DISK TECHNICIAN(R) FACTORY TEST FOR SEAGATE(R) DRIVES USER GUIDE Version 1.22 Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives is a Disk Technician Corporation product, distributed by Seagate Technology, Inc. License Agreement: Ownership of the Disk Technician(R) Factory Test For Seagate Drives programs remains exclusively with Disk Technician Corporation, which provides the Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives programs. License to use these programs is granted only to Seagate Technology(R) Inc. authorized OEMs, system integrators, distributors and their dealers. WARNING! Unauthorized or uninformed use of this product may result in irretrievable data loss, or other damage. You may use these programs and make copies thereof. All copies must be full and complete and must include the copyright notice. You may not rent, sell, assign, lend, give, or otherwise transfer the Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives programs to any person. Any attempt to transfer the Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives programs or any rights under this License is void. YOU MAY NOT ALTER, DIVIDE, BREAK, MODIFY, ADAPT, TRANSLATE, DECOMPILE, DISASSEMBLE, OR REVERSE ENGINEER THE DISK TECHNICIAN FACTORY TEST FOR SEAGATE DRIVES PROGRAMS IN ANY MANNER FOR ANY PURPOSE WHATSOEVER. YOU MAY NOT USE THE PROGRAMS OR ANY PORTIONS THEREOF IN ANY DERIVATIVE WORKS. This License is effective until terminated. You may terminate it by destroying the programs and supporting materials together with all copies in any form. This License will also terminate if you fail to comply with any terms or condition of this License. You agree upon such termination to destroy the programs and all supporting materials together with all copies. This License is governed by the laws of the State of California. Disclaimer of Warranty: The Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives programs are furnished to you by Disk Technician Corporation. There is no warranty provided. If the programs or any materials provided therewith are defective in any way, notify Disk Technician Corporation immediately. Disk Technician Corporation does not warrant that the functions contained in the programs will meet your requirements or that the operation of the programs will be uninterrupted or error-free. THE PROGRAMS CONTAINED IN THIS PACKAGE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK RELATED TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAMS IS ON YOU. IN THE EVENT THERE IS ANY DEFECT, YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. i This agreement constitutes the complete and exclusive statement of the terms of the agreement between you and Disk Technician Corporation. It supersedes and replaces any previous written or oral agreements and communications relating to the software. No oral or written information or advice given by Disk Technician Corporation, its dealers, distributors, agents or employees will create any warranty or in any way increase the scope of the warranty provided in this agreement, and you may not rely on any such information or advice. Patents, Servicemarks, Trademarks, Copyrights: U.S. and foreign patent(s) pending. Disk Technician(R) is a registered trademark of Disk Technician Corporation. Finds And Fixes Hard Disk Problems While You Use Your Other Software(SM), and We Make Technology Easy and Affordable(SM) are servicemarks of Disk Technician Corporation. Seagate(R), Seagate Technology(R), and the Seagate(R) logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology Incorporated. All other trademarks and servicemarks are acknowledged. (C)1991-93 DISK TECHNICIAN CORPORATION. All rights reserved. ii ***************************************************************** Table of Contents: ***************************************************************** Legal...........................................................i Introduction....................................................1 Requirements....................................................2 Setup...........................................................3 Operating Instructions..........................................4 Using The Test Results..........................................6 Product Support Services........................................6 Appendix A: Eligible Seagate Drives And Matching Controllers/Adapters...................7 Appendix B: Installing Jumpers And Terminators.................11 Appendix C: White Paper On Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives.................................12 Appendix D: Disk Technician Gold And The Rest of The Hard Drive Reliability Story................17 Appendix E: White Paper On Disk Technician Gold................18 iii Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Introduction: ***************************************************************** Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives puts the power of Seagate factory testing in your hands. It requires no special hardware and is fast and easy to use. Its two tests assure the reliability of Seagate drives for you and your customers: * A Quick test rapidly identifies gross failures. * Media certification creates a new, updated media defect map and recertifies the drive for normal use. Disk Technician Gold(R), the retail end-user version, puts the power of Seagate factory testing in your customers' hands. It makes hard discs continuously self-repairing. It's the first hard disc preventive maintenance software that works all of the time -- in the background. Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives was developed especially for you. That makes you our most highly-valued source for how to make it better. We need your suggestions. Please let us hear from you. 1 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Requirements: ***************************************************************** * AT-286, -386, or -486 class machine with at least 640K of RAM and a 1.2 megabyte 5.25" or 1.44 megabyte 3.5" floppy drive. NOTE: Some older AT-286 clones do not support AT (IDE) drives. If you are using one of these early computers as a test system, you may find that you are unable to test certain drives unless you update the computer's BIOS. Also, make certain that your test system is set-up so that, if a diskette is loaded into the floppy drive, it will boot from the floppy drive. * The recommended controller/adapter for the hard drive to be tested. See "Appendix A" for details. NOTE: To precisely match Seagate factory testing and assure your customers that their hard drives have been recertified on that basis, it is best use the recommended controller or adapter. Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives may operate with controllers and adapters not listed in the README.DOC. However, these have not been tested or certified with Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives and may give invalid results. * A printer. * A MS-DOS 5.0 or 6.0 bootable 1.2 megabyte 5.25" or 1.44 megabyte 3.5" diskette. 2 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Setup: ***************************************************************** Copy all files from the Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives distribution diskette to the DOS 5.0 or 6.0 bootable diskette. This will be your work copy. 3 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Operating Instructions: ***************************************************************** Because Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives automatically configures itself to each Seagate drive, you will NOT need to: * Change any CMOS settings when setting-up or testing different drives. * DOS format or FDISK any drive prior to testing. WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! All data on the drive being tested will be destroyed. For nondestructive testing, use Disk Technician Gold. WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! 