"Pending Sector" increase when I perform "Reinitialize disk surfac"

[Neo]

One of my HD reprot "Test Failed by read element" when I perform "Extended self test", and the "SMART 197：Current Pending Sector Count" and "SMART 198：Off-Line Uncorrectables Sector Count" increased from 0.
As advised, I perform the "Disk repair", it repaired the problem, the "SMART 197" and " "SMART 198" decreased to 0, and "SMART 5：Reallocated Sectors Count" increased.
In my opinion, everything above is normal.
When "Disk repair" finished, I perform "Reinitialise disk surface" because the speed of the disk is slower than another same disk.
During the repair execution, the the "SMART 197" and " "SMART 198" increased from 0. But the legend does not show any red or yellow blocks.

So my problem is why the "SMART 197" and " "SMART 198" inreased during "Reinitialise disk surface". As "Hard disk case: weak sectors (hdsentinel.com)" described: The Disk menu -> Surface test -> Reinitialise disk surface is the best way to repair the hard disk. The test permanently fixes the weak sectors and make the hard disk drive more usable in general.
And What should I do next.

My hard disk model is: ST4000DX001-1CE168, which is SSHD, is this related.

The screenshot is as follows:
When I perform "Reinitialise disk surface", HDS issues an alarm.

01.png (24.88 KiB) Viewed 755 times

The legend does not show any red or yellow blocks.

02.png (38.13 KiB) Viewed 755 times

[hdsentinel]

> In my opinion, everything above is normal.

Yes, that was normal: the drive was not stable, so the internal hardware self test (the Extended self test) failed and the Disk Repair fixed the issue specifically.


>So my problem is why the "SMART 197" and " "SMART 198" inreased during "Reinitialise disk surface".

Probably because the operating environment was not 100% perfect. If there is any issue with SATA cable, power cable, connection or the power supply, then the drive may not work 100% stable and in this case, it is "normal" and expected that new and new weak/pending sectors appear during normal use and/or even during the test.

I'd surely check the cables, connections, avoid power splitters and 4-pin -> SATA power cable adapters (if used) and then try to re-run the Disk Repair test (or the Quick Fix test to specifically attempt to repair the problems) or maybe the Reinitialise Disk Surface.

Above I assumed that it is an internal drive (connected directly to SATA port).

Or do you use in external USB dock/adapter/enclosure?
Some USB docks/adapters may not "like" the stress (the very long and intensive disk testing). So maybe you can try the Disk menu -> Surface test -> Write test only - or the Write+Read test, which is the "light" version of the Reinitialise Disk Surface test.

According the images, the Health of the drive is 80% (so not 100% perfect). Depending on the issues reported and the age (total power on time) it is possible that new and new issues will be detected with time: generally lower Health means higher chances for more issues.

If you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, I'd be happy to check its status, may give additional information.

[Neo]

Thanks for your help and suggestion!
The drive mentioned above is an internal drive (connected directly to SATA port).
I have sent the report, Thanks!

[hdsentinel]

Thanks, I checked the report, yes, I see. Now the Current Pending Sector count is 0 (so probably already fixed by the Disk Repair / Quick Fix tests).

I noticed some communication errors on the S.M.A.R.T. page of the affected drive:

199 Ultra ATA CRC Error Count attribute = 163

which also suggests that previously the drive recorded communication errors. If I'm correct, these are not recent errors, probably the counter did not change for long time.

Now the Health is high (92%) and ideally remains at this level for long time. If you'll see increasing Current Pending Sector count again for the drive (or a different one) then probably something is still not stable in the operating environment, so I'd check

- cables/connections (always first as these are the most common cause)
- power supply (if it's an older, maybe replace). A good UPS can also help if the power line is not stable and to avoid short power losses / spikes
- overclocking (it can also cause similar issues)

[Neo]

Yes, you are correct, I have done the "Disk -> Surface Test -> Read test" again before sending you the report, and this test fixes the pending sectors added during the previous "Reinitialize Disk surface".

Then, I did the "reinitialize disk surface" again, and this time the results were worse than the previous test, with many "unacceptable" sectors detected, so I terminated the test.
Before that, by the way, I re-plugged the data and power cables that connect the hard drive.

01.png (37.35 KiB) Viewed 683 times

After this, I switched the ports of the two ST4T hard disks (including the SATA port of the motherboard, the data cable, the power cord), and even the positions of the two hard disks in the chassis, and once again did the "re-initialize the disk surface" of the previously faulty hard disk, and this time, everything was normal.

02.png (40.01 KiB) Viewed 683 times

I did a "reinitialize disk surface" on another ST4T (the port connected to the ST4T that had problems before the current access), and the test results were also fine.

03.png (40.39 KiB) Viewed 683 times

So, the question comes, why after switching the port, the "reinitialize disk surface" of the two hard disks are normal, this seems a little metaphysical, do you have any tips?

Another point, I'm curious, is that your judgment, "If I'm correct, these are not recent errors, probably the counter did not change for long time." You're right, But on what basis?

04.png (7.98 KiB) Viewed 683 times

Anyway, now that the two hard disks are normal, I can use them with confidence. At the same time, I will pay attention to the health indicators. Thanks very much for your help!

[hdsentinel]

On the first image, error 433 appears during the disk test, which means that a device (the disk drive) previously available is no longer connected, just like if we'd disconnect its cable. This is why all further blocks are red, as the drive is no longer accessible.

Usually this error confirms problem with a cable, connection, external enclosure, backplane, power cable, USB dock etc... usually anything "between" the disk drive and the computer and/or something which can affect the operation of the drive in general (for example the power supply).

Yes, after re-connecting, swapping ports (and/or cables) the connection is usually better, so ideally then things should be working correctly.


> Another point, I'm curious, is that your judgment, "If I'm correct, these are not recent errors, probably the counter did not change for long time."
> You're right, But on what basis?

Generally these communication errors recorded by the drive for its entire lifetime. If you change ports, cables or move the drive to a new system - the error counter remains the same, does not change as the drive itself does not "know" the change in the configuration.

Because of this, Hard Disk Sentinel (while reports the error counters, exactly to notify you about the previous "life" of the drive) if the counter is stable, no new errors reported (as you can see on the graph, the value is same), then does not take them too seriously.

In contrast, if there would be NEW such communication errors, then the Performance % value should decrease, indicating that there is a current problem (new and new communication problems) which can reduce disk performance and stability.
From the report, I saw 100% Performance - so I assumed that there are no recent communication errors with the drive.

Exactly to help in such situation, you may virtually clear the error counter: to acknowledge that "OK, I changed the cable, fixed the issues, I does not want to see these errors, just possible NEW ones". Please refer to

https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_case_communication_error.php

which explains the situation.

For your drive, just select this Ultra ATA CRC Error Count attribute on the S.M.A.R.T. page and click on the 0 between the + and - in the Offset column.
After the confirmation dialog, specify
-163
in the small box: so then these previous communication issues will be no longer displayed for the drive and Hard Disk Sentinel will report possible new problems only (if there will be any).

[Neo]

Your reply has taught me a lot. Thank you very much for your patience and help！