I recently purchased Hard Disk Sentinel Pro 4.5 to perform surface refreshes of my hard drives. The refreshes have all completed, but on 2 of my 4 drives, those that are my larger drives (1TB and 2TB), Windows 8 would start seriously struggling after some time during the HDSP refresh process. For example, Chrome and IE11 would either not start, or appear to be starting very, very slowly. More alarmingly, Task Manager would not even appear on the screen!
In both cases, after HDSP finished the surface scan (read+write+read), the Win8 problems didn't go away. In both cases, I was unable to restart the computer as it would appear to get stuck shutting down. I had to perform a hard reset. All of this is on a machine that is otherwise very stable. Any ideas on what is causing this behavior after HDSP Pro runs for some time doing a surface refresh?
I should note that the system drive is an SSD and is NOT one of the 4 hard drives I was refreshing. A very small swap file is on the SSD, and is almost never used because I have 32GB of RAM in the system. I tell you this because HDSP says that it locks the drive it is refreshing, and so each time I used HDSP to refresh a hard drive, it was NOT locking the Windows system drive.
The system is a new one that I built less than a year ago and is running Win8.1 64-bit with all of the latest updates. The MB is an Asus Maximus VI Hero with an Intel I7-4771. The hard drives are all by HGST.
Thanks in advance.
Larry
Problem with HDSPro and Win8
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
Thanks for your message and exucse me fot the possible issues.
However, I'm not really sure if these are related to Hard Disk Sentinel.
I can confirm that Hard Disk Sentinel has no effect on your system drive and/or programs launched from it if you perform testing the other hard disks.
During the write-type test, yes, Hard Disk Sentinel need to lock the appropriate hard disk for exclusive use, to perform the test on that.
This results that the hard disk is not available for other programs (including the OS) during the test.
Not sure, but maybe one or more applications (or the OS) need to use hard disk during the test - and this causes that those software may seem crash?
But after the test, the lock released by Hard Disk Sentinel, so everything should work fine without problems.
> Any ideas on what is causing this behavior after HDSP Pro runs for some time doing a surface refresh?
Can you please use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option?
This may give some ideas, thoughts.
Not sure, but it possible that the issue may be related to the current driver of the motherboard chipset (where the hard disks are connected).
> I should note that the system drive is an SSD and is NOT one of the 4 hard drives I was refreshing.
> I tell you this because HDSP says that it locks the drive it is refreshing, and so each time I used HDSP to refresh a hard drive,
> it was NOT locking the Windows system drive.
Yes, of course.
Hard Disk Sentinel Pro locks the appropriate hard disk you selected for the test.
It does not lock the SSD - and of course, it can't lock it for exclusive use because of the OS running from that drive, as Windows constantly utilises many files on the system drive, preventing locking of that (and testing by write-type tests).
That's why the write tests are possible only on secondary (non-system) drives.
This is why there should be no problems with the software running from the OS drive (your SSD) as Hard Disk Sentinel does not perform any kind of locking with that drive, only your hard disk where the test is running.
However, I'm not really sure if these are related to Hard Disk Sentinel.
I can confirm that Hard Disk Sentinel has no effect on your system drive and/or programs launched from it if you perform testing the other hard disks.
During the write-type test, yes, Hard Disk Sentinel need to lock the appropriate hard disk for exclusive use, to perform the test on that.
This results that the hard disk is not available for other programs (including the OS) during the test.
Not sure, but maybe one or more applications (or the OS) need to use hard disk during the test - and this causes that those software may seem crash?
But after the test, the lock released by Hard Disk Sentinel, so everything should work fine without problems.
> Any ideas on what is causing this behavior after HDSP Pro runs for some time doing a surface refresh?
Can you please use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option?
This may give some ideas, thoughts.
Not sure, but it possible that the issue may be related to the current driver of the motherboard chipset (where the hard disks are connected).
> I should note that the system drive is an SSD and is NOT one of the 4 hard drives I was refreshing.
> I tell you this because HDSP says that it locks the drive it is refreshing, and so each time I used HDSP to refresh a hard drive,
> it was NOT locking the Windows system drive.
Yes, of course.
Hard Disk Sentinel Pro locks the appropriate hard disk you selected for the test.
