# Solved: Pending sectors fixed, reallocated sectors count still 0?



## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Hey guys, I come to you for some support with an odd issue I am having.

Issue:

New hard drive showed 72 pending sectors, cleared upon low level format with no increase in reallocated sector count.

History:

I had an external goflex desk 2tb that died shortly after getting my 80mb fibre and doing some high speed downloading. The issues specifically were a very high temp recorded in smart with 2120 bad sectors that could not be reallocated.

This drive was replaced with an external 2tb backup plus that within hours of usage showed large amounts of raw read error rates and several pending sectors.

This drive was again replaced for the drive I have now.

I noticed in my torrent client that there had been a write error to the drive. I proceeded to do the usual tests and I found 16 pending sectors. This rapidly escalated to 72.

Suspicion:

High speed downloading is damaging my hard drives? I know that can't be right but I am at a loss. I download at approx 7mb/s and the drives have all been able to write at that speed.

I suspect that the original go flex drive simply burned out as it is known to be terrible at heat dissipation. I'm not sure what happened to the second drive but it was failing quickly.

As for this current drive, I have done a low level format and, oddly, all 72 pending sectors have been cleared yet the reallocated sector count did not increase at all. Am I correct to assume that this was in fact a false positive? I wonder if perhaps my torrent client caused the sectors to be flagged bad when the write error occurred? Though what is more odd about that is that I had only 16 sectors flagged bad until I ran a chkdsk /b (was looking for non destructive ways to rewrite the sectors at the time) and they then skyrocketed to 72.

If you guys can shed any light onto this issue i'd be really grateful, I guess my main questions are *What caused the 72 pending sectors to occur and why did they appear to fix themselves?* *Can the drive be considered safe to use?* and, *As this is my third drive displaying possible errors, is there any correlation between the speed I am downloading at and the issues I am seeing?*

Here is a picture of my current S.M.A.R.T readings. Previously, the pending sector count was showing 72.

Thanks for any help,

Jay


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## gberger (Jul 27, 2009)

First, the link is not accessible: 403 Forbidden. 
I think heat is indeed the problem. How big are the files you are downloading? How long are the downloads running?
What I'm suspecting is that you are running the drives at max speed for extended periods of time. External drives are in confined enclosures so heat buildup is certainly a problem. Specs for the Goflex do not mention a fan. If in fact there is no fan, that's bad. The backup plus you mention I'm thinking is the Seagate? Also no fan. What about the drive you are using now? Is it also external and does it have a fan?


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## gberger (Jul 27, 2009)

I think your best solution is to get a properly cooled external NAS device.


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Hi, thanks for replying to my post.

The first two drives I had were a Seagate GoFlex Desk and a Seagate Backup Plus. Indeed I do believe heat was the issue on the first drive, it had no problems until some high speed downloads. Also the smart report was showing a very high max life time temp as well as 2000 or so unreallocatable sectors.

The second drive also exhibited temperature issues shortly after it arrived and again, it was subject to an extended period of downloading.

I guess I can surmise from that that external drives do not like to be used for extended periods?

Based on those two experiences I opted for an *internal* drive this time around, it is an Hitachi HDS723020BLE640 2TB.

Apologies for the bad link, I have corrected that now.

Once again, this drive has been used for some fairly extended high speed downloads and it showed me 72 pending sectors. A low level format has set the pending count to 0 and the reallocated count *has not* increased.

Is it wise to continue with high speed downloading on this drive? I had hoped as it was an internal it would be better suited and it does not get the same high temps as the externals. Max 31c so far. In terms of sizes i'd say i'm downloading anywhere between 50-200GB files and running 3-6 hours a day minimum at roughly 7mb/s.

Also, can I assume that the pending sectors were a false positive? It seems so as they have now cleared with no remapping, right?

Thanks

EDIT: Working link to my smart overview: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/capturepdo.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/341/capture1et.png/


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## gberger (Jul 27, 2009)

(link still does not work)
31c is a normal operating temp. so that seems to rule out heat as being the issue, at least with the internal drive. And since the symptoms are the same I think it's not heat at all.
If it's not heat I'm stumped. The only thing I can think of is if you are downloading the same data every time, maybe there is something in that file or files. But that's a long shot.


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

I attached two imageshack links to my latest post, do they not work for you?

It's different data, so that's not the issue.

What I have been able to surmise thus far is that downloading in the manner I did to the external drives probably did cause heat issues to them. Makes sense, neither model cooled itself very well.

With that in mind, i'm tempted to look at the issue with the hitachi drive as completely seperate, thoough coincidentally timed, to the external drives.

