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  • SpinRite v6.1 Release #3
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    The 3rd release of SpinRite v6.1 is published and may be obtained by all SpinRite v6.0 owners at the SpinRite v6.1 Pre-Release page. (SpinRite will shortly be officially updated to v6.1 so this page will be renamed.) The primary new feature, and the reason for this release, was the discovery of memory problems in some systems that were affecting SpinRite's operation. So SpinRite now incorporates a built-in test of the system's memory. For the full story, please see this page in the "Pre-Release Announcements & Feedback" forum.
    /Steve.
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  • BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware

    To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.

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Some old workhorses that SR is helping stay running pt 1.

#1

H

himemsys

We have some industrial controllers that run 486 processors and Windows 3.1. I have the drives imaged and some spare 80GB IDE drives so in the event of death, we will be back up and running within an hour. But for now, I periodically run SR on the existing drives and they continue to chug along.

On both drives I started off with Level 2 in case there were some iffy sections that a higher level might push over the edge. With successful L2 scans, I then scanned the 1st drive at L4, and the 2nd one at L5. The POH are approximately 68000 for the Fujitsu and 63000 for the WD. The manufacture year for the Fujitsu is around 2002 (I forgot to document it) and the WD is 1999. Just wanted to share for anyone else here who has an interest in old hard drives.

I tried pasting in SR logs but they put the post over 10000 characters. If anyone wants to see the SR logs, please share with me how I can post them without exceeding the character limit.


#2

D

DanR

Your post begs two (2) questions . . .

1) What sort of data is taking up so much space in the SR log files?

2) Why needlessly subject these old IDE drives to the stress of level 5 when level 2 is successful???

With a successful level 2, a level 3/4 scan will do all that is necessary (with much less stress) to keep these drives running at their current optimum performance.

ZIPping a test file would drastically reduce its size.


#3

H

himemsys

DanR said:
Your post begs two (2) questions . . .

1) What sort of data is taking up so much space in the SR log files?

2) Why needlessly subject these old IDE drives to the stress of level 5 when level 2 is successful???

With a successful level 2, a level 3/4 scan will do all that is necessary (with much less stress) to keep these drives running at their current optimum performance.

ZIPping a test file would drastically reduce its size.
Click to expand...
I was simply trying to insert a copy of the SR logs (a level 2 scan and a level 4/5 scan). I'm guessing all the ascii characters totaled over 10k characters.

I figured if the drive was healthy (even if old), a level 5 scan would not put unnecessary stress on the drive. SMART stats looked flawless. If there's no interest/curiosity for seeing SR results on old drives, then I won't bother posting anymore. But for now, let's try a smaller snippet:
Code: 
  |                              WDC AC14300R                                |
  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |    access mode: direct bus master       serial number: WD-WM6262980407   |
  |   pci bus addr: 0:31:1                   firmware rev: 17.01J17          |
  | adapter vendor: Intel Corporation       rotation rate: not specified     |
  |  vendor-device: 8086-27DF              ata/atapi spec: ATA-4             |
  |     bios drive: 80h                    drv technology: generic           |
  | controller reg: 01F0-01F7h, 03F6h          lba in use: yes, 28-bit LBA   |
  | bus master reg: E0F0h                                                    |
  |   max transfer: ultraDMA  67 MB/s      multi-word dma: -/2  (unknown md) |
  |                                        ultradma modes: 4/4  (66.66 MB/s) |
  | sector count:           8,421,840       available pio: 4/4  (16.67 MB/s) |
  |   byte count:       4,311,982,080                                        |
  |                                              features: SMART secure POWR |
  |  transfers:            256 sector      long ops: YES : WCACH LOOKAHD hpa |
  |  ATA speed:     13,617,181 byte/s      feature detail: 30694000 FFFF0000 |
  |==========================================================================|
  | Level: 5                 Graphic Status Display                          |
  |==========================================================================|
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
  |--- work ---- remaining --- completed +------- sector status key ---------|
  | megabytes:       0.000     4,311.982 | .oO analyzing   |  R  recovered   |
  |         %:       0.000%      100.000%|  .  unprocessed |  B  defective   |
  |      time:     0:00:00       1:00:04 |  :  processed   |  U  unrecovered |
  |==========================================================================|
  |                        Final Sector Event Counts                         |
  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |           command timeout:       0  command aborted:       0             |
  |           comm/cable errs:       0  not recoverable:       0             |
  |            minor troubles:       0  sect neverfound:       0             |
  |           dynastat recovr:       0  defective sectr:       0             |
  |==========================================================================|
  |                      End-of-Run SMART System Status                      |
  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |  monitored param               margin         current/max    raw data    |
  |   ECC corrected  0 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 149/149 00000000000000 |
  |  rd chan margin  -                                                       |
  |  relocated sect  0 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 199/199 00000000000000 |
  |  realloc events  -                                                       |
  |     seek errors  -                                                       |
  |   recal retries  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  49/49  00000000000000 |
  |  cabling errors  0 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 200/200 00000000000000 |
  |   uncorrectable  0 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 200/200 00000000000000 |
  |    write errors  0 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 149/149 00000000000000 |
  | command timeout  -                                                       |
  | pending sectors  -                                                       |
  |    read retries  -                                                       |
  |    total writes  -                                                       |
  |  write failures  -                                                       |
  |   wear leveling  -                                                       |
  |  remaining life  -                                                       |
  |   realloc space  -                                                       |


