hello,

i`ve got a notebook hdd TOSHIBA MK3256GSY- 103NTBGMT from an friend (there is not enough mony for a dr-company) with the following problems:

when connected via sata it sometimes shows up when booting the pc sometimes not. i`ve also conntected it to a hardware raidcontroller which does an alarm and then drops the hdd. i can reconnect the hdd to the raid controller. is`t recognized correctly and then again get`s dropped out.

so i`ve also tested the disk under winxp with esata & usb connection.
it get`s connected but when i open the explorer, the explorer will hang most of the time but sometimes shows me the partitions of the drive. i i wan`t to open one partition it will hang again. i tried testdisk but it also hangs.

so the next step was to boot into with linux (disk conntected with sata to motherboard). (knoppix / gparted via usbstick)
i wasn`t able to see the disk. i think it dropped itself before linux was completly loaded.

my last idea was another linux distribution which is on ultimate boot cd. (i`m mostly working with windows so my linux knowledge is very limited)

i`ve booted with ubcd then connected the hdd via usb to the pc and used smartmontools to scan for the drive. it was found and showed it`s correct name. then i clicked on smart data (which i`ve saved as file)

smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09 r3365 [i686-linux-3.0.0-pmagic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: TOSHIBA MK3256GSY
Serial Number: 103NTBGMT
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000039 241b0068f
Firmware Version: LH013C
User Capacity: 320,072,933,376 bytes [320 GB]
Sector Size: 512 bytes logical/physical
Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Fri Mar 30 04:22:35 2012 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal Attributes.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 121) The previous self-test completed having
the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 120) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x51) SMART execute Offline immediate.
No Auto Offline data collection support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 79) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x0033) SCT Status supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 099 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0007 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 100 100 002 Pre-fail Always - 1912
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1745
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 049 049 010 Pre-fail Always - 1049
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 082 082 000 Old_age Always - 7549
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 134 100 030 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1742
183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0022 100 100 001 Old_age Always - 113
184 End-to-End_Error 0x0033 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0
185 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 001 Old_age Always - 65535
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 4643
188 Command_Timeout 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 001 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 065 028 045 Old_age Always In_the_past 35 (Min/Max 35/36)
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 601
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 16908546
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 092 092 000 Old_age Always - 83911
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 60
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 982
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 7926 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 7926 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7549 hours (314 days + 13 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 20 34 f3 68 e0 Error: UNC 32 sectors at LBA = 0x0068f334 = 6878004

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 55 26 2e f3 68 e0 00 00:01:20.782 READ DMA EXT
25 55 26 08 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:20.769 READ DMA EXT
25 55 1c ec f2 68 e0 00 00:01:20.761 READ DMA EXT
25 55 26 c6 f2 68 e0 00 00:01:20.752 READ DMA EXT
25 55 26 a0 f2 68 e0 00 00:01:20.744 READ DMA EXT

Error 7925 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7549 hours (314 days + 13 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 01 34 f3 68 e0 Error: UNC 1 sectors at LBA = 0x0068f334 = 6878004

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 55 01 34 f3 68 e0 00 00:00:11.298 READ DMA EXT
ef 55 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:00:11.297 SET FEATURES [Disable read look-ahead]
ef 03 45 00 00 00 a0 00 00:00:11.297 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
ef 02 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:00:11.297 SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
ef 03 0c 00 00 00 a0 00 00:00:11.297 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

Error 7924 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7549 hours (314 days + 13 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 01 34 f3 68 e0 Error: UNC 1 sectors at LBA = 0x0068f334 = 6878004

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 d0 01 34 f3 68 e0 00 00:00:07.495 READ DMA EXT
35 d0 01 07 00 00 e0 00 00:00:03.643 WRITE DMA EXT
25 d0 01 07 00 00 e0 00 00:00:03.627 READ DMA EXT
35 d0 01 07 00 00 e0 00 00:00:03.626 WRITE DMA EXT
25 d0 01 07 00 00 e0 00 00:00:03.610 READ DMA EXT

Error 7923 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7549 hours (314 days + 13 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 01 34 f3 68 e0 Error: UNC 1 sectors at LBA = 0x0068f334 = 6878004

