Question Error 0x80070079 : The Semaphore Timeout Period Has Expired

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orangeme

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Nov 17, 2016
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I ran into this issue with my new external m.2 that I have in an enclosure connected to my tomahawk motherboard via usb-c when transferring files between an external "my book" hard drive.

It starts normal at first and after a bit of time it freezes and disconnects the m.2 which I then have to format after restarting my pc to use it again.

I have updated my network drives and ran troubleshoots (that was a suggestion I previously saw)

Feel free to ask questions as I assume specifications of my specs might be needed, I don't know too much about storage
 
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Try running chkdsk X: /f on the nvme (replace X with the drive letter of nvme)
or chkdsk X: /f /r on the hdd (change X to driver letter of hdd).
normally don't run /r on ssd/nvme as they don't have sectors to repair

right click start button

choose powershell (admin)

copy/paste this command into window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth

and press enter

Then type SFC /scannow

and press enter

Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented

First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files

SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

more solutions found here: https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/fix-the-semaphore-timeout-period-has-expired.html
don't buy anything
 
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Colif said:
Try running chkdsk X: /f on the nvme (replace X with the drive letter of nvme)
or chkdsk X: /f /r on the hdd (change X to driver letter of hdd).
normally don't run /r on ssd/nvme as they don't have sectors to repair

right click start button

choose powershell (admin)

copy/paste this command into window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth

and press enter

Then type SFC /scannow

and press enter

Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented

First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files

SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

more solutions found here: https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/fix-the-semaphore-timeout-period-has-expired.html
don't buy anything
Click to expand...
Tried all of the stuff with no avail, could it be something with my motherboard? After all this and multiple formats I have tried transferring the files again and this happened, same as before with the same error after.

https://gyazo.com/ee8f19c6a04a4c3ac2ef649bf8ae0582
 
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orangeme said:
Tried all of the stuff with no avail, could it be something with my motherboard? After all this and multiple formats I have tried transferring the files again and this happened, same as before with the same error after.

https://gyazo.com/ee8f19c6a04a4c3ac2ef649bf8ae0582
Click to expand...
The error happens much less If i disconnect the "My book" external hard drive that I have if that helps understand the problem at all.
 
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Colif said:
Try running chkdsk X: /f on the nvme (replace X with the drive letter of nvme)
or chkdsk X: /f /r on the hdd (change X to driver letter of hdd).
normally don't run /r on ssd/nvme as they don't have sectors to repair

right click start button

choose powershell (admin)

copy/paste this command into window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth

and press enter

Then type SFC /scannow

and press enter

Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented

First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files

SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

more solutions found here: https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/fix-the-semaphore-timeout-period-has-expired.html
don't buy anything
Click to expand...
I've tested the SSD on a mac and it works flawlessly, any ideas?
 
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I had to work out what error means and why. Its not something I have seen before and it sparked my curiosity.

are the drives formatted as NTFS? as them being something else is one reason for error.

one solution is to unplug all USB drives and plug them back in again
Seen elsewhere, a semaphore is a hold on the drive by some other process or application. Something is basically telling the computer that it's already using your HDD, or the specific portion of it which you're trying to access.

I got the semaphore error while copying files. leaving the error on screen, I ejected the drive via the system tray, unplugged and re-inserted the drive and clicked try again. File copying resumed after that. So basically by ejecting the drive, I forced whatever was holding that portion of my drive to let go of it.

I wish MS would make a real fix for this though. It is very annoying to constantly have to eject then reinsert the drive to resume copying large numbers of files. I even tried formatting and reinstalling USB drivers to fix the issue to no avail. Done an error check too on the drive and no problems there. Drive gives absolutely no other signs of failure, and the enclosure is brand new.

Edit: This seems to either be a problem with USB 3.0 connectivity because plugging a USB 2 Micro USB cable in instead (obviously slower) doesn't give the errors. Another possible culprit, if using a HDD caddy to house an old HDD, is that the HDD's circuitboard on the underside could be touching the casing of the caddy - causing short circuiting. The semaphore could be a result of that. I say this because I placed a plastic sheet in between mine and the error went away.
Click to expand...
https://superuser.com/questions/883...he-semaphore-timeout-period-has-expired-error
 
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Colif said:
I had to work out what error means and why. Its not something I have seen before and it sparked my curiosity.

are the drives formatted as NTFS? as them being something else is one reason for error.

one solution is to unplug all USB drives and plug them back in again

https://superuser.com/questions/883...he-semaphore-timeout-period-has-expired-error
Click to expand...
Thank you for getting back to me.

Drives are both ExFAT, I could format the "My Book" one to NTFS but the SSD sadly has to stay ExFAT as I use both mac and windows computers for my work.

Should I unplug the drives whilst they're copying stuff or on idle?
 
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orangeme said:
It still does it without the MY BOOK drive but less which is interesting, so I doubt it would fix that, unless you disagree?
Click to expand...
it could be the conditions that create the error are less likely with only one Exfat drive and not two.

one guy fixed it after running this on drive - https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
I wonder if you can test the My Book drive with this - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en&p=279
 
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Colif said:
it could be the conditions that create the error are less likely with only one Exfat drive and not two.

one guy fixed it after running this on drive - https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
I wonder if you can test the My Book drive with this - https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en&p=279
Click to expand...

Right so

TEST DISK: The "Test Disk" froze and nothing really happened.

https://gyazo.com/6ed5f53e4c53f383676f97b2a78e2448

EJECT: I tried the eject strat, it may have worked because I have transferred a file back and forward a few times onto and internal drive and the "my book" and it hasn't given me an error yet but it goes from 500 mb/s to 0, waits for a bit then does that again, I'm supposed to be getting at least 5 gb/s. This is how it was before also, then usually the error would pop up.

Internal Disk: https://gyazo.com/68871e1b656c20799f6c5eb049e2d51d
My Book: https://gyazo.com/33f9d278e4f46932d605830ed2ec00fc

WD DASHBOARD: The short S.M.A.R.T scan has worked fine but the Extended one didn't go past 10% and failed after, I tried again and it's currently on 60% (been scanning for 6 hours)
 
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