1. Make certain that the power is off, then install the Seagate hard drive and recommended controller/adapter in the test system. See "Appendix A" for details. Please be certain that: * You have correctly installed all jumpers and terminators on the drive to be tested. See "Appendix B" for details. * You are using the recommended controller or adapter. See "Appendix A" for details. * For MFM and RLL (ST412-type) drives, confirm that the interleave is set at 1 prior to testing. If it is not, low-level format with an interleave value of 1. 2. Be sure the printer is on and connected. 3. Turn on the computer and boot from the Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives work copy diskette. The opening screen will appear with a flashing message that Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives is "Configuring To The Test Drive. Please Wait." When configuration is complete, you will see another flashing message, "Press any key to continue." Press any key to go to the "Tests" menu. NOTE: Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives may not automatically recognize all drives. In these cases, you will see a list of eligible drives on screen. Highlight the correct drive and then press ENTER to continue. 4 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual 4. Press ENTER to start the "Quick test." The "Quick test" screen will appear and testing will start. Or use the up/down arrow keys to select "Media certification." (If you select "Media certification," go to step 7 now.) The "Quick test" rapidly identifies gross failures, including the inability to seek and/or to perform read/write operations. The "Quick test" does the following operations on the drive: * Seek testing. * Quick read and write testing of the entire drive for soft and hard errors. 5. When the test is finished, you will see the "Quick test report," with a pass/fail result. Type P for a printed report. NOTE: To remove from service all new defect locations detected by Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives, simply perform a high-level format under the appropriate operating system (DOS, UNIX, etc.). 6. Press the Escape key to return to the "Tests" menu. Or press F10 to quit. NOTE: If you choose to quit now, skip instructions 7-9 and go to the last section, "Using The Test Results. "To test a different drive now, turn off the computer and begin again from step 1, above." 7. Use the up/down arrow keys to select "Media certification," then press ENTER to start testing. The "Media certification" screen will appear and testing will start. Media certification creates a new, updated media defect map and recertifies the drive for normal use. It performs the following operations on the entire drive: * Seek testing. * Comprehensive read and write testing of the entire drive for soft and hard errors. * Media defect identification. 5 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual 8. When the test is finished, you will see the "Media certification report," with a pass/fail result. Type P for a printed report. Save the printed report and return it along with the customer's drive. NOTE: To remove from service all new defect locations detected by Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives, simply perform a high-level format under the appropriate operating system (DOS, UNIX, etc.). 9. Press the Escape key to return to the "Tests" menu. Or press F10 to quit. NOTE: To test a different drive now, turn off the computer and begin again from step 1, above. ***************************************************************** Using The Test Results: ***************************************************************** 1. For optimal customer satisfaction: if the test drive passes the "Quick test," it is best to perform "Media certification" to assure that the drive is recertified for normal use. 2. Include a copy of the test report with the hard drive when you return it to your customer. This will provide assurance that the drive has been recertified for normal service by Seagate factory testing. ***************************************************************** Product Support Services: ***************************************************************** For product support and troubleshooting, please call Disk Technician Technical Support at 619 272 4000. Technical Support is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific Time. Support is also available on the Disk Technician Corporation electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS). It can be reached by modem 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 619 272 9240. Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives is continuously updated. New revisions can be obtained from the Seagate Technology Bulletin Board System (BBS). Seagate's BBS can be reached by modem 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at 408 438 8771. 6 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Appendix A: Eligible Seagate Drives And Matching Controllers/Adapters ***************************************************************** Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives V1.22. The following are Seagate drives supported by version 1.22. Also listed are the controllers and adapters we recommend you use. Controller and adapter numbers prefaced with ST are products of Seagate, those prefaced with TMC are products of Future Domain. NOTE: To precisely match Seagate factory testing and assure your customers that their hard drives have been recertified on that basis, it is best use the recommended controller or adapter. Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives may operate with controllers and adapters not listed in the README.DOC. However, these have not been tested or certified with Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives and may give invalid results. ================================================================= Model Number Controller/Adapter ------------ ------------------ ST1057A ST08 ST1090A ST08 ST1090N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1096N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1100 ST22M ST1102A ST08 ST1106R ST22R ST1111A ST08 ST1111N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11200N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11201N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1126A ST08 ST1126N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1133A ST08 ST1133N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1144A ST08 ST1150R ST22R ST1156A ST08 ST1156N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1162A ST08 ST1162N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11700N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11701N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11750N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST11751N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1186A ST08 ST1186N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1201A ST08 ST1201N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1239A ST08 ST1239N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST124 ST22M ST12400N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST12401N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST125 ST22M 7 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ST12550N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST12551N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST125A ST08 