drive with the bad interface unit with the new warranty replacement and then copied the files over to my third brand new drive! UHHHHHHHH! The only catch was that I had to break the seal on this replacement unit that I just received. I went ahead and opened it because there's only 6 months left on it anyway and I want to keep my original drive because I know what how much time is on it and don't with the replacement certified or not. Maxtor doesn't care, they'll just keep sending replacement drives until the warranty runs out. Basically I did what Maxtor should have done, replaced the bad interface with the good one and kept the orginal good drive. One thing's for sure, I sure as hell know the inner workings of an external drive now!!

March 10th, 2006, 07:22 PM	#33
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	Glad that it ended happily for you!

March 10th, 2006, 07:47 PM	#34
James Emory Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 1,892	Thanks but this situation is not over yet. I have simply changed the drives in the casings and am going to send back the warranty replacement instead of my drive which is still fine. I don't think it should matter which one they get back because they're still going to check it out to certify it and they'll just be checking a drive that's already been certified. Basically what it amounts to is that I am only keeping the interface from the replacement drive and returning the replacement drive that they sent with the bad interface from my original drive unit. I know how much time is on my original drive which is still perfectly fine but I don't know what that replacement has been through so it is just another trainwreck waiting to happen. I hope they don't make things difficult for me when they receive that unit and the serial numbers on the returned drive don't match the paperwork from the original.

March 10th, 2006, 07:56 PM	#35
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,787	I understand, but the important thing is that you got your data back. The rest is just money :-)

April 9th, 2006, 02:31 PM	#39
James Emory Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 1,892	It's Ok if the seal is broken as long as you provide a copy of the receipt of the service center worked on it. Technically they have to break the seal but how do they know who really broke it. I'm just sending Maxtor the bad interface and the warranty drive that they sent and keeping my original drive with the new interface. Basically I just switched out the hard drives in the cases with the interfaces.