Slow Remote

[Peter H]

Just did a fixdisk, there were lots of "Special (device/socket/fifo) inode xxxx has non-zero size fix? yes"
The fixdisk was much shorter thean the first time, it seem to have stopped around 50% completed but not sure.
I seem to have two log files, attached is what I think were the results.

I just checked on the webif and diagnosis, there is no warning of read only drive now and i can bring up the SMART window, so it might be cleared!

I will have another look later today when i get more time and read any more comments
Thanks

 

[Black Hole]

That looks quite a mess. You should re-run fixdisk until it runs clean.

 

[MartinLiddle]

Just did a fixdisk, there were lots of "Special (device/socket/fifo) inode xxxx has non-zero size fix? yes"
The fixdisk was much shorter thean the first time, it seem to have stopped around 50% completed but not sure.

fix-disk crashed so it certainly hasn't finished. Those errors look very odd to me.

I just checked on the webif and diagnosis, there is no warning of read only drive now and i can bring up the SMART window, so it might be cleared!

If you can access the webif, can you post the output from the hard drive diagnostic please?

 

[Peter H]

I ran it again it did not take as long but seemed to finish after 50%.
It had a lot of "Special (device/socket/fifo) inode xxxx has non-zero size fix? yes"
I rebooted out of maintenance mode and thought it was all fixed, faster R/C etc.
I have two transmitters tuned, one for main HD (Wales) channels and a local sub for news (West).
On further testing I found a weird fault, I have no sound on any non HD channels!
Could a fsck on the HDD cause this to happen!?
I did do an auto re-tune and tested directly on my smart TV without sound problems.
Should i try a re-install of the CF or give up on the disk?
Attached log as requested..




,

 

[Black Hole]

Could a fsck on the HDD cause this to happen!?

I shouldn't think so – the HDR-FOX will operate as a tuner without a HDD attached. In any case, running fixdisk won't make things worse than they are!

Your log appears to be the same one as last time.

Should i try a re-install of the CF or give up on the disk?

What do you think re-installing CF might achieve (hint: nothing)?

I have no sound on any non HD channels!

This is a red herring. If you have the audio preferences set to multichannel, HD sound is handled differently than SD sound. Try setting audio preference to stereo PCM.

 

[Peter H]

It was set to multichannel and tried setting it to stereo (no PCM shown) and I lost all sound. I then realised I had not checked Humax sound volume directly, it was set to zero!
I am not sure if I set it or it somehow lost its setting during fsck. I think it's OK now but will need to thoroughly check later.
I have a complicated audio setup using a Yamaha audio unit using a harmony remote and the HDMI "ARC" operation on the Samsung TV is a bit flakey!
Many years ago on a Linux forum. I think advice was given to do fsck twice to fully repair a disk, is this still advisable as it seems I needed to do it?
Thanks for the advice

 

[MartinLiddle]

Many years ago on a Linux forum. I think advice was given to do fsck twice to fully repair a disk, is this still advisable as it seems I needed to do it?

fix-disk is a bit more than fsck and you need to keep running it until it completes without error. Please, please post the output from the hard drive diagnostic in the webif and we can tell you whether or not the hard drive is worth spending more time on.

 

[Black Hole]

It was set to multichannel and tried setting it to stereo and I lost all sound.

We knew you would, because that's how there can be a difference between StDef and HiDef services.

no PCM shown

Nonetheless, that's what it is.

I am not sure if I set it or it somehow lost its setting during fsck.

You set it somehow. This has nothing to do with your HDD problems, put it out of your mind.

I think advice was given to do fsck twice to fully repair a disk

Please stop talking about fsck as if it is the same as fixdisk. It's not. fixdisk is a script which calls fsck and other utilities. Like I said above, you need to re-run fixdisk to its conclusion, and keep re-running it until no more errors are found (or you give up and replace the HDD).

 

[prpr]

but seemed to finish after 50%.

What does this mean?
You need to let it run to completion.
If it's stopping at 50% and not producing any more output, that DOES NOT mean it's finished. It means it's doing something. Just leave it to let it finish. It can take hours.

Error storing directory block information (inode=23391083, block=0, num=28537074): Memory allocation failed

This is not good. If it keeps doing that then you probably need to backup and re-format, if indeed the disk is worth bothering with. But nobody will know until you post the SMART stats. - smartctl -a /dev/sda from the Telnet command prompt.