So, can you get fasle positive pending sector counts? All that happened leading up to the issues were as follows:

1) Torrent client reports 'write error''
2) Smart value reports 16 pending sectors
3) Run chkdsk /b
4) Smart value reports 72 pending sectors
5)Low level format the HDD
6)Smart value reports 0 pending and 0 reallocated

My main concern at this point is the health of my drive, it is reporting as perfect now but seeing 72 pending so soon after purchase is a worry. Downloading habits aside, could a write error whilst downloading cause the sectors to be flagged 'pending' incorrectly? Or is this something to be more concerned about?

Thanks for your time.


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## gberger (Jul 27, 2009)

Sorry, I clicked on the original link. Those two new ones do work.
Considering that three drives had the same exact issue when the same operation was attempted, I don't think the drives are the problem. And since the internal drive seems to be running at normal temps, heat does not look like the problem either.
Either the sectors are now good or this operation trashed sectors on three successive drives. I think the latter is unlikely. That leaves either a false reading or a problem that was corrected with a format. So I'm betting the drives are good.
Beyond that I can't imagine what the issue is. This needs either someone who has seen this before or someone with much deeper technical expertise than myself. Sorry!


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Ha, it is a bit of a strange problem isn't it? I consider myself technically proficient and can troubleshoot most issues but this has me stumped too.

When you say all three drives had the same exact issue, I'm not sure how accurate that is. As pending sectors can be caused in a variety of ways and can be indicative of a huge array of potential problems. My gut says the issues are not related, but I don't know enough to be sure and that is why I brought it up as it could be relevant.. It strikes me as pertinent that the first two drives did report high temps, 60 something c for the goflex  And I can relate that to periods of high usage, but for the hitachi, by my reckoning if it is operating at 30c and only being written to at 7mb/s I can't see what would cause issues. Other than the completely unhelpful 'write error' in my torrent client.

I hope it is just a false positive, thank you very much for your time gberger. If anyone else has an insight, please share!

Cheers


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

****Update****

So, I awoke this morning to discover 16 more pending sectors on the drive and it hadn't even been used overnight. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, 16 is the initial number of pending sectors reported previously.

I am currently running spin rite in mode 3, read and rewrite all current data in the drive however I'm pretty sure now it is faulty?

Also, according to smart now the throughput performance and seek time performance values are much lower than before. Not enough to trigger a smart alarm but where they were showing as perfect yesterday those values are now weaker.

Thoughts?

Cheers,

Jay


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

It is the policy of this site to refuse help to people when torrent clients are involved. This thread, in particular, is somewhat of a gray area since your problems seem to be hardware-related. But due to the illegal nature of torrents, you should keep in mind that you are already operating on the borderline.

Some download apps have settings for buffers to prevent intensive disk writes, or disk thrashing when writing too often. If the buffer is set too low, it could increase the amount of disk writes, though it is unlikely that they would exceed the operating parameters of the drive.

It almost sounds like the drives are getting too high a voltage, or too low a current. Both could cause overheating, too. How are they powered, and can you provide alternative power sources?

You may have better luck if you try something other than Seagates.


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Hi.

Thank you for your reply.

I hope you understand that torrenting does not equate to piracy! And it is not illegal! It is merely my means of downloading. I specifically left out the nature of what was being downloading but if it helps...linux distros  I know where you are coming from though, I only included that tidbit as it seemed the 'write error' might have been pertinent info.

I'm not even sure if that is the cause of this issue though as I was not using my torrent client yesterday when the new pending sectors occurred and coupled with the considerably lower smart values for throughput performance and seek performance I am suspecting a mechanical fault. I would have no idea how to determine that for sure however.

This current drive is a Hitachi (the model number is included on my smart overviews, attached above)

They are powered with a relatively cheap 550W PSU and no I do not have means to swap it out. However, if it helps, currently I only have one internal drive, the hitachi. Before this I only had one internal drive that was a 250GB seagat barracuda. I still have that drive, my point is that it ran off of this PSU for nearly a year and is in perfect health so I do not reckon the PSU is now the cause of damage to this drive.

If there is anything I can do to test this out with my current PSU I am happy to try anything.

I 

Thanks for your reply!


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Torrenting very nearly equates to piracy and is not allowed here (Yes, there are legal uses - we don't allow guns here, either ). It's a _fait accompli_ and will not be redebated. It is something you agreed to when you joined as part of the terms of service and rules. Please keep that in mind because some mods will close threads automatically of they involve torrents or other P2P.

It would be educational to find out if other intensive uses of the drive led to problems. Cooling can be important, especially for externals in plastic. Drives are designed for certain peak amounts of use, and I suppose that can be exceeded.

