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SMART registered false bad sectors.. can it be reset?


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Hello all..

I have this hard drive (maxtor diamondmax)for more than 2 years, never had a problem.. a relative of mine was using my PC and installed some hard disk benchmark software (that he don't remember its name :angrym:) nd started it but something went wrong, and the PC crashed.. after restart, windows did a check disk and apparently found bad sector. my brilliant relieve did a system restore, so I can't tell what is the software he installed.

Anyway.. Im using this drive for two years and it ran and still runs flawlessly.. but it bugs me that SMART register bad sectors. which I'm %99 sure they are false..

I was wondering if there is way to rest this SMART parameter and do a clean scan to find out if there are really bad sectors on the drive.. Will reformatting the drive and do a surface scan rest this SMART parameter and register the proper state of the drive? and if not, any other way?

I found a complicated way on the site to reprogram the hard drive, but its too much hassle. would a simple format do the trick, or if SMART registered something, it cant be rest by a simple way?

thank you in advance.

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I found a complicated way on the site to reprogram the hard drive, but its too much hassle. would a simple format do the trick, or if SMART registered something, it cant be rest by a simple way?

Which site?

Which complicated way?

If you have a complete backup (and possibly another disk) you can re-format a disk all-right.

This will re-detect bad sectors (if you use NOT the /q switch) and add them to the list.

There are tools capable of re-setting SMART data, but yes, they can be complicated and it is not a very smart (pardon me the pun) idea.

SMART is mostly useless BUT if it starts giving preoccupying stats, you'd better start thinking about getting a new disk.

If you prefer, often disks with all OK SMART values fail, but it is rare that disks with "out of range" data in SMART tables live long.

Please take into account that bad sectors may have different causes, some of which may male them "spread" on adjoining areas.

Please also note how :

I have this hard drive (maxtor diamondmax)

sounds to me a lot like:

I have this car (Ford Escort)

(there are almost as much diamondmax models as stars in the sky :rolleyes: )

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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thank you jaclaz for responding..

I meant of course the forum right here.. I believe this is the topic

I didn't get into specifics about the hard drive cuz I found it irrelevant since I'm asking about a general piece of information the hard drive is an stm31000528as.

I have a good idea about bad sectors.. and I'd accept that I have bad sectors on my disk no problem.. but as I mentioned, I'm almost %100 sure its an error because of the suspicious way they accrued, and the fact that I never had any problem with the drive before or since.

about formatting the drive, bad sectors will be redetected if a full format is done.. but my question is, if you format the drive, will the old table (SMART bad sector table) be deleted and a new table will be written according to the new format?

Edited by alexmaxtor
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I meant of course the forum right here.. I believe this is the topic

good, we have now restricted the field from the whole internet to this forum, and then to a thread with ONLY 4282 posts at the time of writing. :thumbup

I didn't get into specifics about the hard drive cuz I found it irrelevant since I'm asking about a general piece of information the hard drive is an stm31000528as.

This is the point you are evidently unaware of.

That particular thread is SPECIFIC to the Seagate 7200.11, not *any* hard disk will have the same behaviour, support those commands, etc..

Imagine that you find a good guide on how to change a wheel, this will apply with only minor changes to *any* car. :)

Now imagine that you find something related to tuning/re-programming the electronic injection system of a 1989 SAAB 9000 to add 35 HP's to the engine power, it simply doesn't apply to your 2011 Fiat Panda. :no:

That drive is a DiamondMax 23, which is NOT the same as a Seagate 7200.11 (it should be same or similar to the 7200.12 :unsure:), in this case the "general idea" is the same but the procedure may be different.

I have a good idea about bad sectors.. and I'd accept that I have bad sectors on my disk no problem.. but as I mentioned, I'm almost %100 sure its an error because of the suspicious way they accrued, and the fact that I never had any problem with the drive before or since.

This is very good :), you are already at the stage of acceptance, though you are still at the same time in denial mode :w00t:

http://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/

For all the non-highly-and-specifically-trained-professionals a hard disk is a magic box, you cannot know anything of what happens inside it, you can only observe the effects on the outside of it and can do nothing (or almost nothing) to the way it works internally.

The fact that you never had any problem before or since is totally irrelevant, believe me, that specific specimen could give you not any problem of any kind for the next (say) five years of normal operation, and as well (say) tomorrow it may simply stop spinning or become unreadable, there NOT any certainties of ANY kind with hard disk.

As said the only (very often not at all reliable) indicators are the SMART data, if the readings are "bad" and they tend to grow, the disk is normally "condemned" but that may happen in a few days or in several months/years, but as well a disk with excellent SMART data may fail nonetheless in no time. :ph34r:

about formatting the drive, bad sectors will be redetected if a full format is done.. but my question is, if you format the drive, will the old table (SMART bad sector table) be deleted and a new table will be written according to the new format?

No.

The SMART table has a number of entries.

If you do a complete format, the disk firmware/processor should detect bad sectors, re-map them and increase the correspndent SMART counter.

Values in the SMART table are simply "counters", they have nothing to do with bad sector re-allocation/re-mapping, they simply log the operation.

As you have found in the thread you mentioned (which I repeat is NOT good "as is" for your particular model of drive) it is possible to access "directly" the processor on the hard disk and give to it commands, among which it is possible to reset SMART counters.

This is actually what is done normally for "refurbished drives", basically a disk is reset, analyzed, and if it passes the tests and has a number of "good" sectors within the specifications (UNdisclosed) it is "factory formatted" and the SMART data is reset.

On multi-platter disks often if the issue is just one head/platter that head is de-activated and the disk is demoted to a lesser capacity, it is re-factory-formatted and SMART data is reset.

The actual correct sequence of commands needed to perform a re-furbishing of a disk drive is UNdocumented pubicly, possibly some specific software and hardware is needed and the procedure is anyway a complex one.

To remain in the car analogies, if you re-haul completely a car, change it's engine and then set the odometer to 0 it may be OK, but if you just reset the odometer to 0 the car will have still the same issues as before.....

All you should do with that hard disk is doing the Manufacturer's tests (with their specific program), BOTH the short and long tests. and accept the "verdict" it delivers.

jaclaz

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