It does not lock the SSD - and of course, it can't lock it for exclusive use because of the OS running from that drive, as Windows constantly utilises many files on the system drive, preventing locking of that (and testing by write-type tests).
That's why the write tests are possible only on secondary (non-system) drives.
This is why there should be no problems with the software running from the OS drive (your SSD) as Hard Disk Sentinel does not perform any kind of locking with that drive, only your hard disk where the test is running.
Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
When I go to "Send Test Report", it's not clear what is being sent other than the Comments typed in to the dialog box. Does something else get attached? The report you get from the Report menu?
My comments on locking drives were simply meant to convey that Windows and its swap file are both on the SSD, and I wasn't testing the SSD. I didn't realize that Windows prevents (and should prevent) a program like HDSP from locking the system drive.
I understand that HDSP might not be the root of the problem. The evidence so far is that the problem manifests itself only when running an HDSP surface refresh. The problem does not manifest itself when HDSP is simply monitoring the hard drives. I have been so far successfully running HDSP today with no surface testing being performed.
It is startling to me that the problem, when manifested, prevents Task Manager from displaying. Other Windows functions, such as the Start screen and the CTRL-ALT_DEL menu, continue to function normally.
I did make one change today: I use PerfectDisk and I turned off its SMART monitoring, which was on. I will run a test of HDSP surface refresh with PerfectDisk disabled so that it doesn't try to start a defrag operation. It's hard to believe, though, that PerfectDisk encountering a locked disk would completely bog down Win8. I'll let you know the results of the test.
My comments on locking drives were simply meant to convey that Windows and its swap file are both on the SSD, and I wasn't testing the SSD. I didn't realize that Windows prevents (and should prevent) a program like HDSP from locking the system drive.
I understand that HDSP might not be the root of the problem. The evidence so far is that the problem manifests itself only when running an HDSP surface refresh. The problem does not manifest itself when HDSP is simply monitoring the hard drives. I have been so far successfully running HDSP today with no surface testing being performed.
It is startling to me that the problem, when manifested, prevents Task Manager from displaying. Other Windows functions, such as the Start screen and the CTRL-ALT_DEL menu, continue to function normally.
I did make one change today: I use PerfectDisk and I turned off its SMART monitoring, which was on. I will run a test of HDSP surface refresh with PerfectDisk disabled so that it doesn't try to start a defrag operation. It's hard to believe, though, that PerfectDisk encountering a locked disk would completely bog down Win8. I'll let you know the results of the test.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
When you use the Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, yes, it sends your comments of course (where you may enter questions, information, description about possible issue) and the software automatically attach the "raw", developer test report.
It contains the complete self-monitoring (S.M.A.R.T.) status of the hard disk(s) and SSDs in the system, information about the detected values (for example how much time the detection took), possible error code(s) received from Windows, information about the motherboard, disk controller(s) and their installed driver version.
You can check the complete information if you open Configuration -> Send test report page and use "Create test report" button there (originally such test reports could be saved / sent from there, but without comments). There you may save it to text file or send immediately.
I'd recommend to check what happens if you simply perform Disk -> Surface test -> Read test, to check what happens then.
> It is startling to me that the problem, when manifested, prevents Task Manager from displaying.
> Other Windows functions, such as the Start screen and the CTRL-ALT_DEL menu, continue to function normally.
This is why I also feel it is not really related to Hard Disk Sentinel Pro.
I can confirm HDSP does not control / manage such Windows features/functions, so I'd worry that the Task Manager may be disabled by something else (like a malware?)
> I did make one change today: I use PerfectDisk and I turned off its SMART monitoring, which was on.
> I will run a test of HDSP surface refresh with PerfectDisk disabled so that it doesn't try to start a defrag operation.
> It's hard to believe, though, that PerfectDisk encountering a locked disk would completely bog down Win8. I'll let you know the results of the test.
Personally I never used PerfectDisk, so I'm not sure - but I'm so curious to hear the results.
It contains the complete self-monitoring (S.M.A.R.T.) status of the hard disk(s) and SSDs in the system, information about the detected values (for example how much time the detection took), possible error code(s) received from Windows, information about the motherboard, disk controller(s) and their installed driver version.
