Strange case of Seagate ST3500312CS

[gamebox]

Hello

I have a hard drive Seagate ST3500312CS that reads 100% health and performance in Sentinel, makes no strange sounds, has 689 work days (value 16541), more than 1000 days remaining lifetime, but has some issues... It shows "strange" values of SMART parameters (65.535 start/stop count (doesn't change), raw read error rate of 179648676, seek error rate of 87487125), and won't pass surface scan (reports all blocks as bad). It seems to me like some issue in electronics, bad interpretation of data read by drive head or something similar, I've already removed the PCB to check for corrosion on head contacts, but found none and made no change. Components and other areas of the PCB look fine. What else do you suggest me to check, which test to use? Can I simply replace PCB from another similar hard drive to test drive's mechanics, or is there a unique BIOS in this model stored somewhere on it's chips?

Thanks in advance.

[hdsentinel]

Generally the "raw read error rate" and "seek error rate" numbers are completely good, these do not indicate any problems.
This described numerous times, for example at

https://www.hdsentinel.com/forum/viewto ... p=973#p973

So generally with Seagate drives there is no need to worry about those.

However yes, the 65535 start/stop count is interesting, seems like the value is maxed and "stuck".
It seems the drive may provide the last known status before some problem happened with it.

Can you please use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option? Would be nice to see its complete status, last known situation when it was working and could record the details. This may give thoughts about what happened.

Replacing the PCB is tricky - as generally the chip and the firmware on the disk platters linked, so a different PCB (even from 100% identical model and firmware) may not work and causes that the drive can't access the actual data sectors - which results in totally bad surface (no sector can be read/written as you can see).

[gamebox]

Here's a test report, I didn't know which email to use to send it to you:
-- Physical Disk Information - Disk: #3: ST3500312CS --

Hard Disk Summary
-------------------
Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SAT Standard USB/ATA
Vendor Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : VID: 152D, PID: 2338
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Etron USB 3.0 Extensible Host Controller (USB 3.0) [VEN: 1B6F, DEV: 7052] Version: 1.0.0.115, 7-20-2012
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ST3500312CS
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : CA14
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : 6VVH9F08
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 476937 MB
Power State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
Current Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 28 °C
Maximum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 30 °C, 4/16/2018 6:48:42 PM
Minimum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 25 °C, 4/15/2018 3:18:25 PM
Maximum Temperature (During Entire Lifespan) . . : 65 °C
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 689 days, 5 hours
Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : more than 1000 days
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)

The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors.
No actions needed.

ATA Information
-----------------
Hard Disk Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 969021
Hard Disk Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Hard Disk Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS version 4
Transport Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.6
Total Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 976773168
Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 512
Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8192 KB
Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 476940 MB
Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Maximum UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/s (6)
Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/s (6)
Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . . . : 120 ns
Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid

Acoustic Management Configuration
-----------------------------------
Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Disabled
Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Default (00h)
Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Max performance and volume (FEh)

ATA Features
--------------
Read Ahead Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Ultra DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Write Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Host Protected Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Advanced Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Advanced Power Management Level . . . . . . . . : Intermediate power management levels without Standby (192)
Extended Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Power Up In Standby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
48-Bit LBA Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
IORDY Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NOP Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Trusted Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
64-Bit World Wide ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 005000C5F74AEE7A
Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Media Card Pass Through . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
General Purpose Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
CFA Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Long Physical Sectors (1) . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Write-Read-Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Disabled
NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Power Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Nominal Media Rotation Rate . . . . . . . . . . : 5900 RPM

SSD Features
--------------
Data Set Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Deterministic Read After TRIM . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

S.M.A.R.T. Details
--------------------
Off-line Data Collection Status . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection : 623 seconds
Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Short Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Selective Self-Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported
Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 1 minutes
Extended Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . : 108 minutes
Conveyance Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . : 2 minutes
Last Short Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Short Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Conveyance Self-test Result . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Conveyance Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . : Never Started

Security Mode
---------------
Security Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 92 minutes
Security Enhanced Erase Feature . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : 92 minutes
Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Security Locked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Security Frozen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High

Serial ATA Features
---------------------
S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps) . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Not supported
Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Not supported
PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported
DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Not supported
Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Supported, Disabled
In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Asynchronous Notification . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32

Disk Information
------------------
Disk Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Pipeline HD.2 500312
Form Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5"
Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 500 GB (500 x 1,000,000,000 bytes)
Number Of Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1
Number Of Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Rotational Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5900 RPM
Rotation Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.17 ms
Average Rotational Latency . . . . . . . . . . . : 5.08 ms
Disk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Serial-ATA/300
Buffer-Host Max. Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/seconds
Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8192 KB
Drive Ready Time (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . : 6 seconds
Average Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 14.0 ms
Track To Track Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1.0 ms
Full Stroke Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 101.9 mm (4.0 inch)
Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 147.0 mm (5.8 inch)
Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 20.2 mm (0.8 inch)
Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 420 grams (0.9 pounds)
Acoustic (Idle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2.1 Bel
Acoustic (Min Performance And Volume) . . . . . : 2.3 Bel
Acoustic (Max Performance And Volume) . . . . . : 2.3 Bel
Required Power For Spinup . . . . . . . . . . . : 2,000 mA
Power Required (Seek) . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 5.8 W
Power Required (Idle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4.5 W
Power Required (Standby) . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? W
Manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Seagate Technology
Manufacturer Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products

