[SOLVED] drive unmounting itself, is it broken?

[linuxgrrl]

hi,
I have a 1TB WD hard drive that connected via a USB enclosure. My computer runs both linux and windows.
Every couple of days the drive will unmount itself. When i try to remount, I get an error message that it cannot be mounted, listing a variety of potential causes including a possible "bad superblock."
The problem is extremely easy to fix by running fsck, which takes about 5 seconds and then all is well for another few days.
I ran a full badblocks scan and it came back clean. I also ran the WD diagnostic tools (from Windows) and it came back clean. Checking dmesg after the drive unmounts itself does not seem to reveal any info, although I'm not sure what to look for exactly.
I have had the drive for a few years and this is a new problem. Should i replace it?
I can if I need to, I just don't want to throw money away on something fixable.
Thanks.

 

[Ralston18]

Which specific WD drive model? How full?

Does the USB drive enclosure have its' own power supply?

Any errors being captured in Reliability History or Event Viewer?

 

[linuxgrrl]

Model number reported in Linux is WD10 01FALS-00j7B1
The enclosure is separately powered by an AC adapter.
The biggest partition, 580 G is 62% full. The other partition, 286 GB is 95% full. The latter one is used for backup.
Reliability history and event viewer show no errors.

 

[Bob.B]

Model number reported in Linux is WD10 01FALS-00j7B1
The enclosure is separately powered by an AC adapter.
The biggest partition, 580 G is 62% full. The other partition, 286 GB is 95% full. The latter one is used for backup.
Reliability history and event viewer show no errors.

Free stuff.
Since it fails with 2 OS's that would seem to say it's not the OS.
Take the enclosure apart so that the hdd is exposed.....better cooling.
Reseat the hdd in the enclosure.
Reset the usb cable......both ends.
Test.

 

[img]

It's a very old model, it's power supply often tends to failing at age like this. Check with another 12 V / 2 A power supply, and just to be sure check the USB port and cable (use USB ports on the Motherboard directly, no front panel ports and change cable)! Use short cable with no extension or USB hub!

 

[linuxgrrl]

thank you, Bob and img, that is very helpful! i will try those suggestions and I think I have the spare accessories lying around.
If these things don't solve the problem, I will go ahead and replace with a SSD since you are right, it is very old.

I would love to know if you have any tips on buying a 1TB SSD. I would want it to be external. The machine is a multimedia server so it will be creating and deleting large files on the linux partition on a daily basis. The fact that an SSD is silent would be an upgrade from what I have now, as the machine sits in the living room.

 

[img]

These posts helps you to choose the right SSD and enclosure (personally my favourites are the Samsung Pro line: 850 Pro, 950 Pro, actually the 970 Pro NVMe):

[1]
[2]
[3]

 

[linuxgrrl]

Terrific info, thank you.