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From: Ben Myers on 20 Sep 2009 23:53
Daave wrote:
> Ben Myers wrote:
>> Daave wrote:
>>> A friend recently asked me to look at his Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop
>>> because he was having printing issues (which I won't go into
>>> presently -- I haven't gotten that far yet). He also stated that he
>>> has noticed some sluggish behavior, including the desktop taking a
>>> while to refresh. That is what I wanted to address first.
>>>
>>> I ran AVG and also the Bit Defender Live CD in addition to MBAM in
>>> Safe Mode. There is no evidence of malware. Also there is at least
>>> 70% free space on the hard drive. And there is extremely little
>>> paging activity going on as well.
>>>
>>> I did however notice that the hard drive's transfer mode is not
>>> optimal; it reads "Multi-Word DMA Mode 2."
>>>
>>> After entering the Service Tag # at the Dell site, I see that the
>>> hard drive is:
>>>
>>> 4G167 Hard Drive, 40GB, I,9.5MM, 5.4K HIT-EUCL
>>>
>>> I intend to perform the Dell diagnostics (the laptop does have a
>>> diagnositcs partition) on the hard drive, but I'd also like to run
>>> the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic, too. But I can't tell what
>>> would be. I suppose I could try Sea Tools for DOS. But if there's a
>>> better method, I'm all ears.
>>>
>>> Also, there is a method I've successfully used to force a drive that
>>> has slipped into "PIO" mode to revert to DMA mode:
>>>
>>> http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/
>>>
>>> (I believe there is also a .reg file available that automates this
>>> process.)
>>>
>>> But I'm not sure this is the same situation. So all input is welcome.
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>
>>> *** New Info***
>>>
>>> The Dell Diagnostics found one error in the read test (Error code:
>>> 0F00:0244) and one error in the verify test (Error code: 0F00:1A44)
>>> -- and they were *both* the same exact message block (6118011). Of
>>> course, this might mean the hard drive should be replaced, but I am
>>> suspicious that there is a problem with only *one* message block.
>>> Perhaps the drive is still sound. Complete text:
>>>
>>> "Uncorrectable data error or media is write protected."
>>>
>>> Sea Tools for DOS corroborated the Dell diagnostics: *one* error.
>>>
>>> Thoughts?
>>>
>>>
>> The drive is a Hitachi. Run Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test. Run HDAT2
>> to examine the SMART data which keeps track of stuff like relocated
>> sectors... Ben Myers
>
> Like I said in my other post, I'm currently running HDAT2 (4.5.3 for
> now). It's less than 10% finished and it corroborates the Dell
> diagnostics: read error in block number 06118011. How exactly do I
> "examine the SMART data"? Will this utility allow me to fix the
> "uncorrectable data error"? Or is this in a section of the hard drive
> that is "write protected" (like the MFT?) How could I determine this? If
> it's fixable, how would I fix it?
>
> TIA.
>
>

4.5.2 can fix some (not all) data errors. Depends on how badly
deteriorated the drive is. Same with Hitachi or other vendor diagnostics.

You download 4.5.2 from the same place where you got 4.5.3.