ST125N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST138 ST22M ST138A ST08 ST138N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST138R ST22R ST1400A ST08 ST1400N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1401A ST08 ST1401N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1480A ST08 ST1480N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1481N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST151 ST22M ST157A ST08 ST157N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST157R ST22R ST1581N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST177N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST1980N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST2106N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST212 ST22M ST2125N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST213 ST22M ST2209N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST225 ST22M ST225N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST225R ST22R ST2274A ST08 ST2383A ST08 ST2383N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST238R ST22R ST2502N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST250R ST22R ST251 ST22M ST251N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST252 ST22M ST253 ST22M ST274A ST08 ST277N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST277R ST22R ST278R ST22R ST279R ST22R ST280A ST08 ST296N ST02/TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3051A ST08 ST3096A ST08 ST31200N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3120A ST08 ST3123A ST08 ST3144A ST08 ST3145A ST08 ST3243A ST08 ST325A/X ST08 ST325N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3283A ST08 8 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ST3283N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3290A ST08 ST3385 ST08 ST3390A ST08 ST3390N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3500 ST08 ST3500N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST351A/X ST08 ST3550 ST08 ST3550N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3600 ST08 ST3600N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3610N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST3655A ST08 ST3655N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4026 ST22M ST4038 ST22M ST4038M ST22M ST4051 ST22M ST4053 ST22M ST406 ST22M ST4085 ST22M ST4086 ST22M ST4096 ST22M ST4097 ST22M ST412 ST22M ST41200 TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4135R ST22R ST4144R ST22R ST41520N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST41600N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST41601N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST41650N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST41651N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4182N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST419 ST22M ST42000N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST42100N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST42101N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST42400N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST43400N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST43401N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST43402N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4350N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4376N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4385N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4702N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4766N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST4767N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST506 ST22M ST9051A ST08 ST9052A ST08 ST9077A ST08 ST9080A ST08 ST9096A ST08 ST9100AG ST08 ST9144A ST08 ST9145AG ST08 9 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ST9235A ST08 ST9235AG ST08 ST9235N TMC1670/TMC1680 ST9295AG ST08 ST9295N TMC1670/TMC1680 10 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Appendix B: Installing Jumpers And Terminators ***************************************************************** Your Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives work copy diskette contains a hypertext file called the "Seagate Technical Support Desk Reference." This reference contains jumper and terminator settings for Seagate drives, controllers and adapters. To use this reference: 1. From the system prompt, type the following: SETTINGS and then press ENTER. 2. Follow the instructions on your screen. 11 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Appendix C: WHITE PAPER Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives And The Elimination of No Problem Found Drive Returns ***************************************************************** The Problem: On average, 35% of all drives returned to Seagate Customer Service Repair at Oklahoma City for repair (in or out of warranty) have absolutely nothing wrong with them. These "No Problem Found" (NPF) drives not only waste both Seagate and reseller resources, but they also cause customer dissatisfaction and damage to Seagate's valuable reputation for product quality. Seagate's Objective: Seagate's objective was to provide a simple solution to No Problem Found drive returns by empowering its resellers with the ability to perform on-site drive testing with factory-level accuracy. In order to be readily adopted and remain in use, any proposed solution would have to: * Be fast. Resellers must clearly perceive the potential for greater profits as a result of quick drive turnaround and immediate customer satisfaction. * Be easy to learn and operate. Training time must be minimal. Test operators selected by resellers are likely to be non- technical. * Precisely match Seagate factory hardware test results. Both Seagate and the resellers must be assured that results obtained from the field NPF solution will correlate to those of Customer Service Repair (CSR). * Be affordable. Resellers would be unlikely to participate if the solution required an investment in special equipment, periodic recalibration or maintenance. The Solution: Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives is software that eliminates No Problem Found drive returns from Seagate's direct accounts (and, eventually, from distributors' dealers). It puts the power of Seagate factory testing in the resellers' hands. It is purposefully designed as a quick and easy to use Go/No-Go tool for non-technical operators. As such, it does not perform failure analysis. Instead, Factory Test completely exercises and tests the drive's electronics and mechanics, tests the media, then produces an authoritative "Pass" or "Fail" report with a list of any new grown defect locations detected. 12 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual A "Pass" result allows Seagate resellers to immediately return a No Problem Found drive to their customer with the assurance that it has been recertified by Seagate factory testing for normal use. A "Fail" result indicates that the drive can be returned to Seagate with certainty that the drive requires further analysis and repair. Factory Test has been extensively researched and examined by Seagate Technology and has been found to be an effective method of testing and recertifying Seagate disc drives. It was developed in close consultation with Seagate Engineering and is designed to factory certify Seagate disc drives and avoid needless returns. It is the most effective substitute available for Seagate factory testing available. Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives achieves all of Seagate's objectives for eliminating NPFs at the reseller site: * It is fast. On average it takes only 2 minutes to test a 40 megabyte IDE drive, although testing time will vary depending on drive specifications and the number of defects found. * It is easy to learn and use. Factory Test was designed for non-technical operators. It automatically recognizes and configures itself to Seagate drives. * It has been tested against Seagate factory test hardware on a large number of hard disc drives to assure that results precisely match. * No special equipment is needed. Any AT-class machine is all that is required. * It is provided free to Seagate's direct accounts (and, eventually, to distributors' dealers). Requirements: * An AT-286/386/486 machine with at least 640K of RAM and a 1.2 megabyte 5.25" or 1.44 megabyte 3.5" floppy disc drive. * The recommended controller or adapter for the hard drive to be tested (these are listed in the README.DOC file on the Factory Test distribution diskette). * A printer. * A DOS 5.0 bootable 1.2 megabyte 5.25" or 1.44 megabyte 3.5" diskette. Setup: All files from the Factory Test distribution diskette are copied to the DOS 5.0 bootable diskette. This will become the work copy diskette. 13 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Operation: Factory Test only recognizes and tests Seagate drives. It automatically configures itself to any Seagate drive in the test program (these are listed in the README.DOC file on the diskette. Additional drives may be added at the determination of Seagate). Because of this, there is no need to verify or change any CMOS settings, DOS format or FDISK any drive to be tested. Additionally, because Factory Test overwrites all data on the drive being tested -- including sectors marked bad, it will test drives formatted under any operating system (i.e. DOS, UNIX, Macintosh, etc.). The operator simply installs the Seagate drive to be tested with the recommended controller or adapter. (A listing of the correct jumper and terminator settings for each drive can be found in the Seagate Technical Support Desk Reference file on the work copy diskette.) After making certain that the printer is connected and on, the operator inserts the work copy diskette into the computer's floppy drive and turns on the system. Important! Factory Test overwrites (destroys) all data on the drive being tested. This destructive test method allows drives to be tested regardless of the operating system under which they were formatted (UNIX, DOS, etc.). It also makes testing time much quicker. How Factory Test Eliminates NPFs: Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives performs comprehensive NPF testing of the entire hard disc drive subsystem (including electronics, mechanics and media) in the following order: 1. When Factory Test begins, it tests host-to-drive communications. It then issues a drive identification command to verify that it is operating on a Seagate drive. 2. Factory Test next obtains geometry for the specific drive from its own internal tables and sets the system parameters for the drive to be tested. Then the operator selects either the Quick Test (to rapidly eliminate gross failures) or Media Certification (to recertify the drive for normal service). 3. Next, Factory Test does random and step seek tests. These check the drive electronics as well as the positioning mechanics (including motor, stepper and positioning system). 4. The guaranteed good sector 0/0 is tested multiple times with all Seagate test patterns and their inversions. 14 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual 5. If the Quick Test is selected, the media is tested for soft, ECC and hard error locations by reading and writing to all sectors with a single Seagate test pattern. 6. If Media Certification is selected, the media is tested for soft, ECC and hard error locations by reading and writing to all sectors using all Seagate test patterns and their inversions. 7. In the final stage of both the Quick Test and Media Certification, defect locations are globally analyzed by an expert system for patterns indicating electronic, mechanical and media failures. The "Pass/Fail" Report Upon completion of testing, a report appears on-screen with a "Pass" or "Fail" finding, along with a list of media defect locations. This report should be printed so that it can accompany the drive. The Pass/Fail standard for each Seagate drive has been predetermined by specifications set by Seagate Engineering. If the drive passes the Quick Test, it is recommended to perform Media Certification to assure the customer that the drive is recertified for normal use. If the drive passes Media Certification, a copy of the test report containing the updated list of the new media defect locations should be included with the drive when it is returned to the customer. This provides assurance that the drive has been recertified by Seagate factory testing. NOTE: To remove from service all new defect locations detected by Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives, simply perform a high-level format under the appropriate operating system (DOS, UNIX, etc.). If the drive fails either the Quick Test or Media Certification, a copy of the test report should be included with the drive when it is sent to Seagate for analysis and repair. This will significantly reduce both diagnostic and turnaround time. Benefits: * Disk Technician Factory Test is backed by the Seagate name. * Seagate resellers now have a resource when "failures" occur. * Seagate resellers enjoy more profit, less handling, less work. * No Problem Found drives are eliminated by Seagate resellers. 15 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual * Rapid turnaround creates happier, more loyal customers. * By eliminating NPFs, Seagate's reputation for product quality is enhanced. Product Support Services: For product support and troubleshooting, please call Disk Technician Technical Support at (619) 272 4000. Technical Support is available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time. Support is also available on the Disk Technician Corporation Bulletin Board System (BBS). It can be reached by modem 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at (619) 272-9240. Additional drives may be included in the Factory Test program at the determination of Seagate. 16 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Appendix D: Disk Technician Gold And The Rest of The Hard Drive Reliability Story ***************************************************************** Seagate drives are born perfect. Before they arrive at your door, each one must pass a rigorous quality control process that is the acknowledged world standard. And each drive is factory certified for long and reliable service. So why do you get returns? Call it physics, or call it the law of nature. But, as soon as hard drives begin their long life of service, a host of microscopic, natural forces also begin a relentless attack on the various parts. These cause "grown defects," spots on the media surface that can no longer store data reliably, and that "grow" after factory certification. As they evolve from subtle, to marginal, to bad, grown defects wreak havoc with your customers' data. When that happens, you get a return. A preventable return. Disk Technician Gold makes your customers' hard drives continuously self-repairing. It stops grown defects before they get a chance to grow up. Operating as a memory-resident device driver, Disk Technician Gold goes to work automatically every time the computer is switched on. And it stays on the job continuously to prevent the very problems that cause drives to be returned to you. Disk Technician -- either the Factory Test For Seagate Drives or the Gold version -- is the only software that uses the same soft error test standards as factory quality control to monitor every hard disc access -- only tolerating perfect performance. However, since Disk Technician Gold is designed to work on "live" drives loaded with data, its testing is nondestructive. And, when a problem is detected, Disk Technician Gold not only reports it, it fixes it. On-the-fly. In the background. So how can you do fast turnarounds on returns -- and make your customers happy? Just keep Disk Technician Factory Test For Seagate Drives on your test bench. And how can you prevent returns in the first place -- and keep your customers happy? Just recommend Disk Technician Gold. It's the rest of the hard drive reliability story. 