I have a 4TB HDD that I use to store music, films, images, and text files. I have a 250GB SDD that I use to install my OS and video games. So far I didn’t have any problem with this setup, obviously it’s a bit slower when it reads the HDD but nothing too serious, but lately it’s gotten way worse, where it just lags too much when I try to access files on that disk, and specially when it comes to listening to music, it’s super annoying. I’m using Elisa music player and it just takes ages to load the albums.
Below is my system and HDD information. I think I’m supposed to use hardlinks or something to access those files, could that be a reason? I’ve never even fully filled my HDD and it’s only 3 years old.
System Details Report
Report details
Hardware Information:
- Hardware Model: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME A320M-K
- Memory: 16.0 GiB
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600G with Radeon™ Graphics × 12
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
- Disk Capacity: 4.2 TB
Software Information:
- Firmware Version: 6042
- OS Name: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
- OS Build: (null)
- OS Type: 64-bit
- GNOME Version: 45.5
- Windowing System: Wayland
- Kernel Version: Linux 6.7.11-200.fc39.x86_64
I would check the kernel messages (sudo dmesg) and check for errors on the ata bus. If there are it’s most likely the disk that is failling
A bad SATA cable will cause this too.
Yes, that’s true and a bad or undersized power supply also but in my experience it is much more likely to have a bad disk than to have something else fail
It’s extremely long so I just copied a bit, but I see some errors regarding the ata bus I think.
[52308.201967] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 1028431352 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 32 prio class 2 [52308.201989] ata2: EH complete [52308.289440] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x2 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52308.289447] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52308.289449] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52308.289452] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52308.289454] ata2.00: cmd 60/e0:08:38:86:95/00:00:04:00:00/40 tag 1 ncq dma 114688 in res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52308.289459] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52308.289462] ata2: hard resetting link [52311.606437] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52311.663188] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52311.663205] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52311.663209] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52311.663211] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52311.663214] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 04 95 86 38 00 00 00 e0 00 00 [52311.663216] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 76908088 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 28 prio class 2 [52311.663235] ata2: EH complete [52311.917439] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x100000 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52311.917447] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52311.917449] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52311.917452] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52311.917454] ata2.00: cmd 60/20:a0:40:5a:87/00:00:cd:01:00/40 tag 20 ncq dma 16384 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52311.917460] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52311.917463] ata2: hard resetting link [52315.238437] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52315.283121] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52315.283137] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#20 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52315.283141] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#20 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52315.283143] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#20 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52315.283145] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#20 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 01 cd 87 5a 40 00 00 00 20 00 00 [52315.283147] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 7743167040 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 4 prio class 2 [52315.283162] ata2: EH complete [52316.242431] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x10 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52316.242437] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52316.242439] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52316.242443] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52316.242444] ata2.00: cmd 60/08:20:70:7c:7c/00:00:41:00:00/40 tag 4 ncq dma 4096 in res 40/00:ff:ff:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52316.242450] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52316.242453] ata2: hard resetting link [52319.558438] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52319.619535] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52319.619551] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#4 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52319.619554] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#4 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52319.619557] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#4 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52319.619560] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#4 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 41 7c 7c 70 00 00 00 08 00 00 [52319.619562] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 1098677360 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2 [52319.619581] ata2: EH complete [52320.916451] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x8 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52320.916456] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52320.916459] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52320.916462] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52320.916463] ata2.00: cmd 60/20:18:78:6d:f0/00:00:3c:00:00/40 tag 3 ncq dma 16384 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52320.916469] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52320.916472] ata2: hard resetting link [52324.238433] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52324.280862] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52324.280878] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#3 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52324.280883] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#3 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52324.280886] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#3 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52324.280889] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#3 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 3c f0 6d 78 00 00 00 20 00 00 [52324.280891] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 1022389624 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 4 prio class 2 [52324.280915] ata2: EH complete [52324.315439] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x100000 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52324.315445] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52324.315446] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52324.315449] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52324.315451] ata2.00: cmd 60/08:a0:80:6d:f0/00:00:3c:00:00/40 tag 20 ncq dma 4096 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52324.315457] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52324.315460] ata2: hard resetting link [52327.606435] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52327.667122] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52327.667141] ata2: EH complete [52328.442437] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x80000 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52328.442443] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52328.442444] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52328.442447] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52328.442448] ata2.00: cmd 60/00:98:90:6e:59/01:00:3d:00:00/40 tag 19 ncq dma 131072 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52328.442453] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52328.442456] ata2: hard resetting link [52331.758435] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52331.778679] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52331.778697] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#19 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52331.778701] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#19 