Intermittent IO problem with an external drive

MrYossu · Jul 5, 2023

I have a Western Digital Backup Plus 6Tb external drive. It's been plugged into my PC (and its predecessors) for a few years, and never given any problems.

I tried to access it via File Explorer, and got a pop up saying...

E:\ is not accessible
The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error

If I right-click, choose Properties, click the Tools tab and then click Check, I get a message saying I don't need to scan the drive, as no errors had been found. If I click "Scan drive" anyway, it pops up a message saying there was a problem, but no details...

Thanks

If I try to run chkdsk, I get a message "CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives"

The odd thing is that it shows up fine in File Explorer, and shows me how much free space is on it, Device Manager shows it as working fine, and the Disk Management part of Computer Management shows it as healthy.

If I try to navigate into it from (say) Notepad, I get the same error as when I double-click it in File Explorer. No surprises there. However, if I try to backup a database to the drive using SQL Server management Studio, when I get to the part where I choose a location for the backup, it shows me the backup folder on that drive...

Anyone any idea what's gone wrong, and if there is anything I can do to fix it? I'm reluctant to format the drive, as there are some old backups I don't want to lose, so if it's possible to fix it, I'd like to.

FreeBooter · Jul 5, 2023

I suggest you recover your files and reformat the storage drive, you can also try repairing the file system.

The RAW file system is a state of a storage device that has an unknown or no file system in Windows.

Repairing a filesystem may be a risky business as sometimes the problem is “fixed” by removing all invalid files. So if you have access to some of your files but not all, it’s recommended to backup what it’s possible to access before trying to repair the filesystem.

Windows can read and write files from FAT, exFAT and NTFS filesystem. The chkdsk command is used to check and repair filesystems. Run cmd (Right-click Run As Administrator)

Code:

chkdsk /f x:

ntfsfix can be used to repair NTFS filesystem followed by Windows chkdsk . Note that it resets the NTFS journal file, so it should be used only if Windows failed to repair the filesystem.

Try TestDisk command-line utility to repair the file system of a raw storage drive.

TestDisk Download - CGSecurity

• start TestDisk
• select the device containing the partition (avoid drive letter like D:)
The boot sector of the logical NTFS partition is damaged. (Windows error message is usually The type of the file system is RAW. or The disk in drive D is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?)
The backup boot sector is valid, choose Backup BS to copy backup boot sector over boot sector. If Backup BS isn't available, choose RebuildBS.
• confirm
• Quit

WinfrGUI is a free program for Windows 11 and 10 that helps recover deleted files from your PCs.

idgat · Jul 6, 2023

Please, Oh please, backup your files elsewhere .. IMMEDIATELY. Ignore the error and backup.

Once done, you can look at tinkering with the problem drive. There's always the possibility that it's a device issue - Faulty? Failing? Windows is renown for error messages of last resort ... can't read the drive, can't diagnose what's wrong, so just throws up the first message out of the "error message database" that it can think of. Seen many a user chasing their tail for hours only to find the problem had nothing to do with - or maybe just vaguely related to - the displayed error message.

MrYossu · Jul 6, 2023

FreeBooter said:
I suggest you recover your files and reformat the storage drive, you can also try repairing the file system.

Tried all of your suggestions, but none of them found anything.

Guess it's time to reformat. Thanks anyway

MrYossu · Jul 6, 2023

idgat said:
Please, Oh please, backup your files elsewhere .. IMMEDIATELY. Ignore the error and backup.

All files are on a constant backup to the cloud. I mainly use this drive for a nightly disk image, which is good for a quick way of getting at something.

I had a few extras in there, such as the last image from before I rebuilt my PC, but I can live without those.

Thanks for the reply

MrYossu · Jul 9, 2023

Thanks again to everyone for the replies.

So I decided to reformat the drive. It was taking its time, but I figured as it was a 6Tb HDD, it might take a while. I left the office and it was still going.

Came back the following day... still going. Progress bar a lot further, but still going. Hmm.

After 24 hours, the progress bar looked like it was full, but it claimed to be still going. No noticeable disk activity though.

Tried to cancel the format, nothing doing. Tried a few things, but only resulted in File Explorer not responding and the PC behaving as if it were paging (which it wasn't). Tried killing the explorer process, but couldn't restart it.

Gave up and held the power button down to restart the PC. When it came back up, the external drive was working fine with all my files intact!

Guess I didn't sacrifice enough buckets of goat entrails to the Great God Of Computers before I started!

TM21 · Jul 13, 2023

I have a "Stack" of hard drives from WD, that originally came in an external enclosure. In every case, the interface circuitry in the 'Enclosure' failed. (Made in China?) They were all gifted to me. (I'd never buy a WD anything)

The worse case was an 8TB external WD drive given to me as a gift. Worked OK for a while, till it didn't.
I didn't really want to just toss an 8TB hard drive, if the problem was only in the USB to SATA interface, so I removed the drive from the enclosure, with Demolition Tools, (hammer and chisel).
As I suspected, the HD itself was OK. I still use it today, installed in my main Mini-Tower PC, as my Large File backup drive. That's where I store my ISO's and Backup Image Files. That drive is only powered up when in use.

Good Luck,
TM

MrYossu · Jul 13, 2023

@TechnoMage2021 I always thought WD were a good make!

Anyway, since my last post, I've been having loads of problems. I'm pretty sure it's the cable rather than the drive, as if I disconnect and reconnect it, it seems to be fine. Trouble is that it seems to drop the connection (or something) on its own, so my nightly backups are failing.

Like you, I'm reluctant to chuck it out. Might see if I can get a replacement cable and see if that helps. If not, I'll get the toolbox out

Thanks for the reply.

MrYossu · Jul 13, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
(I'd never buy a WD anything)

Ho hum, aren't I the daft one

Just looking for a replacement cable, and realised that the WD drive I was thinking of is a completely separate one, that works fine. The drive in question is a Seagate Backup Plus Hub.

Still, I reckon a new cable is worth a try as that seems to be the problem.

Intermittent IO problem with an external drive

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