[gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Kacper Kopczyński]

Hi,

My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from linux,
but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad blocks.

I'm trying to access it from rescuecd which seems to be based on
gentoo - so it's not totally off topic :)

Here is dmesg: http://capsel.inten.pl/disk/dmesg

cat /dev/sda gives no output, fdisk fails with "unable to
read /dev/sda". smartctl does not report model or serial, there is no
error log... hdparm shows "Invalid exchange" or
"Inappropriate ioctl for device", all commands failed.

What else can I do?

-- 
Kacper Kopczyński

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from linux,
> but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad blocks.

it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way it is 
working 'without problems'.

> 
> 
> Here is dmesg: http://capsel.inten.pl/disk/dmesg
> 
> cat /dev/sda gives no output, fdisk fails with "unable to
> read /dev/sda". smartctl does not report model or serial, there is no
> error log... hdparm shows "Invalid exchange" or
> "Inappropriate ioctl for device", all commands failed.
> 
> What else can I do?

maybe ask kernel devs if there is a way to access the drive even with a 
capacity of 0 to copy everything from it before you stuff it in the garbage 
can?

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Kacper Kopczyński]

Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@googlemail.com> napisał(a):

> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> > linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
> > blocks.
> 
> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
> it is working 'without problems'.
> 

Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.

If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
use this disk?

> > 
> > 
> > Here is dmesg: http://capsel.inten.pl/disk/dmesg
> > 
> > cat /dev/sda gives no output, fdisk fails with "unable to
> > read /dev/sda". smartctl does not report model or serial, there is
> > no error log... hdparm shows "Invalid exchange" or
> > "Inappropriate ioctl for device", all commands failed.
> > 
> > What else can I do?
> 
> maybe ask kernel devs if there is a way to access the drive even with
> a capacity of 0 to copy everything from it before you stuff it in the
> garbage can?
> 

Well.. I've backed up data from it already.

-- 
Kacper Kopczyński

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Dale]

Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
>
>    
>> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
>>      
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
>>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
>>> blocks.
>>>        
>> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
>> it is working 'without problems'.
>>
>>      
> Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
> 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
> see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
>
> If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
> use this disk?
>
>    

Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has never 
done that before right?

Just a thought.

Dale

:-)  :-)

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> 
> Volker Armin Hemmann <volkerarmin@googlemail.com> napisał(a):
> > On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> > > linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
> > > blocks.
> > 
> > it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
> > it is working 'without problems'.
> 
> Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
> 1MB, 

1 block = 512byte. So you have ca 2000 bad blocks. That is A LOT.


> windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
> see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
> 
> If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
> use this disk?

maybe they ignore things like a reported size of 0 and no sense.

> 
> Well.. I've backed up data from it already.

then throw it away. That disk will fail completely soon.

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Mick]

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On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > 
> > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
> >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> >>> Hi,
> >>> 
> >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
> >>> blocks.
> >> 
> >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
> >> it is working 'without problems'.
> > 
> > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
> > 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
> > see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
> > 
> > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
> > use this disk?
> 
> Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has never
> done that before right?
> 
> Just a thought.

Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while Linux 
does?

-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Joshua Murphy]

On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
>> Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
>> > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
>> >
>> > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
>> >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
>> >>> Hi,
>> >>>
>> >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
>> >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
>> >>> blocks.
>> >>
>> >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
>> >> it is working 'without problems'.
>> >
>> > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
>> > 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
>> > see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
>> >
>> > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
>> > use this disk?
>>
>> Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has never
>> done that before right?
>>
>> Just a thought.
>
> Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while Linux
> does?
>
> --
> Regards,
> Mick
>

Not likely, though just looking at *how* it fails, if the data'd not
already been backed up, I'd hold at least a little hope that it's not
really a problem with the on-disk data, aside from what's been
corrupted since the problems started, but rather just the controller
and firmware. If I had a spare drive from the same batch, I'd swap in
the not-dying controller card and see if that got me anywhere. Since
the drive's already backed up, though... that one's a new paperweight
for the desk, and if the data's anything sensitive, physical
destruction of the drive's the way I'd go to 'secure' it before it
goes out with the trash.

-- 
Poison [BLX]
Joshua M. Murphy

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> > Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > > 
> > > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
> > >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > >>> Hi,
> > >>> 
> > >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> > >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
> > >>> blocks.
> > >> 
> > >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
> > >> it is working 'without problems'.
> > > 
> > > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
> > > 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
> > > see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
> > > 
> > > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
> > > use this disk?
> > 
> > Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has never
> > done that before right?
> > 
> > Just a thought.
> 
> Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while Linux
> does?

it is not about partitions.

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Mick]

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On Saturday 31 July 2010 19:04:47 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> > > Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > > > 
> > > > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
> > > >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > >>> Hi,
> > > >>> 
> > > >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> > > >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some bad
> > > >>> blocks.
> > > >> 
> > > >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No way
> > > >> it is working 'without problems'.
> > > > 
> > > > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less than
> > > > 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only able to
> > > > see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in dmesg.
> > > > 
> > > > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able to
> > > > use this disk?
> > > 
> > > Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has never
> > > done that before right?
> > > 
> > > Just a thought.
> > 
> > Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while
> > Linux does?
> 
> it is not about partitions.

