My Mindstor 5 GB broke!

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

-Receipt - if you bought it online, you can probably contact the dealer, they will send you a copy.

• Mindsatwork - these folks will repair for you but I had to ask VERY forcefully. My 1705 was replaced with an 1810 (10GB-no dongle)
• The very 1810 has gone back twice now, back light, now shutdown probs.

Man, quality control is no existing. They will do things for you but I am sorry to say you have to kick them in the #$(&#.

AK said:

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive
anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even
though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for
make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the
drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things
before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the
Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

Click to expand...

I forgot to mention. There is no way I know of that you can put another drive in. Minds@Work have to write the special firmware on the drive (somewhere on the drive).

(I have tried everything, including copying the original with a new drive using PartitionMagic Drivecopy , to no avail).

AK said:

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive
anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even
though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for
make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the
drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things
before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the
Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

Click to expand...

thanks for the heads-up. Anyone else?

hoang nguyen said:

AK said:

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive
anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even
though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for
make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the
drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things
before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the
Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
AK

I have had no problems with them. They fixed an old wallet for me without a receipt no problem. My guess would be opening the unit and messing with things could cause things not to work resulting in multiple returns. I bet you didn't tell them what you did to the unit. Not sure how you could come to conclusion they have no quality control, usually users opening devices would remove the ability to have quality control. Maybe that’s why you had to be forceful, they knew you were lying after multiple returns. I have a group of friends that are using the MindStor with little to no problems. The problems that do come up are usually because of our handling. I feel the need to support a company that has helped me out of some jams, like overnighting a unit to me in the middle of nowhere because I dropped mine.

hoang nguyen said:

AK said:

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive
anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even
though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for
make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the
drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things
before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the
Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Here's my history:

I never opened the 5gb until I had the same problem as he did. I sent the wallet back and they said 3 to 4 weeks. I screamed ...then they said $50 to get ahead of the line for repair. I sent an email to tell to go ahead, they didn't get back to me for 3 days. So I called and screamed again. Nothing. THEN I get a call offering to give me another 5GB delivered rather quickly.

Then a month pass. The 5gb developed harddrive problem. (the one I never took apart).

So I sent that back in. Same story 3 to 4 weeks. Whaaa...I need the drive since I use it regulary. Okay so after a few more calls to them. They agreed to give me a 10GB pss-1810 to replace the 5GB Next Day Air. Cool! I said , I will never complain again. Got the drive as promised Saturday delivery no less.

Then 1 or 2 weeks passed, backlight went out on the brand new PSS-1810. Sent that back 1 week later, got another unit.

The same day I got the unit back, it developed the problem where it comes up to the Main Menu, then Jumps into the shutdown sequence immediately. Then stops there, does not shut down to off, but freeze there with the word shutdown on the screen.

Frustrated now but used to the routine, called them tuesday, and got RMA number yesterday, in UPS today. It will get to them tomorrow. So I will have a working unit next week.

This is not my standard of QUALITY CONTROL.

I agree that this is the only affordable solution, it's a great device, I just wish it was not so finicky.

blaze said:

hoang nguyen said:

AK said:

well, the drive is so corrupted, I can't even reformat the drive
anymore. I really wouldn't care to pay for another new one. Even
though it's still under warranty, but I can't find my receipt for
make the warranty valid. Any suggestions? How 'bout replacing the
drive?

I recall some people replaced the drive unit in these things
before; any particular brand / model that's more compatible w/ the
Mindstor? Thanks for any help in advance!
--
AK

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

My 10GB Mindstor is in repair now. Everytime I insert a memory card, the unit would freeze. It's funny that I listed the problems and all the troubleshooting I did via 1 email to tech support. They had no answers but to tell me to request for a RMA #.

I bought this unit in 1/1/2002. I have never drop the unit or bang the unit around. If this unit need another repair after the warranty is over, I will never buy Minds@Work products again. It cost much more than other brands and the battery life stinks. The thing that sold me was the firewire.

--
Canon S100
Sony DSC-F717 (bye bye 707)
Olympus C-720 (coming soon... won from POTM)
http://www.pbase.com/zuffy

Same here, same here.

It freezes all the time.

Jian said:

My 10GB Mindstor is in repair now. Everytime I insert a memory
card, the unit would freeze. It's funny that I listed the problems
and all the troubleshooting I did via 1 email to tech support. They
had no answers but to tell me to request for a RMA #.

