New Hard Drive - HDLoader Startup Freezes with Seagate

[MrQuackers]

I've been enjoying having FMCB on my memory card (Thanks DJFlexMaster), running HDLoader from it, and using my Seagate Barracuda ST3160815A 160 GB drive to play some backed up PS2 games.

When HDLoader does load, I can play my games without any problems. The only difficulty I run into is getting HDLoader to start every time. It's not the .ELF file, as I've tried multiple ELFs of HDLoader from .8 to .8c and they all work, though randomly. From what I've been able to gather from google Seagate drives tend to be finicky with HDLoader, when trying to open the program it often just stays at the splash screen indefinitely. Leaving it on for an hour makes no difference, when it does work it loads in about two seconds. It loading or not loading is completely random, I will not touch the jumpers or adjust the hard drive at all, something is wrong with the drive. (If there is another cause you are aware of than a bad drive, please say so.) Every time I load HDLoader I can hear the hard drive being accessed, so the drive is recognizable by the system and is being accessed, leading me to believe some function used by the Seagate drive is acting strange.

I'm considering purchasing a new hard drive since I believe the Seagate to be the problem, and though the Maxtor DiamondPlus Max 9 120GB 6Y120P0 is the most popular and successful drive for HDLoader (From the HD compatibility list @ http://ps2drives.x-pec.com/?p=list ) I just don't trust Maxtor. In the past I've had too many of their drives die (then again it's been five years since I've used one). Western Digital and Seagate have been my favorite brands, quiet, sturdy, and I've never one of their drives die or become corrupted.

Apparently Western Digital drives are notoriously incompatible with HDLoader, Seagates randomly load the program, and unreliable Maxtor seems to be my main option. What drive would PSX-Scene recommend for over 100GB and under $80? Or if there is something else likely to be causing the random loads, what can I do to fix it?

[cleo]

I have a Seagate 160 GB drive and it has been working fine with HDLoader . So I don't think your brand of drive is the problem ???

[MrQuackers]

I don't think it is all Seagate drives that have this glitch in loading HDLoader, just an unlucky few of certain model numbers. Does anybody know anything of this loading freeze problem or is it more of a rumor?

Here are the sources I found:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/103220 (find "splash screen")

http://www.hdloader.net/forums/archi....php/t-95.html

http://www.exploitstation.com/smf/in...3Btopic=2128.0