Badblock Checking

[Just18]

I am working on a PC with an 80GB SATA HDD ......  Win needs it to be in emulation mode or whatever it is called, apparently as it is not AHCI in BIOS.

That said, I suspect the drive is failing.

I have deleted and recreated a NTFS partition on the drive, thinking that I would be offered a badblock check during formatting ......  not so it seems when using MS filesystem.

So I want to check this drive for bad blocks and/or other hardware problems.

I will be running PCLOS live from a USB stick to do the checks.

Rather than go ahead and take a mis-step, I would appreciate others views on the preferred procedure ......  use of badblocks, smartmon etc

Thanks for your thoughts 

[Just18]

OK, I install Gsmartcontrol, and ran a Short Self Test on the suspect drive.

Although no parameters are marked as failed, the drive failed the read test ...... 

Error 6105 occurred at disk power-on lifetime : 7166 (298 days + 14 hours)

The log shows it as

"uncorrectable error is data"

I guess that is it.

Dump the drive!


end. 

[Just18]

I connected a second 80GB SATA drive in place of the faulty one.
This again was a used drive.

It passed the initial short test .......  but failed on the more comprehensive test with a read failure about 50% EDIT 10% of the way through.
The 'lifetime hours' on this one being much lower at 590 I thought to do some experimenting.

I zeroed the drive using dd, then repeated the two tests.

This time it passed BOTH!  No errors reported.

I think I will try zeroing the first drive also, just to see if it makes any difference at all ........

In the meantime I will hold the now apparently 'good' drive to see if there are any suggestions for further tests.

'I will be back' .....  

[AS]

I connected a second 80GB SATA drive in place of the faulty one.
This again was a used drive.

It passed the initial short test .......  but failed on the more comprehensive test with a read failure about 50% of the way through.
The 'lifetime hours' on this one being much lower at 590 I thought to do some experimenting.

I zeroed the drive using dd, then repeated the two tests.

This time it passed BOTH!  No errors reported.

I think I will try zeroing the first drive also, just to see if it makes any difference at all ........

In the meantime I will hold the now apparently 'good' drive to see if there are any suggestions for further tests.

'I will be back' ..... 

SATA drives do have spare sectors, when you write a bad sector and the disk logic recognize it was badly written, it automatically map a spare sector in place of the bad one, until the spare sectors will be exhausted. 

Check the hard disk manual from the producer for further info, and thank you for confirming something I'm saying repeatedly.

AS

[Just18]

I plugged in the first BAD drive again.
I corrected my post .....  it was at 10% that it failed -- was in the logs.

So I wrote zeros to the complete drive .....  using dcfldd this time to see a progress repot.

This time the initial read error was reported at 30% from the short test. So apparently the first lot of errors were 'fixed' by writing zeros!  (yes I know ...  still doubtful )

So, rather than do the extended test which would not go past the 30% anyway, I decided to write 1's to the complete drive.

I am presently waiting for this to finish, after which I will do the smartmon tests again to see if there is any difference, before returning the drive to zeros.

......  to be continued ....

the results were that both short and long tests stopped at about 10% again.
This time they both error'd at a different LBA ......  972785 whereas previously it had been 972783
It appears that the 30% report is an error ......  the LBA for that was  719368

So the error location seems to have changed ever so slightly .....  and that is all.

Now writing zeros to the drive again, before dumping it. 

[AS]

At any time, before or after writing, zeroing or whatever, I would like to see a report from:

Code:

smartctl -a /dev/sdXn

 

[Just18]

At any time, before or after writing, zeroing or whatever, I would like to see a report from:

Code:

smartctl -a /dev/sdXn

 

Here ye go ...... 

Code:

Note: Two tests - short & long - after writing 1s stopped at LBA 972785 and for some reason don't appear in this log.

Also prior to writing 1s I did a short test which showed failure at 30% (not 10% as all the others) with LBA of first error listed as 719368

Just a couple of apparent inconsistencies before the full report below.

*************************

smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09 r3365 [i686-linux-2.6.38.8-pclos3.bfs] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 and 7200.7 Plus
Device Model:     ST380817AS
Serial Number:    4MR0RXM3
Firmware Version: 3.42
User Capacity:    80,026,361,856 bytes [80.0 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   6
ATA Standard is:  ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 2
Local Time is:    Mon Feb 13 19:49:13 2012 CST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82) Offline data collection activity
was completed without error.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status:      ( 121) The previous self-test completed having
the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: (  430) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: (   1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: (  47) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   055   046   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       209476916
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   098   098   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   097   097   020    Old_age   Always       -       3214
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   084   084   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       646
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   085   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       395035074
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   092   092   000    Old_age   Always       -       7169
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   097   097   020    Old_age   Always       -       3172
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   028   047   000    Old_age   Always       -       28
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   055   046   000    Old_age   Always       -       209476916
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   100   095   000    Old_age   Always       -       6
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   100   095   000    Old_age   Offline      -       6
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   199   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
202 Data_Address_Mark_Errs  0x0032   069   222   000    Old_age   Always       -       31

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 6105 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 6105 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7166 hours (298 days + 14 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ef d7 0e e0  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x000ed7ef = 972783

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 08 ef d7 0e e0 00      00:53:44.028  READ DMA
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.024  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:51.781  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:51.781  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:51.778  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 6104 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7166 hours (298 days + 14 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ef d7 0e e0  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x000ed7ef = 972783

