Re: Dying/Broken USB external enclosure HDD?

[Yousuf Khan]

Hello.

I think I have a dying external HDD in an Antec enclosure (USB). I
haven't used it for months until today when I wanted to do some backups.
http://pastie.org/private/kyewx2ur1w74h5pah6lrdw from gsmartctl v0.8.6-2
for Windows after an extended self test (supposed to take almost four
hours to finish). Chkdsk, copy, etc. get stuck eventually. I tried two
different Windows computers too and both had problems with this drive.

Do I assume this is a physical HDD problem?

Thank you in advance.

I can't see anything seriously wrong with the drive in that report,
apart from spin-up retries. Can you take it out of the enclosure and put
it directly inside your machine?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Arno]

I can't see anything seriously wrong with the drive in that report,
apart from spin-up retries. Can you take it out of the enclosure and put
it directly inside your machine?

Yousuf Khan

That would be the next thing yes.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

That would be the next thing yes.

But he is significantly disabled, so it may not be that easy for him to do.

And will void the warranty if its still in warranty too.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

That's correct.

I'd say that the next easiest thing to try is to replace the USB cable.
I always find the thicker the USB cable the better it is.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Rod Speed]

Ant wrote

I'd say that the next easiest thing to try is to replace the USB cable. I
always find the thicker the USB cable the better it is.

Given that a pending sector has now shown up, I think its more
likely that it's a faulty power supply or cable from that or it just
wasn't plugged into the mains strip properly etc.

 

[Rod Speed]

I wouldn’t bother with that route now that it looks
like a power problem given that you would have
to get someone to help you to do that.

Power strip looked OK to me. I checked its power brick too.

But we do know that the whole drive went missing at least
once, so it is pretty clear that its just a power problem.

I am going to check on its unused ESATA cable instead of its USB2 cable.

I'd get another power pack if it was mine and try that.

 

[Arno]

That's correct.

Yes, I know. Still, it is the next thing to do, other things are
not likely to help at this time. "Easy" was not stipulated.

I have had both the enclosure and HDD for about five years. I am sure
their warranties expired already.

Abnyways, see http://pastie.org/4436298 for new reports of a sector
problem found.

Indeed. One pending sector, likely at LBA 177892014. I would
also think it is not the original problem, since then the pending
secot should have shown earlier. They show up whenever a read
fails permanently.

To fix the pending sector, overwriting it is enough. Doing that
is a bit tricky, especially if you do not want to damage more data
than needed. What I use for these kinds of fixes is dd_rescue under
Linux. Thus would go something like this (assuming the Linux is,
e.g. a Knoppix USB-stick with dd_rescue added, and the sidk is sda):

1. Verify the sector is unreadable to make sure addressing, etc.
is right:

dd_rescue -s 177892014b -S 0 -m 1b /dev/sda /dev/null

This should give between 1 and 8 read errors (8, because
of 4k block-wise reads by the driver.

2. Overwtite

dd_rescue -s 0 -S 177892014b -m 1b /dev/zero /dev/sda


An alternative is a disk-editor that can deal with defective
sectors. Or putting a small partition over the area and filling it up.

Verification of the fix is by running a long SMART selftest.

Arno

 

[Arno]

I'd say that the next easiest thing to try is to replace the USB cable.
I always find the thicker the USB cable the better it is.

Hmm. Might be worth a try, but I doubt this is it. I would have
expected to see interface CRC errors if the cable was the cause.

Arno

 

[Arno]

Power strip looked OK to me. I checked its power brick too. I am going
to check on its unused ESATA cable instead of its USB2 cable.

Do that. It might be almost as good as removing the disk from
the enclosure.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

Hmm. Might be worth a try, but I doubt this is it. I would have
expected to see interface CRC errors if the cable was the cause.

Nope, those are reporting CRC errors over the internal SATA
cable between the bridge and the physical hard drive, not
USB2 cable errors.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

I will have to find another USB2 cable. I assume any will do for this
connection as shown on http://store.antec.com/Product/accessory-veris_media/mx-1/0-761345-77150-4.aspx

I did find its ESATA cable so I will try that first and it will be
faster too!

You should've mentioned that this thing also had an eSATA connection. If
you can get it on that, that would be even better. The faster the
connection, the less chance of data being missed.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote

Hmm, I would have to get another one then.

Yeah, that’s what I meant.

It might be easier just remove the HDD into a PC OR maybe use one of those
adapters externally?

I wouldn’t bother with that approach now given
how awkward it is for you to do that now that we
have good evidence it’s a power pack problem.

 

[Rod Speed]

Arno wrote

I doubt that given that that wasn't reported as a pending
sector initially and that that's nowhere near the red block
HD Tune reports.

Well, that block seems to be the same one that kept showing up
since yesterday with multiple smartctl's extended self tests (10%
completed and failed after about 15 minutes (out of almost four
hours) or so) and HD Tune v5.00 Pro trial.

Doesn't explain why it didn't show up in the SMART data as pending
until lately.

Doesn't Windows' chkdsk.exe and other software tools
automatically mark these problematic sectors bad?

