Can't detect 1TB Sata drive

[lol768]

Hi,

I just purchased this PC (http://www.ebuyer.com/338526-zoostorm-2 ... -7873-1053) and I'm trying to install Linux Mint. I'm booting from an SD card (w/ sd card reader, so it's just a mass storage device). This works fine and the live environment is working ok. When I try to install Linux Mint, however, I get this error:

ubiquity.png (30.31 KiB) Viewed 838 times

This is a new computer so I know there should be a 1TB drive in there. Output from fdisk -l is below

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Disk /dev/sda: 1971 MB, 1971322880 bytes
59 heads, 58 sectors/track, 1125 cylinders, total 3850240 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *         137     3850239     1925051+   6  FAT16


When running gparted, the only device found is the SD card (which I'm booting Linux from):

gparted.png (54.35 KiB) Viewed 838 times

Mount gives the following output

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/cow on / type overlayfs (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
/dev/sda1 on /cdrom type vfat (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 on /rofs type squashfs (ro,noatime)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/mint/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=mint)


Output from dmesg and lspci are below. Can anyone help me to install mint?
DMESG: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=v3SHkysf
LSPCI: http://pastebin.com/raw.php?i=xaQrZeWz

[lmarmisa]

Maybe there is a problem with the SATA controller or with the hard drive.

Type this command and post the result:

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sudo lshw -class disk -class storage


[AlbertP]

These lines are visible in dmesg:

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[    3.905677] ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 1 SControl 300)
[    3.907837] ata1: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x4000000 action 0xe frozen
[    3.907841] ata1: irq_stat 0x00000040, connection status changed
[    3.907845] ata1: SError: { DevExch }
[    3.907851] ata1: hard resetting link
...
[    6.196940] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[    6.196946] ata1: reset failed (errno=-32), retrying in 8 secs
...
[   13.902484] ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps
[   13.902489] ata1: hard resetting link
...
[   16.137765] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[   16.137770] ata1: reset failed (errno=-32), retrying in 8 secs
[   23.899303] ata1: hard resetting link
[   26.126620] ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 1 SControl 310)
[   26.142599] ata1: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x4000000 action 0xe frozen t4
[   26.142602] ata1: irq_stat 0x00000040, connection status changed
[   26.142604] ata1: SError: { DevExch }
[   26.142609] ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5 Gbps
[   26.142610] ata1: hard resetting link
...
[   28.401880] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[   28.401887] ata1: reset failed (errno=-32), retrying in 8 secs
[   36.139410] ata1: hard resetting link
[   38.794578] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[   38.794585] ata1: reset failed (errno=-32), retrying in 8 secs
[   46.136250] ata1: hard resetting link
[   48.427508] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[   48.427515] ata1: reset failed (errno=-32), retrying in 33 secs
[   81.125120] ata1: hard resetting link
[   83.392393] ata1: COMRESET failed (errno=-32)
[   83.392399] ata1: reset failed, giving up
[   83.392405] ata1: EH complete

That's a lot of failures. ata1 must be the harddisk port, as ata2 has a DVD writer connected and it doesn't detect more ports.
Please make sure the SATA cable is connected and the harddisk powers on (you should be able to hear it when turning on the computer with your ear next to the disk).

[lol768]

Thanks for the info, I'll check the SATA connection in a bit.

[lol768]

Maybe there is a problem with the SATA controller or with the hard drive.

Type this command and post the result:

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sudo lshw -class disk -class storage


