I purchased a new Western Digital Elements 3TB a couple of weeks ago.
As usual, I did all SMART tests, then badblocks, then SMART tests again.
When I first got the drive, SMART showed this:
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 7) minutes.
I then ran a short SMART test and a long SMART test, which came back ok:
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 0 -
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 0 -
Then, I ran a full badblocks destructive write test which showed no bad blocks.
Then, I ran another SMART short self-test, which also came back ok:
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 261 -
# 2 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 0 -
# 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 0 -
Then I ran a long SMART test again, and it gets stuck on 90%, even after 24 hours!
Self-test execution status: ( 249) Self-test routine in progress...
90% of test remaining.
At some point during this, the extended self-test routine time has changed from 7 minutes to 682 minutes!
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 682) minutes.
I returned it thinking it was just a fault with the drive, but the replacement (also new) shows exactly the same error after the same sequence.
I have posted this issue to the WD Community but got no response.
Is this a batch issue (like a faulty EEPROM command) or a known issue (e.g. SMART firmware overrun tripped by a long sequence of 0xff?) with the drive? Should I return and try again or change to a different make/model?