You can check the complete information if you open Configuration -> Send test report page and use "Create test report" button there (originally such test reports could be saved / sent from there, but without comments). There you may save it to text file or send immediately.
I'd recommend to check what happens if you simply perform Disk -> Surface test -> Read test, to check what happens then.
> It is startling to me that the problem, when manifested, prevents Task Manager from displaying.
> Other Windows functions, such as the Start screen and the CTRL-ALT_DEL menu, continue to function normally.
This is why I also feel it is not really related to Hard Disk Sentinel Pro.
I can confirm HDSP does not control / manage such Windows features/functions, so I'd worry that the Task Manager may be disabled by something else (like a malware?)
> I did make one change today: I use PerfectDisk and I turned off its SMART monitoring, which was on.
> I will run a test of HDSP surface refresh with PerfectDisk disabled so that it doesn't try to start a defrag operation.
> It's hard to believe, though, that PerfectDisk encountering a locked disk would completely bog down Win8. I'll let you know the results of the test.
Personally I never used PerfectDisk, so I'm not sure - but I'm so curious to hear the results.
Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
UPDATE:
I completely disabled PerfectDisk (in particular, its OptiWrite feature and all automatic defrags).
Unfortunately, 46 hours in to a 65 hour HDSP surface refresh of my 2 TB drive, the problem occurred exactly as described before.
Not sure what else to try. HDSP sure is conflicting with something on my system, but I don't know what.
I don't see anything in the System Events Viewer to give any clues.
One clue, however slim, is that the problem only appears after an HDSP surface refresh has been running for a long time (46 hours in this last test). Prior to the problem appearing, I can use the computer just fine while the surface refresh is running. An HDSP resource leak when refreshing big drives?
I completely disabled PerfectDisk (in particular, its OptiWrite feature and all automatic defrags).
Unfortunately, 46 hours in to a 65 hour HDSP surface refresh of my 2 TB drive, the problem occurred exactly as described before.
Not sure what else to try. HDSP sure is conflicting with something on my system, but I don't know what.
I don't see anything in the System Events Viewer to give any clues.
One clue, however slim, is that the problem only appears after an HDSP surface refresh has been running for a long time (46 hours in this last test). Prior to the problem appearing, I can use the computer just fine while the surface refresh is running. An HDSP resource leak when refreshing big drives?
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
I did not yet receive the report, so not sure about the actual situation.
Is it an external USB (2.0) hard disk / enclosure?
The average time for a refresh data area test on an internal 2 TB hard disk is fewer, usually around 20-22 hours.
To reduce the time required for testing, I'd suggest to do this:
- open Disk menu -> Surface test
- select the hard disk and the test type
- on the Configuration tab (in this window, where you selected the above) uncheck the "Extensive read-write-read test with additional write operation" checkbox in the bottom left area
- then start the test.
This should reduce the amount of write passes and increase the test speed. Then probably the issue will not happen on your system.
> An HDSP resource leak when refreshing big drives?
Of course not, there are no such problems.
I suspect during the very longer tests, either a generic overheat (not neccessarily the hard disk, but the chipset, controller, external enclosure (if used) and so) may happen and/or a minor issue with the communication causes that the hard disk may not respond correctly (just after a timeout).
Some hard disk controllers / drivers do not tolerate this well and can even cause that the system "stuck" for longer time (seems completely frozen).
The mentioned Report menu -> Send test report to developer option can help to check the actual situation, verify driver versions, connections, possible "raw" errors / responses from the device or Windows itself.
Is it an external USB (2.0) hard disk / enclosure?
The average time for a refresh data area test on an internal 2 TB hard disk is fewer, usually around 20-22 hours.
To reduce the time required for testing, I'd suggest to do this:
- open Disk menu -> Surface test
- select the hard disk and the test type
- on the Configuration tab (in this window, where you selected the above) uncheck the "Extensive read-write-read test with additional write operation" checkbox in the bottom left area
- then start the test.
This should reduce the amount of write passes and increase the test speed. Then probably the issue will not happen on your system.
> An HDSP resource leak when refreshing big drives?
Of course not, there are no such problems.
