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**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 11:09 AM

Check dmesg and/or kernel logs for sata errors. Check S.M.A.R.T. data on the suspect drive, and run hdparm speed test on all drives.

If a particular drive is slower than the others, then it's likely the drive. If they're all slower than they should be, it's more likely the driver or interface. The SSD might be running slower too, but you may not notice it in daily use because they're so fast.

Also, don't discount the sata cables. I had some cheap ones that came with a new mobo. I had a drive dropping off and reconnecting continuously and changing the cable fixed it.

Yes, you can add-in an after-market card, but be prepared to spend money. The real cheap ones are often poorly made and not reliable. I'd spend more time diagnosing the drive before I assume it's the controller.

**Frank616** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:07 PM

oshunluvr:

Swapped ata drive cables, just in case. Didn't seem to do anything.

dmesg excerpt follows. I don't see anything that looks out of place. Do you?

I'll work on the other options now.

Code:

[    1.422266] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 20080730 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0[    1.422477] e1000e 0000:00:19.0: Interrupt Throttling Rate (ints/sec) set to dynamic conservative mode
[    1.422550] e1000e 0000:00:19.0: irq 42 for MSI/MSI-X
[    1.442772] ata3: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    1.442833] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 300)
[    1.442876] ata4: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[    1.443502] ata3.00: ATA-8: Hitachi HDS721025CLA382, JP1OA3BF, max UDMA/133
[    1.443558] ata3.00: 488397168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    1.443589] ata2.00: ATAPI: TSSTcorpDVD-ROM TS-H353B, LE10, max UDMA/33
[    1.444393] ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    1.445423] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33
[    1.446765] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[    1.447441] ata1.00: ATA-9: SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series, CXM03B1Q, max UDMA/133
[    1.447489] ata1.00: 500118192 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    1.447911] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    1.448142] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      SAMSUNG SSD 830  CXM0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.448331] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 500118192 512-byte logical blocks: (256 GB/238 GiB)
[    1.448335] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[    1.448607] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[    1.448624] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    1.448634] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    1.449278]  sda: sda1 sda2 < sda5 >
[    1.449594] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
[    1.452457] scsi 1:0:0:0: CD-ROM            TSSTcorp DVD-ROM TS-H353B LE10 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.466794] ata4.00: ATA-8: WDC WD15EADS-00P8B0, 01.00A01, max UDMA/133
[    1.466842] ata4.00: 2930277168 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[    1.470063] ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    1.486275] sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 48x/48x cd/rw xa/form2 cdda tray
[    1.486297] cdrom: Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
[    1.486471] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
[    1.486540] sr 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 5
[    1.486791] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      Hitachi HDS72102 JP1O PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.486964] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[    1.486966] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] 488397168 512-byte logical blocks: (250 GB/232 GiB)
[    1.487126] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[    1.487147] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    1.487170] scsi 3:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD15EADS-00P 01.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[    1.487221] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    1.487329] sd 3:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[    1.487343] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] 2930277168 512-byte logical blocks: (1.50 TB/1.36 TiB)
[    1.487405] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[    1.487433] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[    1.487474] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: enabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[    1.501079]  sdc: sdc1
[    1.501629] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
[    1.523717]  sdb: sdb1 sdb2
[    1.525400] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
[    1.526722] usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-pci

**Frank616** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:16 PM

OK, installed the SMART tools, and got this output. Again, nothing jumps out at me. Do I need a different command?

Code:

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===Model Family:     Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C
Device Model:     Hitachi HDS721025CLA382
Serial Number:    JP0240HL0GPPSH
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000cca 35ac6aea9
Firmware Version: JP1OA3BF
User Capacity:    250,059,350,016 bytes [250 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    7200 rpm
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4
SATA Version is:  SATA 2.6, 3.0 Gb/s
Local Time is:    Thu Mar 24 12:13:29 2016 MDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled


frank@Office:~$ sudo smartctl -i /dev/sda -d ata
smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-linux-3.13.0-83-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org


=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Samsung based SSDs
Device Model:     SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series
Serial Number:    S0Z4NEAC950039
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 043584d30
Firmware Version: CXM03B1Q
User Capacity:    256,060,514,304 bytes [256 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 T13/2015-D revision 2
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Thu Mar 24 12:13:59 2016 MDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled


frank@Office:~$ sudo smartctl -i /dev/sdc -d ata
smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-linux-3.13.0-83-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org


