Can't enable Write Cache of hard drive (WCE)

[iogl64nx]

Hello,

I have the odd issue on two drive one Toshiba 6TB and HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6TB drive that I can't enable the write cache on these hard drives.
While the other 2 HGST Ultarstars same model and another 6TB Toshiba works perfect.

I have tried in Windows and Linux, changed the ports, cables plugged it into the connection where the other worked but no luck.
I have tested it on a Intel PCH X99, NForce, Intel Z170 they all fail to change the cache on those two drives except: ->
The only way I can active the Write Cache is when I connect it to my Adaptec 71605 Controller which is strange?


I have also tried with sginfo in Linux but it fails too..I power cycled the drive also but no luck

Are these drives faulty is there a way to reset the firmware somehow? I filled already RMA but not sure what to tell them.

Thanks for your help

[Tomset]

Show SMART.

[fzabkar]

CrystalDiskInfo can retrieve the SMART and Identify Device data in hexadecimal form. If you use the Text option, you will avoid the necessity for your images to be moderated.

[iogl64nx]

Hello,

maybe you mean this output? BTW I started a extended S.M.A.R.T test with WinDFT 0.95.
Thanks for the advice.

Code:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) HGST HUS726060ALE610
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Model : HGST HUS726060ALE610
        Firmware : APGNT7J0
   Serial Number : ********
       Disk Size : 6001,1 GB (8,4/137,4/6001,1/----)
     Buffer Size : Unknown
     Queue Depth : 32
    # of Sectors : 11721045168
   Rotation Rate : 7200 RPM
       Interface : Serial ATA
   Major Version : ACS-2
   Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 4
   Transfer Mode : SATA/600 | SATA/600
  Power On Hours : 38 hours
  Power On Count : 14 count
     Temperature : 33 C (91 F)
   Health Status : Good
        Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
       APM Level : 00FEh [OFF]
       AAM Level : ----

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 100 100 _16 000000000000 Read Error Rate
02 138 138 _54 000000000064 Throughput Performance
03 140 140 _24 000101E301CA Spin-Up Time
04 100 100 __0 00000000000E Start/Stop Count
05 100 100 __5 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 100 100 _67 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
08 128 128 _20 000000000012 Seek Time Performance
09 100 100 __0 000000000026 Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 _60 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0C 100 100 __0 00000000000E Power Cycle Count
C0 100 100 __0 00000000000E Power-off Retract Count
C1 100 100 __0 00000000000E Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 181 181 __0 003100160021 Temperature
C4 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reallocation Event Count
C5 100 100 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
        0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
000: 045A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF FFFF 2020
020: 0003 0000 0038 4150 474E 5437 4A30 4847 5354 2048
030: 5553 3732 3630 3630 414C 4536 3130 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 4000 2F00
050: 4000 0200 0200 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 7100
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0407 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0C18
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 970E 0036 0CDE 0040
080: 03FC 0029 746B 7D69 4773 7449 BC41 4773 007F 8152
090: 0000 00FE FFFE 0000 0000 0008 00CA 00F9 2710 0000
100: F4B0 BAA0 0002 0000 00CA 0000 6003 5A87 5000 CCA2
110: 42D8 B69C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 40DC
120: 409C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 000B
130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0007 474E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0002 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 003D 0000 0000 4000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1C20 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 107F 0021 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: F4B0 BAA0 0002 0000 0008 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 91A5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
     +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 0B 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 05
010: 00 8A 8A 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 07 00 8C 8C CA
020: 01 E3 01 01 00 00 04 12 00 64 64 0E 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 05 33 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 0B
040: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 05 00 80 80 12
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 12 00 64 64 26 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0A 13 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 32
070: 00 64 64 0E 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32 00 64 64 0E
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 12 00 64 64 0E 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C2 02 00 B5 B5 21 00 16 00 31 00 00 C4 32
0A0: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 22 00 64 64 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 08 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C7 0A 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 F1 71 00 17 5B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 FF 00 AF 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 6E

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
     +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 36
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 18 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 05 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 43
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 14 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0A 3C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C4 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 64

[fzabkar]

Working Draft ATA/ATAPI Command Set - 3 (ACS-3):
http://www.t13.org/Documents/UploadedDo ... et_-_3.pdf

Bit 5 of words 82 and 85 of the Identify Device data block indicate whether the firmware supports a "volatile write cache" and whether it is enabled.

