Is My HDD bad? smartctl results

Chomp · 10-09-2009, 12:48 PM

Hello,

My computer became suddenly sluggish a couple days ago out of the blue. Programs are slow to load, scrolling with the mouse is jerky, videos pause then continue 5-30 seconds later, downloading(any protocol) brings my PC to a standstill, etc. I have this problem on both Linux and Windows, so I know it's not a software problem. Additionally, I've had unexplainable data loss. Files that used to be there(on my Linux /home partition) have suddenly disappeared without a trace.

I cleaned the dust out of my computer, switched to onboard graphics(I have an Nvidia card), and made sure everything was screwed in tight and secure, but to no avail.

Both operating systems are fully up to date, including drivers. The xorg.conf file for my Linux OS is correct. I've now moved on to my hdd as the culprit and ran smartctl:

Code:

[root@localhost]# smartctl -d ata -H /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/                              

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Please note the following marginal Attributes:          
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   068   030   045    Old_age   Always   In_the_past 32

That wasn't what I was expecting. It says it passed but what does the marginal attribute mean?

Code:

[root@localhost]# smartctl -d ata -a /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/                              

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Second Generation Serial ATA family
Device Model:     WDC WD2500JS-60NCB1                                       
Serial Number:    WD-WCANKC800832                                           
Firmware Version: 10.02E02                                                  
User Capacity:    250,059,350,016 bytes                                     
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]           
ATA Version is:   7                                                         
ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated       
Local Time is:    Thu Oct  8 11:10:16 2009 CDT                              
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
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal Attributes.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x84) Offline data collection activity
                                        was suspended by an interrupting command from host.
                                        Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.             
Self-test execution status:      (   0) The previous self-test routine completed           
                                        without error or no self-test has ever             
                                        been run.                                          
Total time to complete Offline                                                             
data collection:                 (7680) seconds.                                           
Offline data collection                                                                    
capabilities:                    (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.                   
                                        Auto Offline data collection on/off support.       
                                        Suspend Offline collection upon new                
                                        command.                                           
                                        Offline surface scan supported.                    
                                        Self-test supported.                               
                                        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.                           
                                        General Purpose Logging supported.                 
Short self-test routine                                                                    
recommended polling time:        (   2) minutes.                                           
Extended self-test routine                                                                 
recommended polling time:        (  90) minutes.                                           
Conveyance self-test routine                                                               
recommended polling time:        (   6) minutes.                                           
SCT capabilities:              (0x103f) SCT Status supported.                              
                                        SCT Feature Control supported.                     
                                        SCT Data Table supported.                          

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
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   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0        
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   184   181   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       5800     
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1337     
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0        
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0        
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   084   084   000    Old_age   Always       -       12154    
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0        
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012   100   100   051    Old_age   Always       -       0        
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1325     
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   064   030   045    Old_age   Always   In_the_past 36       
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   114   080   000    Old_age   Always       -       36       
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0        
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0        
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0        
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       13       
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0009   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Offline      -       0        

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged          

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     12148         -                 
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     12147         -                 

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.

After that I ran a long test and here's the log:

Code:

[root@localhost]# smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Interrupted (host reset)      70%     12160         -
# 2  Extended offline    Interrupted (host reset)      80%     12154         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     12148         -
# 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     12147         -

I've never had a serious hardware problem before(lucky me until now) so I'm not sure what to make of this. I have a Western Digital Caviar Blue WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal. I ran the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows provided by Western Digital, but it didn't come up with any problems.

Are there more tests I should run on the hard drive? Do I need to replace the hard drive? Is there something else I should be investigating? Thanks in advance.

mostlyharmless · 10-09-2009, 03:22 PM

No solution, just ideas if I had the problem, brainstorming and all that....

I think that the problems you describe could be caused by a HDD problem if it was trying multiple times to read/write and failing, but I would think you would see that in your smartctl output, or somewhere. Perhaps you could check in /var/log/messages?

I suppose it could be some piece of hardware failing, but you've already cleaned up the system. I suppose you could unplug your cards, clean the contacts with an eraser and plug them back in again too, just to make sure.

How are you connected to the internet? Router, other machine, direct cable to modem to network card? Could be a network problem where something is constantly interrupting your machine on the network..

H_TeXMeX_H · 10-09-2009, 04:13 PM

I think your HDD is fine, but that marginal attribute suggests that the HDD has overheated in the past, perhaps recently. Maybe add a well-placed cooling fan ?

If you want you can run a long test instead of a short test, then wait for it to finish. That would eliminate most reasons for possible failure.

Maybe try running memtest86 or something, maybe a RAM stick is loose or has gone bad. That would explain the global prevalence of symptoms.

You may also want to run some rootkit checks using rkhunter or chkrootkit.

Electro · 10-09-2009, 09:34 PM

I do not recommend SMART to check for the service of the hard drive. It is better to use the hard drive manufacture utility to check the health of the hard drive. Some utilities are better than others. Then use spinrite to check if the hard drive is doing too much ECC. If it is doing too much ECC, the performance and data integrity of your hard drive will suffer.

Heat can cause hard drives to fail or have problems. Magnetic mediums does get affected by heat too, so cool the hard drive to a safer temperature. I suggest either make your own hard drive cooler or buy one such as VIGOR iSURF II (HCC-S2BL). If you are going to make one your self, select fans with high air pressure rating because you are going through obstacles.

smeezekitty · 10-09-2009, 10:33 PM

maybe the partition table or partition table are getting corrupted but the harddrive is fine
you could save all important data and do a low level format