A Transcend Storejet external HDD has this software:

  • RecoveRx_v2.6.zip
  • RecoveRx_Win_4.3_setup.exe
  • SecureEraseTool_Win_v1.10_setup.exe
  • TranscendElite_Win_v4.28_setup.exe

I am offline, so I went to a public library to fetch the above files. Early in the installation process the piece of shit tries to connect to the Internet and craps out when it discovers there is no Internet connection. WTF?

It’s a nasty trend. I’ve seen other drivers and various hardware support tools pull this shit in recent years.

Is it legal? Seems questionable considering:

  • They use deception. The packaging for the harddrive probably does not have an “Internet required” disclosure, nor would any reasonable buyer expect Internet to be required to use a hard drive. Then they use deception again when you download the tools. I am led to believe I am downloading a “SecureEraseTool” and a “TranscendElite” software package, but in fact these are just proprietary download managers pretending to be tools.
  • (GDPR regions) By forcing you to needlessly access the cloud with their proprietary tool, they collect your IP address and whatever else that download manager collects to share with them. This does not seem compliant with data minimization.
Tech discussion unrelated to the forum topic

Why are those tools needed (you might wonder). The drive is in a shitty state. It’s in a usb3 enclosure and was usb-attached to 3 different machines:

  • linux laptop with usb3 expresscard, attached both with and without supplemental power. The drive spins, LED on the enclosure blinks rapidly, it gets a device handle and /var/log/kern.log shows it was detected okay. Running fdisk on the unmounted drive just hangs for ~10—15′ before timing out. Reattaching and trying to mount it also causes a long ~10—15′ hang before it gives up.
  • win7 one two different machines: spins forever, LED blinking rapidly. Windows never gives up and it never gets recognized or mounted.

So I wanted to first try the official tools to see how they react to the drive. Since they turned out to be a piece of shit, I will probably try next:

  • Remove the drive from the enclosure and attaching directly to a real SATA bus (not one of those shitty SATA-USB adapters and not a SATA-PATA drive bay adapter, even though those would be easier. I will put it on a proper SATA bus because the SMART diag stuff is often crippled when going over a bus adapter of some kind.
  • Run the DOS Ultimate Boot CD, which (IIRC) is still the king of disk diagnostic tools.
  • See what smartctl does.
  • Try zero-filling with dd

⚠ Avoid Transcend products for being anti-consumer

Anyway, the main point of this thread is to expose the shit Transcend pulls by shipping download managers that masquerade as tools. It’s a shitty practice because:

  • The tools are forever dependent on the supplier keeping a host running. Not only to snoop on you but so to do a sneaky form of designed obsolescence. When your drive model is old enough to need the tools, that is when they will pull the plug. You only think you have the software, until it’s game over. You lose autonomy and control over your own product without knowing it.
  • Discriminates against offline people.
  • Discriminates against tech illiterates, who rely on the easy tools and cannot handle tools like dd, smartctl, and UBCD.
  • Assaults right to repair. No right to repair laws are good enough to think of this kind of dark pattern.
  • Obsolescence by design. If you cannot install the tools you need to keep the device running, they are effectively bullying you into buying your way out of the problem.
    • activistPnk@slrpnk.netOPM
      1·
      3 months ago

      They have always needed software for diagnostics and repair going as far back as MFM harddrives. See the Tech discussion unrelated to the forum topic spoiler. You have to click on the arrow.

      • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 months ago

        Diagnostics and repair are one thing, but this drive seems to have issues that go beyond that.

        Did you finally get to see what dmesg, the various logs and probing utilities had to say about it?

        • activistPnk@slrpnk.netOPM
          1·
          3 months ago

          The drive spins when connected with no unexpected sounds. That suggests mechanical problems are unlikely. The weird behaviour implies a firmware/software state problem of some kind. The rapid blinking LED on the enclosure could mean anything Transcend intends. So it would really be useful to first see what the manufacturer’s tools have to say about it.

          dmesg is boot logs which I would not expect to find more than what kern.log has. From there, I have not tried anything else. My next step is to non-destructively open the external enclosure to get the drive out and on a SATA bus.

            • activistPnk@slrpnk.netOPM
              1·
              3 months ago

              I suppose so, considering the Ultimate Boot CD is still today indispensible for diagnostics and repair, and it’s based on DOS. Seems like a crapshoot as far as whether it will continue being maintained to the extent of its usefulness. It seems we are on a path to becoming dependant on proprietary tools with shenanigans like that of Transcend.