# Help! 7.3.1 killed my upgraded Tivo



## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

I have a Tivo S2 (140060) upgraded with a single 120GB hard drive replacing the "A" drive. It's a Weakknees upgrade. Worked great for more than a year through numerous Tivo system updates. Until this past weekend, when Tivo sent the 7.3.1 system update. 

Now my Tivo is stuck in limbo- it says a new system update will be installed "at 2am" but it is never fully installed. I reboot the box, power cycle it, etc. and it attempts to install the update but fails.

As a result I am getting no program guide information, can't record any shows, I'm dead in the water.

I have Lifetime service so this is distressing. Tivo wants to sell me a refurbished 140060 unit for $149 (with the original 60GB HD) so I can keep my lifetime service. 

Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this unit and get back in business with 7.3.1?

Thanks!

Dan


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Replace The hard drive.


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## jmo1 (Sep 11, 2006)

This 7.3 / 7.3.1 upgrade is killing hard drives left and right. Look around and you will see it's turning Tivo, Toshiba (mine), Sony, humax, and now your upgraded hard drive units into doorstops. 

Tivo denies everything, saying it's a hardware issue. I would disagree, seeing that it's affecting many different manufacturers, including Tivo itself. Rebooting, repeating guided setup, new hard drives, nothing is working. 

To date, Tivo refuses to acknowledge that their update crashed many people's Tivos.

Time to write a letter to the FTC.


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

The software is not "killing" the hard drives. The drives may have been bad before that but that partition was/is not active so no problem but now with the upgrade the problem is surfaceing. Hard drives die, it is a fact of computers.


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## jmo1 (Sep 11, 2006)

It's the hard drive? You sound like you work for Tivo. 

My hard drive is doing everything it's being asked to do - in this case it's trying to execute a bunch of bad code.


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## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

I bought a new hard drive (160GB Seagate) and InstantCake 2 - install appears to have worked fine, Tivo with the new hard drive started up with 7.2.something and overnight upgraded to 7.3.something.

When I get home tonight I'll see if the system is 100% back up and running. Meanwhile I'm going to put the old 120GB Maxtor in my PC, check the S.M.A.R.T status and give the disk a full diagnostic. We will see if it really was the disk...


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## Legion (Aug 24, 2005)

Keep us updated on that hard drive check.

I asked in another thread, but so far it appears that all affected units are Series 2 with lifetime subscriptions.


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Legion said:


> Keep us updated on that hard drive check.
> 
> I asked in another thread, but so far it appears that all affected units are Series 2 with lifetime subscriptions.


I guarantee that they are all S2. As for all being lifetime - I don't think so. Update problems like this have been happening for years on Tivos of all kinds. Subscription status has nothing to do with it. But thanks for the chuckle.


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## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

Here are smartctl resutls for the drive BEFORE executing surface test. Scroll down to see results AFTER executing surface test.

I'm not all that familiar with SMART data output, if someone can interpret the data below please let me know.

Dan

smartctl version 5.32 Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: Maxtor 4R120L0
Serial Number: R35ANELE
Firmware Version: RAMB1TU0
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D revision 0
Local Time is: Mon Sep 11 23:25:50 2006 EDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00)	Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0)	The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever 
been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: ( 30) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01)	Error logging supported.
No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 68) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 252 252 063 Pre-fail Always - 1831
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 14
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 227 227 063 Pre-fail Always - 268
6 Read_Channel_Margin 0x0001 253 253 100 Pre-fail Offline - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0027 253 246 187 Pre-fail Always - 42419
9 Power_On_Minutes 0x0032 247 247 000 Old_age Always - 105h+15m
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x002b 252 252 157 Pre-fail Always - 0
11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x002b 253 252 223 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 51
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 0
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 0
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 28
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x000a 252 238 000 Old_age Always - 56011
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0008 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0008 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 1
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0008 199 199 000 Old_age Offline - 0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
202 TA_Increase_Count 0x000a 253 239 000 Old_age Always - 0
203 Run_Out_Cancel 0x000b 253 252 180 Pre-fail Always - 0
204 Shock_Count_Write_Opern 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
205 Shock_Rate_Write_Opern 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
207 Spin_High_Current 0x002a 252 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
208 Spin_Buzz 0x002a 252 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
209 Offline_Seek_Performnce 0x0024 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
99 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
100 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
101 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
Warning: ATA error count 31 inconsistent with error log pointer 5

ATA Error Count: 31 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 31 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2218 hours (92 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.928 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.928 READ DMA EXT

Error 30 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2196 hours (91 days + 12 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.048 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.048 READ DMA EXT

Error 29 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2174 hours (90 days + 14 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.872 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.856 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.840 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.824 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.808 READ DMA EXT

Error 28 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2151 hours (89 days + 15 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.328 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.312 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.312 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.280 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.280 READ DMA EXT

