Comment 0 for bug 583790

I recently bought a Western Digital WD10EARS 1 TB SATA drive.

This WD drive incorporates what is called "Advanced Format" on the drive:

See: http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/WhitePapers/ENG/2579-771430.pdf&sa=X&ei=1H_2S8P9FYP78AavgNHECg&ved=0CB8QzgQoADAA&usg=AFQjCNHRHKOzE52JvyZZRvoYX3BiOoYsDw

I tried to install Ubuntu 10.04 on it.
The installation kept reporting errors related to the drive during installation.
The installation took quite a bit longer than usual.
After installation Ubuntu would boot but again various drive errors kept being reported.

I thought this might have been a 'bad' HD so I returned it and got the same model as a replacement.

Went through the same process... same results.

Re-downloaded Ubuntu (just in case) and reburned a new CD (just in case)
Tried to install Ubuntu 10.04 again... same results.

So I returned the 2nd HD and paid a restocking fee to exchange for a Seagate SATA drive which works just fine.

As far as I can tell the only difference was this new Advanced Format on the WD drive which the Seagate (and my other Hitachi HD's do not implement).

Given the errors, I'm not sure if this is a BIOS compatibility problem a WD implementation issue or an Ubuntu issue but I wanted to report it.