Well I’m guessing that Sony has to do something with the hardware of the TR 1 to fix the problem, and if they publicised the issue it may cost them quite a bit of money.

Hard drives have their quirks every now and then, and I’m prepared to put up with my Hitatchi for now - I have a new headset mic as I mentioned previously, but if I was a regular video conferencer / needed to use the internal mic, I’d be a little miffed.

The Sony techs on the phone agreed there was a problem after listening to the sounds down the line and also said that there was a fix available but it would require the machine to be shipped back to them.

As my TR is not technically faulty, and as everything on it works really well, I don’t want to risk someone opening it up and maybe just maybe returning it in a worse condition just to fix an issue that I don’t really use all that much anyway….

You have a point Wadham, it really isn’t worth sending it back to Sony. Still, I’m curious what Sony does to fix it, and if it was something I could do myself. If you ever find out, please let me know.

I’ve noticed the postings on the Hitachi’s making noise.  Specifically, I have a DK13FA-40 like a lot of you.  Well, noises-aside, which it was making, after using it last night, I shut it down.  A few hours later, I went to turn it on and heard some obnoxious clicking noises followed by

A DISK READ ERROR OCCURRED PRESS CTRL+ALT+DEL TO RESTART

Same message over and over…Same obnoxious clicking noises when I attempt a restart.  I can only assume that mine failed and those of us experiencing similar noises/problems will end up with failed drives.

BACK YOUR SYSTEM UP NOW.

Rather than going through Sony (thankfully I didn’t have anything I needed on the hard-drive) for warranty, I would prefer to upgrade it.  Can anyone give me a recommendation on a 60 or 80 gig drive?

Thanks,
Chris

Hmm -a warning to us all maybe.

I have heard from previous posters that although you can buy a new drive, for example a Toshiba, the interface between the drive and the TR is different - sorry I can’t find the original post but it does appear to put a spanner in the works if you simply wish to upgrade your drive…

Any ideas as to whether you can buy the relevant part/s to make a Toshiba drive work on a Hitatchi equipped TR?

[quote author=“inlacal”]I’ve noticed the postings on the Hitachi’s making noise.  Specifically, I have a DK13FA-40 like a lot of you.  Well, noises-aside, which it was making, after using it last night, I shut it down.  A few hours later, I went to turn it on and heard some obnoxious clicking noises followed by

A DISK READ ERROR OCCURRED PRESS CTRL+ALT+DEL TO RESTART

Same message over and over…Same obnoxious clicking noises when I attempt a restart.  I can only assume that mine failed and those of us experiencing similar noises/problems will end up with failed drives.

BACK YOUR SYSTEM UP NOW.

Rather than going through Sony (thankfully I didn’t have anything I needed on the hard-drive) for warranty, I would prefer to upgrade it.  Can anyone give me a recommendation on a 60 or 80 gig drive?

Thanks,
Chris

YUP. RIGHT. Thats what happened to mine at everest base camp last month.  It was noisy the old TR1 variety.  Doomed, all of them I bet.  Hoping this new 40gb lasts longer.

jiggles :shock:

From reading other threads, I believe only Hitachi and Toshiba make 1.8 inch drives, and that the current maximun is 40 gb. There is also talk of a 60 gb coming out. You’ll have to search the other threads for this info as offhand I don’t remember which thread I read this at.

So…Does anyone know of a source where I can purchase a replacement Hitachi drive?

Let’s not go to the ‘warranty-it’ department.  I’ve been down that road with Sony and quite honestly, I don’t have the time to waste.

I’d prefer to go out and buy one, cost be damned.  While Sony makes some fabulous devices, I believe we would all agree that their customer service and warranty support (or lack thereof) for lack of a more articulate description ‘sucks’.

*worry*

*worry*

*worry*

Maybe I should have sent it back originally when I started this thread…..
Already lost my entire CD collection when my backup drive went caput, now I have to dig all my CD’s out of the loft and re-encode them all..

*worry*

*worry*

*worry*

[quote author=“inlacal”]So…Does anyone know of a source where I can purchase a replacement Hitachi drive?

Let’s not go to the ‘warranty-it’ department.  I’ve been down that road with Sony and quite honestly, I don’t have the time to waste.

I’d prefer to go out and buy one, cost be damned.  While Sony makes some fabulous devices, I believe we would all agree that their customer service and warranty support (or lack thereof) for lack of a more articulate description ‘sucks’.

inlacal, you should read the threads on warrenty, extended, after market, compusa, etc. on this site for info on how not to trust Sony service with anything, and bypass them with a replacement warrenty.  Sure it costs money, but relative the price of the TR, what’s a few more hundred? It’s still a value considering what the TR can do for ur life.

Group,

I just got off the phone with Hitachi.  They were actually VERY helpful.  Helpful to the point that although it was an OEM drive for Sony, they helped me anyway.

While we know it as the DK13FA-40 it is know, internally at Hitachi, as the C4K40 and the part number is 08k1393.  It is listed under a new format of drives know as “SFF8111” or Small Form Factor 8111.

Below is the link for the drive:

http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/hgst/?epi_menuItemID=1311574c9398d00ae4c0c516bac4f0a0&epi_menuID=0f34be57a7adb6fd25ad4e8060e4f0a0&epi_baseMenuID=22f0deefa8f3967dafa0466460e4f0a0

Below is the link for the documentation on it:

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/products/Travelstar_C4K40

The guy at Hitachi went a step further and sent me an .iso image to put on a CD and actually test my drive.  I’ve taken the liberty of uploading it to my website here:

http://www.inlacal.com/DFT 3_61.iso

You will Nero or Winiso to put it on disk (it is a 2 meg file).

I ran it and sure enough, my hard drive is done.  He didn’t have access to internal pricing, because he was in tech support which still leaves me with ‘where to get a replacement drive’.  Well, a short search for the C4K40 online yielded plenty of results…All of which were sources in Europe.  I contacted Hitachi again (although you can see it on their website, you cannot buy it from them).  I got a number for two U.S. resellers.  The first is Microland @ 800 632 1688 x 125 (Bernie).  The cost is $175 shipped.  I then called the other place Hitachi mentioned (Bell Micro).  They don’t sell to individuals.  Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and call Sony sales (pants-down ready to be taken advantage of). Talk about extortion:  $367.  This price is wrong on so many different levels.  What a bunch of bull*it.

Looks like I’m going to warranty this after all (Oh, joy…)  The thought of dealing with Sony makes me want to lop my arm off with a rusty clam-knife.

Chris

That’s really cool information - well done!
I spent hours on the Hitachi site trying to identify the part no. , so your detective work has proved really useful.

Grabbed a copy of fthe .iso - thanks for that, gonna check pout my drive tonight too!

Interesting that the C4K40 only seems to be available in 20 or 40 gb sizes, not the 30 that we have in our TR1’s

Hmmmmm..

Does anyone know if there is drivers for the Hitachi drive? Maybe that’s the problem. We don’t have the correct drivers.
I reinstalled my windows and let windows detect everything.