17 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual ***************************************************************** Appendix E: White Paper On Disk Technician Gold: Comprehensive Preventive Maintenance For The Hard Disc Drive and Its Subsystems ***************************************************************** The Problem of No Problem Found Drive Returns: Before leaving the factory, each Seagate hard disc drive undergoes rigorous quality control and is certified for long and reliable service. Yet, once these drives are installed in end user computer systems, an array of natural microscopic forces begins a relentless, continuous attack on the media, electronics and mechanics. While these forces can be effectively managed in a laboratory environment through scheduled, proactive diagnostics and repair, end users can only react to the catastrophic problems that these forces will eventually cause if left unchecked. However, problems inherent to the hard disc drive itself are only a small part of the picture. Failures in other computer components such as the power supply also affect data reliability and therefore the end user's perception of hard drive quality. End users seeing a DOS error message such as DRIVE NOT READY cannot distinguish between a problem caused by worn or dirty connectors, intermittent ribbon cables, an intermittent power supply -- or within the hard drive itself. Still other causes of perceived hard drive reliability problems that happen after the drive has left Seagate's reseller channel include such things as improper drive installation, incorrect CMOS setup, viruses, CHKDSK errors, improper software installation, and physical abuse. In any case, end users are not concerned with inter-industry engineering issues and intra-industry finger pointing. Fairly or unfairly, when any problem affects their precious data -- no matter what the actual cause may be the finger of blame is invariably pointed at Seagate and the hard drive is returned for repair or replacement. It should come as no surprise then, that on average, 35% of all drives returned to Seagate Customer Service Repair in Oklahoma City for repair -- in or out of warranty have absolutely nothing wrong with them. Or that, depending on the reseller, this figure can go as high as 80%. It is easy to deduce that servicing these No Problem Found (NPF) drives not only wastes both Seagate and reseller resources, but also cause customer dissatisfaction and damage to Seagate's valuable reputation for product reliability and quality. End User Resistance to Hard Drive Preventive Maintenance: The benefits of hard drive preventive maintenance are many, particularly to business and professional users. Because of the value of the data stored on their hard drives, these users typically own one or more hard disc utility software packages. 18 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Unfortunately, users rarely remember to run these utilities until after a severe problem has occurred, too late for preventive measures. Nor are these utilities preventive in the proper sense of the word, in that they cannot detect or measure soft errors. Further, the sole function these utilities provide is media surface scanning, which does not address the many other (and much more prevalent) causes of hard drive reliability problems. In addition, these utilities took from 1-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours to run on a 20 megabyte drive, which discouraged regularly scheduled maintenance. However, today's desktop computer is much more likely to have a 120 megabyte drive, and many new systems are shipped with 200 megabyte or greater drives. The effect of this is that critically necessary hard drive maintenance time has now eclipsed potential computer production time. With the decreasing cost of hardware and increasing sophistication of software applications, the PC has assumed many corporate mission-critical tasks that were previously in the domain of mainframes and minis, including things such as accounting, vendor and customer records, engineering and manufacturing process control. For business users, however, PC hard drive data reliability has remained the single, unresolved issue. Seagate's Objective: While Disk Technician Factory Test provides Seagate's resellers with a go/no-go software solution to eliminate NPFs once drives have arrived back in the channel (for more information, see the Factory Test White Paper), no one would disagree that it would be far preferable and mutually profitable to prevent these drives from being returned in the first place. Further, suppose a comprehensive tool could be developed which could detect and eliminate all of the previously mentioned problems affecting data reliability? Suppose that it could be installed right in the computer operating system, such that hard drive preventive maintenance would not require end user involvement? One result would surely be that unnecessary drive returns would plummet to virtually zero. Everyone -- from end users, to dealers, VARs or VMRs, to distributors, to System Integrators, to OEMs, to Seagate itself -- would enjoy the benefits of self-repairing hard drives. Disk Technician Corporation's Objective: Disk Technician Corporation wanted to develop a user-independent solution to both inherent and environmentally induced hard drive problems, as well as non-hard drive problems that affect data reliability and hence are perceived to be hard drive-related. In order to be an acceptable end user desktop solution, such a product would need to: * Detect and eliminate grown defects. Media defects develop continuously throughout a hard drives service life. These must be eliminated in their soft stage, before they cause lost and corrupted data, or precipitate a crash. 19 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual * Detect imminent electronic, mechanical and media problems in the hard drive. If undetected, these can cause sudden, catastrophic failures. * Detect non-hard drive computer component problems affecting data reliability. These can cause lost and corrupted data as well as sudden, catastrophic failure. * Detect other non-hard drive issues affecting data reliability (including CHKDSK errors, viruses, improper software installation, improper drive installation and setup, etc.). * Precisely match Seagate factory hardware test results. Seagate, resellers and end users must be assured that testing results obtained from the end user preventive maintenance product correlate to Seagate Customer Service Repair's. * Be fast. End users will not adopt a product that ties-up their systems for any significant period of time. * Be easy to learn and operate. A pragmatic hard drive preventive maintenance product must assume that the majority of its users will be non-technical and have no desire to learn the intricacies of hard drives or complex preventive maintenance, repair and recovery procedures. * Be affordable. Even "must-have" desktop solutions must be inexpensive in order to become widely adopted. The Solution? Build Both Prevention and Cure Right Into The System: Disk Technician Gold is