HDD: chkdsk /r fails at same point each time

[zapp22]

someone more knowledgeable than I may know the 'rest of the story': I am working on a little WD "My Passport" usb ext drive which works, except it seems to 'hang' sometimes when put to use, or runs very slowly as measured by 7's little time-estimator and kb/s or mb/s meter. When I run WD's own diags, it fails but without a real error code - in other words the test can't really run. when I try to flash the firmware, it fails... cannot complete. when I run chkdsk /r it will fly through until exactly 10% into stage 4 of 5, then simply stops. no errors or bail out, it just halts, or rather appears to be waiting on a task which never turns.

the drive inside has its own unique interface to usb port: not a conventional sata that is frontended with an adapter board so I cannot test it sans usb-interface.

anyone have a clue as to what the issue may be? its clear the drive is untrustworthy for anything serious but for occasional use, I'm trying to get it a tad more coherent

thx
z

 

[Kaktussoft]

It stops at 10% into stage 4. Let it run for 4 hours.... still freezing? disk light flashing all the time?

 

[Kaktussoft]

What does WD diagnostics QUICK TEST tell you?

 

[zapp22]

Quick fails quickly and tells nothing. I think the labeling was "could not complete", marks "FAIL". Ran that on two different systems just to be sure. Firmware was already the last release but I tried to overwwrite that and it failed.

so I'm going to put back on chkdsk /r again to your point and just leave it for half a day today. Is chkdsk sequential, implying that there is a physical problem its gagging on?

yes light keeps on chugging. i have not looked up the sequences

 

[TVeblen]

It is possible that you have a connectivity problem. This is actually quite typical in portable external drives that are powered by the PC, not their own separate power source. Typically the drive just drops off the system without warning as if you switched it off.

The problem could be with the USB port on the PC, especially a laptop. If it is not supplying a steady 5v of power it will disconnect. You can try using all the other USB ports to see if you get the same behavior.

It could also be the USB cable. Check the connections to both the PC and the external. Try a different cable, if you have one.

It could be the connection inside the external's case. Inside the case is a standard 2.5" hard drive with standard SATA data and SATA power connections. The "cap" on the case plugs into these connections and provides the SATA to USB link. It is quite common for this "cap" to be loose and the connection poor. You can play with the cap, pressing it firmly into the case, or rocking it, while it is running to see if it stops disconnecting (or disconnects!) while you do so.

If you can't find any corrections or clues from the steps above then you might test the actual drive with the WD diagnostics while it is directly connected inside a desktop PC to a motherboard SATA port. You will need to crack open the external's case to do so. This will void any warranty, if there still is one. But it is the best way to test the actual drive to determine whether it is a failure or connectivity causing the problem.

 

[zapp22]

yep, already been through all that. its not a sata drive, at least not a normal one. the circuit board on this one is made specifically for the USB interface. there is no other interface except that double row jumper-block looking thingy that modern drives have [what is that thing for, anyway?].
the cable is good. it will stay connected seemingly forever. does not drop off, and does not fail to come online unlike many external drives. it has been sitting now at this morning's attempt for 7 hours, at the same exact spot: chkdsk /r stage 4 of 5 10% complete. no errors in the feedback lines generated prior to that.

i guess I'll chalk it up as one of those one-off oddities that happens. dunno why. its fine to use for non-important tasks.

 

[TVeblen]

That I believe is the PATA connector on an IDE laptop drive.
It looks like this:



And a SATA laptop drive looks like this:

 

[zapp22]

nope, but a worthy try.
look at your picture of the SATA drive: the unnamed/unidentified block of pins to the left is the one I speak of.

 

[zapp22]

well, well... at 24+ hours I checked-in on the patient: Stage 4 finally completed with a rash of "bad cluster" operations - Stage 5 is now 16% complete.

physical damage??

 

[Kaktussoft]

What does WD diagnostics QUICK TEST tell you?

Do a quick test and extended test as well. Try to repair the bad sectors. What errors does it display?

 

[zapp22]

answered above; fails to complete.