Not if the drive itself doesn't report the sector as bad.

After I saw that red block, I thought the software
would mark it as a bad sector/cluster. However,
chkdsk.exe results didn't show any bad sectors (0 KB).

Presumably because the sector could be read on retrys.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Doesn't Windows' chkdsk.exe and other software tools automatically mark
these problematic sectors bad? After I saw that red block, I thought the
software would mark it as a bad sector/cluster. However, chkdsk.exe
results didn't show any bad sectors (0 KB). Hence, why I am running a
very long chkdsk.exe /r /f since yesterday (hopefully, it is done and
idling by now) to fix any problems. It did not find any at 88% before I
left it yesterday.

If you have a pending sector, then the only way to get it to the bad
sectors list is to do a write to that sector. The registered version of
Hard Disk Sentinel can do something like that (it's a destructive
operation, and is also good for data wiping the disk to DoD standards).

I don't think Linux's DD can do this kind of a write, as it doesn't have
access to the underlying disk geometry.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote

Hmm, I can't seem to find its replacements on
http://store.antec.com/Product/accessory-veris_media/mx-1/0-761345-77150-4.aspx
... I find it weird that they use PS/2 connection for its power.

Yeah, and given that I wouldn’t bother to replace it myself.

Bet that’s the problem, that pathetically inadequate power connector.

Even a replacement won't fix that.

I might have to buy a new/different enclosure.

Yeah, I like the Samsung Story USB3 external drives myself.

Very solid aluminium case, no fan, but the physical hard drive doesn’t
take a lot of power given than it’s a 4500 RPM green drive.

Didn’t mention it previously because you said you wanted a 2.5"
drive and I haven't tried Samsungs, just because I want best $/TB
because I get them for overflow of the PVR because I am too lazy
to clean up the ones I have with drives so cheap now.

A 2/5" drive would have the advantage that you could likely
get away with no external power supply at all in some situations
when the USB connectors provide enough power. Not all do tho.
No big deal when you can use an external USB power supply when
they don’t.

Drives with both eSATA and USB3 are rare tho so if you
demand that, that does restrict your choices drastically.

 

[Arno]

If you have a pending sector, then the only way to get it to the bad
sectors list is to do a write to that sector. The registered version of
Hard Disk Sentinel can do something like that (it's a destructive
operation, and is also good for data wiping the disk to DoD standards).

I don't think Linux's DD can do this kind of a write, as it doesn't have
access to the underlying disk geometry.

There is no disk geometry today. Just an LBA number.

Arno

 

[Rod Speed]

Rod Speed wrote

I sent an e-mail to its support about replacement parts.

Based on Amazon.com's reviews, people had problems with the fan,
connections, etc. I bet I am having these problems too!

Yeah, that’s very likely why the long term max temp is 60C

Is this it?
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-3-0-Story-Station-HX-DT015EB/dp/B004BDOTA4/
...
Yep.

Assuming my HDD is still good, I could just replace it

Replace the housing you mean ?

OR just get one of those external adapter cables.

Yeah, tho it wouldn’t be as protected against physical
damage like that and that might not be a great idea
depending on the detail of how you are disabled.

It wouldn’t be a great idea to drop it like that.

I don't have any USB3 ports yet. Only one PC with eSATA port so far.

OK, then you definitely do need an external drive which supports eSATA.

 

[Rod Speed]

There is no disk geometry today. Just an LBA number.

But it isnt a trivial exercise to turn the LBA number you see on one
of the fault reports into a command to dd to overwrite that sector.

 

[Franc Zabkar]

Doesn't Windows' chkdsk.exe and other software tools automatically mark
these problematic sectors bad? After I saw that red block, I thought the
software would mark it as a bad sector/cluster. However, chkdsk.exe
results didn't show any bad sectors (0 KB). Hence, why I am running a
very long chkdsk.exe /r /f since yesterday ...

The Win2K OEM support tools contain a utility named nfi.exe which
identifies the file that occupies a particular sector:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000srv/utility/3.0/nt45/en-us/oem3sr2.zip

Nfi.exe also works on Win XP and 2003.

See these articles for more information:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...system/browse_thread/thread/7cd6bbd5fade6590/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253066/en-us

- Franc Zabkar

 

[GMAN]

Hmm, I can't seem to find its replacements on
http://store.antec.com/Product/accessory-veris_media/mx-1/0-761345-77150-4.aspx

.... I find it weird that they use PS/2 connection for its power. I might
have to buy a new/different enclosure.

I have that same enclosure , and other than at one time it developed a noisy
fan issue, it has served me well. Its also one of the very few external
enclosure that you can use to make your own External DVR upgrade drive for a
HD Tivo DVR or DirecTV DVR.

I would chalk up you experience to a one time problem and not sweat over it .
If its working now you could have just experienced a brownout on your power
line to your house.


But if you are worried, a replacement fan can be ordered for $13.41 right from
antec

http://store.antec.
com/Product/accessory-spare_parts/mx-1-power-adapter/0-761345-30290-6.aspx