Fixdisk caused HDR-FOX T2 to want to reformat the drive

[bottletop]

The box has two disks already in it and a DVD drive. I connected the Hummy HDD (SATA) using the DVD drive's data cable and powered it through an available power connector. The BIOS sees all three HDDs when I enter the booting process but the system now fails to boot from the System Rescue disk (it loops back to the BIOS or hangs). Should I (re)move the jumper from the Hummy drive, or remove the DVD drive power connector, is any of that relevant?

If I were in your position, I'd disconnect power to the usual hard drive(s) in the PC and connect the Humax drive in it's place.
DVD drive is optional. This way I will minimise the chance of corrupting the normal PC drives.
What is the jumper for on the Humax drive? (I don't use jumpers on my drive for the HDR.)

 

[Black Hole]

Jumpers on a SATA drive are not master/slave (or drive0/drive1) selectors as per IDE (PATA) drives. If present, they offer manufacturer options (eg SATA1 compatibility). Do not add or remove jumpers without consulting the manufacturer's data sheet, they will have been fitted on the production line appropriately for the intended application.

 

[aekostas]

Thanks, I didn’t touch the jumper.

@bottletop I have scared you witless, sorry about that. I am not too worried about running the commands, the filesystems identify themselves quite clearly as linux.

I may try a couple more things, but it doesn’t look good just now.

 

[bottletop]

Thanks, I didn’t touch the jumper.

@bottletop I have scared you witless, sorry about that. I am not too worried about running the commands, the filesystems identify themselves quite clearly as linux.

I may try a couple more things, but it doesn’t look good just now.

Not all all. Not my data or devices - I have nothing to lose!

If I were in your position, I'd disconnect power to the usual hard drive(s) in the PC and connect the Humax drive in it's place.
DVD drive is optional. This way I will minimise the chance of corrupting the normal PC drives.
What is the jumper for on the Humax drive? (I don't use jumpers on my drive for the HDR.)

I thought this suggestion might also preserve your normal boot order - eg to get the USB boot working again.

Jumpers on a SATA drive are not master/slave (or drive0/drive1) selectors as per IDE (PATA) drives. If present, they offer manufacturer options (eg SATA1 compatibility). Do not add or remove jumpers without consulting the manufacturer's data sheet, they will have been fitted on the production line appropriately for the intended application.

@aekostas didn't tell us which jumper was set. I strongly suspect it is pin5-6 which is used to reduce the SATA speed. If so it's ok to remove it. Check with this https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1991 (and also on an older drive with wrong label instructions! - https://support-en.wd.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5886).
It's odd why there is a jumper set anyway as it is non standard - they don't usually set it for new drives. Jumper setting is not required for the HDR FOX T2 nor for a normal drive for PC.

 

[aekostas]

Good morning. I indeed removed the connections from the other drives and (possibly related, I may try to replicate) I got it working. I made two mistakes: I did not redirect output to a log file and I did not call date after the command to see how long it took. But maybe the command logs anyway; I checked /var/log and could not find them. I also don't know how to scroll on this terminal, so here goes the last page:

 

[prpr]

But maybe the command logs anyway;

It doesn't. Does it run clean if you try it again?
Oh, I see you've still got the memory allocation error. I think it's time to give up and reformat that partition.

I also don't know how to scroll on this terminal

Try Shift-PgUp.

 

[aekostas]

Oh, I see you've still got the memory allocation error.

I do. Can it be caused by me booting System Rescue and copying system to memory? It was one of the permutations I tried to get the thing to boot.

 

[bottletop]

I do. Can it be caused by me booting System Rescue and copying system to memory? It was one of the permutations I tried to get the thing to boot.

That could be a contributing factor, but probably only if your PC has very little RAM (e.g. 2GB or less).
Regarding the jumper - which setting is it on? If it is across pin1-2 or pin5-6, then that can removed without fear of losing data.
Not sure it it'll make a difference but worth a trying the following:

• power down and removing jumper, try booting the default option of System Rescue
• regarding e2fsck, try e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn first
• then if successful follow up with e2fsck -f -v -c -k -y /dev/sdxn e2fsck -f -v -c -c -k -y /dev/sdxn

 

[aekostas]

That may could be a contributing factor, but probably only if your PC has very little RAM (e.g. 2GB or less).
Regarding the jumper - which setting is it on? If it is across pin1-2 or pin5-6, then that can removed without fear of losing data.
Not sure it it'll make a difference but worth a trying the following:

• power down and removing jumper, try booting the default option of System Rescue
• regarding e2fsck, try e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn first
• then if successful follow up with e2fsck -f -v -c -k -y /dev/sdxn

Thanks again. It was on 5-6. What I did before your message was power down, remove jumper, persevere and boot with default option.
I am also two hours into e2fsck -f -c -c -k -y. Is it adviseable to interrupt it and proceed as per your suggestion?

 

[bottletop]

Thanks again. It was on 5-6. What I did before your message was power down, remove jumper, persevere and boot with default option.
I am also two hours into e2fsck -f -c -c -k -y. Is it adviseable to interrupt it and proceed as per your suggestion?

It's up to you. The process should run a little faster (due to pin5-6 removal), but it'll likely fail similar to before.
The idea I had with simplifying the e2fsck command was hoping that it may complete a light task first before tackling the heavier option - but it may be just wishful thinking on my part. I'm out of ideas!

 

[aekostas]

Many thanks, I really appreciate it. It still reports errors very early in the process as per below.

