[ale] Did WD15EARX consume my weekend?

Jim Kinney jim.kinney at gmail.com
Tue May 15 07:34:12 EDT 2012


crud. bad drive is highly likely.

win7 install failure will convince them as will the tool suggested by James
Sumners. If the purchase was days ago, I would return it to the point of
purchase and buy a replacement from a different store to avoid same batch
issues. Most drive makers will replace warranty drives with a refurbished
drive - i.e., not a brand new drive.

Hmm. The last check I would do would be a connection check. I would replace
the drive data cable (and use a different sata socket on the motherboard)
and then loosen and retighten the screws that mount the board to the drive.
Loosen all screws, give the board a wiggle and maybe a canned air blast
underneath, then tighten and retest. If this is a newly built drive, the
Thailand factories may be still shaking out the bugs from the flooding.

Also interesting would be to see if the cmp and diff tests return the same
failure location after reboot (i.e., a cool down and then spin up). If they
move, the data is correct on the drive but the read is failing. If they
don't, it's inconclusive as to what failed, read vs. write.

On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 7:25 PM, PairOfTwins <PairOfTwins at mindspring.com>wrote:

> Jim:
>
> Yup, it fails to copy large files accurately, though it takes a few
> seconds to conclude that the original and the copy differ, using cmp and
> diff.
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# ls -lh
> total 2.2G
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  28K Aug 28  2010 Kubuntu\ 10.04.1\ Alternate\
> amd64.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  28K Aug 28  2010 Kubuntu\ 10.04.1\ Desktop\
> i386.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1  999  999  38M Aug 28  2010 debian-505-amd64-businesscard.iso
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6.1K Aug 28  2010
> debian-505-amd64-businesscard.iso.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1  999  999 132M Aug 28  2010 debian-505-amd64-netinst.iso
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  11K Aug 28  2010
> debian-505-amd64-netinst.iso.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1  999  999 648M Aug 28  2010
> debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  26K Aug 28  2010
> debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  26K Aug 28  2010 debian-505-ia64-CD-1.iso.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1 root root  26K Aug 28  2010
> debian-505-ia64-kde-CD-1.iso.torrent
> -rw-r--r-- 1  999  999 689M Aug 28  2010
> kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> -rw-r--r-- 1  999  999 699M Aug 28  2010 kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# cmp
> kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso differ: char
> 130322440, line 489461
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# cmp
> kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
> kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso differ: char
> 346914824, line 1287567
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# cmp
> debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso differ: char
> 103817224, line 1184532
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian#
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# diff
> debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso
> Files debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso and
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/debian-505-amd64-xfce+lxde-CD-1.iso differ
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# diff
> kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
> Files kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso and
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso differ
>
> root at PartedMagic:/media/sdb1/iso/Debian# diff
> kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso
> Files kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso and
> /media/sda5/iso/Debian/kubuntu-10.04.1-alternate-amd64.iso differ
>
> Now to convince WD that their drive is faulty, I think I'll wipe it
> clean and see if Win7 will complete installation.
>
> Thanks,
> Tom
> =================================================
> On 05/13/2012 10:47 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> > That really sounds like a majorly bad drive. Pop it into an external
> > case, format it as a single partition and copy a bunch of large files
> > over to it (.iso's are good) then run a diff. I'd bet the diff fails.
> > I suspect the drive has been dropped and the head is misalligned.
> > Return it ASAP.
> >
> > On Sun, May 13, 2012 at 9:16 PM, PairOfTwins
> > <PairOfTwins at mindspring.com <mailto:PairOfTwins at mindspring.com>> wrote:
> >
> >     Anyone:
> >
> >     This was home server upgrade weekend, I thought.   Bought a
> >     WD15EARX on
