Re: Bad Blocks... Should I RMA?

[Matthew Seaman]

Lowell Gilbert wrote:

"Ronald F. Guilmette" <r...@tristatelogic.com> writes:

Nov 15 15:24:17 coredump kernel: ad4: FAILURE - READ_DMA status=51<READY,DSC,ERROR> 
error=40<UNCORRECTABLE> LBA=256230591

This is *not* necessarily a big deal, despite what your other response
told you.  Errors on reads do not mean that your drive's bad-sector
table is full; only errors on write indicate that.  If you can try
manufacturer's drive diagnostics, do that.  If you can't, then it's
harder to fix things up, but not impossible; write back if you
really can't use a low-level diag.

Yes -- this is correct.  It's possible for a disk to be unable to read a sector,
but rewriting the sector would either succeed and leave the sector fully working


Beyond running the manufacturers diagnostics,  as the OP has said he has 
nothing particularly valuable on the drive, it might be worth running a few 
passes of dban
or similar on the disk --- this will overwrite every part of the platter and
should make it abundantly clear if there is a real and persistent problem.  If
you can't afford to scrub the disk, then just keep it under observation: if the
problems recur within a few weeks then yes, definitely RMA that drive.

        Cheers,

        Matthew

[*] If the error messages have disappeared since, then this has probably
already happened.

--
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                   7 Priory Courtyard
                                                 Flat 3
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey     Ramsgate
                                                 Kent, CT11 9PW

again, or cause it to be remapped in which case the disk will subsequently perform perfectly well[*].

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