a retail product (suggested list price, US$149.95) designed to be installed on end user hard disc drives. It works constantly in the background to prevent media errors and provide advance warning of electronic and mechanical errors as the drive functions. Once Disk Technician Gold is installed, no further user interaction is required. It replaces traditional hard disc maintenance utilities where the user must remember to run the software. Disk Technician Gold begins to work the moment the computer is turned on and can actually eliminate the types of problems that necessitate disc drive returns. It will help ensure that disc drives remain where they belong -- at the customer site. Seagate Technology, Inc., has tested and approved Disk Technician Gold. In their endorsement, Seagate stated that: "Disk Technician Gold sets the standard for hard drive preventive maintenance software. Seagate recommends the use of Disk Technician Gold to ensure error-free data storage throughout the service life of your hard disc drive." Disk Technician Gold's key component is a 14K memory-resident device driver (not a TSR) that becomes part of the DOS operating system and Windows 3.1, continuously and automatically providing: 20 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual * Error detection, diagnostics and repair -- on the fly, in the background, with no system performance degradation. * Crash prevention and hard error data recovery and relocation -- on the fly. * Advance warning of electronic, mechanical and media failure for all hard drive and computer components affecting data reliability -- on the fly, in the background. * Passive system, disc and data diagnostics. * Test results that match those of Seagate factory hardware. A separate, pull-down menu program provides interleave testing and resetting, nondestructive low-level formatting, defragmenting, manual drive testing, reports and interface customization. An optionally installed virus prevention device driver is also included. Software Installation, Configuration and Setup: Installation of Disk Technician Gold is both simple and straightforward. End users either allow the program to make installation decisions, or they make their own step-by-step choices. Once files are installed, Disk Technician Gold configures itself to the host system by measuring and testing the specific hardware and software parameters, including hard disc drive geometry. It then performs a system integrity test, followed by media certification (see the (see the System Integrity Test Hard Disc Media Certification sections in this white paper for more information). Once these steps have been completed, no further user interaction is required. How Real-Time Error Detection Works Without Performance Degradation: Disk Technician Gold detects errors by testing all hard drive accesses while working transparently in the background of other programs, without interrupting normal activity, and without system performance degradation. In fact, because it handles block data transfers more efficiently than DOS, there is a net gain of about 1% in average data transfer rate with Disk Technician Gold installed. (The rate will be slightly slower on very large data transfers; faster on small ones.) When a soft error is detected, its location is recorded in the databank (a special file created during installation). The next time the computer is booted, Disk Technician Gold automatically performs a Bootup System Check (which includes a series of test routines designed to quickly check the major components of the hard drive and its subsystems). The databank is scanned for any new error locations recorded since the last bootup. Any data in these locations is copied into RAM, then each location is tested by writing, then reading back, worst case test patterns and their inversions. 21 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Disk Technician Gold is the only software able to measure the exact number of attempts the hard drive makes while accessing a particular sector. If testing determines that the soft error is normal (non-repeating), the data is returned to its original location. This is because a non-repeating soft error is a harmless, random and normal event. However, an abnormal (repeating) soft error is dangerous and may continue to recur at the same location unless corrective action is taken. It is a strong indicator that the sector is in a failure mode (i.e., the soft error rate is likely to escalate rapidly to hard, or unreadable, status). If testing determines that the number of soft errors is in excess of the threshold for reliable data storage set by Seagate engineering, the data is relocated to a new, safe location. The unsafe location is then blocked from further use by marking it bad in the FAT, all automatically without operator intervention. After the data is safely rewritten, Disk Technician Gold records the location and type of error in the databank, then uses the information for two separate purposes: 1. Intermittent error detection and elimination. Disk Technician Gold compares past test results with current results to determine if a repeating soft error hit (occurrence) is intermittent. This is when an area produced a repeating soft error hit in the past, was repaired, and has now produced another such hit. If Disk Technician Gold's expert system rules that the hit is recurring intermittently, any data in the area affected is moved to a good area and the unsafe area is marked bad in the FAT. 2. Hardware failure advance warning. The final step in the Bootup System Check is an expert system analysis of the databank to determine if the error is part of a developing pattern indicating imminent hardware failure. The importance of this step to data reliability cannot be overemphasized, since the majority of perceived hard drive failures are not actually caused by the hard drive itself. Patterns recognized by the expert system must not only encompass the hard disc drives electronics, mechanics and media, the controller or adapter -- but also ribbon cables and connectors, as well as non-hard drive computer components that affect data reliability, such as the power supply. Each of the many causes of hardware failure has its own, unique signature. For example, as the disc platter spindle bearing begins to fail, the platters begin to wobble microscopically. The further away from the platter spindle bearing, the greater the wobble. This may cause variations in the flying height of the read/write heads with respect to the platters. This, in turn, results in an intermittent high soft error rate, greatest on the outer edges of the discs and gradually decreasing towards the spindle. 