> >     sale, installed Zentyal, and found after an apparently successful
> >     installation, that the partition with the OS on it had pages of
> >     errors,
> >     according to e2fsck.
> >
> >     Next 2 installations failed during "Select and install software"
> step,
> >     both stable and beta versions, though both CDs passed the iso
> >     verify check.
> >
> >     I had partitioned ahead of time with fdisk and each start sector was
> >     evenly divisible by 8.
> >
> >     Then I installed a freshly verified burn of Ubuntu Server 12.04 using
> >     those same partitions.
> >
> >     When finished the alignment was whacked:
> >
> >     root at PartedMagic:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sda
> >     Disk /dev/sda: 1500.3 GB, 1500301910016 bytes
> >     255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 182401 cylinders, total 2930277168
> >     sectors
> >     Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
> >     Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
> >     I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
> >     Disk identifier: 0x000ad2bd
> >        Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> >     /dev/sda1            2048     2930687     1464320   82  Linux swap
> >     / Solaris
> >     /dev/sda2   *     2930688    31602687    14336000   83  Linux
> >     /dev/sda3        31604734  2930276351  1449335809    5  Extended
> >     Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.
> >     /dev/sda5        31604736    34471935     1433600   83  Linux
> >     /dev/sda6        34473984  2041513983  1003520000   83  Linux
> >     /dev/sda7      2041516032  2930276351   444380160   83  Linux
> >     root at PartedMagic:~#
> >
> >
> >     Plus e2fsck showed a page of errors on the OS partition sda2, whose
> >     alignment looks OK, though I had to force a check, as it thought
> >     it was
> >     clean.
> >
> >     root at PartedMagic:~# e2fsck /dev/sda2
> >     e2fsck 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
> >     UbuntuSvr: clean, 55618/897600 files, 364573/3584000 blocks
> >     root at PartedMagic:~# e2fsck -f /dev/sda2
> >     e2fsck 1.42.2 (27-Mar-2012)
> >     Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
> >     Pass 2: Checking directory structure
> >     Entry '.' in
> >     /usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic/include/config/usb/whci
> >     (398464)
> >     has an incorrect filetype (was 42, should be 2).
> >     Fix<y>? yes
> >     Entry 'hcd.h' in
> >     /usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic/include/config/usb/whci
> >     (398464)
> >     has an incorrect filetype (was 33, should be 1).
> >     Fix<y>? yes
> >     Entry '.' in ??? (398477) has an incorrect filetype (was 14,
> >     should be 2).
> >     Fix<y>? yes
> >     Entry '..' in ??? (398477) has invalid inode #: 705041315.
> >     Clear<y>? yes
> >     Entry 'elan.h' in ??? (398477) has an incorrect filetype (was 9,
> >     should
> >     be 1).
> >     Fix<y>? yes
> >     Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
> >     '..' in
> >     /usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic/include/config/usb/ftdi
> >     (398477) is ??? (705041315), should be
> >     /usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic/include/config/usb (398243).
> >     Fix<y>? yes
> >     Error while adjusting inode count on inode 0
> >     Pass 4: Checking reference counts
> >     Inode 398243 ref count is 42, should be 41.  Fix<y>? yes
> >     Pass 5: Checking group summary information
> >
> >     UbuntuSvr: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
> >     UbuntuSvr: 55618/897600 files (0.2% non-contiguous),
> >     364573/3584000 blocks
> >     root at PartedMagic:~#
> >
> >     BTW the SMART error log is always clean.
> >
> >     I'm tired of googling, and ready for a fresh set of eyes to tell
> >     me what
> >     I'm missing here!
> >
> >     Tom
> >     _______________________________________________
> >     Ale mailing list
> >     Ale at ale.org <mailto:Ale at ale.org>
> >     http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> >     See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> >     http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > --
> > James P. Kinney III
> >
> > As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
> > consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as
> > they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the
> > outcome.
> > - ////2011 Noam Chomsky
> >
> > http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
> > ////
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III

As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they
please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.
- *2011 Noam Chomsky

http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
*
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