[gentoo-user] fdisk troubles

[Jan]

Hi,   I'm having troubles with an old (but new as in 'never used before by me') hd.   Some facts: -The HD contains a very small redhat system: I was able to install it using a cd-rom-player and I start the gentoo system install from chrooting out of redhat. -It's a WD Caviar 21600 (1.6 GB) -The system is a ibm pc 350 (PI 100Mhz, 32MB ram)   The problem: - The kernel keeps printing out I/O errors, I noticed because 'emerge sync' never finishes ok. - I've started doing 'badblocks' runs. But seen that it complains each time about other bad sectors. - After some thinking, I've tried to write the partition table again (with fdisk) because I remembered a problem with fdisk writing the table:   'WARNING: Rereading the partition table with error 16: Device or resource busy'   fdisk recommends to reboot, and after the reboot, everything seems ok (? maybe you need to see my dmesg log ?) This errors still happens.   My actions: - I've downloaded a WD and a 'generic' diagnostic tools, both those tools are complaining about 'SMART failures' of my HD (nothing in my bios is saying anything about SMART, so I supppose its not supported by my BIOS(?) - With the generic diagnostic tool (from seagate) I was able to do a full surface scan, and no complains where seen (I think it does only reads, I'm not sure) - I've tried another HD, from seagate, and with that one I runned the seagate test (+ full surface scan) with success   My questions: - Is my HD broke? Or Is it just the partition table? Or do you problems that have something to do with SMART? - How can I restore my partition table (are there other tools than fdisk that you can recommend?) - What is my best next step to determine a solution?   Included: -The log from the seagate tool:   SeaTools Desktop v2.00.09 Copyright (c) 2003 Kroll Ontrack Inc. 1/27/2004 @ 8:45 PM   The following information has been generated by the SeaTools Desktop.  Use this information to help you recognize and resolve potential data access problems in a timely manner.   System Information: BIOS Date                03/19/99 Conventional Memory size  637 K Extended Memory size     24744 K IO Channel type           PCI   Drive Information: DRIVE  SIZE         MODEL -----  ---------    ---------------------  1     1.62 GB     WDC AC21600H                            Serial Number = WD-WT3360158396    Int13 Num = 80, PHYS CHS = 787x64x63. ParmTable CHS, Rsvd = 787x64x63   PARTITION       CYLINDER          SIZE ----------      ------------      ----  #   Type       Start    End      MB  PRIMARY  1   Unknown    0       17      37      PRIMARY  2   Unknown    18      50      68      PRIMARY  3   Unknown    51      253     419     PRIMARY  4   Unknown    254     786     1100     Diagnostic Results: Drive 1 (WDC AC21600H)   SMART Status Check Result:    Alert   90-Second Test Result:        Passed   File Structure Test Result:   Failed       (Unknown or unsupported partition(s) skipped)     Partition 1       Not Checked. Unsupported (or Unknown) Partition     Partition 2 (No Label)  Result:   Extended partition table invalid     Partition 3 (No Label)  Result:   Extended partition table invalid     Partition 4 (No Label)  Result:   Extended partition table invalid   Complete Surface Scan Result: Passed   S.M.A.R.T., (S)elf (M)onitoring (A)nalysis and (R)eporting (T)echnology, a built-in hard disk drive failure prediction method reports an 'Alert' if a problem has occurred.  It reports 'Passed' if no problems are found and 'Unsupported' if a hard disk drive does not support S.M.A.R.T.   ******************************************   Diagnostic Summary: System Memory Test Result: Passed   Drive 1 (WDC AC21600H)   SMART Status Check Result:    Alert   90-Second Test Result:        Passed   File Structure Test Result:   Failed       (Unknown or unsupported partition(s) skipped)   Complete Surface Scan Result: Passed   Recommendation: Contact the manufacturer of the hard disk drive that shows a SMART alert for their recommendation.   If you are not experiencing data loss and SeaTools reports File System Structure errors, they may be caused by a lock-up or failure to shutdown Windows correctly. Many times, these errors may be repaired through normal system maintenance. If you are experiencing a hardware error, you should isolate the cause and replace the failing component. If you are unsure how to proceed with repairs, contact a computer professional. After completing any maintenance tasks, run SeaTools again to verify that all errors have been repaired. If errors continue to occur, the system may not be stable. Again, contact a computer professional.   If you have experienced a data loss, cease drive operation immediately.  Professional data recovery service is the best option to recover your data.   SeaTools Desktop v2.00.09 Copyright (c) 2003 Kroll Ontrack Inc.