On 2/25/23 04:31, Albretch Mueller wrote:
On 2/25/23, to...@tuxteam.de <to...@tuxteam.de> wrote:
I can't make too much heads or tails of it, but I'd focus
my suspicions on the USB part. USB ports (both sides),
cable and especially the power source for the disk:
+1
does
it have a separate source, or does it feed on the computer's
USB?
the drive has its own power cable and those kinds of failures have
actually happened in research rooms in libraries, which are rented by
VIPs for their own conferences ...; so, I doubt those electrical
outlets are also failing
My house was built with cheap NEMA 5-15R duplex receptacles in 1994. A
few lost their grip, so I replaced them with better quality devices.
On 2/25/23, David Christensen <dpchr...@holgerdanske.com> wrote:
It looks like your USB connection is unreliable. I suggest removing the
drive from its USB enclosure ...
I am not using a USB enclosure per se, but a regular internal disk
externally attached using a USB/power interface. I will test the USB
cabling using a better looking, newer USB cable.
What is the make and model of your USB/power interface?
I bought a StarTech S351BMU33ET a few years ago:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/s351bmu33et
I liked everything except the fact that it lacked a fan and my HDD's
were getting too hot. So, I opened it up and discovered that StarTech
had done most of the engineering -- the rear panel has injection molded
features for a fan, and the printed circuit board has a clearance
cut-out for a fan and nearby plated through holes for a 2 x 0.1" pin
header. I completed the rear panel cutout, soldered in a pin header,
connected a fan, and powered it up. The PCB layout is wrong -- one fan
pin was connected to DC negative and but the other was floating (?).
The on/off switch does not do old-school power switching -- it connects
to a chip. I probed the board looking for a switched DC positive. I
settled for the most convenient trace/ pad that I could find near the
incoming power connector and soldered in a jumper. Now the fan spins
whenever a drive is inserted, regardless of the on/off switch. Oh,
well. USB and eSATA performance is excellent, and I have had no
problems with it. StarTech should do a revision of the PCB and start
shipping units with fans -- I would buy more and recommend them.
Unless you have suitable test equipment
If what you meant by "test equipment" is the kind they use in clean
rooms
And electronics labs, geek home workshops, etc..
I cannot use those, but I would like to buy some hdd failure
detection rig
I have several tower and rack computers, and install hard drive mobile
racks in all of them:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/drw150satbk
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/hsb220sat25b
https://www.startech.com/en-us/hdd/s25slotr
I typically use 2.5" SATA SSD's for OS drives, one OS per SSD, and have
an assortment of Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD instances with various
utility apps to choose from. Do not be afraid to spend good money on
good parts and good tools; it will save your sanity and your data.
... making sure the BIOS hasn’t been corrupted).
That is tough, given that you must assume backdoored firmware will take
measures to hide and protect itself.
If your firmware EEPROM is socketed, then an EEPROM programmer and
suitable PC/ driver/ app would do.
If your firmware EEPROM is soldered and the motherboard has JTAG, then a
cable, JTAG adapter, and PC/ driver/ app comes to mind. But, this may
require technical information from the motherboard manufacturer.
There is a lot of (at times partial and in ads) information out there
about the science and art of the use and care of computer memory (RAM,
SSD and hdd) and filesystems based on the profile of your applications
but a "Bible" kind of book about such matters is nowhere to be found.
"Confidential". I once wrote a BSD device driver for an Intel Fast
Ethernet PCI adapter. Intel required my employer to sign an NDA so we
could get the technical/ programmers manual.
The laptop + external disk combination I am using right now has a
very pore transfer rate.
Does the laptop have an ExpressCard slot? If so, an ExpressCard to USB,
Firewire, or eSATA adapter is an option:
https://www.startech.com/en-us/search?search_term=expresscard
That said, the prices of recent model, used computers have dropped
significantly post-COVID.
For DIY, I prefer used Intel S1200V3RPL motherboards/ CPU/ ECC bundles,
used LSI HBA SAS 9207-8i IT Mode, new StarTech mobile racks as above,
and new Fractal Design chassis/ PSU/ third fan:
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-r5/black/
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/power-supplies/ion/ion-2-platinum-660w/Black/
https://www.fractal-design.com/products/fans/dynamic/dynamic-x2-gp-14/white/
If building a gaming/ compute box, I would substitute the 860 W PSU.
David