=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Green
Device Model:     WDC WD15EADS-00P8B0
Serial Number:    WD-WCAVU0267138
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 056f69be1
Firmware Version: 01.00A01
User Capacity:    1,500,301,910,016 bytes [1.50 TB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 2.6, 3.0 Gb/s
Local Time is:    Thu Mar 24 12:14:17 2016 MDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled


frank@Office:~$

Also got this by asking for details:

frank@Office:~$ sudo smartctl -i /dev/sdc -d ata -P show
smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-linux-3.13.0-83-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Drive found in smartmontools Database. Drive identity strings:
MODEL: WDC WD15EADS-00P8B0
FIRMWARE: 01.00A01
match smartmontools Drive Database entry:
MODEL REGEXP: WDC WD((50|64|75)00AA(C|V)S|(50|64|75)00AADS|10EA(C|V) S|(10|15|20)EADS)-.*
FIRMWARE REGEXP: .*
MODEL FAMILY: Western Digital Caviar Green
ATTRIBUTE OPTIONS: None preset; no -v options are required.
OTHER PRESETS: Fixes LBA byte ordering in Ext. Comprehensive SMART error log (same as -F xerrorlba)
frank@Office:~$

**Frank616** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:47 PM

Here is the hdparm output in a three pass loop:

Code:

root@Office:/home/frank# for i in 1 2 3; do hdparm -tT /dev/sda; done


/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   22232 MB in  2.00 seconds = 11126.67 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 1422 MB in  3.00 seconds = 473.99 MB/sec


/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   22088 MB in  2.00 seconds = 11053.94 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 1398 MB in  3.19 seconds = 438.90 MB/sec


/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   22514 MB in  2.00 seconds = 11267.68 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 1418 MB in  3.00 seconds = 472.60 MB/sec
root@Office:/home/frank# for i in 1 2 3; do hdparm -tT /dev/sdb; done


/dev/sdb:
 Timing cached reads:   21446 MB in  2.00 seconds = 10732.05 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 382 MB in  3.00 seconds = 127.22 MB/sec


/dev/sdb:
 Timing cached reads:   21678 MB in  2.00 seconds = 10849.23 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 382 MB in  3.01 seconds = 127.05 MB/sec


/dev/sdb:
 Timing cached reads:   21748 MB in  2.00 seconds = 10884.30 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 382 MB in  3.00 seconds = 127.26 MB/sec
root@Office:/home/frank# for i in 1 2 3; do hdparm -tT /dev/sdc; done


/dev/sdc:
 Timing cached reads:   12640 MB in  2.00 seconds = 6322.97 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 244 MB in  3.01 seconds =  80.94 MB/sec


/dev/sdc:
 Timing cached reads:   21920 MB in  2.00 seconds = 10969.95 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 244 MB in  3.02 seconds =  80.91 MB/sec
                                                                                   
/dev/sdc:                                                                                           
 Timing cached reads:   21642 MB in  2.00 seconds = 10831.01 MB/sec                                      
 Timing buffered disk reads: 250 MB in  3.00 seconds =  83.23 MB/sec                                                
                                                                                                 
root@Office:/home/frank# lsblk                                                                                                         
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT                                                                                            
sda      8:0    0 238.5G  0 disk                                                                                                       
├─sda1   8:1    0 234.7G  0 part /                                                                                                     
├─sda2   8:2    0     1K  0 part                                                                                                       
└─sda5   8:5    0   3.8G  0 part [SWAP]                                                                                                
sdb      8:16   0 232.9G  0 disk                                                                                                       
├─sdb1   8:17   0 313.8M  0 part                                                                                                       
└─sdb2   8:18   0 232.6G  0 part                                                                                                       
sdc      8:32   0   1.4T  0 disk                                                                                                       
└─sdc1   8:33   0   1.4T  0 part /data                                                                                                 
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom                                                                                                        
root@Office:/home/frank#

sda is the SSD
sdb is the 250 GB mechanical Hitachi Windows disk
sdc is the 1.5 TB WD Green mechanical data disk

So, the 1.5 TB WD mechanical drive is the slowest of the three, but is it broken?

Does it make a difference which SATA port I plug these drives into?

Frank.

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:52 PM

You should read this: https://community.wd.com/t/wd15eads-...st-crazy/13041

To read smart data, try

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc

You can run test on it too, but it looks like (from the link above) there may be a larger issue you can't solve at the user level. You might be able to get a firmware update from WD, I have in the past. I'm sure you realize those "green" drives are designed to save energy which virtually guarantees less performance. To compare, run this 3-4 times on all your drives, and average the results and compare;

sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdX

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:54 PM

Sorry, you posted the hdparm results while I was typing.