All I can recommend now is to make sure they get adequate power (by removing other hardware or unused drives, if necessary), provide cooling as best you can, and see what happens.

I have to say, however, that working on computers over the years, I have accumulated many drives. I kept all the ones that worked and were unwanted. I have Hitachis, many WD's, and even a couple Maxtors (only a couple). I have no Seagates - they were all dead.


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

I just did a quick check on the PSU to make sure rails were operating at correct voltages and temperatures were all OK.

I can see no issues at all, the 12v,3.3v and 5v rails are all within the correct ranges and the temperatures of all components are also within acceptable ranges.

I am really starting to feel that this was just a lemon from the day I picked it up and not in anyway connected to the externals.

Is it right to assume with the recurring pending sectors and the other bad smart values now that this drive is toast?


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Elvandil said:


> Torrenting very nearly equates to piracy and is not allowed here (Yes, there are legal uses - we don't allow guns here, either ). It's a _fait accompli_ and will not be redebated. It is something you agreed to when you joined as part of the terms of service and rules. Please keep that in mind because some mods will close threads automatically of they involve torrents or other P2P.
> 
> It would be educational to find out if other intensive uses of the drive led to problems. Cooling can be important, especially for externals in plastic. Drives are designed for certain peak amounts of use, and I suppose that can be exceeded.
> 
> ...


Indeed, and that is why I saw your point. I think it is reasonably safe to assume that torrents did not cause this current issue, they may have burned out my externals but they are long gone now and I just have the internal hitachi giving me grief so lets just go from there 

I posted above that I checked my temps and psu as best I could, I also have only essential devices connected. The amount i've had to dismantle this HTPC recently, only the essentials are hooked up.

I'm thinking its dead anyway. I've never had a hitachi before, this one drive will not taint my view of them.

Also, prior to my externals dying, i've been seagate all the way and never had any issues with them. 

EDIT: If the sectors pass again without remapping (I suspect they will) would anyone keep using the drive?


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## Elvandil (Aug 1, 2003)

Any other system that you could attach the drive to in order to run tests? Just chkdsk /r would tell you if there were weak/bad sectors. HD Tune can give you an alternative reading of S.M.A.R.T parameters from Windows.

I'd hate to toss a drive based on false positives, or tell someone else to do it.



> Also, prior to my externals dying, i've been seagate all the way and never had any issues with them.


Yes, others feel the same way. They are still in business, after all. _Suum cuique_.


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

Alright, just did another format.

Pending sector count had risen to 40, on completion of the test the sectors ahve all been cleared with no reallocation.

Smart values still indicate low values for seek performance and throughput performance however. Links attached below. One from the speedfan test and one from HD Sentinel.

I'm stumped, i'm pretty sure neither the shop nor hitachi are going to accept a replacement at this point, short of waiting for it to either become more broken or to stabalize, i'm not sure what else to do.

How alarming are the values for seek time performance and throughput performance? Bear in mind, these were perfect readings yesterday.

Cheers, Jay

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/captureucg.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/203/capture1th.png/

(compare to the imageshack links in my earlier post for a comparative view of changes in smart since yesterday)

EDIT: No, I have no other system I could use. I have a barebones of a p4 but that has no PSU so would be largely redundant if I hookd my current PSU up to it I guess. I ran a chkdsk /B (which implies R?) earlier and that bumped my count up from 16 to 40 pending. Much like when I first ran into the pending sectors only on that day the count went from 16 - 72 after a chkdsk /b)

I appreciate your time,

Jay

EDIT2: I called hitachi for some 'technical support' and got told that they don't use S.M.A.R.T and to ignore all information it was giving as long as the drive passes there own diagnostic software. Whilst it does pass i'm loathe to just ignore the smart readings, I don't think he was right? Surely?


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## fluffydemise (Dec 2, 2012)

I'm not sure what the guy's at hitachi are smoking but they have just told me I can RMA the drive and have a replacement in about 10 days. I did say that I was uncertain as to the fault and what would happen if they tested the drive as fine, would they send it back to me? The response was unexpected. They said it does not matter, they won't even test the drive for many weeks after it is received. I get my replacement regardless (though a refurb :/) and if the drive is tested healthy then they will just give it out as a refurb to somebody else.

I suppose it is a _resolution_ but it doesn't resolve the questions surrounding why it's happening. I'm gonna hold on to the drive for a day or so longer just to rule out anything else obvious I may have missed. Also partly as well because if the drive is OK I don't wanna get a refurb replacement!

Thanks for all the help thus far!


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