WDC WD5000AAKS wont reallocate bad sectors

cdeotte · May 5, 2010, 8:02pm

Hi. My computer has a dual boot with Windows XP and the latest opensuse linux. Recently, i saw an error message in the system log that said I had 1 unreadable (pending) sector and 1 offline uncorrectable sectors. I read everything online including SMART’s homepage and decided to force my hardrive to reallocate the sector by writing to it.

I located the sector by running a short self test (smartctl -l short /dev/sda). Next I determined the sector was in my Windows ntfs-3g partition. I confirmed that it didn’t point to any files (this is irrevelent for discussion). Finally I used dd to write to the sector.

The command returned with an error message. I checked the system log which recorded the error. In the system log’s error post, it said autoreallocate failed. I checked the number of reallocated-sector-count in smartctl -A and it says 0, so i know i haven’t filled up the reserve sectors. Why didn’t the hard drive’s firmware remap the bad sector?

The smart statistics and system error log are posted in the next post.

cdeotte · May 5, 2010, 8:06pm

smartctl 5.39 2009-08-08 r2872~ [x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu] (openSUSE RPM)

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===

Model Family: Western Digital Caviar Blue Serial ATA family

Device Model: WDC WD5000AAKS-22TMA0

Serial Number: WD-WCAPW2092043

Firmware Version: 12.01C01

User Capacity: 500,107,862,016 bytes

Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]

ATA Version is: 7

ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated

Local Time is: Wed May 5 12:27:59 2010 PDT

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: (0x85) Offline data collection activity

was aborted by an interrupting command from host.

Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.

Self-test execution status: ( 121) The previous self-test completed having

the read element of the test failed.

Total time to complete Offline

data collection: (12000) seconds.

Offline data collection

capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.

Auto Offline data collection on/off support.

Suspend Offline collection upon new

command.

Offline surface scan supported.

Self-test supported.

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: ( 150) minutes.

Conveyance self-test routine

recommended polling time: ( 6) minutes.

SCT capabilities: (0x303f) SCT Status 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 0x000f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0

3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 168 165 021 Pre-fail Always - 6566

4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 2485

5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0

7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000e 200 200 051 Old_age Always - 0

9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 087 087 000 Old_age Always - 9731

10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0012 100 100 051 Old_age Always - 0

11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012 100 100 051 Old_age Always - 0

12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 2470

192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 198 198 000 Old_age Always - 1956

193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 2485

194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 107 101 000 Old_age Always - 43

196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0

197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 1

198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 200 200 000 Old_age Offline - 1

199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0

200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 200 200 051 Old_age Offline - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1

ATA Error Count: 1343 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)

CR = Command Register [HEX]

FR = Features Register [HEX]

SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]

SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]

CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]

CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]

DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]

DC = Device Command Register [HEX]

ER = Error register [HEX]

ST = Status register [HEX]

Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as

DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,

SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It “wraps” after 49.710 days.

Error 1343 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 9719 hours (404 days + 23 hours)

When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:

ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

– – – – – – –

40 51 00 73 9d 59 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01599d73 = 22650227

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:

CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name

– – – – – – – – ---------------- --------------------

c8 00 08 70 9d 59 01 00 6d+06:48:15.915 READ DMA

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:15.915 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:15.912 IDENTIFY DEVICE

ef 03 46 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:15.909 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:15.909 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 1342 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 9719 hours (404 days + 23 hours)

When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:

ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

– – – – – – –

40 51 00 73 9d 59 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01599d73 = 22650227

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:

CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name

– – – – – – – – ---------------- --------------------

c8 00 08 70 9d 59 01 00 6d+06:48:13.292 READ DMA

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:13.292 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:13.289 IDENTIFY DEVICE

ef 03 46 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:13.286 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:13.286 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 1341 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 9719 hours (404 days + 23 hours)

When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:

ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

– – – – – – –

40 51 00 73 9d 59 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01599d73 = 22650227

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:

CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name

– – – – – – – – ---------------- --------------------

c8 00 08 70 9d 59 01 00 6d+06:48:10.670 READ DMA

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:10.669 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:10.666 IDENTIFY DEVICE

ef 03 46 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:10.664 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:10.663 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 1340 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 9719 hours (404 days + 23 hours)

When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:

ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

– – – – – – –

40 51 00 73 9d 59 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01599d73 = 22650227

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:

CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name

– – – – – – – – ---------------- --------------------

c8 00 08 70 9d 59 01 00 6d+06:48:08.043 READ DMA

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:08.042 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:08.039 IDENTIFY DEVICE

ef 03 46 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:08.037 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:08.036 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

Error 1339 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 9719 hours (404 days + 23 hours)

When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:

ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

– – – – – – –

40 51 00 73 9d 59 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01599d73 = 22650227

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:

CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name

– – – – – – – – ---------------- --------------------

c8 00 08 70 9d 59 01 00 6d+06:48:05.276 READ DMA

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:05.276 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

ec 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:05.272 IDENTIFY DEVICE

ef 03 46 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:05.269 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

27 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6d+06:48:05.260 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1

Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error

1 Short offline Completed: read failure 90% 9719 22650227

2 Short offline Completed: read failure 10% 9713 22650227

3 Short offline Aborted by host 10% 9713 -

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.

cdeotte · May 5, 2010, 8:08pm

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786104] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786129] ata1.00: BMDMA stat 0x24

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786153] ata1.00: cmd c8/00:08:70:9d:59/00:00:00:00:00/e1 tag 0 dma 4096 in

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786157] res 51/40:00:73:9d:59/00:00:00:00:00/e1 Emask 0x9 (media error)

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786190] ata1.00: status: { DRDY ERR }

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.786202] ata1.00: error: { UNC }

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.795366] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133

May 5 00:38:43 mycomputer kernel: [85894.795406] ata1: EH complete

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.410921] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.410950] ata1.00: BMDMA stat 0x24

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.410977] ata1.00: cmd c8/00:08:70:9d:59/00:00:00:00:00/e1 tag 0 dma 4096 in

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.410980] res 51/40:00:73:9d:59/00:00:00:00:00/e1 Emask 0x9 (media error)

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.411041] ata1.00: status: { DRDY ERR }

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.411054] ata1.00: error: { UNC }

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420357] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420397] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Unhandled sense code

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420411] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420432] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Sense Key : Medium Error [current] [descriptor]

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420458] Descriptor sense data with sense descriptors (in hex):

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420474] 72 03 11 04 00 00 00 0c 00 0a 80 00 00 00 00 00

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420514] 01 59 9d 73

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420532] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Add. Sense: Unrecovered read error - auto reallocate failed

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420561] end_request: I/O error, dev sda, sector 22650227

May 5 00:38:46 mycomputer kernel: [85897.420615] ata1: EH complete

May 5 00:47:22 mycomputer smartd[2239]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], 1 Currently unreadable (pending) sectors

May 5 00:47:22 mycomputer smartd[2239]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], 1 Offline uncorrectable sectors

May 5 00:47:22 mycomputer smartd[2239]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], previous self-test completed with error (read test element)

May 5 00:47:22 mycomputer smartd[2239]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], new Self-Test Log error at hour timestamp 9719

May 5 00:47:22 mycomputer smartd[2239]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], ATA error count increased from 1277 to 1343

cdeotte · May 6, 2010, 1:53am

I downloaded Western Digital’s hard drive repair software and ran the extensive test. The result was “Errors Repaired” exit code 223. When i rebooted into Linux and checked the SMART statistics, there was now zero current pending sectors but still 1 offline uncorrectable.

What was odd is that there are also zero reallocated sectors. I ran smartctl -t short and it completed fine and then I used dd to read from the previously troublesome sector and it read fine (there were all zeros there).

I now have 3 questions: (1) What did the disk repair software do? Did it remap the bad sector or did it physically fix it somehow? (2) What does it mean that the drive still has 1 offline uncorrectable sector? and (3) Why didn’t the drive repair itself when i tried to write to the bad sector earlier?