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52331.778704] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#19 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52331.778707] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#19 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 3d 59 6e 90 00 00 01 00 00 00 [52331.778709] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 1029271184 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 32 prio class 2 [52331.778733] ata2: EH complete [52332.186438] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x2 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52332.186445] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52332.186447] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52332.186450] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52332.186452] ata2.00: cmd 60/90:08:a0:91:1b/00:00:3a:00:00/40 tag 1 ncq dma 73728 in res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52332.186457] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52332.186461] ata2: hard resetting link [52335.502433] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52335.565114] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52335.565131] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52335.565135] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52335.565138] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52335.565140] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#1 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 3a 1b 91 a0 00 00 00 90 00 00 [52335.565142] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 974885280 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 18 prio class 2 [52335.565162] ata2: EH complete [52335.733444] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x20 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52335.733450] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52335.733453] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52335.733457] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52335.733458] ata2.00: cmd 60/08:28:a0:91:1b/00:00:3a:00:00/40 tag 5 ncq dma 4096 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52335.733462] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52335.733465] ata2: hard resetting link [52339.054437] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52339.092930] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52339.092948] ata2: EH complete [52339.311447] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x40 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52339.311455] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52339.311457] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52339.311461] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52339.311462] ata2.00: cmd 60/00:30:00:fa:06/01:00:0b:00:00/40 tag 6 ncq dma 131072 in res 40/00:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) [52339.311469] ata2.00: status: { DRDY } [52339.311472] ata2: hard resetting link [52342.630429] ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) [52342.636897] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 [52342.636913] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#6 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s [52342.636917] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#6 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] [52342.636919] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#6 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command [52342.636922] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#6 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 0b 06 fa 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 [52342.636924] I/O error, dev sdb, sector 185006592 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 32 prio class 2 [52342.636947] ata2: EH complete [52342.831443] ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x2000 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen [52342.831450] ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed [52342.831453] ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } [52342.831458] ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED [52342.831461] ata2.00: cmd 60/00:68:68:a5:1b/01:00:39:00:00/40 tag 13 ncq dma 131072 in ``According to another post sdb is your 4tb drive. This log shows errors reading from sdb.
The sectors it’s failing to read from aren’t consistent so it’s possible it’s a bad cable. Replace the data cable and see if you have the same behavior.
Be prepared to replace the drive.
Hey, I replaced the cable and everything seems to be working fine, thank you!
Hell yeah!
Get a new one, maybe a 4TB SATA SSD (if you have the space, SATA is just better than NVME imho, way cheaper and less heat) and DO A BACKUP.
“Spinning things” will break way easier than nonmoving parts.
These might very well be signs of failure.
“Spinning things” will break way essier than nonmoving parts.
Just because there are no moving parts doesn’t mean there is no wear. SSDs have max program/ erase cycles that causes them to fail over time. They do tend to be more reliable than HDDs but it’s not as dramatic as you might think. And would likely vary on the quality of the drive more than anything.
Some info: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/how-reliable-are-ssds/
What results do you get from
hdparm’s speed tests?What filesystem is on the disk?
Not op but the pic says ext4
Ah, right you are! Didn’t spot that
Check its SMART:
smartctl -a /dev/sdb.It’s a bit long but here it is.
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.7.11-200.fc39.x86_64] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Model Family: Toshiba X300 Device Model: TOSHIBA HDWE140 Serial Number: 41IUK67JFBRG LU WWN Device Id: 5 000039 abc58066c Firmware Version: FP1R User Capacity: 4,000,787,030,016 bytes [4.00 TB] Sector Sizes: 512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical Rotation Rate: 7200 rpm Form Factor: 3.5 inches Device is: In smartctl database 7.3/5528 ATA Version is: ATA8-ACS (minor revision not indicated) SATA Version is: SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 1.5 Gb/s) Local Time is: Sat Apr 13 17:09:03 2024 -03 SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x80) Offline data collection activity was never started. Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled. Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: ( 120) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. No Conveyance Self-test supported. Selective Self-test supported. SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering power-saving mode. Supports SMART auto save timer. Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported. General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 481) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported. SCT Error Recovery Control supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0 2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 100 100 001 Pre-fail Always - 464 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 11263 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0 8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 073 073 000 Old_age Always - 11051 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0033 253 100 030 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 11259 191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 083 083 000 Old_age Always - 8637 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 11332 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 38 (Min/Max 16/59) 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 220 Disk_Shift 0x0002 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 222 Loaded_Hours 0x0032 073 073 000 Old_age Always - 11003 223 Load_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 224 Load_Friction 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 226 Load-in_Time 0x0026 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 545 240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0001 100 100 001 Pre-fail Offline - 0 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t] SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1 SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS 1 0 0 Not_testing 2 0 0 Not_testing 3 0 0 Not_testing 4 0 0 Not_testing 5 0 0 Not_testing Selective self-test flags (0x0): After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk. If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay. The above only provides legacy SMART information - try 'smartctl -x' for moreEverything seems ok. It is unlikely that the disk itself is dying. Maybe the problem is a bad cable or bus controller. Or something is wrong with the filesystem.