#4

P

PHolder

himemsys said:
pasting in SR logs
Click to expand...
You can probably use PasteBin and link to it.


#5

D

DanR

himemsys said:
I figured if the drive was healthy (even if old), a level 5 scan would not put unnecessary stress on the drive. SMART stats looked flawless.
Click to expand...
Granted. But if a level 2 and a level 3/4 scan are clean, what is there to be gained with a level 5 scan? I do not see any advantage to a level 5 scan in this case.

himemsys said:
If there's no interest/curiosity for seeing SR results on old drives,
Click to expand...

There is always interest/curiosity! :)

The snippet looks perfect! :)


#6

H

himemsys

DanR said:
Granted. But if a level 2 and a level 3/4 scan are clean, what is there to be gained with a level 5 scan? I do not see any advantage to a level 5 scan in this case.
Click to expand...
Well, the WD drive was scanned at level 2, then level 5. There were no level 3 or 4 scans. I chose level 5 because SMART looked flawless. I wanted to exercise the drive as much as possible. Maybe it'll last another 68k hours. ;)

The Fujitsu drive was scanned at level 2, then level 4. I chose level 4 because SMART did not look flawless (non-zero RAW DATA in critical parameters).

Here it is:
Code: 
|                            FUJITSU MPE3084AE                             |

  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

  |    access mode: direct bus master       serial number: 01066516          |

  |   pci bus addr: 0:31:1                   firmware rev: EE-C0-24          |

  | adapter vendor: Intel Corporation       rotation rate: not specified     |

  |  vendor-device: 8086-27DF              ata/atapi spec: ATA-4             |

  |     bios drive: 80h                    drv technology: generic           |

  | controller reg: 01F0-01F7h, 03F6h          lba in use: yes, 28-bit LBA   |

  | bus master reg: E0F0h                                                    |

  |   max transfer: ultraDMA  67 MB/s      multi-word dma: -/2  (unknown md) |

  |                                        ultradma modes: 4/4  (66.66 MB/s) |

  | sector count:          16,514,064       available pio: 4/4  (16.67 MB/s) |

  |   byte count:       8,455,200,768                                        |

  |                                              features: SMART secure POWR |

  |  transfers:            256 sector      long ops: YES : WCACH LOOKAHD HPA |

  |  ATA speed:     22,665,522 byte/s      feature detail: 34694008 00610000 |

  |==========================================================================|

  | Level: 4                 Graphic Status Display                          |

  |==========================================================================|

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  | :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |

  |--- work ---- remaining --- completed +------- sector status key ---------|

  | megabytes:       0.000     8,455.201 | .oO analyzing   |  R  recovered   |

  |         %:       0.000%      100.000%|  .  unprocessed |  B  defective   |

  |      time:     0:00:00       0:33:13 |  :  processed   |  U  unrecovered |

  |==========================================================================|

  |                        Final Sector Event Counts                         |

  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

  |           command timeout:       0  command aborted:       0             |

  |           comm/cable errs:       0  not recoverable:       0             |

  |            minor troubles:       0  sect neverfound:       0             |

  |           dynastat recovr:       0  defective sectr:       0             |

  |==========================================================================|

  |                      End-of-Run SMART System Status                      |

  |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

  |  monitored param               margin         current/max    raw data    |

  |   ECC corrected  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  68/68  00000000019891 |

  |  rd chan margin  -                                                       |

  |  relocated sect  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  72/72  00000000000055 |

  |  realloc events  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  72/72  00000000000055 |

  |     seek errors  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  80/80  00000000000C15 |

  |   recal retries  -                                                       |

  |  cabling errors  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::   3/3   00000000000000 |

  |   uncorrectable  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  80/80  00000000000000 |

  |    write errors  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  80/80  000000000007FB |

  | command timeout  -                                                       |

  | pending sectors  0 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  80/80  00000000000000 |

  |    read retries  -                                                       |

  |    total writes  -                                                       |

  |  write failures  -                                                       |

  |   wear leveling  -                                                       |

  |  remaining life  -                                                       |

  |   realloc space  -                                                       |


#7

ColbyBouma

ColbyBouma

himemsys said:
If there's no interest/curiosity for seeing SR results on old drives, then I won't bother posting anymore.
Click to expand...
I'm very interested in logs :)
gitlab.com

GRC Community / SpinRite Logs · GitLab

A community collection of logs from SpinRite. https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm
gitlab.com gitlab.com

DanR is right. You should be able to create a ZIP file of the logs and attach them here, as long as it's no more than 512 KB.


