Member Avatar for Dortz

I'm having some serious-sounding trouble using a fat32 partition with linux. here are all (i think) the important stats:

Distro: Kubuntu 5.04
fstab:
...
/dev/hdb5 /home/../storage FAT32 user,gir=users,chmod=7777 0 0
...

command:
mount -t vfat /dev/hdb5 /home/../storage

after it is mounted properly, (I'm working on my XP boot right now, so some of the previous syntax might be wrong, but it does work) whenever I read from it, i get a very stern-sounding clicking noise. it runs considerably slower than on windows, and there are also sound errors when i try to play music. (i have not tested video, I was too afraid that my rig would explode) the clicking is regular, and somewhat slow. on XP, it purrs like a kitten, i mean, i can hardly hear it when i put my ear up to it, and it sounds perfectly healthy.

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Dani AI

Generated

The regular, mechanical “click” described by is a classic red flag. Intermittent quietness under one OS and loud clicking under another is still consistent with hardware (head/spindle/firmware) trouble rather than a filesystem bug. ’s suspicion that the drive is failing is reasonable, and the priority should be minimizing further activity on the disk and recovering important data.

Low-risk diagnostic steps (in order):

  • Stop using the disk for normal reads/writes to avoid further damage.
  • Inspect kernel errors for I/O messages: 
    dmesg | tail -n 50
  • Query SMART to see reallocated/pending sector counts and other errors: 
    sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdX   # replace /dev/sdX with the actual device
sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdX
  • Try a different cable/controller or a different machine to rule out adapter/power problems before concluding outright failure.

Data-recovery-first workflow:

  • If the files are valuable, create a disk image before attempting repairs. Use GNU ddrescue for a safe, staged copy (quick pass, then retries): 
    sudo ddrescue -n /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/image.img /mnt/backup/image.log
sudo ddrescue -r3 /dev/sdX /mnt/backup/image.img /mnt/backup/image.log
  • Avoid running filesystem repair tools (chkdsk/fsck) or destructive surface tests until an image is secured; such tools can trigger heavy I/O and worsen a failing drive.

If SMART reports high reallocated counts or many pending/offline-uncorrectable sectors, the drive is likely dying and should be replaced or RMA’d. Given ’s point, preparing an image and arranging replacement or professional recovery is the safest course of action. Keep any packaging and warranty info if an RMA is needed.

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Member Avatar for Dortz

Update on that: it's doing it in XP again...

the LAST thing i want to do is admit it won't read it properly and have to copy my music back onto my primary, then send my drive back to get a new one...

Member Avatar for alc6379

If your drive is making ugly noises like that, it's probably bad, hate to tell you. That's the only reason why I didn't respond, initially-- it sounded so funky, I was unwilling to accept that there was something in any OS that would make something like that occur, and not in another OS.

Member Avatar for Dortz

ahh well. i guess that's that then. i'll send it off in the morning. i'm glad i kept all the old packaging...

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