MAXTOR (Diamondmax 20) - STM380211A - CRC ERRORs after copying big files

[noloboy]

hi everybody,

I'm having a problem with my newly bought hard drive. The hard drive specs are:

Maxtor 80gig // IDE // 7200rpm // STM380211A model // Diamondmax 20

Here it goes:

I bought this hard disk about a month ago. I use this hard drive solely for data storage only. This drive is hooked in my Primary Slave IDE cable. My Primary Master is the OS disk (a 40-gig seagate 7200rpm also IDE).

When I try to copy a fair to large amount of data (files) from my 40gig seagate drive to the Maxtor 80gig drive (new), it transfers successfully. THe problem is when I try to open this transfered file from my 80-gig drive, it generates CRC errors. This happens only with large compressed files with a filesize range of 150mb and up (examples are installers like adobe professional, bricko packs, nero, etc). SOmetimes, when you re-try opening these compressed files, IT WORKS!! The issue is very intermittent (but most of the time, it results to CRC errors) It's really confusing. When I try to open pictures or mp3s, it views and plays fine. When you download files directly from the internet, sometimes it works, most of the time = CRC errors (fresh downloads)

My system specs are:
AMD Athlon 64 3000
MSI K9NGM-L socket AM2 // NVIDIA® GeForce 6100 and nForce 410 Chipset
Palit Daytona Geforce 7300LE
1gig DDR2 Kingston Mem 667mhz(running at Dual Channel Mode)
40gig Seagate 7200 IDE hdd

Troubleshooting steps done:
-Ran Powermax hdd utility // Did extensive test (passed) // tried Low-level format
-switched IDE positions (tried Primary Master // Primary Slave // Secondary master/slave)
-Even tried installing Windows in the 80-gig drive (it installed properly, but still have the CRC errors when opening compressed files)
-Disabled SATA/RAID in bios
-updated the motherboard bios to 3.23 (beta version for Windows Vista) original Bios version still has the same problem.
-installed the latest chipset drivers from MSI and NVIDIA
-Disabled dual-channel mode (I just did it even though its not that related to the issue) // tried using different memory modules
-Tried using the drive in 4 different computers (different chipsets, different specs)

This is the tricky part:
At first, I would assume that it was a drive problem so I went to the store where I bought it and they replaced the drive with the same exact model. I went home and tried it again but

IT HAD THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM!!!!!

Went back to the store > replaced with the same drive and again ..

IT HAD THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM!!!!! (3 identical drives)

Other hard drives work .. except for this model. I tried to google this issue and some reported that there was an issue with nforce 4 and KT600 chipsets with maxtor drives (not the 80gig ide drive). HOwever, I tried it will almost all chipsets SIS,Intel,ATI,VIA,Nforce .. same problem!! Sadly, I can't refund it anymore so I have to find a way to make it work.

Does anybody experience this issue?? Did I miss some troubleshooting steps. Help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[waresoft]

I have the same hard drive and never had a problem. You have also had this problem with 3 identical drives. I think your drive may not be the problem. I believe that the problem may be your RAM. You may want to run a RAM diagonistic test on your computer.

I recommend using Memtest86.

[noloboy]

Thanks for the reply waresoft.

I'll do that on the weekend .. I'm not home right now but I'll post the results of the memtest as soon as I get my hands on my PC.

Anyway, (additional info) I've also tried using 4 different computers with different memory specs and I'm still having the same problem.

Thanks again.

[noloboy]

I ran memtest86 and I stopped it after 13 passes (NO ERRORS). I've read some issues about nvidia 550 chipset with some SATA II drives. There is a possibility of incompatibility with 550 chipsets when you enable SATAII with the board and hdd. Can anyone confirm this? Waresoft, what mobo are you using? did you enable 3.0 of your hdd or just 1.5? I haven't tried it yet.

Thank you.

[waresoft]

I'm using an Asus Mobo. I enabled just 1.5 on my drive.

[noloboy]

Thanks for the info .. ill be trying to run my drive at 1.5 and see if it is the issue with my msi k9n neo-f board.

Thanks again.

[noloboy]

Its a memory problem. It passed the memtest86 tool but when i tried it in a different board it didn't have any errors. I tried using 1 memory at a time and when I placed the bad memory, it had an
0x000021a
The session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x000026c (0x00000000 0x00000000). The system has been shut down. I receive this error right after formatting and copying setup files from windows xp. When I use the good memory, it doesnt give this error.

Thanks for your help guys.