Disk problems

[Lowell Gilbert]

Martin Kruse Jensen <guble at pixelpoint.dk> writes:

> I'm having some problems with my FreeBSD 5.3 server, running on an AMD
> using IDE disks. The disk is having some problems:
> # dmesg
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA timed out
> ad0: TIMEOUT - READ_DMA retrying (2 retries left) LBA=18986207
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA timed out
> ad0: TIMEOUT - READ_DMA retrying (2 retries left) LBA=18986335
> ...cut...
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA timed out
> ad0: TIMEOUT - READ_DMA retrying (2 retries left) LBA=18973151
> 
> I'm suspecting some bad blocks, but how do i test for them, and mark
> them bad?
> I'm extremely new in FreeBSD so be gentle ;o)

"What do I do when I have bad blocks on my hard drive?"
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/troubleshoot.html#AWRE

But in this case, it doesn't look like bad blocks to me.  Much more
like electronics problems.  [Have you opened the case lately?  Try
replacing the ATA cable.]