Internal drive disappears when trying to copy LOTS of files TO it

I am trying to copy a large number of files (500GB) from one internal drive to a partition on another internal drive. Unfortunately, the copy operation will copy a few files <very very slowly> but after a short while the target drive will "disappear" and the copy operation will crash. I have tried using TeraCopy and FreeFileSync but the same problem occurs with those alternatives. (After a restart, the drive will again be available in Windows)
Suspecting a hardware problem on the target drive, I ran chkdsk X: /F which found no problems. Both drives are 3TB GPT formatted HGST (Hitachi/Western Digital) drives so I also ran WinDFT which is Western Digital's tool to check their HGST drives. Again, no errors were found on either the short or long tests on either the source drive or the target drive.
Drivers are supposedly ok. Another suspect would have been some sort of a faulty SATA controller driver. To test this, I connected the drive externally via a USB3 connected toaster where I encountered the same problem.
I am out of ideas. Any ideas what might be going on here? Any other suggestions what troubleshooting steps I can take?

Hello TheAncient!

These are large files that you are trying to copy!
My advice would be to reseat the SATA cables of the second drive (target drive), and even using new ones, if you think you should – also different ports.
Then try and copy the files again but this time not all at once. Depending on how full, old and healthy your drive is, the large copying at once could be making it malfunction.
Do you have any other information on that drive? I suggest, just in case, you back it up somewhere else!
If you have the opportunity, after backing up the information of that drive, write full zeros to it and repartition and reformat it. The problem could also be that the partition tables is experiencing some issues.

Hope any of this helps! :)

CK_WD

@CKWD: There are numerous files in this "package" of 500GB I am trying to copy: Many of them are small files (MP3s) and quite a few are large (Movies). Since my original post I have tried copying smaller chunks - i.e. sub-directories - and it appears that the smaller files copy fine (although slow) but the larger files are giving me grief. In my original post I mentioned that I had removed the drive from its bay and had instead connected it via USB3 but encountered the same problems. Encountering the same problems when the drive is connected in a completely different way, pretty much eliminates the possibility of flaky ports or flaky cables etc. Further info on the drive: its a 3TB HGST drive, model: HUA723030ALA640 (3Tb drives haven't been around all that long so this drive is relatively new). The drive is formatted with 2 partitions; Partition 1 = 600GB (works fine), Partition 2 = 600 GB (this is the target partition), the rest is free space. I really don't want to wipe the drive as it would mean first copying Partition 1 to some other place. Besides, if the drive seems healthy in all other respects and both, WinDFT and Chkdsk declare it healthy, chances are, it really IS healthy.

Update: I have now copied all files to the new partition and verified it against the original using FreeFileSync. I then started moving the files from the new partition to an entirely different drive - subdirectory by subdirectory, and intermittently attempted to back up that new drive to yet another partition i.e. M=>N (COPY:first post) N=>Q (MOVE) Q=>T (Acronis Image Copy) - Now the drive that is supposed to store the backup ("T") keeps disconnecting. (of course the image of the drive is still a very large file - or will be a very large file if the backup ever finishes). The fact that I now get an entirely different drive disconnecting tells me that this is likely NOT a hardware problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell me what else it could be. Any ideas anyone?

Have you looked in Event Viewer to see if there is any error listed ?

Maybe you have a corrupt file(s) causing the issue.
Does FreeFileSync have an option so you can create a log, and possibly see what file is causing the problem.

Robocopy (built into Windows) has an option to create a log file showing the files being copied.

@DavidE: There is no one single file causing the problem - rather if there is lots of activity i.e. large files are being copied (or created as was the case when I tried to create a backup), the target drive (and that may be one drive today and a different one tomorrow) seems to get overloaded somehow and just disconnects. FreeFileSync does create a log but there is no file that stands out. As I described above, I eventually managed to copy all files - I just had to take smaller "chunks"
The Event log has a few interesting entries: There are about a gazillion entries "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0." - unfortunately that does not mean much to me. There are also a gazillion entries "The device, \Device\Harddisk3\DR3, is not ready for access yet." (This could be any disk number) - this entry makes sense: once the drive disconnects, it is obviously "not ready yet" to be accessed.
Since there are a LOT of entries in those logs, I will wipe all logs. Once they are cleared, it should be easier to figure out what is happening right now. In the meantime, if anyone has any thoughts about that controller error, it would be greatly appreciated.

I would run a System File Check to see if that finds any errors.
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

There are a lot of Google hits for "The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0."
https://www.google.com/search?as_q=&...dr=all&start=0

Looks like many people have this issue, but there doesn't seem to be one solution for everyone...
Lots of reading...

Perhaps a useful tip would be to check your controller chip on the motherboard, see if you need to download the latest drivers from the motherboard's site.
Also, make sure that you have checked the Disk Health, S.M.A.R.T. Parameters and also have a software test the file data transfer rates across the disk.
In Event Viewer you could double click on the error to see if it would bring up any specific detail on it so that you'd know how to better proceed.

CK_WD

@DavidE: I ran the System File Checker before I ever posted here (and just ran it again): No problems found.
As for googling the controller error, there are dozens of suggestions (most of which I have already tried) but, as you pointed out so diplomatically: "there doesn't seem to be one solution for everyone". There is no common thread to the suggestions either: it seems like the people answering, are "flailing at windmills". They might as well be saying "try everything". I am hoping to narrow things down a bit.
@profdlp, @CKWD: In my original post I stated: "I also ran WinDFT which is Western Digital's tool to check their HGST drives". WINFDFT also checks the SMART parameters and did not reveal anything useful. (I also ran CrystalDiskInfo which also did not provide any useful information). The original post also states: "Drivers are supposedly ok" i.e. I tried updating the drivers via SystemMangler and was informed I already had the latest drivers. I also ran SlimDrivers which did not find any outdated drivers.
Checking the Eventviewer was suggested by DavidE before, but googling the controller error I found, unfortunately does not come up with any sort of common thread.
@Everyone: The errors I am getting are cropping up on various drives (about four of them so far) at various times. Those drives may be inserted into any one of 3 externally accessible drive bays or an external USB3 "toaster". I have switched out ALL SATA cables just in case: no difference. Trying to track down this problem is like playing whack-a-mole! Since the problem is occurring on different drives, on different ports, using different cables, I do not believe there is a problem with any of the drives. The only common denominator I have found is, that the disconnects always happen when dealing with large amount of data/large files. I suspect there must be something "systemic" that affects ALL drives/ports/cables.
One suspect was heat but CrystalDiskInfo confirms, none of the drives has any heat problems (none of the drives is over 40C) At this stage the only other suspect of a "systemic" nature is power. I will have to open up the machine and check the power supply and turn off some of the drives and see if the problem keeps reoccurring - although, 4 internal hard drives and 2 SSDs isn't really excessive (I am running the on-board graphics only - no fancy graphics setup). I'll post when I know more.