#8

H

himemsys

Fun fact on this Fujitsu drive: Power on Hours is actually displayed in seconds. Updating the page every second increments the value by one. So 68000 POH is actually displaying a value of around 245,000,000.

@ColbyBouma - I'll see if I have time tomorrow to zip them up for you. I may have others on my thumb drive to add.


#9

D

DanR

I agree these two IDE drives are healthy. and on a healthy drive a level 5 should not pose a problem.

I just do not see a benefit / advantage to a level 5 on healthy drives, except perhaps peace of mind.

YMMV!


#10

ColbyBouma

ColbyBouma

I see Level 5 as both a stress test, and a data refresh. Just because Level 2 succeeded today doesn't mean it's going to succeed a year from now (bit rot and whatnot).


#11

H

himemsys

@ColbyBouma

Here are all the SR logs I have from two different thumb drives. I have a 3rd thumb drive that I don't have access to at the moment. I'll get that one to you when I get a chance.

I noticed on the Fujitsu that I just scanned (the one that lists 'power on seconds' instead of hours) that SR shows the runtime as >1M. :) @Steve I'm not sure this is worth your time to "fix" in a future release of SR6.1 but I'm tagging you to get you in the loop.

Code: 
  ############################################################################
  # SpinRite Detailed Technical Log generated at  7:48 am on Jul 22nd, 2024. #
  ############################################################################
                            SpinRite v6.1 - Release 3     

 Type|Port|BIOS|Runtime|Size|            Model             |      Serial       
 ----+----+----+-------+----+------------------------------+-------------------
 ATA | PM | 80 |  >1M  |8.5G|FUJITSU MPE3084AE             |01066516           
 BIOS| 81 | 81 |  ...  |1.0T|           USB drive          |

Attachments


  • srlogs.zip
    37.3 KB · Views: 26

#12

ColbyBouma

ColbyBouma

Thanks!

">1M" is intentional, because that field is fixed-width.


#13

ColbyBouma

ColbyBouma

Here's a CSV of the data from your logs.

Attachments


  • himemsys.zip
    5.8 KB · Views: 27

#14

H

himemsys

ColbyBouma said:
Thanks!

">1M" is intentional, because that field is fixed-width.
Click to expand...
Actually, my idea for Steve wasn't to extend the width of the field. My point was to see if he felt it was worth it to detect power on seconds and convert to the standard power on hours for that field so the value is comparable to almost every other drive on the planet.

ColbyBouma said:
Here's a CSV of the data from your logs.
Click to expand...
Thank you! And here are the rest of my logs from my last flash drive.

Attachments


  • srlogs2.zip
    31.6 KB · Views: 28

#15

C

Clev

ColbyBouma said:
I see Level 5 as both a stress test, and a data refresh. Just because Level 2 succeeded today doesn't mean it's going to succeed a year from now (bit rot and whatnot).
Click to expand...
I see no disadvantage to refreshing surfaces if you have the time. I've seen plenty of times where an area of a level 2 scan slowed significantly but it wasn't enough to trigger Spinrite into further action. A follow-up level 4 would ensure that it got rewritten.


#16

D

DanR

Clev said:
I've seen plenty of times where an area of a level 2 scan slowed significantly but it wasn't enough to trigger Spinrite into further action. A follow-up level 4 would ensure that it got rewritten.
Click to expand...
Exactly. A level 3 or 4 scan will rewrite every sector on the drive. Note: Level 4 = Level 3 with a final verification read.


#17

ColbyBouma

ColbyBouma

himemsys said:
Actually, my idea for Steve wasn't to extend the width of the field. My point was to see if he felt it was worth it to detect power on seconds and convert to the standard power on hours for that field so the value is comparable to almost every other drive on the planet.
Click to expand...
Steve is very unlikely to make any further changes to 6.1 at this point, unless a severe bug is found. He would probably be interested in looking at this once he starts working on 7.0.

himemsys said:
Thank you! And here are the rest of my logs from my last flash drive.
Click to expand...
Here's the updated CSV:

Attachments


  • himemsys.zip
    8.6 KB · Views: 29

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