From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Feb 6 04:27:41 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F34C216A4CF for ; Fri, 6 Feb 2004 04:27:40 -0800 (PST) Received: from smtp1.adl2.internode.on.net (smtp1.adl2.internode.on.net [203.16.214.181]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5B4A543D62 for ; Fri, 6 Feb 2004 04:27:23 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from malcolm.kay@internode.on.net) Received: from beta.home (ppp130-138.lns1.adl2.internode.on.net [150.101.130.138])i16CRJxC034253; Fri, 6 Feb 2004 22:57:20 +1030 (CST) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" From: Malcolm Kay Organization: At home To: "Derrick MacPherson" , Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 22:57:19 +1030 User-Agent: KMail/1.4.3 References: <20040205082814.6E91043D1D@mx1.FreeBSD.org> In-Reply-To: <20040205082814.6E91043D1D@mx1.FreeBSD.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: <200402062257.19379.malcolm.kay@internode.on.net> Subject: Re: Error in messages. X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 12:27:41 -0000 On Thu, 5 Feb 2004 18:58, Derrick MacPherson wrote: > I started seeing this today: > > Feb 4 07:00:00 mail /kernel: (da1:ahc0:0:2:0): READ(10). CDB: 28 0 2 c= 1 > 5f 0 0 10 0 > Feb 4 07:00:00 mail /kernel: (da1:ahc0:0:2:0): MEDIUM ERROR info:20c01= 68 > asc:11,0 > Feb 4 07:00:00 mail /kernel: (da1:ahc0:0:2:0): Unrecovered read error > sks:80,35 > > I umounted the disk, dumped it's contents to a spare disk. > > Can you suggest some tests for this drive, or should I just get it > replaced? > Manufacturers often provide downloadable software for evaluating the stat= e of their drives. But you'll probably need an MS OS to run it. But it is pret= ty certain=20 that you have a corrupt sector which is probably not repairable. The soft= ware might allow you to encourage the drive to remap this sector to a spare. An odd error report in normal operation might indicate just another rando= m sector failure and there are many; but most are repeatedly read until a valid re= ad is=20 obtained and then an alternate sector is mapped in its place by the softw= are/hardware in the drive itself. Frequently however the first reported error is an in= dicator of a failing drive. Test software can tell you the current state of the drive but is u= nlikely to be a safe indicator for the early occurence of further failures. Your best approach would depend on the value you put on the future integr= ity of the drive. If you were told that there was a 20% chance that your drive w= ould=20 deteriorate rapidly would you be prepared to trust your data to it, for t= he 80% chance that it will be OK. The 20/80% figures are of course just plucked out of the air - they may o= r may not be=20 realistic in your case. My guess would be that if the drive ihas been in = service for a few years the probability that it has reach its end of life is higher t= han 20%. Only in the case of a quite new drive that has shown no other signs of we= akness would I possibly rate at less than 20%. Then how much is your time worth to spend it on exhaustive testing. Drive= s are really rather cheap. I guess even for home use I would dump it without investing any more time= =2E Malcolm =20