Why do EIDE drives disappear from the IDE RAID array or system after a short period of error-free operation?
Affected drives:
WD drives with capacities between 40GB & 120GB
WD drives between 120GB and 200GB capacity with manufacturing date codes earlier than 3/25/03
Answer
Problem:
WD EIDE drives are dropped from an IDE RAID array or system after several days or weeks of error-free operation.
Solution:
The problem is a result of a feature that reduces idle acoustic noise in desktop drives. This feature may cause a timeout likely (though not exclusively) in an IDE RAID environment. To disable the feature, you can run a simple Western Digital utility to turn off a single bit in the drive’s run-time configuration. Disabling of this feature will NOT impact normal system operations. No firmware or hardware changes are required.