S.M.A.R.T.
------------
No. Attribute Thre.. Value Worst Data Status Flags
1 Raw Read Error Rate 6 118 99 00000AB538A4 OK Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical, Critical
3 Spin Up Time 0 97 97 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Statistical, Critical
4 Start/Stop Count 20 37 37 00000000FFFF OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
5 Reallocated Sectors Co.. 36 100 100 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical
7 Seek Error Rate 30 79 60 00000536F295 OK Error-Rate, Performance, Statistical, Critical
9 Power On Time Count 0 82 82 00000000409D OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
10 Spin Retry Count 97 100 100 000000000000 OK Event Count, Statistical, Critical
12 Drive Power Cycle Count 20 100 100 00000000002D OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
184 End-to-End Error Count 99 100 100 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
187 Reported Uncorrectable.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
188 Command Timeout 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
189 High Fly Writes 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Error-Rate, Statistical
190 Airflow Temperature 45 72 35 4C4F1C17001C OK Self Preserving, Statistical
194 Disk Temperature 0 28 65 00130000001C OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Statistical
195 Hardware ECC Recovered 0 49 39 00000AB538A4 OK (Always passing) Event Count, Error-Rate, Statistical
197 Current Pending Sector.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Event Count, Statistical
198 Off-Line Uncorrectable.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Event Count
199 Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0 200 200 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Error-Rate, Performanc..

Transfer Rate Information
---------------------------
Total Data Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB, 0 MB since installation (7/24/2016)
Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 MB, 0 MB since installation
Average Reads Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.00 MB
Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.00 MB
Current Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Maximum Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Read Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Disk Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %


And here is the beginning of the surface scan - it reports errors in (what seems to be) regular intervals (numbers), the first one was zero, and they continue repeating like this (this value of approximately 2,4 million bytes gets added each time), that's why I thought there could be some solvable problem in electronics, like a bad contact at one of the head pins, chip issue and the like:

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for the info,

You can send to info (at) hdsentinel (dot ) com
or use the Report menu -> Send test report to developer option to send.

According the values, things seem fine, except the start/stop count (plus the airflow temperature attribute looks weird).

Interesting that the surface is not accessible at all, no sector could be read.
Was it similar with the old, original PCB you used? Or just after the PCB replaced?

[gamebox]

No, this is still the original PCB on it, no experiments yet. I suspect some physical/electronic issue - like a damaged head, head/PCB connections, or some faulty component on a PCB, like a chip or so. It doesn't report errors one after another (at least in the beginning), but every xxx sectors, in regular intervals. Seems like some error-correction system issue (error repeating for every block of processed data), memory buffer error (that 2 or 8 MB SDRAM chip on PCB), error in IDE communication components, or problems receiving the signal correctly from drive's head (missing signal on one of the several wires), etc etc. I am hoping the interval in which read errors occur might give some hint. If it's 2,4 million sectors (512 bytes each?) - could it be the SDRAM chip? The "main" surface scan gives errors sector by sector, the picture I posted is made right before it goes down to check block by block - in "initialization" phase. The hard drive itself doesn't seem to be exposed to harsh environments like rain, dust, dirt, etc.

[hdsentinel]

The "regular intervals" is normal in this case, no special values used of course.
When the test started, during the "Initialization" phase, Hard Disk Sentinel attempts to determine a base transfer speed of the device. For this, it reads different areas of the drive and if one (or more) sectors not readable at all, it makes a big "jump" to try addressing a completely different area (which may be better). In this case (which may depend the actual drive model, size, problems etc), yes, this may be 2,4 million sectors.
So there is no magic, not related to cache or similar, it seems the complete data area is unaccessible.

You can easily try: please select Disk menu -> Surface test but do not start a test. Instead click on the View button and then on the disk surface map (any of the white square) to display the "raw" contents of the appropriate sector. I suspect all sectors would result error only (so none of them could be read).

Personally I'd try to check

1) what happens if you use Disk menu -> Short self test, Extended self test functions?
These are internal self tests which verifies the components of the disk drive in general. If I'm correct, these may result error quickly - and maybe point on a component which failed to properly operate

2) what happens if you try to perform a Write test, so you'd try to write to sectors (not read)?
For example by Disk menu -> Surface test -> Write test

3) do you see any change in the self-monitoring data? Maybe the power on time, the temperature or any other value changes - or do you see all values stuck?

So interesting drive, personally I'd be happy to examine it myself