I bought this unit in 1/1/2002. I have never drop the unit or bang
the unit around. If this unit need another repair after the
warranty is over, I will never buy Minds@Work products again. It
cost much more than other brands and the battery life stinks. The
thing that sold me was the firewire.

--
Canon S100
Sony DSC-F717 (bye bye 707)
Olympus C-720 (coming soon... won from POTM)
http://www.pbase.com/zuffy

Click to expand...

hoang nguyen said:

Here's my history:

I never opened the 5gb until I had the same problem as he did. I
sent the wallet back and they said 3 to 4 weeks. I screamed
...then they said $50 to get ahead of the line for repair. I sent
an email to tell to go ahead, they didn't get back to me for 3
days. So I called and screamed again. Nothing. THEN I get a call
offering to give me another 5GB delivered rather quickly.
Then a month pass. The 5gb developed harddrive problem. (the one I
never took apart).

Click to expand...

Well, sounds about right. I have had nothing but trouble with my 5GB mindstor. Numerous problems with it copying, verifying sucessfull but then not being able to download to my computer via either firewire or USB. Keeps saying 'file pareameters icorrect' etc. Sometimes my PC simply locks up. This unit worked fine for 2 months and over the last 2 has been so unrelaible and I too am now unable to format the drive. Sometimes it works, sometimes in doesn't.

Minds@work customer services have been very dubious to say the least. Mostly they don't reply to my emails, and when they do they simply sound disinterested. The last person I spoke to sounded like he had just got out of bed! After international phonecalls (I live in the UK) I eventually got an RMA number and have sent the unit back. I'm waiting to see what happens but I have refused to accept this machine back. It is so unreliable as to be completely useless for my needs.

I recently bought an Xdrive as I have to have back up. All seems fine.....so far!

Mark
--
http://www.markdennis.com/photography
http://www.markdennis.com/weddingphotography
[email protected]

Personally this is what I think,

Let the customer have more control of the firmware on the drive, then they will basically help and fix problems themselves.

They, (or I ) paid $300,$400 for a device that holds $150 drives, (so they have already made their profit). What would be the harm in letting us fix problems ourselves.

I think all these problems are fixed by rewriting the firmware on the drive, but they refuse to release the software and instructions for us to do it.

If they are going to seal the drive, why don't they seal it and put firmware on hardware instead of on the drive.

I like the fact that I have a 10GB storage device that has Firewire. Just wished I can upgrade drive myself. Does Minds@work really think that I am going to just buy the bigger unit without thinking twice, it's expensive to buy a whole unit. Then what do we do with our old unit, sell it?

Just let us upgrade the darn thing ourselves. Others are doing it without problems, right?

Be a shame to have a great device killed by accountants. They still have the niche with the Firewire port, but not for long, I don't think.

Hoang, rant and rave just makes me feel better, but I hope they change their tactics.

Mark Dennis said:

hoang nguyen said:

Here's my history:

I never opened the 5gb until I had the same problem as he did. I
sent the wallet back and they said 3 to 4 weeks. I screamed
...then they said $50 to get ahead of the line for repair. I sent
an email to tell to go ahead, they didn't get back to me for 3
days. So I called and screamed again. Nothing. THEN I get a call
offering to give me another 5GB delivered rather quickly.
Then a month pass. The 5gb developed harddrive problem. (the one I
never took apart).

Click to expand...

Well, sounds about right. I have had nothing but trouble with my
5GB mindstor. Numerous problems with it copying, verifying
sucessfull but then not being able to download to my computer via
either firewire or USB. Keeps saying 'file pareameters icorrect'
etc. Sometimes my PC simply locks up. This unit worked fine for 2
months and over the last 2 has been so unrelaible and I too am now
unable to format the drive. Sometimes it works, sometimes in
doesn't.

Minds@work customer services have been very dubious to say the
least. Mostly they don't reply to my emails, and when they do they
simply sound disinterested. The last person I spoke to sounded like
he had just got out of bed! After international phonecalls (I live
in the UK) I eventually got an RMA number and have sent the unit
back. I'm waiting to see what happens but I have refused to accept
this machine back. It is so unreliable as to be completely useless
for my needs.

I recently bought an Xdrive as I have to have back up. All seems
fine.....so far!

Mark
--
http://www.markdennis.com/photography
http://www.markdennis.com/weddingphotography
[email protected]

Click to expand...

