Hard Disk Monitoring

Now I saw in two of my drives this following error

Seagate ST31005 1 TB
184,End-to-End Error Count,99,99,99,Advisory: Usage limit exceeded,000000000001,0,Enabled

Seagate ST31005 1 TB (other disk)
184,End-to-End Error Count,99,98,98,Advisory: Usage limit exceeded,000000000002,0,Enabled


What it means? Its bad?

Yes, this is not really perfect and require attention.

Such end-to-end errors usually caused by one of the following situations:

1) the hard disk internal cache memory is damaged which may result in data corruption

2) there is a problem in the connection line between the disk and the computer. Sometimes the issue is related to cable/connection issue and this can cause performance degradations and may cause data corruption.

3) there is a problem on the side of the computer (overclocking, RAM issues, chipset/USB controller (which used to control the hard disk) overheat, etc.)


If the drives used as internal ones, it is possible that the computer shows "S.M.A.R.T. failure" upon starting and also Windows may show hard disk problem in such situation. If this happens, personally I'd recommend to try warranty replacement (if there is warranty for the drive) as then the hard disk is considered to be failing and manufacturer would provide replacement for that.

If warranty is not possible, personally I'd examine the operating environment, verify connections, replace cables, disable overclocking (if now enabled) and so. The error counters will not automatically reset, but by using the Offset column for this attribute on the S.M.A.R.T. page (and specify -1, -2 to correct the value) it is possible to acknowledge the problem, to be notified about possible new issue(s).

Also then I'd perform tests to verify the situation: to make sure that the drive is operating correctly and there are no further, currently hidden problems.
Please see http://www.hdsentinel.com/faq.php#tests for more details.

What tests do you indicated for this case?

I have two discs with this error. The disks can die?

oh God... I was making the Surface Test in one of my disk and this disk was inacessible in Explorer. I was shocked... Now I cancel the Surface Test and this disk became acessible again.

Its normal and safe??

Now this message: Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 73 times. and SMART ULTRA ATA CRC Error...

What this does mean??

EirasMozz wrote:What tests do you indicated for this case?

To summarize, the following steps are the best to detect and repair hard disk problems:
1) Disk -> Short self test
2) Disk -> Extended self test
3) Disk -> Surface test -> Read test
4) Disk -> Surface test -> Reinitialize disk surface

As described at http://www.hdsentinel.com/faq.php#tests

Maybe not all possible/useful in all cases. For example, the last one is destructive (deletes all data) so may be used only if you perform complete backup first.

If you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, I can check the complete status of the drive and advise about the best way to diagnose, test and fix possible issues.

When communication problems and end-to-end errors detected, the best is to verify if the
- data can be written
- data can be read back
- the data is what we wrote (not altered/corrupted).

For this, you may try the following tests:

1) Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read+Write+Read test (Refresh data area) which designed exactly for the above: to read the data, attempt to rewrite and verify if the data is correct and same (not altered).
While this should be safe, if the status is not stable (the original problem which caused the increased end-to-end error count and/or the communication errors is not yet fixed) data corruption may happen - so it best to perform a complete backup first.

or

2) Disk menu -> Surface test -> Reinitialise disk surface which designed to overwrite the disk surface and read back - to confirm the above.
You may try Disk menu -> Surface test -> Write+Read test too, which is a simpler version of this.
But as these tests are destructive (all data removed) you will need to backup all data first.

EirasMozz wrote:I have two discs with this error. The disks can die?

No, the disks will not really "die". The problems detected are related to electronical components, not mechanical moving parts.
So the hard disks will work - just the data may become corrupted / damaged / altered when you try to read back.

EirasMozz wrote:oh God... I was making the Surface Test in one of my disk and this disk was inacessible in Explorer. I was shocked... Now I cancel the Surface Test and this disk became acessible again.

Its normal and safe??

It is completely normal of course.
If I'm correct, you started Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test.
By default, Hard Disk Sentinel tries to lock the hard disk drive for exclusive use, to make sure that other applications (and the system in general) should not access the drive, should not affect the error detection and performance monitoring during the test.
So during the test, the drive is locked and tested only - and if the test completed (or you cancel it), you can access the drive again.

You can disable this before starting the test:

- select Disk menu -> Surface test
- before starting the test, select Configuration tab in the new window
- disable the "Lock drive during test (unmount volumes)" option and then proceed the testing.

EirasMozz wrote:Now this message: Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 73 times. and SMART ULTRA ATA CRC Error...

What this does mean??

Please see the appropriate section at Support -> Knowledge Base -> Hard Disk Cases -> Communication errors, which designed exactly to describe this situation, describe what causes this, how to repair and how to avoid in general and by Hard Disk Sentinel.

See directly: http://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_cas ... _error.php

To be short: this is also related to cables/connections, so it can be similar to the other problem detected and reported.