4 replies to this topic

[DrGerm]

I've been having problems with my WHS V1 (with a Sans Digital TR4M e-SATA enclosure), which came up suddenly (WHS Console runs super slow, system freezes every single day requiring a hard reset) and my working theory is that maybe there is a problem with one (or more) of my hard drives.

I've had no error messages or funny sounds, etc. lately to give me any warnings prior to system freezing or to give any clues as to what the problem is. Although I did get some sort of error message months ago referring to the System drive, but none since... uh oh...

I have:
1 x 1TB drive - system drive - the original Seagate drive from this HP EX 490
2 x 2TB WD Green drives
5 x 2TB WD Black drives

I removed both of the green drives (based on a hunch that these could be the issue), observed for a day and I've had the same problem.

What I would like to know now, is how should I test each drive individually? I have an external single drive HDD enclosure, I am thinking I should take each drive out individually and perform some sort of test from one of my regular PC's, of which I'm thinking to check that system drive first. (not looking forward to figuring out how to replace a system drive...)

In all my years of messing with PC's, I've never used any of the software that came with a Hard Drive, would you recommend using this? (i.e. "Data Lifegaurd" for WD drives, "Seatools" for Seagate drives?), or would you recommend something else?

Google searching mostly leads to ads, or to use chkdsk, or to use the above software. I'm just trying to figure out all my options.

Furthermore, is there anything specific I should be looking for, or if "Any" problem is found on a drive, then just replace it? (which could be a problem with the current increased HDD prices)

Thanks.

[Darin]

While this may not be exactly what you're looking for in this case, I've been using the Stablebit add-in, and have been very happy with it. It will background scan for bad sectors on a schedule you set, and also monitor SMART parameters. If you do get a bad sector, it can even recover the data and move it to another location. I've also had a couple of occasions to contact them for support, and they've been very responsive.

Though I'm not convinced that the symptoms you're experiencing point to a bad data drive. If one of your data drives was bad, I'd exepct to see file errors, or having a drive drop out of the pool, etc., but WHS should continue to operate w/o freezing. What you're experiencing may be a little bit more difficult to troubleshoot/fix than a bad data drive.

[Ian]

Good old chkdsk would be my starting point.

[MeadowsPV]

I posted what worked for me.
Title:
Chkdsk On A Windows Home Server V1 On Drive Extender's Multiple Drives.
Forum:
Server Storage and Disk Management
hth.

[Drashna Jaelre (WGS)]

http://forum.wegotse...ver-for-errors/