what do these delayed write messages mean?

[dbarton]

Every now and again one of my drives says a delayed write unable to save this file message.

They are sometimes regualr files and and sometimes F:\$extend\$objId or F:\$MFT

D: E: and F: are all the same physical drive and these *ONLY* happen on F:, so it doesnt seem like a hardware problem with the drive..

Is the solution to reformat F: and copy the data back, or am I way off on this?

This thread has gone off topic and is now locked. OP, please consider reposting your topic if you wish.

esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: dbarton

Every now and again one of my drives says a delayed write unable to save this file message.

They are sometimes regualr files and and sometimes F:\$extend\$objId or F:\$MFT

D: E: and F: are all the same physical drive and these *ONLY* happen on F:, so it doesnt seem like a hardware problem with the drive..

Is the solution to reformat F: and copy the data back, or am I way off on this?

It could well be a physical issue with the disk, I'd chkdsk and have it do a surface test.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I'd also check the physical connection.

 

[corkyg]

It is often a result of write caching not keeping up with disk access, etc. Write Caching can be turned off by going to Device Manager, then the Properties of the drive in question, and select POLICIES tab. Optimize for Quick Removal is write caching off, and optimized for performance is ON. If it is grayed out - it can't be changed. Is your F external?

 

[Nothinman]

It is often a result of write caching not keeping up with disk access, etc. Write Caching can be turned off by going to Device Manager, then the Properties of the drive in question, and select POLICIES tab. Optimize for Quick Removal is write caching off, and optimized for performance is ON. If it is grayed out - it can't be changed. Is your F external?

Uh no. The kernel can tell when an I/O completes so any "delayed write failed" messages mean that the drive returned a failure message for a particular I/O.

 

[dbarton]

It's a SATA drive using a SATA controller card. I updated the drivers and ran checkdisk, and so far so good, but only really seem to fail when making backups of tpns of data..

No swicthes for caching seems to exist.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: dbarton
It's a SATA drive using a SATA controller card. I updated the drivers and ran checkdisk, and so far so good, but only really seem to fail when making backups of tpns of data..

Bad spot on the SATA drive, or a problem with the SATA controller or cabling.

Run a full diagnosis of the hard drives involved.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: dbarton
It's a SATA drive using a SATA controller card. I updated the drivers and ran checkdisk, and so far so good, but only really seem to fail when making backups of tpns of data..

Bad spot on the SATA drive, or a problem with the SATA controller or cabling.

Run a full diagnosis of the hard drives involved.

Given its only in one partition on the same physical drive, I tend to discount cable and controller issues and think its a physical drive issue.

 

[VinDSL]

Generally speaking, it means your HD is failing, however...

Originally posted by: ChronoReverse
I'd also check the physical connection.

...could be true too, or...

You might have a flaky Y-connector on your power supply cable to the drive or whatever.

I'm suspecting it's something other than a HD failure, however, I would make sure you're backed-up, just in case!

Bottom line: This is not a good situation! Prepare yourself for a journey through the Valley of Weeping...

 

[bsobel]

You might have a flaky Y-connector on your power supply cable to the drive or whatever.

Re-read the post. One physical drive, 3 paritions. Care to explain how a falky y connector can only cause write errors on only one of the three partitions? The symptoms perfectly match a bad sector or sectors that haven't been remapped on the part of the drive the f$ partition occupies.

But then again, what would us disk recovery guys know about something like this...

Bill

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: bsobel
Re-read the post. One physical drive, 3 paritions [sic].

Um...

Are you suggesting that these 3 partitions lay in 3 distinctly separate physical locations on the drive?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: bsobel
Re-read the post. One physical drive, 3 paritions [sic].

Um...

Are you suggesting that these 3 partitions lay in 3 distinctly separate physical locations on the drive?