I suspect during the very longer tests, either a generic overheat (not neccessarily the hard disk, but the chipset, controller, external enclosure (if used) and so) may happen and/or a minor issue with the communication causes that the hard disk may not respond correctly (just after a timeout).
Some hard disk controllers / drivers do not tolerate this well and can even cause that the system "stuck" for longer time (seems completely frozen).
The mentioned Report menu -> Send test report to developer option can help to check the actual situation, verify driver versions, connections, possible "raw" errors / responses from the device or Windows itself.
Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
I sent the test report. You should have it.
I continue to look for possible software conflicts that arise when the G drive (the 2TB drive) is locked for long periods of time. I turned off some activities that Norton Internet Security was set to do and reran a G drive HDSP surface refresh. As before, after about 32 hours, the system started acting strangely exactly as before. The HDSP surface refresh continues to run normally and will complete if I let it, but after I stop the refresh, the refresh window then struggles to close, and when I close HDSP it takes a long, long time. As before, the system then can't even restart itself. I have to do a hard reset after waiting for a long time.
The G drive is an internal drive and is plugged directly in to one of the ASUS Maximus VI Hero motherboard SATA ports that are connected to the Intel chipset. Your comments indicate you think there is a hardware problem, or a low-level driver problem. Maybe. My feeling (less informed that yours) is that some Windows process doesn't like the G drive being locked for such a long time, and then begins behaving badly.
I would like to continue trying to solve this problem. The deep surface refresh is the reason I bought HDSP.
Thanks.
I continue to look for possible software conflicts that arise when the G drive (the 2TB drive) is locked for long periods of time. I turned off some activities that Norton Internet Security was set to do and reran a G drive HDSP surface refresh. As before, after about 32 hours, the system started acting strangely exactly as before. The HDSP surface refresh continues to run normally and will complete if I let it, but after I stop the refresh, the refresh window then struggles to close, and when I close HDSP it takes a long, long time. As before, the system then can't even restart itself. I have to do a hard reset after waiting for a long time.
The G drive is an internal drive and is plugged directly in to one of the ASUS Maximus VI Hero motherboard SATA ports that are connected to the Intel chipset. Your comments indicate you think there is a hardware problem, or a low-level driver problem. Maybe. My feeling (less informed that yours) is that some Windows process doesn't like the G drive being locked for such a long time, and then begins behaving badly.
I would like to continue trying to solve this problem. The deep surface refresh is the reason I bought HDSP.
Thanks.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
Thanks for the report, yes, I checked it and see that the hard disk is connected to the Intel chipset and I also see that its driver version is 12.8, which is fine.
Just then I'm a bit surprised to hear that the refresh data area test take so much time, generally on a 2 TB hard disk, it should run for less than 24 hours. So maybe the drive is not operating as fast as should.
If you perform a Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test, what speed (MB/s) you get?
> Your comments indicate you think there is a hardware problem, or a low-level driver problem. Maybe.
I feel this because of the slower operation than should. Previously I thought the drive may be connected via USB (2.0) adapter/enclosure and this caused slower operation - and/or if the motherboard chipset driver caused issue. These are fine.
> My feeling (less informed that yours) is that some Windows process doesn't like the G drive being locked for
> such a long time, and then begins behaving badly.
Yes, now after we confirmed the connection and the chipset driver, I also start to feel the same....
> I would like to continue trying to solve this problem. The deep surface refresh is the reason I bought HDSP.
Yes, I completely agree.
Maybe for testing and if possible I'd try to
- connect this one hard disk to an other computer and try there to see if we get different performance value and/or different behaviour after the test
- start the PC in SAFE mode and then manually start Hard Disk Sentinel and perform the test that way.
Just to check if there is any difference.
In the worst case, you may try to run the test in two different pass:
- open Disk menu -> Surface test and select the hard disk and the test type (Read-write-read test) but before starting, on the Configuration page, you can enable "Limit testing to specific data blocks" and specify First block = 0, Last Block = 4999 (to test the first half of the drive) and then First block = 5000, Last Block = 9999 (to test the second half of the drive).
This way the drive test will not take so much time (without changing its effectiveness) - and hopefully there will be no issues.
Anyway, I'm trying to reproduce the issue with the 100% same drive model and environment, just to verify the situation.