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 55 01 34 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:19.293 READ DMA EXT
25 55 01 33 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:19.285 READ DMA EXT
25 55 01 32 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:19.276 READ DMA EXT
25 55 01 31 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:19.268 READ DMA EXT
25 55 01 30 f3 68 e0 00 00:01:19.260 READ DMA EXT

Error 7922 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 7549 hours (314 days + 13 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 20 34 f3 68 e0 Error: UNC 32 sectors at LBA = 0x0068f334 = 6878004

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 55 26 2e f3 68 e0 00 00:01:00.408 READ DMA EXT
ef 55 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:01:00.408 SET FEATURES [Disable read look-ahead]
ef 03 45 00 00 00 a0 00 00:01:00.408 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
ef 02 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:01:00.408 SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
ef 03 0c 00 00 00 a0 00 00:01:00.408 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline Completed: read failure 90% 7529 6042664
# 2 Short offline Completed: read failure 90% 7528 6042664

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.


shortly after that the drive droped off. i`ve again clicked on scan for drives and it then only was shows as unknow device.

i`ve dis-reconnected the drive and it was found again.
so the problem is the drive always starts then after + 20-30secs does not respond.

i`ve also tested with gparted (shortly after this the disk again did not respond)
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7413/2 ... 045627.jpg

i`ve then had the idea to click on test function in smartmontools and let the drive do the short test (2min) the drive stays online for this time and after the test was finished it stops responding again.

so my next idea was to do all the stuff again and directly after starting the smartmontools selftest i`ve started testdisk and tried to check the bootsector / mft. bootsector is ok. but mft and mft mirror of the partition with the relevant data are corrupt and can`t be fixed with testdisk.

with testdisk i`ve also tried to copy some data from the hdd to another hdd. which worked for some small selected files but then the drive starts stopping to respond again. (i think because the smartmontools test was finished)

i tried exactly the same stuff again but instead of the smartmoontools short test i`ve selected the long test and now with testdisk i was able to copy more data from the disk until it again stopped responding.

so i think the disks does a selftest when starting and then fuckes up itself.
when i force the disk to do a selftest via smartctl it stays "online" for longer time.

so is there a way to disable this selfmanagement of the disk so i can connect via testdisk and can rescue more data without always powercycle the disk?
or a way to let the disk do the short selftest in a loop and while the disk is selftesting itself over and over i can rescue data from it via testdisk?

thanks

no one please i need your help. my described soloution is working but it`s very slow. so it would be nice if someone can answer my questions regarding the selfmanagement of the disk in the bottom of my post.

61 views and nothing? i think what i`ve described here is also relevant for other members in this forum. because i`ve been able to gain access to this disk without any special hardware. where normally in other threads the users have been informend that it`s only possible with special hardware.

You seem to want very specific info and are not asking for "any suggestions". Therefore IMHO you just have to wait for the people who might have experienced that specific situation, and see if those people choose to reply (or not).

If you had asked for more general suggestions, you may have got more replies - for example, I know what I would do differently from you, but I can't answer your specific question and hence I haven't replied earlier (but I'm one of the 61 views!).

The "Other memebers in this forum" MUST be happy with your "solution" then. The specialized tools of course are safer AND are always "responsive" , while your "solution" is not.

P.S. copy data as fast as you can

try to use ddrescue to clone it and get off your data. On our tools we can handle a disk like yours but with nothing you can not. Try and clone it and get off your data then get a new HDD. Plain and simple there is not a solution for you if you do not have tools to work with that can handle a drive like this. You might have to keep going like you are if you choose this way to do it. Warning if you keep going like this you can loose it all and kill the HDD for sure. It is your data, your drive and your DIY that you are doing. Good luck

_________________
Iorana Haraharaini

haha thanks for the info

ddrescue won`t work because the disk often goes "offline" and then i have to restart the drive. so i`ve asked because maybe someone knows a trick to force the disk doing a selftest after 5sec abort the selftest then restart the selftest and so on. so the disk will be in a loop and stays online while i copy data from it. for now i force it to do a short 2min selftest then directly after it finished i restart the selftest manually while coping data from it. the most important data is allready rescued its very slow but better than nothing.