To examine the SMART data, cursor down to SMART, then SMART attributes.
IIRC, Hitachi is pretty good in adhering to the SMART data standard.
Some drive manufatcurers (e.g. Fujitsu and Seagate) do not touch some of
the SMART data, leading to wildly improbable values. This is another
poorly publicized mess in the computer biz... Ben Myers
From: Daave on 21 Sep 2009 17:44
Ben Myers wrote:
> Daave wrote:
>> Ben Myers wrote:
>>> Daave wrote:
>>>> A friend recently asked me to look at his Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop
>>>> because he was having printing issues (which I won't go into
>>>> presently -- I haven't gotten that far yet). He also stated that he
>>>> has noticed some sluggish behavior, including the desktop taking a
>>>> while to refresh. That is what I wanted to address first.
>>>>
>>>> I ran AVG and also the Bit Defender Live CD in addition to MBAM in
>>>> Safe Mode. There is no evidence of malware. Also there is at least
>>>> 70% free space on the hard drive. And there is extremely little
>>>> paging activity going on as well.
>>>>
>>>> I did however notice that the hard drive's transfer mode is not
>>>> optimal; it reads "Multi-Word DMA Mode 2."
>>>>
>>>> After entering the Service Tag # at the Dell site, I see that the
>>>> hard drive is:
>>>>
>>>> 4G167 Hard Drive, 40GB, I,9.5MM, 5.4K HIT-EUCL
>>>>
>>>> I intend to perform the Dell diagnostics (the laptop does have a
>>>> diagnositcs partition) on the hard drive, but I'd also like to run
>>>> the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic, too. But I can't tell
>>>> what would be. I suppose I could try Sea Tools for DOS. But if
>>>> there's a better method, I'm all ears.
>>>>
>>>> Also, there is a method I've successfully used to force a drive
>>>> that has slipped into "PIO" mode to revert to DMA mode:
>>>>
>>>> http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/
>>>>
>>>> (I believe there is also a .reg file available that automates this
>>>> process.)
>>>>
>>>> But I'm not sure this is the same situation. So all input is
>>>> welcome. Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>> *** New Info***
>>>>
>>>> The Dell Diagnostics found one error in the read test (Error code:
>>>> 0F00:0244) and one error in the verify test (Error code: 0F00:1A44)
>>>> -- and they were *both* the same exact message block (6118011). Of
>>>> course, this might mean the hard drive should be replaced, but I am
>>>> suspicious that there is a problem with only *one* message block.
>>>> Perhaps the drive is still sound. Complete text:
>>>>
>>>> "Uncorrectable data error or media is write protected."
>>>>
>>>> Sea Tools for DOS corroborated the Dell diagnostics: *one* error.
>>>>
>>>> Thoughts?
>>>>
>>>>
>>> The drive is a Hitachi. Run Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test. Run
>>> HDAT2 to examine the SMART data which keeps track of stuff like
>>> relocated sectors... Ben Myers
>>
>> Like I said in my other post, I'm currently running HDAT2 (4.5.3 for
>> now). It's less than 10% finished and it corroborates the Dell
>> diagnostics: read error in block number 06118011. How exactly do I
>> "examine the SMART data"? Will this utility allow me to fix the
>> "uncorrectable data error"? Or is this in a section of the hard drive
>> that is "write protected" (like the MFT?) How could I determine
>> this? If it's fixable, how would I fix it?
>>
>> TIA.
>>
>>
>
> 4.5.2 can fix some (not all) data errors. Depends on how badly
> deteriorated the drive is. Same with Hitachi or other vendor
> diagnostics.
> You download 4.5.2 from the same place where you got 4.5.3.
>
> To examine the SMART data, cursor down to SMART, then SMART
> attributes. IIRC, Hitachi is pretty good in adhering to the SMART
> data standard. Some drive manufatcurers (e.g. Fujitsu and Seagate) do
> not touch some
> of the SMART data, leading to wildly improbable values. This is
> another poorly publicized mess in the computer biz... Ben Myers

Thanks for all your help, Ben. It tuns out my friend wants to purchase a
new PC after all. :-)


From: Jean Rosenfeld on 21 Sep 2009 17:50
In device manager , View menu, click devices by connection. Then click the
+es until you see which drive is connected to which channel

"Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
news:Eb6dnYrB8I7cSivXnZ2dnUVZ_jOdnZ2d(a)cavtel.net...
> Brian K wrote:
> Daave wrote:
>
>>> I did however notice that the hard drive's transfer mode is not optimal;
>>> it reads "Multi-Word DMA Mode 2."
>
>> Before doing anything drastic, reset the DMA mode. Uninstall the IDE
>> Channel in Device Manage. Restart and the Channel will automatically
>> install. See if the DMA mode is now 5.
>
> I think I may have jumped to a false conclusion!
>
> Primary IDE Channel is Multi-Word DMA Mode 2. But Secondary IDE Channel is
> the preferred Ultra DMA Mode 5. I'll bet the optical drive is on the
> primary channel. Still, what is the way to know for sure?
>


From: Daave on 22 Sep 2009 11:37
Thanks, Jean!

Jean Rosenfeld wrote:
> In device manager , View menu, click devices by connection. Then
> click the +es until you see which drive is connected to which channel
>
> "Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
> news:Eb6dnYrB8I7cSivXnZ2dnUVZ_jOdnZ2d(a)cavtel.net...
>> Brian K wrote:
>> Daave wrote:
>>
>>>> I did however notice that the hard drive's transfer mode is not
>>>> optimal; it reads "Multi-Word DMA Mode 2."
>>
>>> Before doing anything drastic, reset the DMA mode. Uninstall the IDE
>>> Channel in Device Manage. Restart and the Channel will automatically
>>> install. See if the DMA mode is now 5.
>>
>> I think I may have jumped to a false conclusion!
>>
>> Primary IDE Channel is Multi-Word DMA Mode 2. But Secondary IDE
>> Channel is the preferred Ultra DMA Mode 5. I'll bet the optical
>> drive is on the primary channel. Still, what is the way to know for
>> sure?


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