Hey, I replaced the cable and everything seems to be working fine, thank you!
I’ve got a 6TB SATA HDD (also formatted ext4) and while files on it don’t always open instantaneously, the pause is only a fraction of a second at most (barely enough to notice). So I’ll join the chorus suggesting you check for hardware issues—bad drive, bad or loose cables, or a bad controller on the mobo.
Monitor I/O on the drive; is anything using it while your system is idle?
What’s I/O like when loading an album?
Maybe its Fragmentation?
Not on ext4 that’s not full, unless it vas previously almost completely full and a lot of deletes and rewrites ocurred
Iirc with time mechanical drives do slow down significantly due to wear and tear so it kinda sounds its on its way out. If speed is a must maybe look at how much storage capacity you’re using and switch to appropriate sized ssd/s. You can keep the mechanical drive as a cold backup.
Edit: not sure if you already done this and I usually don’t recommend it if you don’t have backups but benchmarking would show you the read and write speeds. Also depending on warranty status, you also have the option of doing a manufacturer replacement. Not sure what info Toshiba asks for but doesn’t hurt to look into if you do decide to replace it.
with time mechanical drives do slow down significantly due to wear and tear
Do you mean “because it’s dying?” Because otherwise I’ve never heard of this or seen this before. The disks must spin at a precise speed for the read/write head to work since it expects data to be read at a constant rate.
If it’s dying there should be a ton of crap in the system logs (try
dmesgorjournalctl -k -f). You can also usesmartctlto check for reported errors, orbadblocksto see if there are issues with the disk.I used journalctl -k -f and this is the output, I’ve also tried dmesg and smartctl and replied with the output on other comments, and all show some kind of I/O error, I guess I’m fucked or can it be because of a bad cable or something?
Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 dd 26 78 00 00 00 08 00 00 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 970794616 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 dd 26 b8 00 00 00 20 00 00 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 970794680 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 4 prio class 2 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: ata2: EH complete Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x400 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: cmd 60/00:50:38:e3:9d/01:00:39:00:00/40 tag 10 ncq dma 131072 in res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: status: { DRDY } Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2: hard resetting link Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 9d e3 38 00 00 01 00 00 00 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 966648632 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 32 prio class 1 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2: EH completeThat’s not great… No idea what those errors are specifically but something is very wrong. Hopefully you’ve made backups already because the drive may be failing.
Huh weird I do have experience of this happening especially on used drives that are technically beyond their lives, +7 years etc, guess it depends on manufacturer and classification since you haven’t personally experienced it. When I say slow down I’m referring to the read and write speed not the platter rpm even though that could happen such as with motor bearing wear. There’s really multiple potential hard wear issue that could cause read and write speeds to slow down: head wear, platter degradation, etc. Although i do want to clarify that I’m not necessarily saying its dying or even if its 100% a hardware issue since fragmentation could be the cause. Not even sure if it’ll be throwing out errors yet so I can’t wait to see what OP updates us with.
Those are signs that the drive is failing - not a “normal wear and tear”.
The spindle must spin at a constant angular velocity for the drive to operate. It can’t slow down and work since the heads expect the bits to be on the platters in certain locations and to come at a fixed rate. It doesn’t slow down over time. HDD motors are extremely precise with feedback to ensure the rate is correct. It’s not a simple DC motor.
Same with the heads - they don’t touch the platters so I’m not sure why they would be “wearing down.” But if they are that’s a sign of failing not just “normal wear and tear”. In fact if it does touch a platter that’s catastrophic…
HDDs are made with excellent precision. I have a drive with a powered-on time of over 8 years and it performs as it did when I bought it. Just because there are moving parts doesn’t mean they’re bad. We’ve been making them for many years and have gotten very good at it.
And fragmentation is almost certainly not an issue with ext4.
We’ve been making them for many years and have gotten very good at it.
This can’t be overstated enough. Modern mechanical hard drives are a hundred times more impressive than Swiss watches.
