[SGVLUG] FW: Hard drive question

[serross at ix.netcom.com]

Try them anyway, can't hurt.......

>
>Thanks Stephen,
>
>As the drive is over a year old I assumed the manufacturer would be no help.  I purchased it through Fry's against my better judgment (never going to do that again!) so no help from the store.
>
>Matt
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net [mailto:sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net] On Behalf Of serross at ix.netcom.com
>Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 3:56 PM
>To: SGVLUG Discussion List.
>Subject: RE: [SGVLUG] FW: Hard drive question
>
>
>Have you tried to contact the drive maker? I was having trouble with a USB drive and contacted the maker and they had a solution.
>
>Stephen
>
>>
>>Hi Claude,
>>
>> 
>>
>>Thanks for the help.
>>
>> 
>>
>>You can find the fdisk output you asked for at the end of this post, but
>>seeing that this is a USB drive it probably won't be a lot of help. ;)
>>
>> 
>>
>>I did format it DOS on Linux, then take it back to Windoze, it failed format
>>again.
>>
>> 
>>
>>I tried to see the drive with the low level utilities, but as it is in a USB
>>case it was not recognized.
>>
>> 
>>
>>I guess the next thing to do is to remove it from the case and hook it up
>>direct to the DOS utilities.
>>
>> 
>>
>>Great question about comparable Linux utilities to Partition Magic, anyone
>>have thoughts?  Some day Linux will catch up with DOS... ;)
>>
>> 
>>
>>Matt
>>
>> 
>>
>>P.S.  I'm still confused after 20odd years of email about etiquette and top
>>posting vs. the other options.  What is the consensus on this group?
>>
>> 
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>
>>From: sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net [mailto:sgvlug-bounces at sgvlug.net] On Behalf
>>Of Claude Felizardo
>>
>>Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 11:50 AM
>>
>>To: SGVLUG Discussion List.
>>
>>Subject: Re: [SGVLUG] FW: Hard drive question
>>
>> 
>>
>>On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 11:03 AM, Matt Campbell <dvdmatt at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> This was sent a couple of weeks ago, but was rejected by the server, 
>>
>>> anyone have any suggestions?
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Matt
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> From: Matthew Campbell
>>
>>>  Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 1:02 AM
>>
>>>  To: 'SGVLUG Discussion List.'
>>
>>>  Subject: Hard drive question
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I have an interesting problem I have been struggling with.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I have a 260G LaCie USB drive that I have been using under Windows for 
>>
>>> some time.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I had a data error on it, so I tried to format the drive.  I get the 
>>
>>> message "Format didn't complete successfully".  When I try and copy 
>>
>>> data to the drive I get a "write failed" error around 11% of the way
>>through the copy.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I can fdisk, mkfs.exxt3 and copy 100Gig to it fine under Linux.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I can delete that partition under windows, but when I try and create a 
>>
>>> new partition it fails immediately.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I would like to transfer some video files to a Windows user with this
>>drive.
>>
>>> I could DOS format the drive, but then it couldn't handle the large 
>>
>>> video files.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> I don't think I can format the drive NTFS under Linux.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> As far as I know there is no longer such a thing as a low level hard 
>>
>>> drive format.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> So, what are my options?
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Is there a file system I can create under Linux which can handle large 
>>
>>> files that the DOS user can read?
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Is there a way to recover this drive so that it can be partitioned or 
>>
>>> formatted under Windoze?  Would wiping the partition table allow 
>>
>>> Windows to start fresh?
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Is there a utility under Linux that can rescan the drive and mark any 
>>
>>> new bad sectors?  Is this what could be tripping up the Windows format?
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>>
>>> 
>>
>>> Matt
>>
>> 
>>
>>I really don't like external USB drives because you can't check the status
>>of the drive.  It could be getting soft errors until it runs out of spare
>>sectors then it's toast.
>>
>> 
>>
>>First guess, I'd say windows doesn't like the partition table.  What does
>>fdisk -l /dev/sd? report?
>>
>> 
>>
>>Using Linux, you could delete all the partitions and then create one big
>>partition and format it and have it check for bad sectors.  Use FAT32.  On
>>my desktop here at work, I use partition id 0x0b which fdisk reports as "W95
>>FAT32".  Largest file size for FAT32 is 4 GB I think.
>>
>> 
>>
>>Otherwise, you could use Linux to wipe out the partition table or possibly
>>create the NTFS partition but let windows do the formatting.
>>
>> 
>>
>>However its sounds like the drive may have issues.  If possible, I'd put it
>>into a desktop and try and use spinrite to perform a low level format.
>>Catch is it requires DOS/windoze and you must have a valid partition table.
>>I've used it to bring a marginal disk back to life but the drive would
>>usually fail within a few years.
>>
>> 
>>
>>I also used to use partition magic 8 (yet another dos/windoze tool) and it
>>works fine for FAT32 and ext2/3 partitions but it has issues with NFTS.  I
>>really wish they'd update that tool but there's been no updates since
>>symantec/norton bought them out.
>>
>> 
>>
>>If anyone has used comparable Linux tools, I'd like to hear about it.
>>
>> 
>>
>>claude
>>
>> 
>>
>>No virus found in this incoming message.
>>
>>Checked by AVG. 
>>
>>Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.21.7/1332 - Release Date: 3/17/2008
>>10:48 AM
>>
>> 
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>> 
>>
>>root at scar:9# fdisk -l /dev/sd?
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sda: 251.0 GB, 251000193024 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30515 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00070acf
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sda1   *           1          25      200781   83  Linux
>>
>>/dev/sda2              26        1937    15358140   83  Linux
>>
>>/dev/sda3            1938        2574     5116702+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
>>
>>/dev/sda4            2575       30515   224436082+   5  Extended
>>
>>/dev/sda5            2575       30515   224436051   83  Linux
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdb: 750.1 GB, 750156374016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00093692
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdb1   *           1       91201   732572001   fd  Linux raid
>>autodetect
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdc: 750.1 GB, 750156374016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x0005e2ca
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdc1   *           1       91201   732572001   fd  Linux raid
>>autodetect
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdd: 750.1 GB, 750156374016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x0000329e
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdd1   *           1       91201   732572001   fd  Linux raid
>>autodetect
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sde: 750.1 GB, 750156374016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x0008f5b0
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sde1   *           1       91201   732572001   fd  Linux raid
>>autodetect
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdf: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x35f75ecd
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdf1               1      121601   976760001   83  Linux
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdg: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x933dd9ec
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdg1               1      121601   976760001   83  Linux
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdh: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0x692b8694
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdh1               1      121601   976760001   83  Linux
>>
>> 
>>
>>Disk /dev/sdi: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
>>
>>255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 *
>>512 = 8225280 bytes Disk identifier: 0xd16d742e
>>
>> 
>>
>>   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>>
>>/dev/sdi1               1      121601   976760001   83  Linux
>>
>>root at scar:10# 
>>
>> 
>>
>> 
>>
>