Personally i don't think you can have it both ways. Minds@Work warranties the whole unit. I like the fact that if something happens they fix or reapir the whole unit. That is worth the extra cost. So you think its fair to let people put any drive on the planet into the unit and if any problems happen MAW should have to deal with it. Do you really think they made a profit off you? They sent you multiple units, shipping, and time just to help you probably at a cost to them. What kind of quality control would they have if they don't even know what drive is being used. Most people don't even know how to prepare a empty drive for use, you would want them to support that too? How are they going to determine the transfer speed is when they don't know what drive is being used. You would probably be the first one on the phone wanting a replaement because your unit is slow. If you want a bigger unit then buy one.

hoang nguyen said:

Let the customer have more control of the firmware on the drive,
then they will basically help and fix problems themselves.

They, (or I ) paid $300,$400 for a device that holds $150 drives,
(so they have already made their profit). What would be the harm
in letting us fix problems ourselves.

I think all these problems are fixed by rewriting the firmware on
the drive, but they refuse to release the software and instructions
for us to do it.

If they are going to seal the drive, why don't they seal it and put
firmware on hardware instead of on the drive.

I like the fact that I have a 10GB storage device that has
Firewire. Just wished I can upgrade drive myself. Does Minds@work
really think that I am going to just buy the bigger unit without
thinking twice, it's expensive to buy a whole unit. Then what do
we do with our old unit, sell it?

Just let us upgrade the darn thing ourselves. Others are doing it
without problems, right?

Be a shame to have a great device killed by accountants. They
still have the niche with the Firewire port, but not for long, I
don't think.

Hoang, rant and rave just makes me feel better, but I hope they
change their tactics.

Mark Dennis said:

hoang nguyen said:

Here's my history:

I never opened the 5gb until I had the same problem as he did. I
sent the wallet back and they said 3 to 4 weeks. I screamed
...then they said $50 to get ahead of the line for repair. I sent
an email to tell to go ahead, they didn't get back to me for 3
days. So I called and screamed again. Nothing. THEN I get a call
offering to give me another 5GB delivered rather quickly.
Then a month pass. The 5gb developed harddrive problem. (the one I
never took apart).

Click to expand...

Well, sounds about right. I have had nothing but trouble with my
5GB mindstor. Numerous problems with it copying, verifying
sucessfull but then not being able to download to my computer via
either firewire or USB. Keeps saying 'file pareameters icorrect'
etc. Sometimes my PC simply locks up. This unit worked fine for 2
months and over the last 2 has been so unrelaible and I too am now
unable to format the drive. Sometimes it works, sometimes in
doesn't.

Minds@work customer services have been very dubious to say the
least. Mostly they don't reply to my emails, and when they do they
simply sound disinterested. The last person I spoke to sounded like
he had just got out of bed! After international phonecalls (I live
in the UK) I eventually got an RMA number and have sent the unit
back. I'm waiting to see what happens but I have refused to accept
this machine back. It is so unreliable as to be completely useless
for my needs.

I recently bought an Xdrive as I have to have back up. All seems
fine.....so far!

Mark
--
http://www.markdennis.com/photography
http://www.markdennis.com/weddingphotography
[email protected]

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I mentioned before I don't really have a beef with Minds@Work, I don't even pretend to know better. I am just curious as to what is wrong with the units when I send them back.

It's not my fault the units don't last. Therefore costing them money and me money and time to send it back. I am jaded now, I don't expect much from them anymore.

Pretty soon I will send a unit back and not hear from them because they went bankrupt or something.

I feel like I am getting what I paid for.

Hoang,

blaze said:

hoang nguyen said:

Personally this is what I think,

Let the customer have more control of the firmware on the drive,
then they will basically help and fix problems themselves.

They, (or I ) paid $300,$400 for a device that holds $150 drives,
(so they have already made their profit). What would be the harm
in letting us fix problems ourselves.

I think all these problems are fixed by rewriting the firmware on
the drive, but they refuse to release the software and instructions
for us to do it.

If they are going to seal the drive, why don't they seal it and put
firmware on hardware instead of on the drive.

I like the fact that I have a 10GB storage device that has
Firewire. Just wished I can upgrade drive myself. Does Minds@work
really think that I am going to just buy the bigger unit without
thinking twice, it's expensive to buy a whole unit. Then what do
we do with our old unit, sell it?

Just let us upgrade the darn thing ourselves. Others are doing it
without problems, right?

Be a shame to have a great device killed by accountants. They
still have the niche with the Firewire port, but not for long, I
don't think.

Hoang, rant and rave just makes me feel better, but I hope they
change their tactics.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...