Wow. Do you have *any* idea how a harddrive actually works? OF COURSE the partitions lay in 3 distrinctly seperate physical parts of the drive. The drive is (get this wording) PARTITIONED by splitting it up into seperate physical zones. Each PARTITION of the physcal drive is formatted with a file system. In this posters case one of those file systems (out of three) is showing an occasional write error. Thats exactly what you would expect if there was a section of unremapped bad sectors in that part of the physical drive.

Wow, just wow...

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: bsobel
Wow. Do you have *any* idea how a harddrive actually works? OF COURSE the partitions lay in 3 distrinctly seperate physical parts of the drive...

How many platters and how many heads does the OP's HD have?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: bsobel
Wow. Do you have *any* idea how a harddrive actually works? OF COURSE the partitions lay in 3 distrinctly seperate physical parts of the drive...

How many platters and how many heads does the OP's HD have?

He doesnt state brand, so unknown. Platter count doesn't matter, in no scenarios are partitions interweaved in such a way that single sectors span partitions. Each sector belongs to a particular partition, period, regardless of geomtery of the drive.

 

[VinDSL]

Heh!

That's what I thought - you're just guessing!

Okay, I know the drill. I'm out of this thread...

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Heh!
That's what I thought - you're just guessing!
Okay, I know the drill. I'm out of this thread...

Excuse me, exactly how am I guessing? Exactly what disk recovery software have YOU written, how many drives have YOU repaired?

You've yet to explain how a power issue only manifests it self as a write error on one logical partition out of three on a single physical drive. Your the only person guessing here.

Bill

 

[bsobel]

VinDsl felt the need to PM and tell me if I know the problem to let the OP know. As I've already stated (to those that, you know, actually read the thread)...

"It could well be a physical issue with the disk, I'd chkdsk and have it do a surface test."

He hasnt responded back yet from the results of that test. Until he does, there is no new information available to diagnose.

Still waiting to here how your magic y-cable theory works, and what your dis recovery background is.

Bill

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: bsobel
Excuse me, exactly how am I guessing? Exactly what disk recovery software have YOU written, how many drives have YOU repaired?

Promise you won't threaten to ban me if I answer?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: bsobel
Excuse me, exactly how am I guessing? Exactly what disk recovery software have YOU written, how many drives have YOU repaired?

Promise you won't threaten to ban me if I answer?

I'd love to hear your qualificaitons, not sure why you think you'd be banned for that.
Bill

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: bsobel
I'd love to hear your qualificaitons [sic], not sure why you think you'd be banned for that.

Hrm...

Not sure if I want to take the risk!

You're sending out mixed messages tonight...

Usually you tell me you're gonna ban me, give me time out, or you quote my messages for review.

How come you're being so nice tonight?

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: bsobel
I'd love to hear your qualificaitons [sic], not sure why you think you'd be banned for that.

Hrm...

Not sure if I want to take the risk!

You're sending out mixed messages tonight...

Usually you tell me you're gonna ban me, give me time out, or you quote my messages for review.

How come you're being so nice tonight?

Short version: You've written no disk repair software and haven't repaired damaged drives.
Bill

 

[VinDSL]

Um...

You're guessing again!

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Um...
You're guessing again!

I've asked you a three direct questions:

1) How does a lose power cable cause write failures on one out of three partitions on a single physical drive
2) What disk recovery software have you written
3) How many damaged drives have you repaired

You so far are refusing to answer these questions, I think its pretty clear that you guessed on the first one (you said you had a feeling, even tho none of the data provided fits that scenario), and you sad you'd answer the second and third if you wouldnt be banned for it then didn't.

You've accused me of guessing, I'd like to see your qualifications to make that statement. I'll happily put mine up against yours, the OP can determine who advice to follow.

Bill

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: dbarton

It's a SATA drive using a SATA controller card. I updated the drivers and ran checkdisk, and so far so good, but only really seem to fail when making backups of tpns of data..

No swicthes for caching seems to exist.

Did you run chkdsk /R or just chkdsk? Your need to specifically enable the bad sector detection and remapping.

Bill

 

[VinDSL]

Okay, I'll bite...

Where can I find this software you wrote, and how much do you charge to recover data from HDs?