Please explain, I thought that bad blocks would coincide with some partitions.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> On Saturday 31 July 2010 19:04:47 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> > On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > > On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> > > > Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > > > > 
> > > > > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
> > > > >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > >>> Hi,
> > > > >>> 
> > > > >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive from
> > > > >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some
> > > > >>> bad blocks.
> > > > >> 
> > > > >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No
> > > > >> way it is working 'without problems'.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less
> > > > > than 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only
> > > > > able to see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in
> > > > > dmesg.
> > > > > 
> > > > > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is able
> > > > > to use this disk?
> > > > 
> > > > Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has
> > > > never done that before right?
> > > > 
> > > > Just a thought.
> > > 
> > > Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while
> > > Linux does?
> > 
> > it is not about partitions.
> 
> Please explain, I thought that bad blocks would coincide with some
> partitions.

because defectice partitions don't give you no sense errors nor do they give 
you zero capacity errors. Read his dmesg.

Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Mark Shields]

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On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 3:14 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann <
volkerarmin@googlemail.com> wrote:

> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > On Saturday 31 July 2010 19:04:47 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> > > On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > > > On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> > > > > Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > > > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>  napisał(a):
> > > > > >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > > >>> Hi,
> > > > > >>>
> > > > > >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard drive
> from
> > > > > >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It has some
> > > > > >>> bad blocks.
> > > > > >>
> > > > > >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it seems. No
> > > > > >> way it is working 'without problems'.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk is less
> > > > > > than 1MB, windows is still able to access all data. Linux is only
> > > > > > able to see partition table "for a while" - as you can see in
> > > > > > dmesg.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that windows is
> able
> > > > > > to use this disk?
> > > > >
> > > > > Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like windoze has
> > > > > never done that before right?
> > > > >
> > > > > Just a thought.
> > > >
> > > > Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad blocks, while
> > > > Linux does?
> > >
> > > it is not about partitions.
> >
> > Please explain, I thought that bad blocks would coincide with some
> > partitions.
>
> because defectice partitions don't give you no sense errors nor do they
> give
> you zero capacity errors. Read his dmesg.
>
>  If the firmware/logic board is bad, you might be able to replace it with
one from the same model.  I've heard of some success from a coworker who
took the logic board from a known good drive and put it on a HDD with good
internals but a bad logic board, and it worked.  That's if you need the
data, that is.

- Mark Shields

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Re: [gentoo-user] OT: hard disk access and recovery impossible under linux ?

[Kacper Kopczyński]

Dnia 2010-08-08, o godz. 12:19:07
Mark Shields <laebshade@gmail.com> napisał(a):

> On Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 3:14 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann <
> volkerarmin@googlemail.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > > On Saturday 31 July 2010 19:04:47 Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> > > > On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Mick wrote:
> > > > > On Saturday 31 July 2010 16:33:18 Dale wrote:
> > > > > > Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > > > > Dnia 2010-07-31, o godz. 16:15:51
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Volker Armin Hemmann<volkerarmin@googlemail.com>
> > > > > > > napisał(a):
> > > > > > >> On Samstag 31 Juli 2010, Kacper Kopczyński wrote:
> > > > > > >>> Hi,
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> My problem is really strange - I can't access my hard
> > > > > > >>> drive
> > from
> > > > > > >>> linux, but it works from windows without problems. It
> > > > > > >>> has some bad blocks.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> it has a lot of bad blocks and a fucked up firmware it
> > > > > > >> seems. No way it is working 'without problems'.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Well total space taken by bad blocks according to chkdsk
> > > > > > > is less than 1MB, windows is still able to access all
> > > > > > > data. Linux is only able to see partition table "for a
> > > > > > > while" - as you can see in dmesg.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > If firmware is broken then how it is possible that
> > > > > > > windows is
> > able
> > > > > > > to use this disk?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Maybe windoze is ignoring the problem?  It's not like
> > > > > > windoze has never done that before right?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Just a thought.
> > > > >
> > > > > Couldn't it be that the MSWindows partition has no bad
> > > > > blocks, while Linux does?
> > > >
> > > > it is not about partitions.
> > >
> > > Please explain, I thought that bad blocks would coincide with some
> > > partitions.
> >
> > because defectice partitions don't give you no sense errors nor do
> > they give
> > you zero capacity errors. Read his dmesg.
> >
> >  If the firmware/logic board is bad, you might be able to replace
> > it with
> one from the same model.  I've heard of some success from a coworker
> who took the logic board from a known good drive and put it on a HDD
> with good internals but a bad logic board, and it worked.  That's if
> you need the data, that is.
> 
> - Mark Shields

After spending many hours on google it seems to me this is a bug in
firmware or seagate's firmware on barracuda discs likes to break itself
frequently.

Thank you for your help.

-- 
Kacper Kopczyński