Code:

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
        0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9
080: 03FC 0029 746B 7D69 4773 7449 BC41 4773 007F 8152
                 ^              ^

In your case write caching is supported but disabled.

The Set Features 02h/82h subcommands enable/disable the volatile write cache.

There is also an SCT Feature Control command.

The SCT Feature Control command reports and sets the state (i.e., enabled or disabled) of the features specified by the command.

Code:

Feature Code     State Definition
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0001h            If State is set to 0001h, then the SET FEATURES command (see 7.45)
                 shall determine the state of the write cache (see 7.45.4). 

                 If State is set to 0002h, then write cache shall be enabled. 

                 If State is set to 0003h, then write cache shall be disabled. 

                 [b]If State is set to 0002h or 0003h, then write cache shall be set
                 to the specified state, and any attempt to change the write cache
                 settings using a SET FEATURES command shall not result in an error
                 and shall not change the operational state of the write cache.[/b] 

                 In all cases, IDENTIFY DEVICE data word 85 bit 5 (see 7.16.7.41)
                 shall reflect the current operational state of write cache
                 (i.e., if set to one, then volatile write cache is enabled, and
                 if cleared to zero, then write cache is disabled. The default is
                 State set to 0001h.

Hitachi's HUS726060ALE610 drive is a SATA model, not SAS (as you indicated in your yet-to-appear post).

Here is the correct technical manual:
https://www.hgst.com/sites/default/file ... Rev1.3.pdf

IIUC, the drive disables write caching if it runs out of spare sectors.

Non recovered write errors

When a write operation cannot be completed after the Error Recovery Procedure (ERP) is fully carried out, the sector(s) are reallocated to the spare location. An error is reported to the host system only when the write cache is disabled and the auto reallocation is failed. If the write cache function is ENABLED, and when the number of available spare sectors reaches 0 sectors, both auto reassign function and write cache function are disabled automatically.

However, your SMART report suggests that there is nothing wrong in that regard, ie no reallocated, pending or uncorrectable sectors.

You could use hdparm to enable/disable write caching:

http://linux.die.net/man/8/hdparm

To enable write caching ...

hdparm -W1 /dev/ice

To disable write caching ...

hdparm -W0 /dev/ice

[iogl64nx]

I tried it with hdparm too. But the same result it echos it will enable Write cache but on the new line the switch is off.
Is there a way to read out the SCT Table?

I never mentioned it is a SAS drive the specs I got from HGST support engineer obviously not knowing his own PartNumber and Serial Numbers.

So is there something else I can try? I used sginfo to change the value but it fails also..wenn using sginfo -cXR. Somehow the drive is in a strange state

[fzabkar]

You might like to experiment with the SCT Feature Control command. You could use HDDSuperTool to send this command to the drive via a script.

http://www.sdcomputingservice.com/hddsupertool

[iogl64nx]

Thanks for your help. But I guess it is to complicated for me to get this done.
I wonder how the Adaptec Controller is able to enable Write cache while the Intel X99 PCHs/nForce SATA Controller are not able to do so - very odd.

Ah yeah also something I noticed both drives aren't recognized when I plug them into running system..I have to reboot the system while all the other drives I can hotplug/swap any time.

Well I filled RMA for the Toshiba drive already with the same issue ..I will RMA the HGST too..seems to be the easiest solution.

[fzabkar]

When the drive is behind a RAID controller, perhaps it is the controller's write cache that is enabled rather than the drive's??? Is the controller configured for RAID or AHCI?

BTW, WCE (Writeback Cache Enable) is a SCSI parameter, and sginfo is a SCSI tool.

[iogl64nx]

When I enable the WCE (write cache) on the Adaptec and plug the Hard drive to the Intel it is sstill enabled and the outpute shows WCE is enabled.
I don't use the controller to enable the dfrives cache since it would require me to init the drive and all data is lost. So I just plug it into raw mode and enable Write cache of Windows or hdparm in Linux. Strange behaviour right?
The controller of Intel is configured as Raid and AHCI I tried both configs. I also switched the mainboard, chipset (7170, X99 and an old nForce).

But sginfo should work SATA too as far as I know and read.