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  *-storage               
       description: SATA controller
       product: 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1f.2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
       logical name: scsi1
       version: 05
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 66MHz
       capabilities: storage msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list emulated
       configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
       resources: irq:44 ioport:f0b0(size=8) ioport:f0a0(size=4) ioport:f090(size=8) ioport:f080(size=4) ioport:f060(size=32) memory:fe405000-fe4057ff
     *-cdrom
          description: DVD-RAM writer
          product: iHAS122
          vendor: ATAPI
          physical id: 0.0.0
          bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
          logical name: /dev/cdrom
          logical name: /dev/cdrw
          logical name: /dev/dvd
          logical name: /dev/dvdrw
          logical name: /dev/scd0
          logical name: /dev/sr0
          version: ZL0F
          capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
          configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
  *-scsi
       physical id: 1
       bus info: usb@1:1.3
       logical name: scsi4
       capabilities: emulated scsi-host
       configuration: driver=usb-storage
     *-disk:0
          description: SCSI Disk
          physical id: 0.0.0
          bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
          logical name: /dev/sda
          size: 1880MiB (1971MB)
          capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
     *-disk:1
          description: SCSI Disk
          physical id: 0.0.1
          bus info: scsi@4:0.0.1
          logical name: /dev/sdb
     *-disk:2
          description: SCSI Disk
          physical id: 0.0.2
          bus info: scsi@4:0.0.2
          logical name: /dev/sdc
     *-disk:3
          description: SCSI Disk
          product: MS/MS-Pro
          vendor: Generic-
          physical id: 0.0.3
          bus info: scsi@4:0.0.3
          logical name: /dev/sdd
          version: 1.03
          serial: 3
          capabilities: removable
        *-medium
             physical id: 0
             logical name: /dev/sdd


[AlbertP]

As I already pointed out from the dmesg it seems the disk or connection to it is faulty. I'd return the computer. I don't think it's a Linux fault.

[lol768]

Hi,
I can hear the hard drive spinning up so it's connected. The issue remained so I tried a 32 bit mint cd and managed to install it (after some ata) errors. Did a memtest and got 224 errors, next time got no errors.

I'm trying Windows to see if it's a Linux thing. Seems faulty though.

Thanks

[AlbertP]

ATA errors or memtest errors on a brand new computer are surely not normal.

Make sure you didn't break warranty by opening the case.

[lol768]

The errors don't seem normal, but they seem to have subsided pretty much by now. I wouldn't recommend buying a zoostorm though. Now I've installed Windows and shrunk the partition, I'll try and install Mint (64 bit) and see how it goes. Thanks for your help.

[lol768]

Ok, I rebooted after installing Windows 8 and got drive read errors. Tried to install Windows again and got a HDD boot error and a BSOD:

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IMAG0109.jpg (149.16 KiB) Viewed 784 times

I went into the BIOS and changed the SATA mode to IDE and was able to install Windows. It seems to be working ok, but I'm going to try and reboot after this post and see if it breaks again. I've setup two partitions, so I should be able to try and install Mint if Windows is working ok. Another issue I had were the memtest errors (which I can't seem to reproduce anymore):

IMAG0106.jpg (271.19 KiB) Viewed 784 times

The memory it's testing and failing on has an address of > 9000MB (the computer has 8GB RAM). This doesn't make sense. Is this a possible reason for these errors?

Here's a screenshot of the BIOS sata page (default was AHCI and I've changed it to IDE now):
http://i.imgur.com/up6dH.png

[AlbertP]

The memory it's testing and failing on has an address of > 9000MB (the computer has 8GB RAM). This doesn't make sense. Is this a possible reason for these errors?

BIOS'es tend to have their own way of numbering addresses instead of just starting at 0 and ending at 8G. This is not a problem. It's only the last bits of the sequences which corrupt - if you were writing into a non-existent memory area the first bits would also have gone missing.

[lol768]

Installed Windows, was using it and it BSOD'd. Rebooted and got this:

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I'll be returning it. What should I use as the return reason (faulty hdd?). A Hard disk that fails after 1 day warrants a return. Do you think it's a one-ff issue with that particular hard drive? Should I buy the same product again (if I get the chance)?

Many thanks for your help so far.

[AlbertP]

I don't think you need to avoid ZooStorm because of the failed harddisk. It happens sometimes with harddisks, and disks from Seagate are used in computers from many other manufacturers. I'd just send it back for harddisk replacement.

[lol768]

I don't think you need to avoid ZooStorm because of the failed harddisk. It happens sometimes with harddisks, and disks from Seagate are used by many other manufacturers. I'd just send it back for harddisk replacement.

What about the RAM? Is this an issue (I couldn't reproduce those errors in a later test)?

[AlbertP]

If the issues appear once, and don't appear again, I don't think it's very serious. I think that replacing the disk will be enough to get it working again.

[lol768]

Ok, thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

[AlbertP]

You're welcome.

by the way, no need to quote if you're responding to the last message.