Dead hard drive -- now what?

[devnulljp]

My external 2TB drive just failed.
It was mounted over USB, but I can't get it recognised enough to run fsck on it.
I'm watching /var/log/messages when I plug it in and it just seems to be doing this:

Nov 8 00:06:56 localhost kernel: [ 140.870191] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 12
Nov 8 00:07:24 localhost kernel: [ 168.770207] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 13
Nov 8 00:07:52 localhost kernel: [ 196.950209] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 14
Nov 8 00:08:20 localhost kernel: [ 224.840201] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 15                                    
Nov 8 00:08:48 localhost kernel: [ 252.740182] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 16
Nov 8 00:09:16 localhost kernel: [ 280.650206] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 17
Nov 8 00:09:44 localhost kernel: [ 308.800205] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 18
Nov 8 00:10:12 localhost kernel: [ 336.710212] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 19
Nov 8 00:10:40 localhost kernel: [ 364.610237] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 20
Nov 8 00:11:08 localhost kernel: [ 392.520223] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 21

syslog

[/Nov 8 00:17:45 localhost kernel: [ 790.080283] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 36
Nov 8 00:17:46 localhost kernel: [ 790.660512] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
Nov 8 00:17:46 localhost kernel: [ 790.900281] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 37
Nov 8 00:18:01 localhost kernel: [ 805.980275] usb 1-5.1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Nov 8 00:18:14 localhost kernel: [ 818.620530] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
Nov 8 00:18:14 localhost kernel: [ 818.860275] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 38
Nov 8 00:18:29 localhost kernel: [ 833.940284] usb 1-5.1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
Nov 8 00:18:42 localhost kernel: [ 846.591752] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
Nov 8 00:18:42 localhost kernel: [ 846.830120] usb 1-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 39
Nov 8 00:18:57 localhost kernel: [ 861.910297] usb 1-5.1: device descriptor read/64, error -110

Any ideas what I can do to get at it to run some repair utils on it?

I tried fsck /dev/sdb1 (internal drive is sda1) but No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sdb1

Nothing sees the drive.

[OneLine]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

1. Test with another machine/OS. Is the HD working there ?
2. If the data has value hire a professional !
3. Topic: check disk for bad clusters on disk.
4. Rescue data: Topic: RESCUE Partitions & Data .
5. Get a new HD.

[Detonate]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

If you disassemble the case on the external drive, inside you will find the hard drive is just a regular hard drive, probably sata. If you have a desktop computer, you can remove the drive from the external enclosure, install it directly to a sata port in your computer, and try to see if you can access it that way. My experience with this has been very good, because it is the circuitry in the enclosure that has failed, not the hard drive. You wil probably be able to recover all of your data.

[Penguinclaw]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

If you disassemble the case on the external drive, inside you will find the hard drive is just a regular hard drive, probably sata. If you have a desktop computer, you can remove the drive from the external enclosure, install it directly to a sata port in your computer, and try to see if you can access it that way. My experience with this has been very good, because it is the circuitry in the enclosure that has failed, not the hard drive. You wil probably be able to recover all of your data.

Good tip

[devnulljp]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

1. Test with another machine/OS. Is the HD working there ?
2. If the data has value hire a professional !
3. Topic: check disk for bad clusters on disk.
4. Rescue data: Topic: RESCUE Partitions & Data .
5. Get a new HD.

1. No
2. No yet
3. Can't access it to run anything on it
4. Same as 3
5. Looks like I'll have to

I tried it in a different known good enclosure and it didn't work either
Stuck it in the freezer ... no change

I think it's hosed.

Damn!

[devnulljp]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

Update: So I plugged in the drive and just left it

Eventually it tried to automount, dmesg gives me

[10103.470254] usb 1-5.2: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 94
[10118.550250] usb 1-5.2: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[10118.784097] usb 1-5.2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[10118.786022] scsi10 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[10118.786412] usb-storage: device found at 94
[10118.786417] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[10123.781785] usb-storage: device scan complete
[10123.788468] scsi 10:0:0:0: Direct-Access WDC WD20 EARS-00MVWB0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[10123.789901] sd 10:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[10123.790825] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] 3907029168 512-byte logical blocks: (2.00 TB/1.81 TiB)
[10123.795499] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[10123.795502] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 38 00 00 00
[10123.795505] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[10123.799095] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[10123.799099] sdc: sdc1
[10123.814324] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[10123.814328] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI dis

So it's seeing it as /dev/sdc1

But

sudo fsck.ext4 -ra /dev/sdc1

(It's ext4) gives me

fsck.ext4: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sdc1
Filesystem mounted or opened exclusively by another program?

Then it disappeared and reappeared as /dev/sdd1

And I managed to get fsck to hit it ...

[10360.903130] fsck.ext4[12271]: segfault at 7ffd00000001 ip 0000000000418ab5 sp 00007fffd74474e0 error 4 in fsck.ext4[400000+2a000]
[10387.660751] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Unhandled error code
[10387.660755] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[10387.660758] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 0d 21 35 d7 00 00 08 00
[10387.660766] end_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 220280279
[10387.660771] Buffer I/O error on device sdd1, logical block 27535027
[10387.660773] lost page write due to I/O error on sdd1
[10387.660851] usb 1-5.2: USB disconnect, address 97
[10387.660871] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Unhandled error code
[10387.660873] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[10387.660876] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 0d 21 50 8f 00 00 08 00
[10387.660882] end_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 220287119
[10387.660885] Buffer I/O error on device sdd1, logical block 27535882
[10387.660887] lost page write due to I/O error on sdd1
[10387.660925] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Unhandled error code
[10387.660926] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[10387.660929] sd 13:0:0:0: [sdd] CDB: Write(10): 2a 00 10 40 00 3f 00 00 08 00
[10387.660935] end_request: I/O error, dev sdd, sector 272629823
[10387.660937] Buffer I/O error on device sdd1, logical block 34078720
[10387.660939] lost page write due to I/O error on sdd1
[10387.669853] JBD: recovery failed
[10387.669858] EXT3-fs: error loading journal.

Drive's hosed no?

[dibl]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

I would remove the hdd from the USB enclosure, and connect it directly to a motherboard, to confirm that the problem is with the drive, and not the USB enclosure or bus.

[devnulljp]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

I would remove the hdd from the USB enclosure, and connect it directly to a motherboard, to confirm that the problem is with the drive, and not the USB enclosure or bus.

I tried it in a couple of different enclosures, and the bus is OK as other drives work fine.
But I took it out and have it attached to a desktop machine directly and still no go.
Damn.
2TB of data down the tubes.

Anyone have any tips for getting at a dead drive to try to run repair utils?
Any good utils that are good at scanning the bus?

[Detonate]

Re: Dead hard drive -- now what?

I have had several bad experiences with those large hard drives. I know this does not help you now, but I am avoiding them. I would rather have two or three 500GB drives than one 1.5TB drive. I won't even consider a 1TB drive anymore. I've had two fail after only a couple of months.