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I made this standard desktop build for my father with an Asus AM1M-A mboard, Athlon 5150, 4GB Kingston DDR3 1333MHz (2x2GB), EVGA 430W 80 Plus PSU, and a Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB HD (WD500AAKX). I hooked it all up and the HD wasn't showing up in BIOS (sometimes it did, but it said PATA drive of an absurd size), I tried it on my own desktop and it also didn't show, so I presumed it was DOA. I sent it back and got a replacement, hooked it up to the new build, and it was recognized just fine. I installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64, installed mboard drivers, and let the Windows Update running. When I came back to it an hour later it was in the BIOS, and I couldn't get it to boot anymore. I tried powering it all off and back on, and then the HD wasn't showing up, it was the same error, with the "PATA drive 'huge number'". I plugged it on my desktop and it wouldn't pass SMART or show up in Explorer.

I got a Caviar Blue running smooth on my desktop for almost 6 years, though it's a different model (WD500AAKS), and I'm not aware they're prone to so much failure. Is it likely I got two bad drives in a row, or does it look like something else's fishy in this system?

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  • You bought these PATA drives new?
    – Ramhound
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 12:23
  • They're not parallel, they're SATA, but when they fail they show up as PATA in the BIOS.
    – El D.
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 15:52
  • You made no mention of that in your question. Why? Due to their size I thought nothing of them being PATA devices.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 16:04
  • I mentioned their model, which is SATA.
    – El D.
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 19:43

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It's hard to say exactly what the issue is, but if you have new drives fail the same way it could be either something wrong with your system ( in most cases it's down to the PSU) or the HDDs get damaged during shipping. If the drive cannot pass WD DLG: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=FXH6Dm it's best to contact the support team and let them know exactly what is happening. Having two drives fail one after another is not something that should be accepted as normal. The support guys will be able to arrange the replacement HDD and check if the problem is originating from WD or not. Shipping faulty drives would be highly unlikely as all the drives are extensively tested before they are sold.

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  • I thought it might be the PSU, so I did hours of stress testing on the system after the second HD failed and it was running smooth with an old HD. The bad drive doesn't even show up in DLG, and they were both making clicking and whining noises. I'm thinking it might be shipping really. I can't for the life of me think of anything else.
    – El D.
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 15:52
  • Well sometimes the items just aren't handled properly during shipment. Just make sure to note this to the support guys when arranging the replacement.
    – Techpumpkin_WD
    Commented Feb 12, 2015 at 15:07
  • Yeah, I'm gonna get a refund and use another store (I don't have to contact WD directly, as it's under store warranty). Thanks for the input!
    – El D.
    Commented Feb 13, 2015 at 19:53

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