replacing hard disk

[rodp]

It doesn't matter. You can always re-format. And badblocks doesn't necessarily destroy the data anyway.
CF (and badblocks) is in flash and nothing to do with any packages you may install later on to the disk.

I didn't know it was in Flash. Knowing that would have saved me alot of hassle!! When looking at the drives and folders, is there anyway to tell what's in flash and what's not?

I'm assuming you can stop the humax formatting the drive when installing a new one and then access the unit via telnet to then run checks etc.?

If the disk is about to be or has just been formatted, just run the short or even long SMART test, which should run happily in the disk firmware while the system is running, and be much quicker than badblocks.

I came across a thread from someone replacing and testing HDDs before putting them into use suggesting to do it and it sounded like it was more thorough than a SMART test but agree it would obviously take a long time and be much less convenient.

If you go via the command window from webif and execute a long SMART test, do you have to keep the window / session live or can you come back to it later or does it report somewhere - perhaps on the HDD diagnostics page?

Thanks

Rodp

 

[Black Hole]

I didn't know it was in Flash. Knowing that would have saved me alot of hassle!!

Logically, how else could you take the drive off-line to run checks on it?

When looking at the drives and folders, is there anyway to tell what's in flash and what's not?

There's a specific part of the tree located in flash (or temporarily in RAM), but the determining factor is: does this need to run before the HDD is on-line after boot, or without the HDD on-line at all?

If you go via the command window from webif and execute a long SMART test, do you have to keep the window / session live

Run it in an abduco session to be sure, and redirect standard output to a file. Details here:

abduco

A problem with running a long process from a Telnet session or the webshell package (a command terminal available as a web page - access via WebIF >> Diagnostics >> Command Line) is that the session inconveniently drops out and terminates any active processes if you take the focus away to do something else. Then you have to reconnect and restart the youtube-dl command, which then has to do its initial thinking before the download resumes...

fixdisk selected from the maintenance mode Telnet menu automatically runs in an abduco session, and there is an option on the menu to reconnect to an existing session.

 

[prpr]

Run it in an abduco session to be sure, and redirect standard output to a file

There's no point in doing that. Running e.g. smartctl -t long /dev/sda from a command prompt returns a result immediately and the disk firmware runs the test offline. All you need to do is make sure the HDR doesn't go to sleep or reboot.
You collect the logs later either using e.g. smartctl -a /dev/sda or from the WebIf's Disk Diagnostics page:

Self-test logs

No.	Description	Status	Remaining	When	First Error LBA
# 1	Short offline	Completed without error	00%	0	-

As you can see, I did exactly this test when I installed this disk.

It strikes me at this point that there is apparently no easy way to initiate a SMART self-test from the WebIf. Perhaps there should be...

 

[prpr]

When looking at the drives and folders, is there anyway to tell what's in flash and what's not?

As a general rule:
Everything below /mod is on the disk, except /mod/boot which is in flash (and is really an alias for /var/lib/humaxtv/mod )
Everything else is either in flash or in a tmpfs filesystem in RAM.

As with all rules, there are exceptions, depending on various things.

 

[/df]

...
It strikes me at this point that there is apparently no easy way to initiate a SMART self-test from the WebIf. Perhaps there should be...

IIRC the latest versions of the Humax settop program for HDR include a short SMART test as one of the options in Menu>System>Data Storage. Certainly the command template is included in the HDR binary (it looks for the result "read failure"), though not the HD binary.

Supposing that WebShell> smartctl -t long /dev/sda doesn't count as an "easy way", one possibility is to have buttons on the Disk Diagnostics page; possibly also a button that refreshes the statistics shown, which (again IIRC) are normally updated overnight but can be forced to refresh by running the diskattrs diagnostic. Another is just to add disktests and disktestl diagnostics.

 

[Black Hole]

IIRC the latest versions of the Humax settop program for HDR include a short SMART test as one of the options in Menu>System>Data Storage.

It does:

[MENU]

Settings​

System​

Data Storage​

Internal HDD​

HDD Test (BEWARE!)​

Why "beware"? IIRC, the "HDD Test" is executed immediately the user selects that menu item, with no "are you sure" dialogue.

 

[prpr]

one possibility is to have buttons on the Disk Diagnostics page;

Yes, that's what I was thinking.

possibly also a button that refreshes the statistics shown, which (again IIRC) are normally updated overnight

I thought the page showed the live stats. Stuff that goes into the database (startstop, realloc, hours, spinretry, pending, offline) is updated overnight.

 

[/df]

...
I thought the page showed the live stats. Stuff that goes into the database (startstop, realloc, hours, spinretry, pending, offline) is updated overnight.

You're so right. Similar, but sufficiently different, code is used in both the diskattrs diagnostic (which is also the overnight job) and the disk diagnostics page.

 

[/df]

Also, why does the diskattrs script punt for HDs? It gets installed to /mod/etc/anacrontab but the distributed version does nothing. Seems a bit harsh. Surely it ought to be able to diagnose a disk attached to an HD, and why not also run the overnight check?

 

[wacman]

Hi, just been reading all this post as I am after a new hard drive but can not really find one. I have a Seagate Pipeline ST1000VM002.

Does someone have a link to an alternative, 500 or 1tb will do.

Thanks.

 

[Black Hole]

This subject is taken up here: HDR-FOX HDD Replacement

 

[rodp]

Hi All,

Just picking up methods to initiate a HDD test...

IIRC the latest versions of the Humax settop program for HDR include a short SMART test as one of the options in Menu>System>Data Storage.

It does:

[MENU]
Settings
System
Data Storage
Internal HDD
HDD Test (BEWARE!)

I was curious to try this method out to test the HDD without doing webif / telnet stuff. I assumed it would do a short test but it's now more than an hour and seems to be stuck at about 95% (it reached this wihtin a couple of minutes). The circle animation on the left has stopped rotating but I can nudge it by pressing a button on the remote (is that a bug?!). TV program is ok but I can't change channel or volume (or anything!) whilst the HDD test prompt is there. Webif is still ok. I used the command telnet window and ran top. Below is the result: is there something in the list that shows it's still testing the HDD?

top - 22:03:08 up  9:14,  0 users,  load average: 2.59, 3.20, 3.05                                                                                                                           
Tasks:  83 total,   3 running,  76 sleeping,   0 stopped,   4 zombie                                                                                                                         
Cpu(s): 11.1%us, 44.0%sy, 19.3%ni, 25.5%id,  0.0%wa,  0.0%hi,  0.2%si,  0.0%st                                                                                                               
Mem:    125016k total,   117704k used,     7312k free,     2412k buffers                                                                                                                     
Swap:   131064k total,     4664k used,   126400k free,    58992k cached                                                                                                                      


  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND                                                                                                                        
  363 root      25   0  349m  48m  15m S   32 39.6 148:22.91 humaxtv                                                                                                                         
25215 root      35  10  1304  528  408 R    9  0.4   2:25.22 tmenu                                                                                                                           
32122 root      26  10  1300  644  480 R    3  0.5   0:06.67 top                                                                                                                             
 1843 root      35  10  1264  456  380 S    2  0.4   7:10.78 scanmounts                                                                                                                      
 1853 root      26  10  8144 5576 2268 S    1  4.5   7:23.10 mediatomb                                                                                                                       
 1733 root      32  10  1260  436  364 S    1  0.3   1:19.13 editmonitor                                                                                                                     
 1584 root      25  10  5376 1496  796 S    0  1.2   0:04.88 lighttpd                                                                                                                        
 1748 nobody    25  10  5432 1336 1068 S    0  1.1   0:03.14 shellinaboxd                                                                                                                    
    2 root      RT   0     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:04.16 migration/0                                                                                                                     
    4 root      RT   0     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:05.11 migration/1                                                                                                                     
    7 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:00.05 events/1                                                                                                                        
   11 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:05.43 kblockd/1                                                                                                                       
    8 root      11  -5     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:00.00 khelper                                                                                                                         
   14 root      15   0     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   1:04.39 pdflush                                                                                                                         
   15 root      16   0     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:49.17 pdflush                                                                                                                         
    3 root      34  19     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:00.03 ksoftirqd/0                                                                                                                     
    1 root      18   0  1252  396  340 S    0  0.3   0:03.38 init                                                                                                                            
   18 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:00.00 aio/1                                                                                                                           
    6 root      10  -5     0    0    0 S    0  0.0   0:00.42 events/0

 

[rodp]

doh! found this: https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/hdd-test


So this method to test the HDD can't be used for a 1 / 2 TB HDD. PItty. I have put it into standy and powered up again

What is the process to execute the Smart test in the webif command line / diagnostics menu whilst the unit is running in normal mode?

