RevA hard disk failure

[zinka]

It looks like Rev A hard disk failure is a pretty common problem, and I found a thread reporting that even replacement drives (which might be old stock) sometimes fail.

Does anyone have useful advice for dealing with the situation? I have a Genius repair scheduled for Wednesday where they'll replace the hard drive under AppleCare. But if that one fails, is there any recourse? It seems like RevA is generally a lemon. Has anyone had luck getting a full replacement with a new (non-lemon) model?

 

[matelot]

sooooooooo glad I opted for SSD when I was looking for a 2nd hand one

 

[slapguts]

I've had the drive replaced in my Rev A once, under AppleCare. It started making a rhythmic clicking sound one day, and the hinge was getting really sloppy so I brought it in.

While there I complained about the kernel_task issue that all Rev As seem to have. They claimed they were going to replace the logic board as well. When I got it back (surprisingly fast) they hadn't touched the logic board at all.


Last Friday I went back in, and asked if there was any solution to be had, since the problem was still there, I had reinstalled the entire OS multiple times, etc.

They agreed to replace the entire machine with a brand new 2010 13" model. I'm just waiting for the call once it comes in. Seems there is a different accounting scheme, since mine was bought as a refurb, so they couldn't just hand me one off the shelf.

 

[SeanU]

If you are willing to try...

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=x41+ssd&_sacat=See-All-Categories

My understanding is that these X41 ssd's are the same hitachi pata ssd drives that came with the Macbook Air. I have not tested... so do your research.

Sean

*** Update... I just ordered 2 of these from seller ThinkPadParts. One is for my old X41 Tablet, i'm going to try to put the other in my Rev A. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[SeanU]

Follow up - Cheap SSD Success!

I received my 2 SSDs yesterday, and installed one in my Rev.A today. Turns out they are Samsung parts, not Hitachi like I wrote previously. It comes in a carrier designed for the X41, which is opened by removing 2 screws, and prying open a few tabs. The ssd inside has some padding glued on which I had to remove, as well as a PATA Ziff cable that also needs to be removed. It does not fit perfectly in the rubber bracket that was in my Air, but once screwed in, it seemed secure enough. Once installed, its working as expected. Profiler info is below. I'd only recommend this to the adventurous types that don't mind voiding a warranty or 2. The machine is much quieter, and snappier once in the OS, surprisingly boot times don't seem too much faster over the hdd, but i'm not using a stopwatch.

***Profiler info***

MCCOE64GEMPP:

Capacity: 60.01 GB (60,011,642,880 bytes)
Model: MCCOE64GEMPP
Revision: 2.9.03
Serial Number: SE923B5104
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
Writable: Yes
BSD Name: disk0s1
SSD60:
Capacity: 59.67 GB (59,667,668,992 bytes)
Available: 50.57 GB (50,567,688,192 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /