August 2015 Confidential

Inspection Guidelines for Bare DrivesOct 2016

©2015 HGST, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Drive Condition

HGST's warranty does not cover the following :

1. Drives with an indication that they have been altered.

2. Drives with physical damage.

3. Drives which are inappropriately packaged.

This package is a guideline for accepting drives for warranty redemption.

For further enquiry, please contact your RMA coordinator for advise.

“It is advisable to return drives in their original condition”

Disclaimer: This information is a general guideline only; the final decision will be made at HGST’s discretion based on the visual and mechanical inspection.

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Examples of drives which will be rejected

Examples of modified drives, drives in poor physical condition or inappropriately packaged :

A. HGST Label Condition

i. Labels not fully adhered to top cover, base casting or card, partially lifted or bunched up.

ii. Missing, damaged or other tampering on labels such that vital information cannot be read or scanned.

B. Seal Condition

i. Missing, damaged or wrong seal.

C. PCBA Condition

i. Badly bent or broken connector / pins.

ii. Damaged connector shrouds.

iii. Non HGST labels or excessive adhesive.

iv. Component / IC burnt or chipped or scratched circuits.

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Examples of drives which will be rejected

D. Physical Conditioni. Dents or deep scratches or significant number of long, light scratches on the drive.

ii. Missing top cover and PCBA screws, broken or damaged screws, damaged screw holes or gasket.

iii. Permanent ink writing or markings on the drive.

iv. Non HGST labels covering breather holes, screws, seals, HGST vital information such as all bar codes, part number, serial number and other ids, agency markings and warnings. (critical areas)

v. Non HGST labels not easily removed or located in non critical areas may be rejected. To avoid dispute, all non HGST labels should be removed along with excessive adhesive.

vi. Foreign material on drive (e.g. corrosion, excessive adhesive, major contamination, excessive loctite (sealant) beyond thread, mounting hardware).

vii. Mismatch product information, including serial numbers, between base casting and product labels.

viii. Non Hitachi/HGST Drive or HGST labels on Non HGST drive.

ix. Dent on seam of Aries helium drives potential cause helium leak

E. Packaging Conditioni. Drives without ESD protection e.g. ESD bag or clamshell.

ii. Improper packaging.

Note : For more information on packaging please refer to our website www.hgst.com under Support, Warranty/RMA and scroll down to the section on packaging.

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A.i. Graphical Examples – Labels

Accept HGST added post manufacturing labels.

2.5” Drives

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A.i. Graphical Examples – Labels

Accept HGST added post manufacturing labels.

3.5” Drives

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A.i. Graphical Examples – Labels

Accept FIPS Label

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A.i. & A.ii. Labels - Graphical Examples

Reject Labels not fully adhered to top cover, base casting, or card, partially lifted or bunched up.

Serial number barcode label peeling

Model id label missing

Product label peeling

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A.ii. Labels - Graphical Examples

Accept Vital information like part number, serial number and other ids can be read or scanned

Slightly Faded print Barcode faded but information readable

Slight damage Slight damage

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A.ii. Labels - Graphical Examples

Accept Vital information like part number, serial number and other ids can be read or scanned.

Torn label, barcode can be scannedMinor label damage, information can stillbe read

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A.ii. Labels - Graphical Examples

Missing or damaged labels such that vital information cannot be read or scannedReject

Label damaged, information cannot be read or scannedMissing PCBA label

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A.ii. Labels - Graphical Examples

Missing, damaged or other tampering on labels such that vital information cannot be read or scanned

Reject

Missing

Barcode labels missingMissing product label

Label damaged with access to screw

Serial number cannot be read or scanned Information on label cannot be read or scanned.

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A.ii. Graphical Examples - Labels

All 3.5” drives (Desktop and Server) have motor label on the motor.Accept/Reject

Missing Label

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A.ii. Graphical Examples - Labels

Accept/Reject 2.5” Mobile drives with this product label styles and shape have a white label on the motor.

Missing label

All other 2.5” Mobile drives have no label on the motor.

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A.ii. Graphical Examples - Labels

Accept All 2.5” Server drives have no label on the motor or the motor is covered by the PCBA.

