Stop error 0x000000F4 (0x00000003, 0x899ED9B8, 0x899EDB2C, 0x805C876C)

This is the BSOD that I got when I tried to go back a page in Firefox 26. The Drive access LED was also on steadily and brightly. It didn't save the minidump so, I couldn't analyze the minidump with Windbg and the computer wouldn't shut down with the power switch until I pulled the hard drive (Dell precision M70 — "C" drive slides out of left side of base).

I had previous problems with the drive in a modular/media bay caddy (drive access LED was on steadily and brightly and computer froze but no BSOD) and I thought it might be the caddy but, same issues and now BSOD with the drive in internal drive caddy.

Would this have been because the controller circuitry inside the hard drive failed? It's a Seagate 80GB 2.5 inch EIDE. I've swapped it out for the original WD Scorpio.

 

First thought for an 0xF4 these days is "is it an SSD, if so, check for a firmware update"; while not an SSD, yours fits the general scenario of a problem at, or very close to, hardware level. Given the history you describe, there's a very high chance that you are correct.

 

It's a standard platter type HD. With your comment about the history I described, you confirmed my suspicion and it now makes me leary of Seagate drives in light of other comments I've read about them and my own recent issue. I've had no issues with WD, Samsung or Toshiba drives ( although, that doesn't mean I never will ). But, I think I'm going to stay with WD for use inside the computer ( regular bay/modular/media bay ).

I'm dismantling the problem Seagate and keeping the magnets — I have use for them.

 

I made sure the connections were firm in both caddies and the caddy connections were seated properly in the computer.

I had cloned my "C" WD Scorpio to the Seagate because I wanted the WD Scorpio for a clean install of Vista. My XP Pro is fully patched and I only run MSE and Windows firewall but do have SuperAntiSpyware installed.

Problem seemed to have worsened after running the latest version of RogueKiller but existed before then and I don't have those issues with the WD Scorpio drive.

Event viewer and system and software logs weren't generated. The drive appeared to freeze up and wouldn't spin so the logs and minidumps (there should have been 3 of them) couldn't be recorded to the drive.

When I got the Seagate, the label on the HD said "not suitable for laptop computer use". I contacted the seller and he assured me it would be OK (yeah, right rolleyes). So, initially I had it in an USB enclosure. Well, lesson learned.