I do not care about any data on the drive and I do not intend to store important data on the drive in future - this is purely an academic exercise!
Attempting to read or write results in a failure:
$sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1
dd: error reading '/dev/sda': Input/output error
0+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes copied, 0.150944 s, 0.0 kB/s
$sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda count=1
dd: writing to '/dev/sda': Input/output error
1+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes copied, 0.143382 s, 0.0 kB/s
$sudo parted -l
Error: /dev/sda: unrecognised disk label
Warning: Error fsyncing/closing /dev/sda: Input/output error
Retry/Ignore?
dmesg reports the following information:
[84718.986340] ata2.00: failed command: READ DMA
[84718.986349] ata2.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 29 dma 4096 in
res 51/04:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[84718.986353] ata2.00: status: { DRDY ERR }
[84718.986356] ata2.00: error: { ABRT }
[84718.988611] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[84718.988622] ata2: EH complete
[84719.006316] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[84719.006322] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[84719.006327] ata2.00: failed command: READ DMA
[84719.006336] ata2.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 14 dma 4096 in
res 51/04:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[84719.006340] ata2.00: status: { DRDY ERR }
[84719.006343] ata2.00: error: { ABRT }
[84719.008482] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[84719.008496] ata2: EH complete
[84719.034310] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[84719.034315] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[84719.034319] ata2.00: failed command: READ DMA
[84719.034327] ata2.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 28 dma 4096 in
res 51/04:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[84719.034331] ata2.00: status: { DRDY ERR }
[84719.034333] ata2.00: error: { ABRT }
[84719.036471] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[84719.036481] ata2: EH complete
[84719.054321] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[84719.054326] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[84719.054329] ata2.00: failed command: READ DMA
[84719.054337] ata2.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 13 dma 4096 in
res 51/04:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[84719.054341] ata2.00: status: { DRDY ERR }
[84719.054343] ata2.00: error: { ABRT }
[84719.056483] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[84719.056493] ata2: EH complete
[84719.078307] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[84719.078311] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[84719.078314] ata2.00: failed command: READ DMA
[84719.078322] ata2.00: cmd c8/00:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 30 dma 4096 in
res 51/04:08:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[84719.078326] ata2.00: status: { DRDY ERR }
[84719.078328] ata2.00: error: { ABRT }
[84719.080521] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[84719.080536] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] tag#30 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[84719.080540] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] tag#30 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[84719.080543] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] tag#30 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command
[84719.080547] sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] tag#30 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00
[84719.080550] print_req_error: I/O error, dev sda, sector 0
[84719.080555] buffer_io_error: 15 callbacks suppressed
[84719.080557] Buffer I/O error on dev sda, logical block 0, async page read
[84719.080578] ata2: EH complete
It shows up with lsblk:
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk
SMART results are perfect for a drive of this age, and it will happily complete a full self-test without errors:
$sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl 6.6 2017-11-05 r4594 [x86_64-linux-4.19.11-1-default] (SUSE RPM)
Copyright (C) 2002-17, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B
Device Model: Hitachi HTS545050B9A300
Serial Number: 100329PBN40017GNHJNE
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000cca 5f0c951bf
Firmware Version: PB4OC64G
User Capacity: 500,107,862,016 bytes [500 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate: 5400 rpm
Form Factor: 2.5 inches
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 6
SATA Version is: SATA 2.6, 3.0 Gb/s
Local Time is: Fri Jan 11 19:39:05 2019 NZDT
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
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x82) Offline data collection activity
was completed without error.
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: ( 645) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No 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: ( 158) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control 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 0x000b 100 100 062 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 110 110 040 Pre-fail Offline - 4327
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 175 175 033 Pre-fail Always - 2
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0012 096 096 000 Old_age Always - 7314
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 120 120 040 Pre-fail Offline - 32
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 086 086 000 Old_age Always - 6497
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 3485
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 65660
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0012 090 090 000 Old_age Always - 105680
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 183 183 000 Old_age Always - 30 (Min/Max 2/47)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
223 Load_Retry_Count 0x000a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 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% 6481 -
# 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 6453 -
# 3 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 6447 -
# 4 Short offline Completed without error 00% 6445 -
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.
hdparm reports that no ATA security features are enabled, and I've also been able to run an ata-secure-erase command successfully, with no change.
$sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
ATA device, with non-removable media
Model Number: Hitachi HTS545050B9A300
Serial Number: 100329PBN40017GNHJNE
Firmware Revision: PB4OC64G
Transport: Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6; Revision: ATA8-AST T13 Project D1697 Revision 0b
Standards:
Used: unknown (minor revision code 0x0028)
Supported: 8 7 6 5
Likely used: 8
Configuration:
Logical max current
cylinders 16383 16383
heads 16 16
sectors/track 63 63
--
CHS current addressable sectors: 16514064
LBA user addressable sectors: 268435455
LBA48 user addressable sectors: 976773168
Logical/Physical Sector size: 512 bytes
device size with M = 1024*1024: 476940 MBytes
device size with M = 1000*1000: 500107 MBytes (500 GB)
cache/buffer size = 7208 KBytes (type=DualPortCache)
Form Factor: 2.5 inch
Nominal Media Rotation Rate: 5400
Capabilities:
LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
Queue depth: 32
Standby timer values: spec'd by Vendor, no device specific minimum
R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16 Current = 16
Advanced power management level: 128
Recommended acoustic management value: 128, current value: 254
DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
Cycle time: no flow control=120ns IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
Enabled Supported:
* SMART feature set
* Security Mode feature set
* Power Management feature set
* Write cache
* Look-ahead
* Host Protected Area feature set
* WRITE_BUFFER command
* READ_BUFFER command
* NOP cmd
* DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Advanced Power Management feature set
Power-Up In Standby feature set
* SET_FEATURES required to spinup after power up
SET_MAX security extension
Automatic Acoustic Management feature set
* 48-bit Address feature set
* Device Configuration Overlay feature set
* Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
* FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
* SMART error logging
* SMART self-test
* General Purpose Logging feature set
* WRITE_{DMA|MULTIPLE}_FUA_EXT
* 64-bit World wide name
* IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
* WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
* {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
* Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
* Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
* Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
* Host-initiated interface power management
* Phy event counters
* NCQ priority information
Non-Zero buffer offsets in DMA Setup FIS
* DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
Device-initiated interface power management
In-order data delivery
* Software settings preservation
* SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
* SCT Write Same (AC2)
* SCT Error Recovery Control (AC3)
* SCT Features Control (AC4)
* SCT Data Tables (AC5)
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
enabled
locked
not frozen
not expired: security count
supported: enhanced erase
Security level high
156min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 158min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 5000cca5f0c951bf
NAA : 5
IEEE OUI : 000cca
Unique ID : 5f0c951bf
Checksum: correct
Results are reproducible on multiple computers, including via USB and internally. No obvious damage to the drive.
I'm pretty sure it's not an internal mechanical issue, as full SMART tests complete successfully.
I don't think it's a connector or transmission error, as the UDMA_CRC_Error_Count is zero, and I can read SMART/ATA data fine.
It has had a full secure erase (multiple times), so I doubt that any data stored on the drive (partition tables etc) are confusing the OS. Especially given the use of low-level tools.
Any suggestions?
dmesgafter you try to read/write withdd?unaligned write commandmakes me think maybe I've confused the drive into being 4K but advertising 512B or something?bs=512,bs=4096, and variousoseek=andcount=to see if you can get it to work. You can see/set what the kernel assumes about physical/logical sector size and offset somewhere in/procor/sys, and you may have to change that, but I'd have to google it myself.