CF-29 hard disk overheating?

I got myself a CF-29 mk3 for 299€ a few days ago (in Germany).
It has a toshiba mk1234gax 120gb hdd running at 5400rpm.
I installed linux and started using it, all was well until i started copying several GB data over wlan onto it's hdd.

What I noticed:
Everytime when I'm copying a lot of files to the hdd I end up getting lots of ata write errors from the harddisk, but copying continues for a short time retrying after every error, until the hdd led goes off and the whole system freezes.
Since I'm getting errors only after a few minutes of copying files, the cause is probably not a flaky connector.
Since the cpu cooling seems to be ok (45°C idling on ac power) the chipset is probably ok too.
So I guess the hard disk is simply overheating...
With smart I already measured 41°C for the hdd when practically idling, I didn't monitor the hdd temp under load yet.
When I restart copying shortly after a crash, I'm getting those ata errors after a much shorter time (in about 10s, writing at about 10MB/s, the first time it took about 1 minute).

What's your experience with hdd temperatures in the cf-29 ?

vadaszi

 

Welcome to the forum. To me your harddrive is ready to die. I myself never had any overheating problems with my 29...the case does get hot but it's made that way.

 

I have repaired thousands of cf-29s and have never heard of this. I agree with tough, and say that your hdd is getting ready to die.

 

I have tried to provoke the issue and the highest hdd temperature I measured with smart was 43°C after putting high load onto the disk for about an hour. I did manage to provoke some errors and stopped testing before the system would crash.
What I noticed is that the cpu isn't as well cooled as I thought (I created hdd load by compressing some large folders).

The left side of the case didn't seem to warm up significiantly, but the right half of the case was hot (measured up to 67°C for the cpu), so the heatpipes to the left half are probably not working as intended.
So I should probably check the cpu and chipset cooling anyway.

My hard disk is definitly not simply overheating, but somehow the errors are still related to heat.
Is it possible that a chip on the hdd pcb is overheating while smart still shows reasonable temps?

I'm already searching for a replacement for the hard disk.

 

Well to put it simple...this is how the toughbook gets the heat out ..threw the case since it has not fan.

If I am right that is where the cpu is ,on the left side is the media bay and battery so it will be cooler

 

Do a search on thermal pads. Replace them per the posted instructions and check your results.

 

+rep what Shawn said. We have found the cooling system in these to be EXTREMELY well designed; the CPU pads however not so much. Pick your favorite flavor, Arctic Silver paste/goo, Thermal pads, whatever. Replace those that are on your 29 currently; some have even added their flavor along the pipes, up to you. This should remedy your Chipset concerns. Then, replace that HD, it is on its way out.

 

Just a reminder that the Arctic Silver can be used with the thermal pads but, never by itself. You must use thermal pads to close the gap between the CPU and the heat sink.

 

Thanks,
This weekend I'll swap the hard disk and retest, if everything works then, I will probably postpone renewing the thermal pads for a month until I have more time.
In the meantime I will just have to avoid putting too much load onto the cpu.
(I will probably just fix the cpu clock at 600Mhz )

 

Its honestly a 10 min fix. the longest part is finding the right screwdrivers lol.


4 screws (small) on the dimm cover,
8 screws (small) around the edges,
8 screws (big) around edge and under dimm cover.


Carefully disconnect the speaker wire, then using your hands inside the battery and hard drive bay, push the cabinet open.

 

and the one screw I always forget...
1 screw (big) inside dimm cover

 

ReRead, I said including the one under the dimm cover


I usually forget it alot as well. I have worked on these things for 5 years almost.