G73JH-A2 Hard drive failure warning

Hey guys, I'm back It's been awhile, but I've been too busy enjoying this fantastic computer Other than the mysterious hard drive disappearing problem I had within a week of getting this (which appears to have disappeared since then), just yesterday I started getting a Windows hard drive failure warning upon startup and reoccurring every now and then.. Keep in mind, though, that it's a software, not hardware warning (ie the error is not from internal diagnostics) and I'm still able to use the drive (read/write still works fine) and everything otherwise looks perfectly ok. Therefore, after doing some research online of similar cases, I'm thinking that the drive is fine, but that Windows is having trouble communicating with the drive. I have BIOS version 206, and have done nothing to the internals. It's running completely stock, except for the removal of some drivers which weren't needed. Anyone have any advice?

 

It sounds like hardware.

Check to make sure it's securely connected inside the G73, and reseat if neccesary.

Read the smart values using HDTune and see if something's bad in there.

 

The problem could be anywhere from the SATA controller in the HM55 chipset to the drive. Regardless, it's a problem - normal running PCs do not have disappearing drives and drive failing warnings. How valuable is your data?

 

I will open up the bottom and take a look at the drive itself as soon as I find a screwdriver that fits those tiny screws Also I'll run an HDTune test when I get the chance, report any errors that might get thrown.

I don't have very much on there, just my personal stuff (videos, pictures, music, documents) and it only takes up 15 GB, so it's all backed up onto an external. Luckily I'm running Windows off the other drive, so if this drive does fail, the computer shouldn't crash, and I'll have a chance to properly fix it.

 

It's not the HDTune test I want you to run, though that might tell you something.

There's a tab called "health" that tells you SMART values.

 

Ah ok, thanks for the clarification. Will have those values posted asap.

 

And I unfortunately get to bring back a negative report The health status for the drive in HDTune says "Failed". With that said, what are my options at this point? How long can I keep using it before it totally goes kaput? Can I just get a replacement drive from Asus or do I have to RMA the whole thing?

 

SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is a system built into hard drives that when polled, most often at boot (if not disabled), can give you a predictive indication of the health of the hard drive through various attribute names. Some attributes are important, while others are not. Western Digital only looks at a small subset to determine whether the drive is warrantable.

Some have criticized SMART because it can't really be used to indicate future reliability. Because by the time the important attributes have reached and exceeded the critical threshold values, it's likely that the drive already failed. Also, lockups and other sudden stops will degrade the values, but the drive can still be within specs. So, while the information is better than nothing, it should be understood that it's not 100 percent reliable for indicating the future health of the drive.

 

Which basically means that while it's not encouraging information, there's still a chance that it's going to be okay, right? I mean, the only value that failed was the "Reallocated Sector Count", and I'm not sure what it means since I don't know a lot about the details of how hard drives work, but since that's the only thing that failed, is there still a chance that the drive is going to be okay? I have attached a screenshot so anyone interested can give it a look and maybe help decipher it.

 

The attribute names of concern are as follows:

[05] Count of reallocated sectors
"When the hard drive finds a read/write/verification error, it marks this sector as "reallocated" and transfers data to a special reserved area (spare area). This process is also known as remapping, and "reallocated" sectors are called remaps. This is why, on modern hard disks, "bad blocks" cannot be found while testing the surface – all bad blocks are hidden in reallocated sectors. However, as the number of reallocated sectors increases, the read/write speed tends to decrease. The raw value normally represents a count of the number of bad sectors that have been found and remapped. Thus, the higher the attribute value, the more sectors the drive has had to reallocate."

[0A] Spin Retry Count
"Count of retry of spin start attempts. This attribute stores a total count of the spin start attempts to reach the fully operational speed (under the condition that the first attempt was unsuccessful). An increase of this attribute value is a sign of problems in the hard disk mechanical subsystem."

[B8] End-to-End error
"This attribute is a part of HP's SMART IV technology and it means that after transferring through the cache RAM data buffer the parity data between the host and the hard drive did not match."​

In my opinion, a new drive shouldn't start out having that many bad blocks. If you have made sure that the drive is firmly plugged into the controller, I would consider getting it replaced.

 

Thanks for your help, Kalim. Checking the physical drive and verifying its connections are secure is the last thing I have yet to do. I am currently running a chkdsk test to see what it comes up with. When I first ran just a plan chkdsk with no parameters, the check found no errors, but now I am running a more detailed check with the /f /x /r parameters. If that test throws any errors, I will report them here for the sake of a different source of evidence.

 

I use these for working on computers:
32-Piece Mini Screwdriver Set with Assorted Bits
I've had a lot of instances before where I can hear the head knocking on an HD that won't boot, yet it passes SMART. That happened 6 months ago on one of our machines at work. When the tech took the machine apart, you could literally hear the head knocking, but it was OK with the SMART report at boot. SMART is about useless as far as I'm concerned.

 

Whoa, this is odd. I just downloaded HD Tune v2.55 to see what my G73's ST9500420AS SMART data looks like. Both Rhynoxx and I have the same model of hard drive and with the exception of that purple down arrow thingy in the title bar, which I don't have, the tab is blank (no attribute names or values).

Edit: HWiNFO32 reads the SMART data just fine. Maybe there's something goofy with HD Tune and Seagate drives?

 

Well, I don't know if this would change your opinion of it being odd, but for my other normal drive, the health tab is blank as well. That purple down arrow just showed up when I took a screenshot through the program itself, it doesn't actually mean anything. But for the normal drive, nothing comes up, so I think that a blank Health tab is a good thing

Edit: The chkdsk test just finished, and reports no errors. Knowing that everything is backed up, I'm just gonna keep using the drive, and if it does fail, I've lost nothing, and I'll just replace it.

 

You mean one of your ST9500420AS drives shows the SMART data and the other ST9500420AS doesn't? If I have it right, that is truly odd.

Have you tried HWiNFO32 to read the SMART data? Because HD Tune is acting odd, perhaps a second opinion is in order.

Never been a fan of SeaCrate drives. I'm tempted to replace it, perhaps something Western Digital.

 

You've got it right. For the SMART data from HWiNFO32, all it does is display temperatures, with a difference in operating temperatures of 2 degrees. Am I supposed to be looking for something else?

 

In HWiNFO32, what do you see in the right-hand side panel when you expand the following location:

"Drives" -> "(S)ATA/ATAPI Drives" -> "ST9500420AS"

At the bottom should be where all the SMART data is located. You're not seeing this?

 

NM I was looking at the optical (what a d*mbass*). Lots of SMART data for the Seagate.

 

That's weird, that window wasn't even showing information last time. The SMART report for the drive through HWiNFO32 shows about 20 or so entries, same ones as HDTune, and every entry except one has a green check mark, and the one that doesn't is Reallocated Sector Count, but this time, it only shows a cautionary yellow triangle, not a bold red "FAILED". And unlike HDTune, HWiNFO32 shows SMART data for the other normal drive too - same entries, every single one green check mark, as expected.