22 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual When such a failure pattern is recognized, Disk Technician Gold displays a message directing users to immediately back-up their data and consult a hardware service technician. However, people responsible for maintaining data integrity and/or hard drive systems on multiple computers (MIS management, PC managers and coordinators, service maintenance departments, VARs, consultants, etc.) were concerned that, despite the seriousness of the warning message, it might still be ignored. For these people, then, the warning message can be self-modified to direct end users to a specific course of action. Depending on the type of failure, the user typically receives from a few days' to a few weeks' advance warning. As a diagnostic aid to service technicians, the users guide contains a list ranking the most likely reasons the warning message was generated. The entire Bootup System Check, including testing and repairs, typically takes only a few seconds, and may be bypassed (as a convenience for users who must reboot their systems often). Note that testing, repair, relocation of data and updating of the File Allocation Table (FAT) all occur as part of the bootup process. The net result is that all hard drive and associated data reliability issues are handled automatically and transparently as operating system background tasks. Real-Time Recovery From Critical And Hard Errors: Most of Disk Technician Gold's real-time error detection and preventive maintenance functions are transparent. The single exception is when it detects a critical error (defined as one that would result in data loss or a drive crash). There are three types: 1. Excessive soft errors. These indicate imminent failure, because on the next access attempt the soft error rate may have escalated to such a degree that the area may be totally unreadable (a hard error). For this same reason, any hard disc location exhibiting excessive soft errors during Seagate final quality control testing is marked in a "Bad Track Report" or "Microdefect Map" for removal from use. 2. Excessive soft errors and Error Correction Code (ECC) was invoked to reconstruct data. (ECC is defined as a proprietary series of algorithms, specific to an individual controller or hard drive, used to reconstruct data after it has exhausted its preset number of attempts to read data from a track or sector. This should not be confused with on-the-fly ECC.) On the next disc access, the soft error rate may have escalated such that ECC may not be able to reconstruct the data. Note that Disk Technician Gold does not use ECC alone as a criterion for determining media reliability. Here are three of many reasons: 23 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual A. Individual controller and hard drive designs vary widely in the number of retries they will make to get data before invoking ECC. Many older XT-class controllers allow 30 and more retries (soft errors) before invoking ECC, an unacceptably dangerous situation for data. B. Conversely, technology now being introduced in small form drives do not allow any retries whatsoever before invoking ECC. Because soft errors are both commonplace and typically non-repeating in the normal PC hard drive environment, ECC-dependent error detection could result in an untimely and unwarranted condemnation of a perfectly good drive. C. Until recently, most drives and controllers reported ECC information, which was ignored by DOS, but available to diagnostic software. Today, however, most block transfer drives (IDE and SCSI) and advanced controllers do not return ECC status at all, such that diagnostic software cannot detect any ECC activity whatsoever. 3. Hard error (the area was completely unreadable). In this case, ECC may or may not have been invoked. If it was invoked, it failed to reconstruct the data. If not invoked, it was because the data involved did not meet ECC criteria for potential reconstruction. Imagine someone working in an application such as Lotus 1-2-3 or WordPerfect. The person has just opened a file that is in the process of being read from the hard drive into RAM. Suddenly, without warning, DOS generates an error message such as "Sector not found," or "Disk error reading FAT," followed by "Abort, Retry, Fail?". Until the introduction of Disk Technician Gold, the only options at this point were rarely successful, after-the -fact recovery and reconstruction attempts. However, when Disk Technician Gold encounters a critical error, it immediately begins a series of emergency actions: 1. It recovers the data from the affected area, using a combination of seek-profiling, ECC and other proprietary techniques. 2. The recovered data is recorded in the databank, along with the error location. 3. Disk Technician Gold sounds an audio warning signal and displays an on-screen message to alert users that a critical error has been encountered. The message prompts users to save their work, exit the program they are using, and reboot their systems: 24 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Users working in some graphic environments are alerted to critical errors by the audio signal only. A special decal (called the Audio CueCard) that is usually affixed to the keyboard or monitor frame, is included to provide the same step-by-step instructions displayed on-screen: 4. When the system is rebooted, Disk Technician Gold tests the area, repairs it if possible, or, if the area is unrepairable, relocates the data to a new, safe location and blocks the unsafe location from further use. Once the problem has been resolved, Disk Technician Gold updates the databank and FAT, and returns to the system prompt. The user may then safely resume working in the interrupted program. Real-Time Virus Prevention: Disk Technician Gold includes an optionally installed, 7K memory- resident Virus Detector to help protect systems and data. Like the Error Detector, the Virus Detector is a device driver that loads into RAM during bootup and works transparently in the background of other programs. The Virus Detector helps to protect hard drives against the most common form of viral infection, where viruses attach themselves to other files and begin mutating and reproducing. Disk Technician Gold acts to stop viruses before they can attach themselves to critical files by continuously monitoring write activity to registered file types. Whenever an attempt is made to write one of these files, Disk Technician Gold sounds an audio warning signal and displays an on-screen message. Of course, not all write attempts to protected files indicate the presence of a virus. However, Disk Technician Gold does make users aware of suspicious write attempts and provides the option to abort them. Menu-Driven Tests: A key benefit of Disk Technician Gold is that, once installed, no user interaction is needed to maintain the hard drive system in factory-perfect condition. However, should users wish to perform comprehensive drive tests, Disk Technician Gold includes several on a separate, pull-down menu program: System Integrity Test. This battery of tests is similar to, but more comprehensive than, the Bootup System Test. Tests include: * A self-examination of Disk Technician Gold for evidence of virus contamination, and for the integrity of the critical databank file. * Checking the hard drives seek mechanisms for gross failure. * Confirming the ability of DOS to create, open, write, read, close and delete a file on the drive being tested. 25 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual * Verifying the integrity of the boot record, directory, and FATs. * DOS CHKDSK-type routines to identify lost clusters, crosslinked chains, allocation errors, and subdirectory errors. Like the Bootup System Test, the System Integrity Test also tests and repairs, detects intermittent errors, and checks for signs of hardware failure. The System Integrity Test normally takes about one minute for most drives, depending on the size and speed of the drive, the computer, and the nature and number of problems found. Hard Disc Media Certification. This is Disk Technician Gold's most comprehensive test. Media Certification thoroughly tests every area on the hard drive for soft, ECC and hard errors. It either repairs those areas that produced errors; or, if an area is unrepairable, it relocates any data in the area to a new, safe location and marks the area bad in the FAT. In addition to test and repair, Media Certification initializes (or updates) the databank, recreates an updated media defect map, and recertifies the drive for reliable data storage and normal use. Media Certification typically takes from 20 seconds to five minutes per megabyte, depending upon the speed