Date added:	2005-03-04	Posted by:	Bob
Brand:	Hitachi	Firmware:	???
Model number:	HDS724040KLAT80	Manufacture date:	2004-11-??
Model name / serie:	Deskstar	Buffersize:	8 MB
Drive size:	400 GB	RPM:	7200
XBOX version:	v1.3	Progam(s):	XBPartitioner, X3CL
		Locking:	Yes
Additional notes:		Report this entry - Edit
This drive had problems with electrical interference with the power supply. A full description of this problem and my testing methodology can be found at: http://www.teamxecuter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26776

#1 - posted by (72.17.18*.*)

2006-02-18 00:18:49

I had problems with this drive in a v1.1 w/x3 (3294 flash-bios). i don't suspect electrical interference caused the problems i was having: attempting to use the x3 bios to partition lba48 as 'f gets all' or 'f gets 1st 137gb, g gets rest' seemed to work until a format of the partition was attempted and then i see 'error formatting partition'. i fooled with it for 10+ hours and could not resolve this problem. i pulled the 400gb out and put in a maxtor 250gb and it worked correctly the 1st time!

#2 - posted by tum (203.97.8*.*)

2006-07-02 08:03:26

This drive definitely has electric interference problems. The transfer speed will go from ~10MB/s to 0.5MB/s over FTP when the drive is mounted into its bay (over the power supply). The solution is relatively simple. Get some thick alumnium foil (I used oven liner that can be sourced from the local supermarket for a few dollars) and shield the circuit board with a square piece of the foil. Make sure you INSULATE the foil first using tape and/or mylar or else you'll short out the circuit board. Instead of taping the aliminium shield to the bottom of the hard disk I taped it to the plastic mounting bay that the hard drive screws into. I taped it into the inside bay area and positioned it where the circuit board of the HDD would align to. I also taped some foil to the bottom of the mounting bay (so that the foil would directly face the PSU) although I think this was unncessary. With the foil shield(s) in place the HDD is much quieter (no repeated read/write retries) and is now running at top speed again (10MB/s over FTP)

#3 - posted by Fungman (173.23.3*.*)

2016-02-07 19:41:15

I second the idea of these Deskstars benefitting from shielding. I layered 4 pieces of standard kitchen aluminum foil and laminated them together with packing tape on both sides. I made sure not to screw the HD to the bay through the foil, as I thought this might complete some sort of circuit, but now that I think of it, it's not connecting to anything, so that probably wouldn't be such a big deal. I put a piece of brown paper on top of the aluminum foil shield before putting the hard drive in the bay. DEFINITE speed increase. Now this drive runs like many of the 160gb WD and Seagates I have used. Makes me wonder if other drives could benefit from the shielding, or if even more thorough shielding could benefit this drive more, but this drive definitely requires shielding, period.