Looks normal to me except for the longish delay on the first hdparm run. Might just be the "green" features.

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 12:56 PM

Run this test:

sudo smartctl -A /dev/sdc | grep "^193"

**Frank616** · Mar 24, 2016, 02:20 PM

Code:

root@Office:/home/frank# sudo smartctl -A /dev/sdc | grep "^193"                                                                       
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   142   142   000    Old_age   Always       -       175899
root@Office:/home/frank#

This drive did not perform that poorly in the previous machine. It is only since I moved it.

Frank.

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 02:46 PM

Yeah, well we've found one problem at least. I can't say why you weren't seeing this before, but that last number there should be well below 10000. That means it's parking itself too much (for energy savings) - like every 8 seconds. These drives known for premature failure due to this issue. Lucky for you it's solvable

Install the package "idle3-tools" - it's just for WD drives (I have 4). Then run this:

sudo idle3ctl -g /dev/sdc

You'll likely see "80" as the result, which means 8 secs. You can either make the delay longer:

sudo idle3ctl -s 240 /dev/sdc

which sets it at 24 seconds (my 6TB "Red" WD drive default was 13.8 secs for some reason), or you can disable it altogether:

sudo idle3ctl -d /dec/sdc

This may not fix the entire issue, but should help.

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 02:50 PM

Just an FYI, my 2TB Black "Enterprise" performance WD drives have over 40000 hours of power-on time and only 11 on the load cycle count - just to compare to what you're seeing. They're both set to disabled for the idle time.

My Red drive has 6500+ hours and 7100+ load cycles with the 13.8 sec. idle time. I might just increase it a bit since we're on the topic...

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 03:23 PM

Sorry, I also forget to tell you that after making the change above, you must fully power down the computer for the drive to start using the new parameter. A reboot is not enough.

**Frank616** · Mar 24, 2016, 03:26 PM

oshunluvr:

Is the old Core-2 Duo too old to have implemented this 'feature'?

So, I installed the idel3-tools. It was set to 80. I set it to 240, then did a cold restart. No noticeable difference. Still takes digiKam the better part of an hour to index my photo directory. Only takes a few minutes on my other machines, even when starting from scratch.

This is primarily a data drive, so I do not need a lot of performance, as such. However, when digiKam does an update of its database, it runs for MANY minutes. Almost as if there were some time delay loop in there somewhere. If it makes a difference, I always keep my digikam database in my home directory in a .digikam directory that I create rather than in the directory that also has the photos (which is default). Also, while the data drive is mounted with an entry in fstab, I symlink it to my /home directory for access. I have done that on many machines for years with no problems. However, in the interests of full disclosure....

Also, it is not just digikam that is slow. LO takes forever to give me a directory when I want to load a file.

At this point I need to decide whether to replace the disk as being potentially faulty, or replacing the SATA controller.

I am guessing that with the good figures and the good performance of the other drives (machine starts up lightning quick) that the controller is not the issue. The other drives seem to work fast enough.

Therefore, I think that,of the two, the most likely culprit is the 1.5 TB WD Green drive.

FWIW, the drive activity light is on almost steady when there are disk operations taking place on this machine, like when I use rsync to mirror data directories across my other machines. Disk I/O on this drive is just SO slow now that it is in THIS machine. I don't get it.

However, I don't want to replace the drive if it is NOT the drive that is at fault. No point putting in a fancy drive if the interface is bad.

As I asked before, does it matter what SATA port I plug a drive into? Seems to me that with previous IDE drives, there were two channels? If you had often used drives in opposite channels, performance suffered. Anything like that possible here? Can one SATA port go bad? This drive is plugged into SATA4 on the mobo.

Any other ideas?

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 03:59 PM

No port shouldn't matter. I'm in agreement, if the drive is this slow it's likely time to chuck it. You could try disabling the idle all together and see if that helps. I saw other things tried that worked in some cases: setting the interface at slower speeds, like disabling sata III if your BIOS supports that.

I did read a bunch of various threads about that exact model of drive and many people having this same problem. It might be worth a call to WD customer support. Some others reported getting a free replacement. Maybe just a bad batch of drives.

**oshunluvr** · Mar 24, 2016, 04:00 PM

Btw, couldn't hurt to try port swapping. Seems unlikely, but you never know.

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Lethargic SATA disk controller?

Lethargic SATA disk controller?

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