Multiple Disk Repairs Issue

How, what, where and why - when using the software.
geebee
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Joined: 2021.09.08. 16:27

Multiple Disk Repairs Issue

Post by geebee »

Hi,

I've been trying to run multiple disk repairs (on different drives), but it seems that it only lets me run one disk repair at a time. Is this documented?

Whenever I try to run another disk repair, after the first is already ongoing, it gives me the errors in the linked image (at the bottom).
https://i.imgur.com/VJ1xV9L.png

The error happens whether i choose to lock the volume or not. If I choose read test on the second drive, then it proceeds normally.

The controller is an LSI HBA (9206-16e) connected to an intel expander (LSI chip RES2SV240).
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hdsentinel
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Re: Multiple Disk Repairs Issue

Post by hdsentinel »

Yes, I'm afraid this is normal.

As discussed in a different topic:
https://www.hdsentinel.com/forum/viewto ... 97&p=18723

the Disk Repair test designed to run only one disk drive at any given time.
You can launch other tests on any number of drives, but the Disk Repair can be used on one disk drive only.
It is designed to launch specifically on the drive when really required.
geebee
Posts: 3
Joined: 2021.09.08. 16:27

Re: Multiple Disk Repairs Issue

Post by geebee »

hdsentinel wrote:Yes, I'm afraid this is normal.

As discussed in a different topic:
https://www.hdsentinel.com/forum/viewto ... 97&p=18723

the Disk Repair test designed to run only one disk drive at any given time.
You can launch other tests on any number of drives, but the Disk Repair can be used on one disk drive only.
It is designed to launch specifically on the drive when really required.
Thanks, is this a limitation of the windows API? I'm curious as to why it can only run 1 repair per host, but multiple of other tests that are more destructive. I need to run this on roughly 16 drives, ranging from 6 to 8 TB because of a bad power supply in one of the enclosures caused it to intermittently power cycle a couple of times. I just want to clear the decrease in health in HD sentinel because of issue and to make sure the drives are fine (and also because HD sentinel recommends running the repair), given that it seems the repair test does more than the simple read test while being non-destructive. Having to do these sequentially is going to take a lot of time and micromanaging.

Or perhaps I'm using the disk repair test incorrectly? how would the repair test compare to chkdsk /r? or even the read test in terms of detecting problems? Does it only force the fix on already known bad sectors discovered through other means and doesn't really discover new ones that may pop up with writing instead of reading?
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hdsentinel
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Re: Multiple Disk Repairs Issue

Post by hdsentinel »

Please check the recommended page in the text description when weak/pending sectors detected or online at Support -> Frequently Asked Questions -> What is a weak sector? How to repair weak sectors?

https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... ectors.php

This describes the situation with details, lots of images to illustrate: what are these sectors and why chkdsk /r is absolutely NOT a solution for this situation: how/why chkdsk /r does NOT fix/repair these problems.

Chkdsk /r (even if expect) does NOT repair the disk drive itself but attempts to repair the logical drive (partition) only. As a result, chkdsk /r will not fix these but exactly the opposite: keeps the problems as then they may cause more troubles eg. after a re-format and/or cloning.

> Does it only force the fix on already known bad sectors discovered through other means
> and doesn't really discover new ones that may pop up with writing instead of reading?[/quote]

No and no.
Chkdsk /r just marks the appropriate area in the current partition as "bad" to prevent a file to be saved there. Then
- if you perform a surface test again - you'll see the problems again
- if you perform an internal hardware self test (Disk menu -> Short self test / Extended self test) it will fail again
- if you format the partition (to clear partition metadata) the problems are still there and can cause data corruption again
- if you attempt to clone the drive, the clone may fail due to unreadable sectors OR the cloned partition will show bad sectors too

As described on the linked page, after the real repair by Disk menu -> Surface test -> Disk Repair (or in worst case the Reinitialise Disk Surface if really required, eg. when the health is low), the sectors should be really corrected, so the above issues should not happen.

Still researching about the possibilities about how to run multiple disk repair tests at the same time, hopefully it will be possible in a future version.
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