Contacting Your Supplier

 Top  Previous  Next

S.M.A.R.T. Disk Monitor provides critical information such as serial and model numbers, as well as diagnostic and historical data. You can use this information to answer any questions your technical support contact should have regarding the problem you are seeing. With this information you should have no problems expressing the problems you are having.

 

You might also want to consider sending them a copy of the system log file that reports all events, SCSI Sense codes, and time stamps. In addition, running the program as /etc/smartmon-ux -I -A will provide invaluable mode page and inquiry page data that an engineer may wish to know about. Sometimes making a change to a mode page will fix a problem.

 

For intermittent problems, you might also wish to define a shorter polling period.

 

Here are some other things to consider when contacting your disk supplier:

•Warranty periods vary depending on the disk's make and model. Your supplier might only offer 90 days, where the manufacturer offers 5 years.
•If you have an OEM drive, the original manufacturer typically will not repair or replace the drive. You will have to go to your supplier. For example, HP brands Seagate and IBM disk drives. Seagate and IBM will not necessarily be able to support you because your disk is a model made for HP only. You will have to contact HP for support.
•A vast majority of the time, the problem with a disk comes down to operator error. They are improperly cabled, configured, or terminated. Sometimes the device drivers are improperly installed. Sometimes your tech support person may be skeptical because the last 100 drives they took back on a RMA turned out to be just fine. Just relax. We have never had a problem returning a drive if they were under warranty.