Hey all,
just got a message that my HDD is about to fail. I have read that I should run fsck without flags?
I am lost reddit! Need help please!
EDIT Well, thanks everyone for the advice, I am currently backing up all the data and hoping my HDD will last another 2 hours to do so.
Once again, I appreciate all the prompt informative help on this subreddit :D Running 10.10, on a Dell XPS 1330M
Posted Nov 9, 2010, 12:01 AM UTC · edited
it depends on what the message said, if it was a smart error, then you should go get another drive and replace the one you have.
fscking won't fix hardware failures.
Get a replacement drive, a live CD of Ubuntu Rescue Remix, and use ddrescue (NOT "dd_rescue") to clone the failing drive.
Given that your puter is a laptop (with presumably no internal space for a second drive), you'll probably want a SATA->USB bridge or a drive enclosure.
Thanks for this advice, I was just about to ask how to save the settings of my setup.
Can I just use an external HDD (via USB) to store the clone?
Sure. It just has to be as large as, or larger than, the original. Please note that the method I described will erase any/everything that is on the destination by replacing it with a drive-level, sector-by-sector clone.
Since your original drive is failing, I'd shop for a replacement and then spend the $10 on an enclosure. Run the live CD and clone the failing drive via ddrescue. When it's done, swap the drives and see if it boots.
The other method would be to have ddrescue create an image file (instead of a direct clone) on a large enough external drive, then drop a new disk in the laptop and install a fresh Ubuntu onto it. Hook up the external drive and mount the image (and it's partitions ) via loopback on your new Ubuntu and selectively copy your important files back.
Cheers, mate. Thanks for the detailed reply, I shall get my ass into gear and get this sort. A first time for everything, eh?
General recipe for ddrescue cloning:
first, grab most of the error-free areas in a hurry:
ddrescue -n /dev/old_disk /dev/new_disk rescued.log
then try to recover as much of the dicey areas as possible:
ddrescue -r 1 /dev/old_disk /dev/new_disk rescued.log
then try again with a few more attempts before crapping out:
ddrescue -r 3 /dev/old_disk /dev/new_disk rescued.log
If you have more than a small amount of unrecovered sectors, you should be prepared for the clone to have issues. The clone may still need an fsck to clean up any file errors that the original drive might have suffered (before the cloning) as a result of its hardware errors. If you clone onto a larger drive, the clone will seem to be only the size of the original. Various partition tools (Gparted, etc.) could be used to size it up.
You should consider running your computer on a live CD until you get a new HD.
...and bear in mind that it will still spin up unless you disconnect it. Get that USB drive NOW!
Don't wait -- while you still can, BACK UP your data!
That goes for those of you who aren't having HDD error messages too!
This ^^
Please don't wait longer than you have to, you can pick up a cheap external drive at almost any electronics store and get it all taken care of, then no worries. In fact, if you get an external drive that is 2.5inch (most portable externals are) once you have copied over the data, you could actually use the drive in your computer if your other hard drive dies.
Hell, for $5 a month you can backup everything online with mozy.