No label on Motor Motor covered by PCBA

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B.i. Seals - Graphical Examples

Accept 3.5” Desktop drives with these product label styles have either three VCM screws or a single VCM screw.

For this style, two screws are covered by transparent seals and one screw is not covered.

Screw covered by transparent seal

Screw not covered by transparent seal

For this style, the single screw is not covered.

Screw not covered by transparent seal

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B.i. Seals - Graphical Examples

Accept All other 3.5” Desktop and all Server drives have a transparent seal over the screw.

Screw covered by transparent seal

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B.i. Seals - Graphical Examples

Reject Missing, damaged or wrong seal

Missing seal Damaged seal

Wrong seal

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C.i. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Reject Badly bent or broken connector / pins

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C.ii. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Accept Damaged connector shrouds

Reject Shroud damaged

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C.iii. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Accept Labels on PCBA

Non HGST labels removed, minor traces of adhesive

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C.iii. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Reject Non HGST labels and adhesive on PCBA

Non HGST labels on PCBA

Residual adhesive

Non HGST labels on PCBA

Excessive adhesive on PCBA

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C.iv. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Accept Slight scratch on PCBA on an area free of circuits and copper traces not exposed.

Reject Scratch on PCBA across circuit lines

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C.iv. PCBA - Graphical Examples

Reject Component / IC burnt or chipped or foreign material on card.

IC burnt Component burnt

Component chippedStrong adhesives, oil, dirt or any other foreign material

Missing or damaged resistor

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Accept Cosmetic scratches or light scratches which can be felt by fingers.

Cosmetic scratches not felt by fingers are allowed.

Light scratch can be felt by fingers, max. 5 allowed

(not to exceed 1 inch or 25mm)

Light scratches can be full length and should be linear, on base casting mounting surface allowed. Some base material may be visible.

D.i. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

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D.i. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

Reject Dents or deep scratches on drive

Corner dentedDeep scratches

Deep scratches through coating where base material is clearlyvisible and scratch is not consistent with normalmounting/demounting.

Top cover dented

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D.ii. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

Accept Sealant not beyond thread Coating scratched but screw hole not damaged

Reject Missing, broken or damaged parts

Unseated screw(include tilted screw)

Broken screw stuckMissing screw

Screw hole damaged Sealant beyond thread

Rusty screw

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Reject

Damaged gasket Damaged gasket

Corner dented Permanent ink on drive

D.ii & iii. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

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Please do not cover the critical areas outlined in red

2.5” Drives 3.5” Drives

If you need to attach labels, please paste them outside the critical areas shown inred.Please remove the non HGST labels before returning the drive to HGST

D.iv. & v. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

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Accept Non HGST labels removed with minor adhesive reside

Non HGST label covering HGST informationBreather hole covered

Reject Breather hole, screws, seals or vital information covered

D.iv. & v. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

Minor adhesive residue after removing non HGST labels.

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Reject Foreign material on drive

Hole in cover

Mismatch product information, including serial numbers, between base casting and product labels

Serial Number mismatch (tampered drive)

Strong adhesives, oil, dirt or any other foreign material

HGST Labels On Non-HGST Drives

D.vi. vii. & viii Physical Condition -Graphical Examples

Hole in cover

Mismatch product information, including serial numbers, between base casting and product labels

Serial Number mismatch (tampered drive)

Strong adhesives, oil, dirt or any other foreign material

HGST Labels On Non-HGST Drives

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Accept Dent on surface of Aries Helium drive if there is secondary sale

Reject Dent on seam of Aries Helium drive, potential helium leak

D.ix Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

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Accept Deformation on the protection plates of Aries helium drives

D.x. Physical Condition - Graphical Examples

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Accept Acceptable packaging

Alternative to ESD bag (bulk pack) Alternative to ESD bag If material is anti-static

Each drive packed in it's own ESD bags and individually cushioned.

E.i. Packaging Condition - Graphical Examples

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Accept Acceptable packaging

Each drive packed in it's own ESD bags and individually cushioned.

E.i. Packaging Condition - Graphical Examples

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Reject Inappropriate packaging

Drives not packed in it's own ESD bags and not individually cushioned.

Drives not individually cushioned.

E.ii. Packaging Condition - Graphical Examples

©2015 HGST, Inc. All rights reserved.

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