dealing with a failing drive

[jdow]

From: "David Newman" <dnewman at networktest.com>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

> On 11/12/07 8:14 AM, Jerry McAllister wrote:
> 
>> An update: After doing what you suggest (leaving in the "good" disk,
>> adding a new disk, RAID rebuilding) I still got soft write errors --
>> with *either one* of the disks I tried.
>> 
>> Then I tried putting both disks in an identical server and they came up
>> fine, no read or write errors.
>> 
>> Ergo, the bad RAID controller is bad and the disks may be OK.
>> 
>>> Probably not.
>>> Generally, if the RAID controller is bad, you will see errors
>>> all over and not it just one place, tho I suppose it is possible.
>>> Check and see what it reports as error locations and see if they
>>> move around any.
> 
> Jerry, thanks for your response.
> 
> After 36 hours of running the same disks in a different, identical
> machine there hasn't been a single read or write error. I'm hardly a
> storage expert but from the evidence I have I'm inclined to believe the
> root cause was a bad RAID controller and not failed disks.
> 
> I'm aware of CLI tools to monitor 3Ware SATA RAID controllers. Anyone
> know if there are similar tools for HP/Compaq SCSI RAID controllers?

Bad cable? Iffy power supply? Examine each step the data and power
take for possible hitches. You might even have an overheated and
weakened power connector on a drive. If it's not making solid contact
it can give you headaches.

{^_^}