Just then I'm a bit surprised to hear that the refresh data area test take so much time, generally on a 2 TB hard disk, it should run for less than 24 hours. So maybe the drive is not operating as fast as should.
If you perform a Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test, what speed (MB/s) you get?
> Your comments indicate you think there is a hardware problem, or a low-level driver problem. Maybe.
I feel this because of the slower operation than should. Previously I thought the drive may be connected via USB (2.0) adapter/enclosure and this caused slower operation - and/or if the motherboard chipset driver caused issue. These are fine.
> My feeling (less informed that yours) is that some Windows process doesn't like the G drive being locked for
> such a long time, and then begins behaving badly.
Yes, now after we confirmed the connection and the chipset driver, I also start to feel the same....
> I would like to continue trying to solve this problem. The deep surface refresh is the reason I bought HDSP.
Yes, I completely agree.
Maybe for testing and if possible I'd try to
- connect this one hard disk to an other computer and try there to see if we get different performance value and/or different behaviour after the test
- start the PC in SAFE mode and then manually start Hard Disk Sentinel and perform the test that way.
Just to check if there is any difference.
In the worst case, you may try to run the test in two different pass:
- open Disk menu -> Surface test and select the hard disk and the test type (Read-write-read test) but before starting, on the Configuration page, you can enable "Limit testing to specific data blocks" and specify First block = 0, Last Block = 4999 (to test the first half of the drive) and then First block = 5000, Last Block = 9999 (to test the second half of the drive).
This way the drive test will not take so much time (without changing its effectiveness) - and hopefully there will be no issues.
Anyway, I'm trying to reproduce the issue with the 100% same drive model and environment, just to verify the situation.
Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
The data rate reported by HDSP during a surface refresh is oddly slow, which is why the refresh is taking so long: starting at 8-9 MB/s and falling to 5-6 MB/s near the end of the 60+ hour refresh. This is significantly slower than the data rate reported by HDSP when refreshing my older, 1TB, F: drive. Both drives are SATA II, but the newer G: drive benchmarks faster, so it's a mystery why the data rate is slower with HDSP.
I'll put the drive on a different SATA port and check the data rate reported by HDSP during a surface refresh. Next, I will try a refresh in Safe Mode. Finally, I will put the drive in my son's system (also Win8.1) and run a HDSP surface refresh. I'll report back when I have run these tests.
I'll put the drive on a different SATA port and check the data rate reported by HDSP during a surface refresh. Next, I will try a refresh in Safe Mode. Finally, I will put the drive in my son's system (also Win8.1) and run a HDSP surface refresh. I'll report back when I have run these tests.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
Generally, I'd more say the WRITE speed is so slow.
It is not really HDSP related - but as it performs extensive writes, that seems very slow on this drive, which is yes, really interesting.
Benchmarks usually perform read tests - so if you prefer, you may also check Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test, just to verify that during simple read, the drive can be utilised with full speed.
Yes, it is good idea to check on different SATA port and/or in a completely different system. These would help to see if the slowness is related to the current configuration only.
It is not really HDSP related - but as it performs extensive writes, that seems very slow on this drive, which is yes, really interesting.
Benchmarks usually perform read tests - so if you prefer, you may also check Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test, just to verify that during simple read, the drive can be utilised with full speed.
Yes, it is good idea to check on different SATA port and/or in a completely different system. These would help to see if the slowness is related to the current configuration only.
Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
Here are some results I've collected over the last couple of weeks concerning the HDSP surface refresh problem I've detailed in this thread:
1. I have two Hitachi enterprise drives: an older 1TB drive and a newer 2TB drive. In HDSP, a read test shows 83 MB/s for the old drive and 130 MB/s for the newer drive. A refresh test shows 20 MB/s for the old drive and 9 MB/s for the newer drive. These results are the same in a standard bootup and in Safe Mode. As a refresh test proceeds, the data rate falls. I presume this is due to the data area being probed moving toward the center of the disk where the tangential speed is slower.
No matter where the newer drive is run, the reported read and refresh data rates are the same. This includes using different Intel chipset SATA ports and using the ASMedia SATA ports on the motherboard. This also includes running HDSP on my son's new computer that has a different motherboard brand. So, there is still the odd fact that the newer drive always shows a much lower data rate during a HDSP refresh operation than the older drive.
