External Drive Help

[ggheato]

So i have this external hdd with connects to my a box via usb for obvious reasons. im running debian 5.0. the drive was originally partitioned in 3 sections
the drive holds 500gb. so 488375972 blocks devided in 3 even sections. short of being able to split a block in pieces, 3 even parts wouldnt be possible. that being said, one of the partitions was a bit smaller.

anyway they where all formatted to ntfs to be able share it with both windows and *nix boxes. my windows machine is now also a linux machine and so i decided to format the partitions with ext3. unfortunately since they arent empty enough to just erase them and start from scratch, ive been transferring data from one partition to the other formating one by one to ext3.

the problem im having is that dmesg keeps reporting i/o errors eventually stopping the copying process. im not even close to being an intermediate *nix user so im stuck without knowing what exactly is wrong with my drive. i dont wanna have to buy another one unless i really have to.

anyway you can help?

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

How old is your Hard disk? It looks like Hard disk is dieing. Before trying any other tool, I would suggest you to check your Hard disk using Tools provided by your Hard disk manufacturer.

[oz]

the problem im having is that dmesg keeps reporting i/o errors eventually stopping the copying process. im not even close to being an intermediate *nix user so im stuck without knowing what exactly is wrong with my drive. i dont wanna have to buy another one unless i really have to.

Welcome to the forums!

Each hard drive manufacturer offers diagnostic tools that do a great job of checking the integrity of their hard drives. These usually come on a disk that you might have gotten along with your hard drive, or they can be downloaded directly from the manufacturer's website. I'd highly recommend trying that tool on your drive before going to buy a new one to see what it reports.

You can also run smartmontools under Linux to monitor hard drives for potential problems.

Let us know how the report comes back on your hard drive after testing it.

[ggheato]

i got this:

Device: WDC WD50 00AAKS-00YGA0    Version:
Serial number: 152D20329000
Device type: disk
Local Time is: Mon Apr  5 11:27:15 2010 PDT
Device does not support SMART

idk if its because its connected via usb or maybe the case has something to do with it but ill leave that to you guys.

[oz]

i got this:

Device: WDC WD50 00AAKS-00YGA0    Version:
Serial number: 152D20329000
Device type: disk
Local Time is: Mon Apr  5 11:27:15 2010 PDT
Device does not support SMART

idk if its because its connected via usb or maybe the case has something to do with it but ill leave that to you guys.

Diagnostics tools do have problems with USB connected drives at times. What tool did you use to get this information?

Is the drive in an enclosure that can be opened so that the drive can be removed and tested, or is it in a sealed external enclosure?

[ggheato]

i used smartctl. i dont remember exactly what command i ran but i know it was that tool. its not that old to answer devils casper's question. maybe 2-2.5years old. this is surprising since my 40gb hdd that i bought in 2002 is still working super well. same brand as well.

the drive uses a serial ata interface withing the enclosure. would i have better results if i removed it from the enclosure and stick it to my pc directly? i dont really need it to be external. i could just use nfs to access it.

[oz]

would i have better results if i removed it from the enclosure and stick it to my pc directly? i dont really need it to be external. i could just use nfs to access it.

I'd say, yes, it would be worth trying so that you could at least determine if the drive is indeed bad, or not. With any luck, you might still have some warranty left on it and could possibly RMA it and have the manufacturer send you a replacement drive. Lots of drives have 2 or 3 years of warranty on them, and some have more.


Edit: I just checked and the WD5000AAKS appears to have 3 years of warranty. I'd try testing it with the WD Diagnostics Tool before relying on the Linux tool. You can download it at their website free of charge.

[ggheato]

i decided to just send it in. spent the last week backing up the data in it. seemed to make more sense to just replace it since it still under warranty until november 2010. a few bucks for shipping wont hurt.

thanks for all the help

[oz]

i decided to just send it in. spent the last week backing up the data in it. seemed to make more sense to just replace it since it still under warranty until november 2010. a few bucks for shipping wont hurt.

thanks for all the help

Right, this sounds like a great time to take advantage of the warranty. I ended up having to RMA a fairly new WD drive the other day and they very were quick to send a replacement. I hope the RMA process will go as smoothly for you. Let us know how it all works out.

Oh... and note that you can save a few bucks on shipping if you buy the UPS label from WD.