Error 27 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2146 hours (89 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.168 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.168 READ DMA EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

*** Results AFTER surface scan complete

smartctl version 5.32 Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: Maxtor 4R120L0
Serial Number: R35ANELE
Firmware Version: RAMB1TU0
Device is: In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D revision 0
Local Time is: Tue Sep 12 00:49:42 2006 EDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00)	Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 115)	The previous self-test completed having
the read element of the test failed.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection: ( 30) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01)	Error logging supported.
No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 68) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 252 252 063 Pre-fail Always - 1965
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 15
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 227 227 063 Pre-fail Always - 268
6 Read_Channel_Margin 0x0001 253 253 100 Pre-fail Offline - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0027 251 246 187 Pre-fail Always - 42937
9 Power_On_Minutes 0x0032 247 247 000 Old_age Always - 105h+48m
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x002b 252 252 157 Pre-fail Always - 0
11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x002b 253 252 223 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 51
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 0
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 0
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0032 253 253 000 Old_age Always - 28
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x000a 252 238 000 Old_age Always - 63693
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0008 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0008 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 1
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 252 252 000 Old_age Offline - 1
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0008  199 199 000 Old_age Offline - 0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
202 TA_Increase_Count 0x000a 253 239 000 Old_age Always - 0
203 Run_Out_Cancel 0x000b 253 252 180 Pre-fail Always - 0
204 Shock_Count_Write_Opern 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
205 Shock_Rate_Write_Opern 0x000a 253 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
207 Spin_High_Current 0x002a 252 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
208 Spin_Buzz 0x002a 252 252 000 Old_age Always - 0
209 Offline_Seek_Performnce 0x0024 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
99 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
100 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0
101 Unknown_Attribute 0x0004 253 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
Warning: ATA error count 31 inconsistent with error log pointer 5

ATA Error Count: 31 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
CR = Command Register [HEX]
FR = Features Register [HEX]
SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
ER = Error register [HEX]
ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 31 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2218 hours (92 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.960 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.928 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 3d+12:34:20.928 READ DMA EXT

Error 30 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2196 hours (91 days + 12 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.080 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.048 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 2d+10:30:40.048 READ DMA EXT

Error 29 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2174 hours (90 days + 14 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.872 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.856 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.840 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.824 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 1d+08:25:27.808 READ DMA EXT

Error 28 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2151 hours (89 days + 15 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.328 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.312 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.312 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.280 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 06:23:11.280 READ DMA EXT

Error 27 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2146 hours (89 days + 10 hours)
When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

After command completion occurred, registers were:
ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
-- -- -- -- -- -- --
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0 Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663

Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 f7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 ef 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 e7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.200 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 df 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.168 READ DMA EXT
25 00 08 d7 9f f2 e0 08 00:05:51.168 READ DMA EXT

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed: read failure 30% 2147 116563959

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

jmo1 said:


> It's the hard drive? You sound like you work for Tivo.
> 
> My hard drive is doing everything it's being asked to do - in this case it's trying to execute a bunch of bad code.


If it were bad code then ALL would be having problems......


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## JamieP (Aug 3, 2004)

dschwarz said:


> Here are smartctl resutls for the drive BEFORE executing surface test. Scroll down to see results AFTER executing surface test.
> 
> I'm not all that familiar with SMART data output, if someone can interpret the data below please let me know.
> 
> ...




```
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   227   227   063    Pre-fail  Always       -      268
```
The reallocated sector count tells you how many bad sectors have been mapped out by the drive. Modern drives keep a certain number of "spare" sectors. When you *read* from a bad sector, the drive returns an error to the host. When you *write* to a bad sector, the drive replaces it with one of the spares it has, and "maps" the bad sector out so it isn't used again. The entry above indicates this has happened 268 times on your drive. That's a very high number. I would replace a drive that had more than one or two reallocated sectors.

```
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0008   253   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -    1
```
A pending sector is one that the drive has identified to be bad, but it hasn't been reallocated yet, because the host hasn't written to the sector since the error. The pending sector could be in the middle of a file, or in the file system meta data that keeps track of directories and file allocations on disk. Either way, you will have a data loss and possible file system corruption. If you zero out the whole disk, or otherwise write to that sector, the pending sector will get reallocated.

```
40 51 08 f7 9f f2 e0  Error: UNC 8 sectors at LBA = 0x00f29ff7 = 15900663
```
This is the last error the drive reported.

Basically, your drive is going bad and should be replaced. You might be able to get some more life out of it if you run a full destructive diagnostic on it, but with that many reallocated sectors, you are bound to have more problems in the future, so you should cut your losses and replace the drive.


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## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

Thanks to JamieP for the analysis. It really is a bad drive. Replaced it and the Tivo is now running properly with a new drive.


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