Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[fred roller]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 4:50 PM, Peter Flynn  wrote:

> > I've got a SCSI drive with IIRC around 42 MiB.
>
> I'll raise you two 5¼" floppies and see you :-)
>
> Sitting on a shelf I have a 30Mb HardCard which is a hard disk mounted
> on a long-form ISA card. You lift the lid of your PC XT, push in the
> card, close the lid, and reboot -- presto! you have a 30Mb D: drive. No
> drivers, zero config. It still works, and on it I found a copy of
> WordStar 1512 and a copy of TeX, all in functioning order. However, I
> have not tried it under Ubuntu yet.


LOL.  I will see your ISA long form and raise you 100# two man lift best
guess 4Mb drive, IBM, I believe, that we recovered from a salvage.
Platters were LP size if memory serves.  We put it in the board room as a
drive evolution display.  That was about 8 yrs ago but it was a wild find.
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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[Peter Flynn]

On 01/11/2017 05:41 PM, Ralf Mardorf wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:37:51 -0500, fred roller wrote:
>> On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 12:36 PM, fred roller 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> 1G  
>>
>> *..1T...
> 
> :D
> 
> I've got a SCSI drive with IIRC around 42 MiB.

I'll raise you two 5¼" floppies and see you :-)

Sitting on a shelf I have a 30Mb HardCard which is a hard disk mounted
on a long-form ISA card. You lift the lid of your PC XT, push in the
card, close the lid, and reboot -- presto! you have a 30Mb D: drive. No
drivers, zero config. It still works, and on it I found a copy of
WordStar 1512 and a copy of TeX, all in functioning order. However, I
have not tried it under Ubuntu yet.

///Peter


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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[fred roller]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 12:36 PM, fred roller 
wrote:

> 1G


*..1T...
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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:37:51 -0500, fred roller wrote:
>On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 12:36 PM, fred roller 
>wrote:
>
>> 1G  
>
>
>*..1T...

:D

I've got a SCSI drive with IIRC around 42 MiB.


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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[fred roller]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 11:45 AM, JMZ  wrote:

> Ugh, I thought that was the case.  Magnetic storage is inexpensive these
> days.  It'd be unprofitable for a manufacturer to develop a five-year or
> seven-year hard drive. :-(
>

IMO; get the enclosure vs. a dedicated hdd... this allows for just
purchasing the drive as the enclosure will last longer in most cases.
 about $40US for the enclosure.  I recycle older drives with life left in
them which have come from laptops (i.e. I upgrade my my laptop to ssd and
now have a 1G platter drive with <100 hrs on it., etc.) for general use.
More sensitive data get put on more reliable drives which I purchase for
the enclosure or in my case I purchased a dedicated NAS of 4G.

Glad I could help. Good luck and get those back-ups done.

-- Fred
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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[JMZ]

Thanks for your help, fred.  Everything seems "clean" now, but I should 
perform these checks regularly now that some inconsistencies have appeared.



Jordan

On 01/11/2017 10:03 AM, fred roller wrote:



   Though maybe the current drive can be salvaged (it's only four years
   old -- do drives die that fast now?).

Three years is the average life expectancy but the actual life span is 
measured in running hours which your disk brand's total life can be 
looked up on the net.


Ugh, I thought that was the case.  Magnetic storage is inexpensive these 
days.  It'd be unprofitable for a manufacturer to develop a five-year or 
seven-year hard drive. :-(


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Re: [xubuntu-users] partition intermittently mounts: dying hard drive or bug?

[fred roller]

On Wed, Jan 11, 2017 at 3:25 AM, JMZ  wrote:

> I'm wondering: is this a hardware or software problem?


Eliminate choices by testing... If you are comfy with cli then:

opt 1:
$ sudo fsck /dev/sdz

where "z" is the drive letter for your external drive when mounted usually
found with the "df -h" command.  "man fsck" for complete command
information.

opt 2:[1]
$ sudo apt-get install gnome-disk-utility -y

then once installed:
$ gnome-disks

which will bring up a GUI utility.  Your disk should be listed.  Click on
the disk and from the menu in the upper right choose the SMART check
option.  This should give you a status and do a disk check if you use the
option in the lower left corner.

opt 3:[1]
$ sudo apt-get install smartmontools

then once installed:
$ man smartctl

this will get you the man page for the Control and Monitor Utility for
SMART Disks.  From here you can find the options that best suits your
needs.  I have not used this myself so read carefully.


Something tells me I should just do a final backup, brick the drive, and
> just start over.


You should backup in any case.  Especially until you figure this out and
before you start running checks of software/hardware.



> Though maybe the current drive can be salvaged (it's only four years old
> -- do drives die that fast now?).


Three years is the average life expectancy but the actual life span is
measured in running hours which your disk brand's total life can be looked
up on the net.  The SMART tools will tell you how many hours your disk has
on it which compared to its operational life span will tell you if it is
time to "brick" it.  Also, being an external drive check connections and
idle functions.  If it is an older spinner then the platters may just be
spinning down and the disk going to sleep which can cause a disconnect but
that is just a wag.  Change out the cable, which if four years old too, may
have micro breaks in the line or build up on the contacts (use an eraser to
clean the leads if you can get to them.)

Another option is to back up the data and reformat the whole drive (Z out
the drive and start over).  This should reset any software issues you may
have unless you want to troubleshoot the software.  Search for firmware
updates for the disk as well.

Hope this helps and gets you headed in the right direction.

[1]
http://askubuntu.com/questions/528072/how-can-i-check-the-smart-status-of-a-drive-on-ubuntu-14-04-through-16-10

-- Fred
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