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M1CUK > INFO 07.11.02 00:20l 78 Lines 3894 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : D92527M1CUK
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: Fujitsu, Faulty Hard Drives!!
Path: DB0FHN<DB0ZWI<DB0HDF<DB0ERF<DB0MRW<OK0PKL<OK0PCC<OK0PPR<OK0PPL<RZ6HXA<
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Sent: 021106/2203Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:26906 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:D92527M1
From: M1CUK@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : INFO@WW
Fujitsu admits 4.9 million (potentially) defective HDDs
By Keith Warburton, PC Association
Posted: 05/11/2002 at 09:16 GMT
The papers lodged with the court in California, in the $50 million action
between Cirrus Logic and Fujitsu (of Japan), confirm what observers had
already guessed, that contrary to the denials of any notable problems -
there is indeed an officially acknowledged problem with the MPG3xxx series
of drives. And Fujitsu knew the massive scale and scope of the problem at
least 18 months ago.
Cirrus Logic's case against Fujitsu for breach of contract was filed on
19th October 2001 over a year ago, as was Fujitsus counterclaim for
breach of contract & breach of warranty.
Fujitsus documents make it clear that it knew Cirrus Logic had supplied
defective chips as long ago as July 2001, saying that it started to
receive complaints about failures from May 2001. It promptly informed
Cirrus Logic and requested information regarding the nature and extent of
the problem and proposed remedies, but says that this information was not
forthcoming.
The blame is being laid at the door of the supplier of the epoxy mould
compound used in the manufacture of Cirrus' Himalaya 2.0 and Numbur chips.
It is claimed that in the summer of 2000 the supplier of the epoxy, a
Cirrus Logic sub-contractor - made the first of several changes to its
product, and it was this that ultimately caused the chips to fail by
short-circuiting. Fujitsu claims that Cirrus Logic should have known of
these changes which it says were "significant" and that it should have
warned Fujitsu.
At time of lodging the court papers Fujitsu estimated that approximately 4
million of the approximately twelve million Himalaya 2.0 chips it bought,
and all of the approximately 900,000 Numbur chips are defective; that
these defects have already caused a substantial number of these chips and
thereby the drives in which they are used - to fail; that the time before
failure is variable and unpredictable, and that it is "highly likely" that
a significant number of additional chips will short and cause the drives
to fail. Based on field data, Fujitsu determined that the failure rate of
the chips (and thereby, we suggest, the failure rate of their own drives)
is "in excess of all reasonable industry standards".
Fujitsu says that Cirrus refused to deal fairly with it because it failed
to take prompt and thorough action and didnt provide it with full
information, thereby harming Fujitsus customer relationships a critical
Fujitsu asset. This claim will no doubt bring an outraged response from
Fujitsus trade customers and end-users, who have been trying to get an
open response from the company for many months. Fujitsu's stance has been
either an outright denial of any problem (stand up, Fujitsu Germany,
Fujitsu Canada & Fujitsu in Australia) or a grudging statement that "some
customers have reported problems".
That Fujitsu has consistently failed to take prompt and thorough action to
remedy the problems being suffered by its customers, and indeed has denied
any such problem, when there have been documents in the public domain
(albeit well hidden in court filings) admitting the problem, is a shameful
reflection upon the company and its claimed care for its customers.
By Fujitsus own statement potentially 4.9 million of their drives will
fail within the normal life expectation. This admission could provide
valuable ammunition in world-wide legal actions against the company.
---------------------------------
73's
Trev,
SysOp GB7FCR
E-Mail trev@gb7fcr.co.uk
Web Site http://www.gb7fcr.co.uk
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