Intermittent error HD521-2W

[BillyPhil66]

OK now I'm confused.  My PC started running slowly a few weeks ago and I tried different things looking for an answer.  The usual suspects didn't get me anywhere so I started digging deeper. Most recently I had PC Doc run tests on the entire system.  All looked good until I got to the hard drive.  First time it came back with a failure HD521-2W.  Depending on where I looked for advice I got differing answers.  Several people say to get a new drive ASAP and then the next post says it's a false positive.  I don't have a real comfort level with any of these answers except to say that I'm trying to err on the side of caution and have been looking for a new drive.  That said, I ran chkdsk/f a couple of times and ran the test again some time later.  It came back all green.  No errors!?  Wow, that seemed pretty nice at first, but when I looked at the report detail, though it showed all good on the first screen, it said something to the extent of 'exit engine HD-521' at the end.  How can the same code show up in both tests and have one test fail and the other pass?  What going on?   Can a dying drive test positive?  Is it a timeout error?  Do I need to replace it yesterday?  Inquiring minds..........

[fwilson]

BillyPhil66,

Replace the drive. 

The HD521-2W error is related to the the SMART logs in the hard drive.  SMART logs are maintained by the drive itself and keep track of read / write errors, temp and other parameters that may indicate the impending failure of the drive.  PC-Doctor reads these logs and reports an error if the drives thresholds have been exceeded (this is all up to the drive itself (PC-Doctor does not interpret these it just reports if a drive thinks it's going bad).

Depending on what SMART log value is tripping it is conceivable that a failing drive could pass and then fail and then pass again.  Some counters are cumulative to other counters.  For example say it is the temperature value.  The drive could be over temperature, tripping that value for that power on cycle, this would then increment a "over_temp" cumulative counter.  The next time the system was turned on it would not be over temp, show no error but, be one tick closer to the cumulative temp counter giving a permanent SMART error.

Every drive manufacturer does this differently.  It is totally up to them on what values to use and how to interpret it, the standardized part is exposing the data and the reporting of a permanent SMART failure.

The exit engine HD-xxx is is just reporting the test engine is done and exiting.

-Fred
 

[BillyPhil66]

I got a used drive to replace the drive that's failing.  In doing so I downloaded the utility software for each drive and one extra.  The failing drive is a Samsung and the replacing drive is a Hitachi.  I rana the test utilities for each and they both showed as good drives.  I then ran the WD utility just for grins.  All three showed both as good drives.  I then went back to PC Doc and ran both drives.  Both showed all green.  They both tested good in all tests.  Then the detail showed both drives exiting from the HD521-2W engine on one test but still as good drives, both on the on the test summary and the detail report.  I guess the qestions are self evident here.  Whasup?

[fwilson]

BillyPhil66,

As I said in the previous post, "The exit engine HD-xxx is is just reporting the test engine is done and exiting."  This does not indicate a failure.

All I can say for sure is HD521-2W indicates the drive itself was saying something was wrong in it's SMART logs. If you downloaded the Samsung utilities you should be able to view them and see what counters are high.

Did you format the old failing drive?  Has it failed since the chkdsk was run? Did you run any utilities on it that could have reset the SMART data?

I would put your data on the new drive and leave the old Samsung plugged in as a secondary. Exercise it by moving some data around and retest it.

-Fred   

[BillyPhil66]

When I downloaded the utilities I was only looking to test the drives so I haven't attempted to view the logs.

I hadn't formatted the replacement drive when the tests were run.  It hasn't failed ever.  Not true, it was hard to start a couple of times when I shut it down a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately I don't know which utilities might restart the counters.  I've run PC-Doc, Samsung, WD, and Seagate utilities to check both disks.

My intent was to do exactly as you say and move an image to the Hitachi (replacement)drive and use it as the boot drive.  My concern here was that I might be replacing a bad drive with a bad drive, but it seems my concerns were unfounded.

Thanks for your patience and answers Fred.

Phil

[fwilson]

BillyPhil66,

My Pleasure.

-Fred