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 08 ef d7 0e e0 00      00:53:44.028  READ DMA
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.024  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:44.022  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:44.021  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.019  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 6103 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7166 hours (298 days + 14 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ef d7 0e e0  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x000ed7ef = 972783

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 08 ef d7 0e e0 00      00:53:44.028  READ DMA
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.024  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:44.022  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:44.021  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.019  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 6102 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7166 hours (298 days + 14 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ef d7 0e e0  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x000ed7ef = 972783

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 08 ef d7 0e e0 00      00:53:36.251  READ DMA
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:36.248  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:32.373  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:32.373  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:32.370  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 6101 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7166 hours (298 days + 14 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
  -- -- -- -- -- -- --
  40 51 00 ef d7 0e e0  Error: UNC at LBA = 0x000ed7ef = 972783

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  ----------------  --------------------
  c8 00 08 ef d7 0e e0 00      00:53:36.251  READ DMA
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:36.248  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
  ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:32.373  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00      00:53:32.373  SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:32.370  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       90%      7168         972785
# 2  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%      7168         972785
# 3  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%      7168         972785
# 4  Short offline       Completed: read failure       70%      7168         719368
# 5  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       90%      7166         972783
# 6  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%      7166         972783
# 7  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       90%      7166         972783
# 8  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%      7166         972783
# 9  Short captive       Interrupted (host reset)      90%      5015         -
#10  Short captive       Completed without error       00%      3510         -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

[AS]

Thank you!

Model Family:     Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 and 7200.7 Plus
Device Model:     ST380817AS
Serial Number:    4MR0RXM3
Firmware Version: 3.42
User Capacity:    80,026,361,856 bytes [80.0 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   6
ATA Standard is:  ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 2
Local Time is:    Mon Feb 13 19:49:13 2012 CST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82)   Offline data collection activity
               was completed without error.
               Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
Self-test execution status:      ( 121)   The previous self-test completed having
               the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:       (  430) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:           (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
               Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
               Suspend Offline collection upon new
               command.
               Offline surface scan supported.
               Self-test supported.
               No Conveyance Self-test supported.
               Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)   Saves SMART data before entering
               power-saving mode.
               Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)   Error logging supported.
               No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time:     (   1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:     (  47) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   055   046   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       209476916
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   098   098   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   097   097   020    Old_age   Always       -       3214
 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   084   084   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       646
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   085   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       395035074
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   092   092   000    Old_age   Always       -       7169
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   097   097   020    Old_age   Always       -       3172
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   028   047   000    Old_age   Always       -       28
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   055   046   000    Old_age   Always       -       209476916
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   100   095   000    Old_age   Always       -       6
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   100   095   000    Old_age   Offline      -       6
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   199   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
202 Data_Address_Mark_Errs  0x0032   069   222   000    Old_age   Always       -       31
33  27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00      00:53:44.019  READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartmontools/wiki/FAQ#UnreadableuncorrectablependingsectorsorMediumerrorondisk.Whatsgoingon

also, from the same author of smart utilities:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/magazine/monitoring-hard-disks-smart?page=0,0

[Just18]

I had wondered if the item second from bottom might have had an effect ---- the interrupt being at or about where the failure now occurs.

[AS]

Addition, still from Bruce Allen:

http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/badblockhowto.html

Note: this one is especially for the pleasure of those who love CHS/LBA math 

wedgetail ? 

[Just18]

Not for me 

[AS]

I had wondered if the item second from bottom might have had an effect ---- the interrupt being at or about where the failure now occurs.

I think no, because I have interrupted smart tests may times, without any adverse effect ... Your disk appear to have had the first error at 7166 hours ....

I missed this one before ... edited post

5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   084   084   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       646

[Just18]

I had wondered if the item second from bottom might have had an effect ---- the interrupt being at or about where the failure now occurs.

I think no, because I have interrupted smart tests may times, without any adverse effect ... Your disk appear to have had the first error at 7166 hours ....

7166 hours is when I began testing it ......  the interrupt happened long before and there was no test in the meantime it seems.
I only got the drive yesterday and I suspect that the interrupt could have corrupted something long before I got it.

I missed this one before ... edited post

5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   084   084   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       646

I don't know the significance 

[AS]

I had wondered if the item second from bottom might have had an effect ---- the interrupt being at or about where the failure now occurs.

I think no, because I have interrupted smart tests may times, without any adverse effect ... Your disk appear to have had the first error at 7166 hours ....

7166 hours is when I began testing it ......  the interrupt happened long before and there was no test in the meantime it seems.
I only got the drive yesterday and I suspect that the interrupt could have corrupted something long before I got it.

I missed this one before ... edited post

5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   084   084   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       646

I don't know the significance 

The reallocated sectors are those sectors found bad and reallocated to the spare track/sectors ... I would not use such drive for anything valuable ...

[Just18]

I will be away for a couple of days, but hope to get back to this next weekend ........  when I intend to run a manufacturers diagnostic on it.

How does one know if the area which stores the info for smartmon/manufacturer/etc is not corrupted?
I recall reading about it having a duplicate area in case of problems ......  just wondering if there is any way to determine if anything has gone wrong there.

This drive is written off, so anything I do to it does not affect anything/anybody ......  it is ripe for 'play'