Member Avatar for it@61@sec

I have installed a Corsair F60 SSD on my Ubuntu 12.04 desktop.
It has earlier been used as a system disk with Windows 8 Pro on another system, but it failed and now I want to use it for other purposes.

If I use 'hdparm' I get an input/output-error, so I decided to try the Corsair SSD Toolbox which (unfortunately) is a Windows-program. So I installed the program using Wine, and tried to detect my Corsair F60 SSD to see if it was possible to rescue the drive. But when I run the program using Wine it does not detect the SSD-drive.

Any suggestions?
The drive is visible as /dev/sdc1 in Ubuntu..

Edited by it@61@sec because: language correction
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Dani AI

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Short summary: saw the F60 appear to the kernel but low-level tools failed, and the Corsair SSD Toolbox run under Wine could not see the drive. suggested reformatting; in the end booted Windows 7 and the Toolbox fixed the problem. That outcome is common — vendor utilities often succeed where Wine cannot. Below are the reasons and practical Linux-first options.

Why the Toolbox failed under Wine: the Toolbox talks to the drive using Windows kernel interfaces and vendor-specific passthroughs. Wine is a userspace Windows-API reimplementation and does not provide kernel-mode drivers or raw SATA/IOCTL passthrough. If the SSD was in a USB enclosure or behind a USB-SATA bridge, the bridge may also block the vendor commands. In short, Windows-only tools frequently need direct host-controller access that Wine cannot supply.

What to try on Linux (safe, non-destructive diagnostics and next steps):

  • Connect the SSD directly to a motherboard SATA port (remove any USB enclosure).
  • Use a current live Linux (Ubuntu 12.04 is long out of support; newer live media has fresher kernels/tools).
  • Inspect kernel logs and identify the device, then query SMART/firmware with a tool that supports ATA-over-SCSI passthrough (smartmontools or sg3_utils). For example, run a SMART identification that forces ATA passthrough to see model and firmware and any SMART errors.
# example: check SMART and identification (replace sdX with the device)
sudo smartctl -d sat -a /dev/sdX

If you need a factory reset, ATA Secure Erase is the usual method, but it requires direct SATA connection and the drive must not be in a "frozen" state (common remedies are a suspend/resume or a cold power-cycle). Secure erase is destructive — back up data first.

Final notes: using Windows (as did) is a valid workaround for vendor utilities. If the drive still shows I/O errors after these steps, firmware or hardware failure is likely and RMA or replacement should be considered.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

Using "sudo fdisk /dev/sdc":
1) Remove the ntfs partition.
2) Create a linux partition.
3) Create an ext2/3/4 file system on that partition.

If all this works, then run the command, where extN is ext2, ext3, or ext4 - depending upon the file system type you created: "fsck -t extN -c -f /dev/sdc1". This will do a couple of things. One is that even if it thinks the file system is OK, it will force the check (the -f option). Two, it will physically scan the drive for bad blocks and map those out of use by the file system (the -c option).

Member Avatar for it@61@sec

Trying "sudo fdisk /dev/sdc1" (which is the correct device name)
I get an input/output-error.
I think I need to reset the whole thing, but the only tools avaiable (as far as I know) is running on Windows...

Edited by it@61@sec because: Language correction
Member Avatar for rubberman

Try "sudo fdisk /dev/sdc" instead.

Member Avatar for it@61@sec

I have tried "sudo fdisk /dev/sdc" as well.
Finally I gave up, installed Windows 7 on a free disk, rebooted in Windows and handled the whole thing from there using Corsair SSD Toolbox. Now it works. Strange..

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