Toshiba Hard Drive made by Hitachi DT01ACA300 PN 9F14312 Data Recovery

In 2012, Toshiba Corporation faced a shortage of hard disk drives (HDDs) due to the severe flooding in Thailand. As a result, Toshiba resorted to relabeling HDDs made by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST), which was acquired by Western Digital Corporation in 2012.

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST hard drives caused controversy and raised questions about the reliability and performance of the relabeled drives. This article aims to provide some insights into the process and implications of Toshiba's relabeling of HGST hard drives.

Background

In October 2011, flooding in Thailand affected several hard disk drive factories, including Toshiba's and HGST's. This resulted in a global shortage of HDDs and a spike in prices. In response, Toshiba decided to source HDDs from HGST and relabel them as Toshiba HDDs to meet the market demand.

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST HDDs was not an uncommon practice in the HDD industry. Many HDD manufacturers, including Seagate and Western Digital, also sourced HDDs from other manufacturers and relabeled them as their own.

Relabeling Process

Toshiba's relabeling process involved removing the HGST label from the HDDs and replacing it with a Toshiba label. The relabeled HDDs were then sold to customers as Toshiba-branded products.

The relabeling process did not involve any changes to the physical or technical specifications of the HGST HDDs. The only difference was the label on the HDDs.

Implications

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST HDDs had several implications for the HDD market and customers.

Reliability and Performance

Some customers and industry experts were concerned about the reliability and performance of the relabeled HGST HDDs. They questioned whether the relabeling process compromised the quality of the HDDs and whether the HDDs would perform as well as genuine Toshiba HDDs.

However, Toshiba assured customers that the relabeled HGST HDDs underwent the same quality control and testing processes as genuine Toshiba HDDs. Toshiba also stated that the relabeled HDDs had the same specifications and performance as genuine Toshiba HDDs.

Product Identification

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST HDDs made it difficult for customers to identify the true manufacturer of the HDDs. This was particularly important for customers who preferred to use HDDs from a specific manufacturer or who had experienced compatibility issues with certain HDD brands.

Legal Issues

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST HDDs also raised legal issues. In 2013, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Toshiba and HGST, accusing them of false advertising and unfair competition. The lawsuit alleged that Toshiba and HGST had misled customers by falsely representing the relabeled HGST HDDs as genuine Toshiba products.

In 2015, Toshiba and HGST settled the lawsuit for $57 million. As part of the settlement, Toshiba and HGST agreed to compensate customers who purchased the relabeled HGST HDDs.

Conclusion

Toshiba's relabeling of HGST HDDs in 2012 was a controversial move that raised questions about the reliability, performance, and identification of the relabeled HDDs. While Toshiba assured customers that the relabeled HGST HDDs had the same quality and specifications as genuine Toshiba HDDs, the practice still caused confusion and legal issues.

The relabeling of HDDs is a common practice in the HDD industry, but it is important for manufacturers to be transparent about the process and ensure that the relabeled products meet the same quality and performance standards as their own products.

Data Recovery Case Log:

Even though it says Toshiba its just a relabeled hitachi hard drive and Zero Alpha needs to use hitachi tools to recover data from it. This hard drive had its Head 1 fail out of 6 heads in total

Model : Hitachi HDS723030BLE640
Serial : MSH9215Q043E9W
Firmware : MX6OAAB0
Capacity : 3 TB (5 860 533 168)

ID.Model................................ : Hitachi HDS723030BLE640
ID.FW................................... : MX6OAAB0
ID.SN................................... : MSH9215Q043E9W

PC3000  family by model................. : 7230BLA3
Factory family by model................. : MARS.......................... = 7210DLE6
Factory family by FW.................... : MARS.......................... = 7210DLE6
Factory family by SN.................... : MARS.......................... = 7210DLE6

NVRAM SN................................ : MSH9215Q043E9W
NVRAM FW................................ : MX6N

Factory family by NVRAM FW.............. : MARS.......................... = 7210DLE6
Factory family by NVRAM SN.............. : MARS.......................... = 7210DLE6
 
 
Selected family......................... : 7210DLE6
Model by ID............................. : Hitachi HDS723030BLE640                 
 
Techno mode key......................... : Ok
 
Loading modules table................................................. : Ok
Loading the table of "open" modules................................... : Ok
Drive power supply...................... : OFF