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kiwifidget

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#142676 20-Mar-2014 14:57
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Hoping someone with experience in failures of this sort may be able to help me.

Back in Feb this year, my WHS2011 OS/SSD failed after about 18 months of use. I left the server off for a few days as it was the weekend. Before pulling the drive for warranty replacement I turned the server back on to write down the exact error but instead of an error the server started up like nothing had happened. It stayed happy for a couple of weeks and then took its last gasp. PBTech took the drive back to send away to Intel, I was told it could take up to 3 weeks. 
Meanwhile... I purchased a shiny new 500GB normal HDD to restore the WHS2011 image to while waiting for the replacement SSD. 
The replacement SSD was duly supplied but it is still in its box.

Then yesterday, the server died again, this time the new OS HDD being at fault, and reporting during BIOS startup "A disk read error has occurred. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart." Multiple reboots gave the same result.
This drive has been in service a mere 5 weeks.
I left the whole thing off last night and turned it on again this morning, and yes, it has started up, although it did do a CHKDSK all by itself before loading the OS.
I now have a found.000 folder with 1 file in it, file0000.chk.

Stablebit Scanner says the drive is perfectly healthy, and Home Server SMART 2013 says the drive has a high CRC error count (922 of them).
Neither program gave any warning of the two failed drives.

So now I am wondering, is it some sort of coincidence that both OS drives have "failed" well before their time?
Both drives used the same SATA cable and port.
The box is about 6.5 years old. The HDD's range in age from 4yrs to 5 weeks, but everything else in the box is pretty much original, , m/b, CPU, PSU, RAM etc. The SATA cable for the OS HDD is an original cable.

Are disk read errors caused by faulty disks, or can they be caused by other factors?
Your feedback would be most appreciated.




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ubergeeknz
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  #1009909 20-Mar-2014 15:04
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Either the controller or cable are faulty, or it's just bad luck.  I'd try replacing the cable first, see if the CRC errors stop.



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  #1010083 20-Mar-2014 19:14
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... The box is about 6.5 years old. The HDD's range in age from 4yrs to 5 weeks, but everything else in the box is pretty much original, , m/b, CPU, PSU, RAM etc. The SATA cable for the OS HDD is an original cable....


Is this server in commercial use? If so, why was it not replaced after 3-5 years?
Failure is almost inevitable after 6.5 years of (presumably) continuous use.
Get a new one.




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gzt

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  #1010141 20-Mar-2014 21:00
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I don't know the answer. Were both drives with issues using the same channel? Maybe swap to the other channel with new cables. +You need to take a good look at your event logs and see what has been recorded over time.




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kiwifidget

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  #1010224 20-Mar-2014 22:13
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Sideface:
... The box is about 6.5 years old. The HDD's range in age from 4yrs to 5 weeks, but everything else in the box is pretty much original, , m/b, CPU, PSU, RAM etc. The SATA cable for the OS HDD is an original cable....


Is this server in commercial use? If so, why was it not replaced after 3-5 years?
Failure is almost inevitable after 6.5 years of (presumably) continuous use.
Get a new one.


No, not commercial, its my home server, a franken-build from my old Vista pc.
Its been a server for about 2 years.
I appreciate that its old, which is why I asked my question.
Could my issue be caused by something other than actual faulty disks?
If disk-read errors are only caused by dud disks then I just need to have a word with the supplier.
But if other things are possible causes then I have a whole range of trouble-shooting things to work through.
The final step of that, if all else fails, is to replace the box.
So far I've spent $10 on a replacement sata cable, but I dont have a bottomless wallet.




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  #1010277 20-Mar-2014 22:45
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"A disk read error has occurred. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart."
This message implies a hard drive problem but you have already tried another drive. So look at your hard drive controller or how it's set up in the BIOS.
Try selecting the BIOS option for a default or safe setting for all BIOS controls - and see if the problem goes away.
If it does, change relevant settings one at a time until the problem returns - that should help guide you to the correct setting.
Visit the motherboard maker's site for a fresh download of the driver set, possibly looking for newer ones on the chipset maker's website.

PS  When did you last change your mobo battery? (Your BIOS may be forgetting its settings).






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