2. I disabled more software on my system that might be causing the problem when the G drive (the newer 2TB drive) is locked for a long time during a surface refresh. For example, I was running the Logitech Squeezebox Server, which runs as a Windows service. However, even with this service disabled, the previously described problem occurs near the end of a long HDSP surface refresh operation.
3. I put the drive in my son's computer and an HDSP surface refresh operation completed with the problem not appearing. He continued using the computer over the course of the refresh (about 68 hours) and reported no odd behavior. I asked him to check for bad behavior by opening and closing Task Manager.
4. I next ran an HDSP surface refresh operation on my system in Safe Mode. I was able to open Task Manager and other programs with no problems up through 97% complete, after about 65 hours of runtime. I was about to declare victory when I closed Windows Explorer and was then not able to reopen it! I got the Windows rotating circle all across the Task Bar. However, unlike previous cases, I was able to still open and close Task Manager with CTRL-ALT-DEL. When I ended Windows Explorer in Task Manager, the Task Bar went away. Does this give us any clues? Could Windows Explorer be upset that the G drive is locked for 65 hours? Before closing Windows Explorer, I could see the G drive with no information being reported on it (for example, how full it is). I presume this is because the drive was locked by HDSP. With regard to the surface refresh completing on my son's system, I don't know if he ever opened and closed Windows Explorer.
That's what I know so far, and it's not much. I thought that if the Safe Mode test concluded successfully, the results would point to a software conflict uniquely on my system. However, in Safe Mode, as you know, there is almost nothing running other than a few Windows processes. I could clearly see this in the Task Manager processes list. So, at this point it seems there is either a problem with that small list of processes conflicting with a very long run of HDSP surface refresh, or I have a hardware problem.
Unless you have another suggestion, I suppose a next text is putting the drive on one of the ASMedia SATA ports (instead of an Intel SATA port), and running the HDSP surface refresh in Safe Mode. If the problem doesn't appear, this would suggest a hardware problem with my Intel SATA ports. If the problem does appear, we still won't know where the problem is.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
1. I have two Hitachi enterprise drives: an older 1TB drive and a newer 2TB drive. In HDSP, a read test shows 83 MB/s for the old drive and 130 MB/s for the newer drive. A refresh test shows 20 MB/s for the old drive and 9 MB/s for the newer drive. These results are the same in a standard bootup and in Safe Mode. As a refresh test proceeds, the data rate falls. I presume this is due to the data area being probed moving toward the center of the disk where the tangential speed is slower.
No matter where the newer drive is run, the reported read and refresh data rates are the same. This includes using different Intel chipset SATA ports and using the ASMedia SATA ports on the motherboard. This also includes running HDSP on my son's new computer that has a different motherboard brand. So, there is still the odd fact that the newer drive always shows a much lower data rate during a HDSP refresh operation than the older drive.
2. I disabled more software on my system that might be causing the problem when the G drive (the newer 2TB drive) is locked for a long time during a surface refresh. For example, I was running the Logitech Squeezebox Server, which runs as a Windows service. However, even with this service disabled, the previously described problem occurs near the end of a long HDSP surface refresh operation.
3. I put the drive in my son's computer and an HDSP surface refresh operation completed with the problem not appearing. He continued using the computer over the course of the refresh (about 68 hours) and reported no odd behavior. I asked him to check for bad behavior by opening and closing Task Manager.
4. I next ran an HDSP surface refresh operation on my system in Safe Mode. I was able to open Task Manager and other programs with no problems up through 97% complete, after about 65 hours of runtime. I was about to declare victory when I closed Windows Explorer and was then not able to reopen it! I got the Windows rotating circle all across the Task Bar. However, unlike previous cases, I was able to still open and close Task Manager with CTRL-ALT-DEL. When I ended Windows Explorer in Task Manager, the Task Bar went away. Does this give us any clues? Could Windows Explorer be upset that the G drive is locked for 65 hours? Before closing Windows Explorer, I could see the G drive with no information being reported on it (for example, how full it is). I presume this is because the drive was locked by HDSP. With regard to the surface refresh completing on my son's system, I don't know if he ever opened and closed Windows Explorer.