Thanks.

 

[prpr]

That ancient forum post is probably obsoleted by later versions of Humax firmware which did support up to 2 TB drives.
The way to do it from the command line is: smartctl -t short /dev/sda
although you may need to use sdb instead of sda if you have certain packages installed.

 

[Black Hole]

is there something in the list that shows it's still testing the HDD?

363 root 25 0 349m 48m 15m S 32 39.6 148:22.91 humaxtv

The standard firmware runs as a monolithic software process called "humaxtv". All details are hidden inside that.

 

[/df]

I don't have a /usr/bin/humaxtv to hand just now but I expect that the template for the smartctl command may be found in its strings output, as the e2fsck -p command is; or maybe it calls a SMART library. Even if it runs smartctl, you won't see a smartctl process hanging: the protocol is that the smartctl -t short ... command is run to tell the drive's SMART firmware to set off the test and then, after waiting a bit to make sure It happened, you poll its selftest log until it's complete. You can run a similar command at the telnet prompt: examples.

 

[prpr]

I don't have a /usr/bin/humaxtv to hand just now but I expect that the template for the smartctl command may be found in its strings output

humax ~ # strings /usr/bin/humaxtv|grep smart
smartctl --test short /dev/%s
smartctl --log=selftest /dev/%s | grep '# 1  Short offline       Completed: read failure'

 

[/df]

So, what I said!

 

[rodp]

In the command window I do:

smartctl -t short \dev\sdb

then a wait a minute and then check the log to check it's run

smartctl -H /dev/sdb                                                                                                                                                                
smartctl 6.4 2015-06-04 r4109 [7405b0-smp-linux-2.6.18-7.1] (local build)                                                                                                                  
Copyright (C) 2002-15, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                           
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===                                                                                                                                                   
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED                                                                                                                                   
Please note the following marginal Attributes:                                                                                                                                             
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE                                                                                           
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   061   045   045    Old_age   Always   In_the_past 39 (Min/Max 27/39)

I then check the log

smartctl -l \dev\sdb

and it lists my log

humax# smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdb                                                                                                                                                       
smartctl 6.4 2015-06-04 r4109 [7405b0-smp-linux-2.6.18-7.1] (local build)                                                                                                                 
Copyright (C) 2002-15, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                          
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===                                                                                                                                                   
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1                                                                                                                                           
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error                                                                                           
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22522         -                                                                                                             
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22510         -                                                                                                             
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22432         -                                                                                                             
# 4  Selective offline   Completed without error       00%     22403         -                                                                                                             
# 5  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668765528                                                                                                   
# 6  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668608664                                                                                                   
# 7  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668608656                                                                                                   
# 8  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668606680                                                                                                   
# 9  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668602712                                                                                                   
#10  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668602704                                                                                                   
#11  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668600720                                                                                                   
#12  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668598736                                                                                                   
#13  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668594768                                                                                                   
#14  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668594760                                                                                                   
#15  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668592784                                                                                                   
#16  Selective offline   Completed: read failure       90%     22403         3668592776                                                                                                   
#17  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       10%     22401         3668512200                                                                                                   
#18  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22397         -                                                                                                             
#19  Short offline       Completed: read failure       90%     22397         3668596752                                                                                                   
#20  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     11021         -                                                                                                             
#21  Extended offline    Interrupted (host reset)      00%       956         -

Why is this not then showing up in the diagnostics part of webif?


(I have clicked acknowledge any current disk faults)

Also can just check that this drive still has plenty of life in it as it's only reallocated 112 sectors? This drive is only 4 years old (Skyhawk) whilst my original Pipeline lasted 8.

 

[Black Hole]

Also can just check that this drive still had plenty of line in it as it's only reallocated 112 sectors?

Based on the figures you've listed, 112 sectors is less than 1% of the reserve.