I will try your suggestions after this run. Say it fails, is it ethical for me to format and sell it or is the hw suspect? I don’t have a use for it.

 

[Black Hole]

is the hw suspect?

Hopefully smartmontools is installed:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda

 

[bottletop]

Many thanks, I really appreciate it. It still reports errors very early in the process as per below.

I will try your suggestions after this run. Say it fails, is it ethical for me to format and sell it or is the hw suspect? I don’t have a use for it.

View attachment 5965

That early error is not so bad because it is trying to correct the filesystem and continuing. It's when e2fsck aborts that is the issue - indicating it can't cope. The hw is still a bit suspect because you have SMART drive errors on the drive - in addition to the filesystem issues. Hopefully another forum member may have better idea/solution.

 

[aekostas]

Thanks, I will just junk it.

 

[prpr]

Hopefully another forum member may have better idea/solution.

It's all been said up-thread, if only people would read it and act on it. I give up now.

 

[aekostas]

It's all been said up-thread, if only people would read it and act on it. I give up now.

Sorry, I thought I was following your suggestions; it's just not everything went swimmingly. I did not do the secure delete, as I will just junk the drive; the whole point for me was to recover the recordings.

@bottletop, e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn, having booted with the default option, ran for a very long time, and failed in the same way, as per screenshot. I think I gave this a fair shot. Thank you all for your support.

 

[bottletop]

@bottletop, e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn, having booted with the default option, ran for a very long time, and failed in the same way, as per screenshot. I think I gave this a fair shot. Thank you all for your support.

View attachment 5968

Fair enough, you gave it a fair shot.
But if you feel urge later....

• Boot the default option for System Rescue
• smartctl -t long /dev/sdX (might not need this)
• wait for it to finish if you wish - or check on it later
• e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdXn (take pic if it fails with "Memory allocation failed")
• e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdXn (take pic if it fails with "Memory allocation failed") - i.e. repeat a few times
• (where X = drive letter, n=partition number)

Spoiler

The troublesome inode is not the same on each run, so it is progressing - albeit slowly.
#8 1240688
#31 1240688
#65 2260683
#76 4293156
Not knowing how many of these there are it may take forever for it to run/repair the partition so you'll need to make a judgement call or call it a day before spending too much time on it!
You may be able to get an inode count by dumpe2fs /dev/sdXn |grep count:

 

[Old Owl]

Nothing. Aside from running e2fsck on System Rescue CD as previously mentioned, I'm out of ideas. I think you may have had it.
You've still got to fix the SMART problem as well somehow. A security erase has been mentioned in the past - you'll have to search the forum - but I've never done it and never had much good experience with WD drives. A Green is not really the right drive type either. Might be time to bite the bullet and get a Seagate .

Sorry, late to this party...

I went through the process of upgrading my Humax with a WD Green 2TB drive, only to start getting all sorts of issues. I discovered that, as you say, it's not the right type. Green is a Desktop/PC type HDD with built-in error checking and recovery, and this can cause problems for video streams which may have bit errors - important for digital data but irrelevant for video playback. The right type is one suitable for consumer devices (often sold for surveillance/CCTV use). I exchanged it for a WD Purple HDD and it's been working perfectly for a year now (and it's used a lot!).

 

[aekostas]

Thanks again. The drive had worked very well for me for years. I can't quite remember if I had first fitted it in my Toppy, before I got an HD TV thus the Humax. And this is why there was so much in it. This does not mean that I would use one such drive again for this purpose.

Re new suggestions, I put the desktop back into one piece and I am not sure when I will get another chance to dismantle it. The issues with the USB adapter are not helping, nor does the fact that these runs take forever (e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn took 9.5 hrs).

Of course if I get another chance I may well give it a go.

 

[bottletop]

Thanks again. The drive had worked very well for me for years. I can't quite remember if I had first fitted it in my Toppy, before I got an HD TV thus the Humax. And this is why there was so much in it. This does not mean that I would use one such drive again for this purpose.

Re new suggestions, I put the desktop back into one piece and I am not sure when I will get another chance to dismantle it. The issues with the USB adapter are not helping, nor does the fact that these runs take forever (e2fsck -f -v -y /dev/sdxn took 9.5 hrs).

Of course if I get another chance I may well give it a go.

Now that your desktop PC is back to normal again - maybe check that you can boot off the USB System Rescue ok?
If so, then once in System Rescue use fdisk, lsblk etc to gather information on the desktop and drives in it's normal state for future reference. Usually trying to recover a corrupt filesystem is not a quick task. It may take ages to realise you can't recover anything!

...
So, I had a powered USB adapter. The problem with it is that it knocks down my network for some reason, and it did so when I started e2fsck (more on that later). I blamed it on its flimsy construction and ordered a new one which, serendipitously, arrived 3 minutes after my earlier message. So, after relocating the desktop (for reasons I will explain in a mo), I plugged the disk in using the new adapter, and it knocked out my network too. The only other thing I can think of is open the desktop and plug the disk in one of the bays; I just don't have the energy just now.
...

If the desktop can boot into System Rescue ok, you can take your time to investigate the USB-SATA adapter issue.
Eg try powering USB-SATA after successfully booting into System Rescue
If you have one, use alternative power supply.
Try connecting to different set of USB ports - eg front, back, USB2, USB3, etc.
It'll be a bit of a trial and error exercise and you'll need to try many combinations, but the result may be worth it - being able to use a drive without having to open up the desktop.