So I just put the Tablo into service around July 6th. Installed the recommended Seagate internal drive, and have been having problems with “unknown system error”. After contacting Tablo Support, and giving them access to the hard drive, they are saying the hard drive is “starting to fail”. It was brand new, and has been in service about 6 weeks. I believe that would be the fastest hard drive failure in recorded history. So the question is, do most users use an external drive? Do internal drives have problems due to the heat. I notice the drives they are suggesting from support are 5800 rpm drives, vs mine which is 7200 RPM. What tools do they use to diagnose a hardware failure vs software issue? I am a lifetime subscriber and premium member, and commercial skip probably works only 30% of the time, and the images as you scroll forward to bypass commercials are always out of sync. I want this to work, but so far it is pretty sketchy. Lot’s of questions I know, but HDD failure seems pretty weak. I’ve only been in IT for like thirty years, and Hard drives either spin, or die.
I didn’t think they used anything more than their “error messages” – excellent question! I had been told I had a bad drive, tested non-issue. Copied everything, no errors. Put files back, no write errors. Reset tablo, connected drive and ran with no more errors for at least a year. I would liked to know how it was concluded beyond a vague error message.
Users aren’t allowed to view their system logs. You’ll have to contact support. I’m not sure if they’ll send you it’s output if asked or just tell you “starting to fail”
So far it has been starting to fail. Support rep I was working with via email was pretty specific in saying that Seagate Barrcuda drives are more prone to failure, and the suggestion was the Seagate was “starting to fail” so replace with a WD Blue. I did notice though that the quad is now offered with onboard storage, so that would put it all on them.
Just thought I would wrap this up. I installed a new drive, another seagate Barracuda, but a 5800 RPM model. Seems to be working better now, although I still get a few instances where different shows being broadcast on the same channel have wildly different picture quality.