HD keeps getting corrupted...

[Ichinisan]

My file server has an RAID-5 array with 6 120GB hard drives. I'm going to replace the old Intel D850GB motherboard (and 1.3 GHz P4) with something better very soon because I believe it is responsible for these issues that I am having. Currently using an Antec TruePower 460W power supply. The array is the secondary drive, used as storage. The boot drive is a 100GB drive on it's own channel. There is no optical drive in the system.

The system locks up when shutting down, but not when restarting. CHKDSK reports errors when I scan, but if I scan again (still in "read-only" mode), it doesn't report them! I've run all of the WD Diagnostic tools on this drive, so I think it must be some sort of cascading file system error. Here is an example of running CHKDSK, being warned to restart and fix, then scanning again and getting no such warning!

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>chkdsk
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Boot.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
Security descriptor verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.

97675168 KB total disk space.
8088136 KB in 14070 files.
4212 KB in 1083 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
98180 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
89484640 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
24418792 total allocation units on disk.
22371160 allocation units available on disk.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>chkdsk
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Boot.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
Security descriptor verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.

97675168 KB total disk space.
8088136 KB in 14070 files.
4212 KB in 1083 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
98180 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
89484640 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
24418792 total allocation units on disk.
22371160 allocation units available on disk.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>

I had this problem before, so I reformatted the boot drive (full, NTFS) and reinstalled Windows XP Pro from scratch. As is normal with this system, it locked up when I tried to shut down and I immediately noticed the CHKDSK behavior on my new install.

Any insights on this?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

is your XPPro media uncorrupted/scratched/etc. ?

 

[Ichinisan]

Yeah. I've used discs that were made from the same image to reinstall XP on other machines (fair use). If I ever suspect the disc, I create a new one. The latest image was a slipstreamed install with SP2 fully integrated.

 

[Ichinisan]

OK, now it's getting *really* bad. I just went through a round of restarting with CHKDSK /F

It scanned once, then restarted and scanned again reporting "No errors found" on the second check. I assume that a scheduled CHKDSK scan restarts and scans again, booting only when "No errors" are found. The system boots, and I run CHKDSK again...read-only mode. It does not report "no errors found", but also does not report any errors. I immediately run CHKDSK again, and...and... Well, this is the only way to say it:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>chkdsk
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Boot.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Index verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)...
Security descriptor verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.

97675168 KB total disk space.
8120704 KB in 15442 files.
4616 KB in 1084 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
98180 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
89451668 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
24418792 total allocation units on disk.
22362917 allocation units available on disk.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>chkdsk
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Boot.

WARNING! F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Deleting index entry wusetup.cab in index $I30 of file 10367.
Index verification completed.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>

How the holy hell is this possible? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! How can a "read-only" scan corrupt the drive?

This corruption still has not reached the point where it affects Windows, or any of my applications...that I know of. I guess it's only a matter of time.

 

[daniel49]

Just a thought but all hd manufactures have available on thier websites utilities that check to see if a drive is in the early stages of failing all together.
For instance western drives have the data lifeguard tools.
Maxtor drives can be analyzed by powermax utility. etc...

some of the crazy stuff thats happening to you sounds similar to some of the weird stuff I was seeing once when I had a hd failing as I was trying to install an OS on it.
It was not a raid array such as yours but may be worth a shot.
good luck
dan

 

[Ichinisan]

The drive that is exhibiting problems is the single 100GB boot drive. I only mentioned the RAID because it is probably causing my motherboard to lock up when shutting down. I also mentioned that the drive is somewhat new and has passed all of the WD Data Lifeguard diagnostics.

 

[Insidious]

What happens if you disable the RAID controller and run on only the primary (120G) HD?

-Sid

 

[Ichinisan]

I guess I'll try that when I reinstall Windows :/

 

[CZroe]

The RAID controller is not at fault for the system lock-ups. Our D850GB has done this for some time (Even before we bought the Promise SX6000). Ichinisan, my brother, should've checked with me first.

Anyway, Promise recommends that I do not use WD drives in the first place. Well, if certain IDE drives have problems in a RAID array like they say, why does IDE RAID exist?! Grrr.