That's what I know so far, and it's not much. I thought that if the Safe Mode test concluded successfully, the results would point to a software conflict uniquely on my system. However, in Safe Mode, as you know, there is almost nothing running other than a few Windows processes. I could clearly see this in the Task Manager processes list. So, at this point it seems there is either a problem with that small list of processes conflicting with a very long run of HDSP surface refresh, or I have a hardware problem.
Unless you have another suggestion, I suppose a next text is putting the drive on one of the ASMedia SATA ports (instead of an Intel SATA port), and running the HDSP surface refresh in Safe Mode. If the problem doesn't appear, this would suggest a hardware problem with my Intel SATA ports. If the problem does appear, we still won't know where the problem is.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.
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hdsentinel
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Re: Problem with HDSPro and Win8
The 9 MB/s seems very-very low for me for this test.
Generally, the refresh tests performs intensive combination of read and write commands, but (as the worst case) I'd expect that the drive should perform with the speed of the older drive.
Maybe the firmware of the new drive does not efficiently manage the disk surface and/or the platters or so.
I'd be curious about the opinion of Hitachi about this slowness - especially if the older drive (which is generally slower, as you saw in the read test) performs much faster in this type of test.
> Could Windows Explorer be upset that the G drive is locked for 65 hours?
Not sure. Personally I have no ideas about what've caused Windows Explorer problem on this system.
Personally I never encountered similar and the computer of your son is also not affected.
Maybe some kind of Explorer extension (just a tool which adds new entries in right-click menu) or similar got upset, but not sure.
> Before closing Windows Explorer, I could see the G drive with no information being reported on it (for example, how full it is).
> I presume this is because the drive was locked by HDSP.
Yes, this is exactly the situation: while the drive is locked and tested, it is not possible to get any kind of information (even how it is full) or access files/folders.
> Unless you have another suggestion, I suppose a next text is putting the drive on one of the ASMedia SATA ports (instead of an Intel SATA port)
Personally I do not really recommend it. ASMedia controller (especially with its drivers provided by ASMedia) has lots of problems, compatibility issues or even reports false status. Maybe with the Standard AHCI controller driver, it is acceptable - but be careful.
You may try for a test of course, just to verify if things are different.
Maybe some kind of overheat of the chipset can be also in the background, which happens only very rarely, after so long and intensive test.
Personally I'd try some additional cooling and/or shortening the disk test time by testing only first half / second half of the drive as suggested previously.
These may prevent problems.
Generally, the refresh tests performs intensive combination of read and write commands, but (as the worst case) I'd expect that the drive should perform with the speed of the older drive.
Maybe the firmware of the new drive does not efficiently manage the disk surface and/or the platters or so.
I'd be curious about the opinion of Hitachi about this slowness - especially if the older drive (which is generally slower, as you saw in the read test) performs much faster in this type of test.
> Could Windows Explorer be upset that the G drive is locked for 65 hours?
Not sure. Personally I have no ideas about what've caused Windows Explorer problem on this system.
Personally I never encountered similar and the computer of your son is also not affected.
Maybe some kind of Explorer extension (just a tool which adds new entries in right-click menu) or similar got upset, but not sure.
> Before closing Windows Explorer, I could see the G drive with no information being reported on it (for example, how full it is).
> I presume this is because the drive was locked by HDSP.
Yes, this is exactly the situation: while the drive is locked and tested, it is not possible to get any kind of information (even how it is full) or access files/folders.
> Unless you have another suggestion, I suppose a next text is putting the drive on one of the ASMedia SATA ports (instead of an Intel SATA port)
Personally I do not really recommend it. ASMedia controller (especially with its drivers provided by ASMedia) has lots of problems, compatibility issues or even reports false status. Maybe with the Standard AHCI controller driver, it is acceptable - but be careful.
You may try for a test of course, just to verify if things are different.
Maybe some kind of overheat of the chipset can be also in the background, which happens only very rarely, after so long and intensive test.
Personally I'd try some additional cooling and/or shortening the disk test time by testing only first half / second half of the drive as suggested previously.
These may prevent problems.