Re: [smartmontools-support]When is a dead disk really dead? (question about Reallocated Sector Count)

[ever w. <eve...@ya...>]

Thanks Sebastian, Volker & Jeremy for the advice. I
guess things are looking pretty grim. But there are a
few radical ideas I'm considering...

First of all, I know why my disk failed. I've been
using it in an extremely dusty environment for the
last 6 months.  Is it possible that dust has
accumulated on the disk itself, and if so, can I open
it up and flush it with a can of freon? Muahaha I have
nothing to lose.

--- Sebastian Vuorinen
<seb...@he...> wrote:

> Have you run any of the smart selftests on the
drive?
> Chances are a drive with that many reallocated
> sectors wouldn't 
> pass the long selftest.

How do I access the smart selftests? I only used
SMARTCTL.  But if there are other utilities, please
let me know.

> The current Toshiba models seem to have a 3 year
warranty.
> I'd at least contact my local Toshiba representative
to see if
> they would still arrange a replacement. I don't know
where 
> you live, but in most EU countries there is a
consumer protection 
> law that backs you up. If they say their product
lasts 5 years on 
> average, but it breaks just after a 12month nominal
warranty runs 
> out, they are still responsible.
> 
> Sebastian

Another reason for me to move to Europe! I live in New
York City. I called Toshiba, and as soon as they
realized I was out-of-warranty, they told me they
can't do anything. Maybe I was too polite. I'll try
again today, and this time I'll be a real wanker.

--- Volker Kuhlmann <lis...@pa...> wrote:

> > Is it possible to recover dead sectors and raise
the
> > Reallocated_Sector_Ct back above the threshold?
> 
> No and no.

s@#^ and f@#^#.

> Did a single dead sector corrupt the
> filesystem? Or did many
> dead sectors "cut holes" into your filesystem?

It looked like Swiss cheese.

> > I've even run CHKDSK several times w/ no errors
> found.
> 
> Means nothing. Checkdisk is a one-way tool: if it
> says block X is
> stuffed, then block X is stuffed. If it says
> nothing, that means
> nothing, other than that each tested disk block can
> hold its data for 2
> seconds. It doesn't say that each disk block will
> hold its data for more
> than a minute.
> 
> > Is it possible that my disk was fixed by
> reformatting?
> 
> Yes, temporarily. The time could be anything between
> 2 minutes and 2
> years. Time to through the disk out. You should have
> done that before
> reinstalling your OS.
> 
> > is still healthy, because my warranty just expired
> 2
> > months ago!!)
> 
> Bad luck :(
> 
> Volker

Yah, I guess things are looking pretty bad. By the
way, thanks for explaining CHKDSK; I never knew how
worthless it is :(

Well thanks for the advice, gang. Looks like I have
something to put on my last-minute Xmas list.

--- Jeremy James <jb...@fo...> wrote:

> A claimed life of 5 years, and yet a warranty of
> only 12 months? You've 
> been conned...
> 
> Best wishes,
> Jeremy

You're tellin me. I did a web search on "MK8025GAS
SMART Failure", and found that I'm not the only one
whose disk died right after 1 year. Avoid this HDD,
folks. Save yourselves!! Alas it is too late for
me......


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