Re: Disk problems with Slackware 14.1 and WD EIDE drives

Ed Fletcher <[email protected]> Mon, 02 Feb 2015 20:04:46 -0600
Newsgroups gmane.linux.slackware
Message-ID <[email protected]>


-------- Original Message --------
From: x y <[email protected]>
Sent: February 2, 2015 7:36:25 PM CST
To: Discussion list for Slackware Linux <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [slackware] Disk problems with Slackware 14.1 and WD EIDE drives

On 02/02/2015 04:24 PM, Bob McConnell wrote:
> John Crowhurst wrote:
>> On 02/02/2015 19:22, Bob McConnell wrote:
>>> Jostein Berntsen wrote:
>>>> On 02.02.15,13:41, Bob McConnell wrote:
>>>>> Jostein Berntsen wrote:
>>>>>> On 02.02.15,12:30, Bob McConnell wrote:
>>>>>>> I have two computers with WD IDE drives running Slackware 14.1. 
>>>>>>> Both of them
>>>>>>> have been giving me the same set of error messages which don't 
>>>>>>> make any
>>>>>>> sense to me. Can anyone tell me what is going on with them?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369664] ata1.00: 
>>>>>>> configured for
>>>>>>> UDMA/100
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369690] sd 2:0:0:0: 
>>>>>>> [sda] Unhandled
>>>>>>> sense code
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369694] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda]
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369700] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda]
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369709]         72 03 11 
>>>>>>> 04 00 00 00
>>>>>>> 0c 00 0a 80 00 00 00 00 00
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369720]         00 11 3c bf
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369725] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda]
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369731] sd 2:0:0:0: 
>>>>>>> [sda] CDB:
>>>>>>> Dec 28 10:53:59 workdesk kernel: [91574.369767] ata1: EH complete
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The disk specs are
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Blue EIDE
>>>>>>> Device Model:     WDC WD3200AAJB-00WGA0
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The most troublesome is running the huge kernel on a Pentium 4. 
>>>>>>> (Dell
>>>>>>> Optiplex GX240). Most of the resulting file system errors show 
>>>>>>> up in sda2,
>>>>>>> which is the /usr partition. Several applications are no longer 
>>>>>>> functional,
>>>>>>> so it appears to be losing active sectors to this error.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> My biggest question is why is there an unhandled code? Shouldn't 
>>>>>>> this kernel
>>>>>>> know how to handle all of the status codes the disk can generate?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Can you run "smartctl -a /dev/sda" and see if you get some more 
>>>>>> useful
>>>>>> information then?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jostein
>>>>>
>>>>> I get a lot of data, but I haven't been able to interpret it well 
>>>>> enough to
>>>>> know if it is useful. Where can I got an explanation of what all 
>>>>> of this
>>>>> means?
>>>>>
>>>>> Bob McConnell
>>>>> N2SPP
>>>>
>>>> These seems like typical bad block errors which can mean that the 
>>>> disk is
>>>> not well. See this for more information on what you can check:
>>>>
>>>> http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/badblockhowto.html
>>>>
>>>> Jostein
>>>
>>> If that is the case, the hard part will be to find a replacement 
>>> drive. Anybody know where I can get some new IDE drives?
>>>
>>
>> It may seem a silly question, but could you not simply buy a PCI SATA 
>> card and use SATA drives instead of IDE?
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> John
>
> Not so silly, but I do not recall ever seeing one. Every SATA 
> interface I have seen was built into the mother board. Looks like I 
> have some research to do.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Bob McConnell
> N2SPP
>
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>
I do believe the PCI bus is too slow / loads the bus too much for SATA-2 
hard drives, which is why we can't get a controller for them. However, 
PCI-E X1 cards are available and drop into a PCI-E X1, X4, X8, or X16
slot, and handles SATA-3. (Provided the X16 slot has not been assigned 
to a graphics port by the Mfg.) A little off topic, but a newer system 
might be in order here. If someone finds a controller for old PCI, 
tho... let me know. I have MANY older Pentium 4 single cores. :)

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I've got some sata pci cards running.  No problems with Slackware.  Do a quick search, you'll find plenty.  Amazon.com has a bunch of different brands.  Your local computer store likely has some also.

Ed

--
Ed Fletcher

"If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold." -- Andrew Lewis, August 26, 2010