I have a 4TB HDD that I use to store music, films, images, and text files. I have a 250GB SDD that I use to install my OS and video games. So far I didn’t have any problem with this setup, obviously it’s a bit slower when it reads the HDD but nothing too serious, but lately it’s gotten way worse, where it just lags too much when I try to access files on that disk, and specially when it comes to listening to music, it’s super annoying. I’m using Elisa music player and it just takes ages to load the albums.
Below is my system and HDD information. I think I’m supposed to use hardlinks or something to access those files, could that be a reason? I’ve never even fully filled my HDD and it’s only 3 years old.
System Details Report
Report details
Hardware Information:
- Hardware Model: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME A320M-K
- Memory: 16.0 GiB
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 5600G with Radeon™ Graphics × 12
- Graphics: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
- Disk Capacity: 4.2 TB
Software Information:
- Firmware Version: 6042
- OS Name: Fedora Linux 39 (Workstation Edition)
- OS Build: (null)
- OS Type: 64-bit
- GNOME Version: 45.5
- Windowing System: Wayland
- Kernel Version: Linux 6.7.11-200.fc39.x86_64
Iirc with time mechanical drives do slow down significantly due to wear and tear so it kinda sounds its on its way out. If speed is a must maybe look at how much storage capacity you’re using and switch to appropriate sized ssd/s. You can keep the mechanical drive as a cold backup.
Edit: not sure if you already done this and I usually don’t recommend it if you don’t have backups but benchmarking would show you the read and write speeds. Also depending on warranty status, you also have the option of doing a manufacturer replacement. Not sure what info Toshiba asks for but doesn’t hurt to look into if you do decide to replace it.
Removed by mod
I used journalctl -k -f and this is the output, I’ve also tried dmesg and smartctl and replied with the output on other comments, and all show some kind of I/O error, I guess I’m fucked or can it be because of a bad cable or something?
Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#14 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 dd 26 78 00 00 00 08 00 00 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 970794616 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#15 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 dd 26 b8 00 00 00 20 00 00 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 970794680 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 4 prio class 2 Apr 13 17:06:59 fedora kernel: ata2: EH complete Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x400 SErr 0x30802 action 0xe frozen Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY changed Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2: SError: { RecovComm HostInt PHYRdyChg PHYInt } Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: cmd 60/00:50:38:e3:9d/01:00:39:00:00/40 tag 10 ncq dma 131072 in res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x50 (ATA bus error) Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2.00: status: { DRDY } Apr 13 17:19:28 fedora kernel: ata2: hard resetting link Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310) Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=3s Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current] Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#10 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 39 9d e3 38 00 00 01 00 00 00 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 966648632 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 32 prio class 1 Apr 13 17:19:31 fedora kernel: ata2: EH complete
Removed by mod
Huh weird I do have experience of this happening especially on used drives that are technically beyond their lives, +7 years etc, guess it depends on manufacturer and classification since you haven’t personally experienced it. When I say slow down I’m referring to the read and write speed not the platter rpm even though that could happen such as with motor bearing wear. There’s really multiple potential hard wear issue that could cause read and write speeds to slow down: head wear, platter degradation, etc. Although i do want to clarify that I’m not necessarily saying its dying or even if its 100% a hardware issue since fragmentation could be the cause. Not even sure if it’ll be throwing out errors yet so I can’t wait to see what OP updates us with.
Removed by mod
This can’t be overstated enough. Modern mechanical hard drives are a hundred times more impressive than Swiss watches.