[Coco] OT: Help with horrible bad NAS purchase, Linux EXT3 file system blindly used.

[Frank Pittel]

On Sat, Dec 05, 2009 at 09:22:01PM -0800, Stephen H. Fischer wrote:
> OT: Help with horrible bad NAS purchase, Linux EXT3 file system blindly
> used.
>
> Hi,
>
> I am looking for help in deciding what to do with my Maxtor Central Axis (2
> TB) Network Attached Storage unit (NAS).
>
> I was searching the web for information again and realized that there might
> be someone here who knows all about Linux and the EXT3 file system who might
> be able to help me.
>
> The device has two 1TB drives and can be operated in Mirror mode (1TB) or
> Linear mode (2TB).
>
> The file system used is Linux EXT3 but my only access is via a web interface
> that offers very little information and very little control. Only by reading
> forum messages did I learn that Linux EXT3 is used.
>
> Purchased from Microcenter, the first unit was almost DOA. I spent a lot of
> time before realizing
> that the unit had to be returned. So I shipped it off to Mexico at a cost of
> ~ $35.
>
> I got a replacement unit but one of the drives died 5 days later. So I
> shipped it off to Mexico at a cost of ~ $12, Seagate paid the shipping, the
> UPS store provided part of the expensive packaging which was required.
>
> The replacement worked for  a few weeks:
>
> 2009-09-23T22:34:16-0700 This is a Notification Test E-mail
> 2009-11-26T14:42:20-0800 A drive configuration error has been reported for
> the Maxtor Central Axis MCA-05B195..
>
> The second line is all that I get via E-mail from the drive when it has an
> error, the server at Seagate I am sure gets a lot more information which I
> cannot get and they will never admit they have (Except to users who have >
> 10,000 units in service.)
>
> After the Thanksgiving day failure I was able to rebuild the Mirror
> successfully without loss of data.
>
> I got a second Drive Failure message Friday:
>
> 2009-12-04T21:44:16-0800 A drive configuration error has been reported for
> the Maxtor Central Axis MCA-05B195..
>
> Again I was able to rebuild the Mirror successfully without loss of data.
> ----------------------------------
> My question is, does the Linux EXT3 file system map out the failed sectors
> so that they are not used again.
>
> Thus if I stick with the current drives in the unit I will get to a point
> where no more errors will occur and I can trust that my data is safe.
>
> (The data consists of several computer backups which can be recreated, and
> lots of TV Capture Video. (Darn that wonderful "CW_EPG" scheduling program.)
> ----------------------------------
>
> I realize that this is OT and I am very willing to take the discussion
> elsewhere or via private E-mail. I have done a lot of research, posted a
> detailed set of messages on the Seagate forum and can provide some more
> information from the screen shots I have taken to retain some of the
> information the web interface provides but does not allow you to save.
>
> TIA to one and all.
>
> Stephen H. Fischer
>
>
> --
> Coco mailing list
> Coco at maltedmedia.com
> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco


I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with the array. I hope that ext3 doesn't
block out bad blocks on a drive. On a standard linux installation the command "badblocks"
scans devices for badblocks and maps them out of the filesystem. Modern drives map out bad
blocks and map in spare blocks.

Wish I could be of more help but with only a limited web interface there's not much you can
do to fix things at the OS levels.