of the computer and hard drive. An interrupt/resume feature allows users to leave the operation and return to other applications. Then, when they return to Media Certification, they will be asked if they wish to resume from where they stopped. Interleave Test/Low-Level Format. Interleaving matches the way data is arranged on hard disc recording tracks to the speed at which the controller can read the data sequentially. Disk Technician Gold tests various interleave settings, then determines and displays the optimal setting for maximum data throughput speed. Users may then perform a nondestructive low- level format and reset the interleave to the determined setting, or choose their own. For drives that allow low-level formatting and resetting of the interleave, choosing the correct interleave can make a significant difference in data access time. Drives that do not allow low-level formatting and resetting of the interleave are quickly identified as ineligible by Disk Technician Gold (typically those using the SCSI interface, IDE drives, drives using translating controllers, and even some MFM/RLL drives). However, low-level formatting and resetting of the interleave on "ineligible" drives are unnecessary, since these procedures only need to be performed once in the lifetime of a drive and have already been done by Seagate. An Important Improvement In Failsafe Architecture: 26 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Some of the operations performed by Disk Technician Gold require relocating data, and at certain times the data being relocated only exists electronically in RAM. Should a power failure occur at precisely this moment, some data could be lost. (It should be noted that, since data relocation occurs rapidly, there is little risk of losing data during Disk Technician Gold operations as a result of power failure.) However, for battery-powered computer users, or those who require the ultimate assurance against data loss, Disk Technician Gold provides an optional safe mode (also called failsafe architecture) for media certification, testing and resetting interleave, nondestructive low-level formatting, and defragmenting. The safe mode guards against data loss by requiring that a copy of data undergoing relocation remains recorded on the hard drive at all times, either in its original location or in a special duplicate location. By eliminating instances when data exists solely in RAM, the possibility of data loss due to power problems is eliminated. Disk Technician Gold's failsafe architecture offers a significant improvement over previous methods. The problem was one of limited effectiveness: data was protected only in the event that power failed while the data file itself was being accessed. However, if the FAT or a directory was being accessed when power failed, all data on the affected drive could be lost. With Disk Technician Gold, failsafe architecture works even if the FATs and directory are being updated at the time of power failure. Additional Features: Media Defect Report. This report looks much like the Defect Map affixed to ST506/412 drives, although it is more detailed because of the additional types of errors detected by Disk Technician Gold's expert system and continuous testing. The Media Defect Report shows the location and number of bad sectors on the drive, as well as the reason why they have been marked out. (A bad sector is defined as one that cannot store data reliably, as determined by Seagate engineering standards. Such sectors are blocked from use by marking them bad in the FAT.) Monitored/Soft Error Report. This report shows the sectors on the hard drive that produced a repeating soft error hit during testing, but were successfully repaired. These sectors are monitored during subsequent tests in order to determine whether the hits were random or are part of a repeating error pattern indicating an intermittent error or impending hardware failure. If subsequent testing determines the sector to be unreliable, it will automatically be blocked from use by marking it bad in the FAT. Then, test information for this sector will be deleted from the "Monitored/Soft Error Report" and added to the "Media Defect Report." 27 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Command Line Operation. Those responsible for maintaining multiple systems may wish to set-up a user-transparent hard drive optimization program. The option of command line operations provides the ability to bypass menus, set-up time-specific, self- executing batch files, etc. Additionally, users who normally leave their systems on continuously can setup a command line to run Disk Technician Gold's Bootup System Check occasionally, in order to test and repair error locations detected by the device driver program. Still other users may prefer to schedule automatic drive defragmenting by setting-up a self-executing batch file. System Requirements: * IBM PC, XT, AT, -286, -386, -486, PS/1, PS/2 or 100 percent compatible with 640K of memory. * About 14K of RAM for the Error Detector device driver (high memory loadable). * MS-DOS 3.1 - 6.0; DR DOS 3.41, 5.0 and 6.0. * Compatible with Windows 3.1. However, Windows is not a requirement. * Hard disc drive. Hard Drive Specifications: * Interfaces and Drives: IDE, SCSI-1, SCSI-2, Fast SCSI-2, ESDI, ST506/412. * Controllers and Encoding Schemes: MFM, RLL, ARLL, ERLL, translating, ZBR (Zone Bit Recording). * Partitions: Supports any size DOS partition. Optional Requirements: * 7K of RAM for the Virus Prevention device driver (high memory loadable). * A Microsoft mouse or 100 percent compatible. 28 Disk Technician Factory Test for Seagate Drives Manual Other: * Works with most on-the-fly data compression software, including DoubleSpace, Stacker, SuperStor, SuperStor Pro. * Works with QEMM 386, 386 MAX and most other third-party memory managers. * Works with both hardware and software caching. * Works with programs that keep a duplicate version of the FAT in RAM (such as the DOS program FASTOPEN) or on the hard drive. * Not copy protected. * Free, unlimited technical support by telephone, fax and BBS. Conclusion: Disk Technician Gold software ensures PC hard disc drive data reliability by providing continuous, real-time background diagnostics, repair and recovery -- coupled with advance warning of imminent failure for hard drive electronics, mechanics and media, as well as other hard drive-related computer components that affect data. Once installed, Disk Technician Gold becomes part of the DOS operating system and requires no further user involvement. Disk Technician Gold is manufactured by Disk Technician Corporation, of San Diego, California. It is sold worldwide through its authorized distributors and is available at dealers everywhere. Development of Disk Technician technology has been continuous since 1980, paralleling the introduction of personal computer hard drives. The first commercial version was shipped in March, 1987. Since that time, newer versions have kept pace with advancements in hard drive, controller, operating system and CPU development, culminating with Disk Technician Gold, which prevents data loss by making hard drives continuously self -repairing. In 1992, Seagate Technology Inc. determined that test results from Disk Technician software precisely matched those of its factory test hardware, and began distributing the Seagate version of Disk Technician to its distributors for field testing and recertification of its drives. For more information, call Steve Luster at Disk Technician Corporation, (619) 274-5000. Disk Technician Corporation 1940 Garnet Avenue San Diego, California 92109 USA Corporate Telephone 619 274 5000 Technical Support 619 272 4000 -END- 29