 

[Peter H]

Just FYI it did run and I did not stop it. It got to about 50% and stopped with no errors. I agree that was not how it should have gone and have just noticed it did not record all of Eastenders, half way through it showed 15 minutes on the file but the wife said the indicator had only just gone red, sure enough it had missed the first 15 minutes so still may be a HDD failure or the EPG was not correct.
I think its time for a backup and re-format as recommended.
Attached screenshot (may need to make a couple if if it not good enough res!)

 

[prpr]

Attached screenshot

Looks OK from a physical point of view.

It got to about 50% and stopped with no errors.

Can you post the log again.

 

[Peter H]

Just noticed there is a failure:
Error storing directory block information (inode=23391083, block=0, num=28537074): Memory allocation failed

 

[prpr]

Backup and format is your only option then.

 

[/df]

Or maybe disk out, fsck in a SATA-USB caddy attached to or SATA slot in a machine with enough memory: though the amount it thinks is needed could be ridiculously large. Something seems to tramped all over the file system structure although the disk isn't showing any physical errors.

 

[Peter H]

OK thanks for the info.
ATM I have no warnings and the HDD is not in read only mode .
Is it worth doing one (or more) fixdisks!?
Has this type of problem (disk H/W OK, fixdisk unable to correct FS) been seen before?
Before proceeding could you explain what else fixdisk runs (other than fsck) and is better to do fsck on a Linux box?
i am not familiar on exactly how NVM is used or if it is checked so if I changed the HDD what are the chances the NVM is deteriorating and any new install will not be successful?
FWIW the box seems OK ATM and I get the impression the picture is clearer!
Thanks

 

[Black Hole]

what else fixdisk runs (other than fsck)

It taps into the SMART stuff on the HDD itself, enabling sector re-allocation or whatever self-repair the HDD couldn't achieve while still "live". That much has been dealt with.

fixdisk also has "knowledge" of the file system structure (which you would otherwise have to specify in fsck commands), and handles use of a swap file (virtual memory) when necessary, by only taking portions of the file system off-line when possible.

better to do fsck on a Linux box?

The HDR-FOX has a low-power processor and limited RAM. The use of a swap file also slows things down, is not always possible (it depends on some of the HDD being available to use!), or might not be big enough.

Is it worth doing one (or more) fixdisks!?

I suspect the out-of-memory problem is preventing any further progress from being made.

Has this type of problem (disk H/W OK, fixdisk unable to correct FS) been seen before?

Probably, but I don't recall and it's certainly unusual. Nonetheless, the actual HDD appears to be in good health hardware-wise so it is worth pursuing reinstatement rather than replacement.

If you have little of value stored on the HDD I recommend simply reformatting through the menus. If there is little enough, you could copy it to USB first. Anything more and it would be a time-saver to connect the HDD to a PC for file transfers, BUT USE LINUX (because the Ext3 file system is not compatible with WIndows).

i am not familiar on exactly how NVM is used or if it is checked so if I changed the HDD what are the chances the NVM is deteriorating and any new install will not be successful?

Nothing to do with it.

the box seems OK ATM and I get the impression the picture is clearer!

"Clearer"??? HDD problems can result in picture break-up or other glitches, but certainly has no effect on the actual quality of the picture data. I suspect you have simply altered the resolution of the HDMI output (on the V-FORMAT button).

 

[MartinLiddle]

Or maybe disk out, fsck in a SATA-USB caddy attached to or SATA slot in a machine with enough memory: though the amount it thinks is needed could be ridiculously large. Something seems to tramped all over the file system structure although the disk isn't showing any physical errors.

This isn't the first time we have seen strange behaviour when using fix-disk with a Western Digital hard drive.

 

[Black Hole]

Western Digital hard drive.

So the OP has already replaced the HDD at least once, without regard to "suitable" drives!

Why do all the posted logs all have a "Tuesday 12.33pm" timestamp?

 

[MartinLiddle]

So the OP has already replaced the HDD at least once, without regard to "suitable" drives!

I don't have any evidence to suggest a Western Digital drive is unsuitable; just that we had a couple of times when fix-disk behaves in an unusual way that might or might not be connected to them being Western Digital drives.

 

[/df]

...
Before proceeding could you explain what else fixdisk runs (other than fsck) ...

Health of HDD after fix-disk

Do I though need the NTFS-3g package to do that though? Yes

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