Hardware for SpinRite to run on 8TB drive via USB

[excel]

Q: Google, how about those used Chia data mining Seagate drives sold as new?​

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A: Yes, numerous Seagate resellers were caught in 2025 selling used, high-mileage (10k-50k+ hours) enterprise hard drives as "new" after potentially altering SMART data, originating from former Chia cryptocurrency mining farms in China. ​

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Seagate denied involvement, investigated, and advised consumers to buy only from certified partners and check drive hours. [1, 2, 3, 4] ​

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Key details of the scam: ​

• Source: Used datacenter-grade drives (Seagate Exos, IronWolf Pro) from Chia mining operations flooded the market.
• Deception: Fraudsters altered serial numbers, relabeled drives, and reset internal usage logs (SMART data) to make them appear new.
• Affected Models: Mostly high-capacity enterprise drives (12TB+ Exos, IronWolf Pro).
• Resellers Involved: Many online retailers globally (Amazon, Mindfactory, Galaxus, etc.) were implicated, though often unknowingly.
• Seagate's Stance: Seagate launched investigations, stated they did not authorize the practice, and recommended purchasing from certified distributors. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

How to check for a fraudulent drive: ​

• Use smartctl (Linux/Mac/Windows) or other SMART monitoring tools to verify actual power-on hours. Thousands of hours on a supposedly "new" drive is a red flag.
• Verify serial numbers via Seagate's official tools. [1, 2, 4, 8]

[1] https://wiki.rossmanngroup.com/wiki/Misrepresented_sales_of_used_Seagate_hard_drives_as_new​

[2] https://www.networkworld.com/articl...ta-center-hard-drive-could-be-a-used-one.html​

[3] https://hardware.slashdot.org/story...p-a-raid-on-a-counterfeit-hard-drive-workshop​

[4] https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...hods-to-alter-reliability-metrics/ar-AA1AwJB6​

[5] https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/seagates-fraudulent-hdd-scandal-expands-ironwolf-pro-hard-drives-also-affected​

[6] https://www.techradar.com/computing...shed-chia-scandal-heres-what-you-need-to-know​

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8WBnoPvkTw​

[8]

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This thread was not about fake drives or caveats about running SpinRite on USB drives. Those are great topics and should be discussed in other threads.

This topic was about running SpinRite on large USB drives and the hardware necessary to do so without resorting to VMs. I was excited after listening to many GRC's discussions on Security Now about how much SpinRite 6.1 improved USB drive testing. But the lack of UEFI and large drive support was very disappointing, particularly after the long wait. Like DanR, I do not want to wait another 7 years to test USB drives without opening cases.

I was delighted to find that the older Zimaboard provides a good solution. Hopefully there are other options too, though I have not found any.

 

[peterblaise]

Great to feel confident that our investment is not fake and not fraud -
generating a useful and informative reference here in our archives for
Google and all visitors to explore.

- - - - -

Regarding testing
- testing our computer's USB chips,
- testing our computer's USB drivers,
- testing our USB cables,
- testing our USB-to-ATA drive adapters inside external housings,
- testing our large drives's read and write capability,
... testing in place, in the way we expect to use our large, external
hard drives, presumably via highest speed USB3 ...

... ValiDrive.

ValiDrive works with our modern Windows computer systems as we
use them, testing USB3 chipsets and all USB3 drivers that we
actually use every day with our large external drives.

And ValiDrive reads and writes.

And ValiDrive does not presume a drive is "honest", in fact, ValiDrive
looks for fakery.

- - - - -

SpinRite presumes a drive is honest.

I and others have seen fake drives 'pass' under SpinRite Levels 1, 2, 3,
and 4.

SpinRite Level 5 found my fake drive, but, if I recall accurately,
someone else found a fake drive that passed even SpinRite Level 5.

SpinRite has 2 assignments:

- data recovery in place

- drive maintenance.

Not USB chip testing, not USB driver testing, not USB cable testing,
not USB-to ATA adapter testing.

Drive testing.

IDE, ATA, AHCI drives.

And SpinRite has it's own IDE, ATA, and AHCI drivers.

Prior SpinRite also test MFM/RLL drives.

But SpinRite has no USB drivers.

For USB-attached drives, SpinRite asks DOS and BIOS to do the 'work',
asking them to please get info from drive #-whatever.

And DOS and BIOS only 'see' USB2 - probably not how we're going
to actually use our large external drives.

And many of us have UEFI-boot only systems now, where we can't
even run SpinRite for DOS / BIOS as a native application.

So we move our drives to test them on DOS / BIOS computers, and
then move our drives back to our UEFI computers.

With different USB chips and USB drivers.

- - - - -

On the one hand, great that SpinRite offers an automated way to fully
test the full size of our drives, end to end - in this case with the help
of BIOS and DOS - and eventually, a SpinRite Level 5 will be the most
thorough.

On the other hand, ValiDrive is a great tool - and a quick tool - to
test in place, in real life, on our UEFI computers, with USB3, the way
we actually use our large external drives.

Two tools to pitch in and help - @Steve Gibson is prescient here.

Along with the forums where others may help by reminding that
some large drives are fake, and Seagate has mislabled, underlabled,
and fraudulent drives, so, folks, look for that, too - inside!

Win, win, win, win.

Good discussion, with lots to explore.