maxtor low level format
in [Storage]
|
Prev: HDD size
Next: Data Recovery
From: hodw on 12 May 2006 05:55 Hi My Maxtor drive failed with bad sectors. I also get SMART error condition relocatable sector count on this drive. The company support told me to do a low level format with maxblast and then I can use the drive again. Isnt a SMART error and indication that the drive is at the end of life? Is it worth to do the low level format? Hod
From: Arno Wagner on 12 May 2006 08:28 Previously hodw <hodwi(a)netvision.net.il> wrote: > Hi > My Maxtor drive failed with bad sectors. > I also get SMART error condition relocatable sector count on this > drive. > The company support told me to do a low level format with maxblast and > then I can use the drive again. Hahaha! Until it develops new bad sectors.... > Isnt a SMART error and indication that the drive is at the end of life? > Is it worth to do the low level format? Generally no. Unless it is a small number of bad sectors, say < 200 and the number does not increase or only increases very slowly. If you have the SMART attribute on relocated sectors fail, then you have a very large number od allready reallocated ones, and the defects you see may be due to the spare tables being exhausted. I would say this drive is a paperweight. Arno
From: Rod Speed on 12 May 2006 13:27 hodw <hodwi(a)netvision.net.il> wrote > My Maxtor drive failed with bad sectors. > I also get SMART error condition relocatable sector count on this drive. > The company support told me to do a low level format with maxblast and > then I can use the drive again. > Isnt a SMART error and indication that the drive is at the end of life? Not necessarily, particularly with maxtors, an occasional relocateable sector isnt that uncommon, they appear to ship with an optimistic bad sector list and rely on the drive to add some dubious ones to the bad sector list. > Is it worth to do the low level format? Yes, as long as its only a small number of reallocated sectors.
From: hodw on 12 May 2006 14:48 Hi I do not understand. The bad cluster problem started before the SMART error. The SMART error has a treshhold value which was exceeded. My understaning is that it found BAD CLUSTERS a lot more them it can handle. Even if it is a small number is it worth doing a low level format? Won't I get new bad sectors afterwards? The low level format does not fix them just maps them as bad? Hod
From: Rod Speed on 12 May 2006 16:14
hodw <hodwi(a)netvision.net.il> wrote > I do not understand. > The bad cluster problem started before the SMART error. > The SMART error has a treshhold value which was exceeded. OK, you didnt make that clear initially. > My understaning is that it found BAD > CLUSTERS a lot more them it can handle. SMART knows nothing about clusters, it only knows about sectors. If you have a SMART threshold being exceeded, you have seen a lot more reallocated sectors than is acceptible. > Even if it is a small number Thats unlikely with the SMART threshold being exceeded. > is it worth doing a low level format? > Won't I get new bad sectors afterwards? Depends on what has caused the bad sectors. If it was because the drive got severely overheated and thats what produced the bad sectors, and its not overheated anymore, the LLF may well be useful. Same with a bad power supply once the bad power supply has been replaced. > The low level format does not fix them just maps them as bad? It checks if they are bad and maps them as bad if they really are bad NOW. |