HDD Spin retry count: non-zero values

[80251]

I have a Toshiba HDD that reports 65,536 (000000010000h) for its spin retry count yet in speedfan the value is marked OK. All my other HDD's report a zero value for this metric.

1. Is spin retry count represent an aggregate value (i.e. of all spin retries for the life of the HDD) or a worst case event (i.e. the maximum number of retries ever seen in the life of the HDD)?

2. Does this indicate a possible problem with the HDD motor (either the controller circuitry or the motor itself)?

3. Should I ditch this HDD right now or take a wait-and-see approach (i.e. to see if the spin retry count values or anything else increases)?

 

[X71200]

Speedfan is a garbage software that shouldn't be used tbh, I wouldn't take anything it says seriously. It's ancient and like never works properly.

As for the HDD, run some SMART and error checks, see the condition. If you feel the drive is gonna be on its way out, keep backups.

 

[Ahhzz]

I have a Toshiba HDD that reports 65,536 (000000010000h) for its spin retry count yet in speedfan the value is marked OK. All my other HDD's report a zero value for this metric.

1. Is spin retry count represent an aggregate value (i.e. of all spin retries for the life of the HDD) or a worst case event (i.e. the maximum number of retries ever seen in the life of the HDD)?

2. Does this indicate a possible problem with the HDD motor (either the controller circuitry or the motor itself)?

3. Should I ditch this HDD right now or take a wait-and-see approach (i.e. to see if the spin retry count values or anything else increases)?

I'm partial to the Free version of HD Sentinel. I've caught a few drives that were causing flaky issues that Windows hadn't flagged yet with it.

 

[shilka]

I can second Hard Drive Sentinel and Seagate Seatools is also a good program its free and it has a number of tests you can run
And yes it works with drives other than Seagate

 

[oobymach]

Use crystaldisk info to check, mine reports all zero's for an hdd with 11k hours on it. Spin retry could mean the motor is going and you should backup data.

 

[Shrek]

I have a Toshiba HDD that reports 65,536 (000000010000h) for its spin retry count yet in speedfan the value is marked OK. All my other HDD's report a zero value for this metric.

What do you think the chances are that the retry count is exactly 2^16?

 

[80251]

What do you think the chances are that the retry count is exactly 2^16?

I don't know, which is part of the reason I asked. The SMART values seem to be in hex.

What's interesting is that following a cold power boot and applying dielelectric grease (thanks to eidairaman's suggestion) to the contacts of the SATA power/data connectors, the spin retry count for the HDD in question is now ZERO! I double checked the SMART stats in Samsung Magician too so unless they're both wrong Speedfan and Samsung Magician agree on all the SMART stats reported.

 

[R-T-B]

What do you think the chances are that the retry count is exactly 2^16?

It's probably a counter DOWN from 2^16. In otherwords, has never had a spin retry.

 

[80251]

It's probably a counter DOWN from 2^16. In otherwords, has never had a spin retry.

Speedfan has an option to have an on-line analysis done on SMART stats for any HDD or SDD. I only knew the spin retry count had gone non-zero because the on-line analysis mentioned it.

The SMART value for the spin retry count was 00010000h, now it's zero.

 

[eidairaman1]

I have a Toshiba HDD that reports 65,536 (000000010000h) for its spin retry count yet in speedfan the value is marked OK. All my other HDD's report a zero value for this metric.

1. Is spin retry count represent an aggregate value (i.e. of all spin retries for the life of the HDD) or a worst case event (i.e. the maximum number of retries ever seen in the life of the HDD)?

2. Does this indicate a possible problem with the HDD motor (either the controller circuitry or the motor itself)?

3. Should I ditch this HDD right now or take a wait-and-see approach (i.e. to see if the spin retry count values or anything else increases)?

Get the tool Hitachi DFT and test

 

[80251]

Actually eidaraman1 toshiba does have a utility to check their HDD's so I'll give that a whirl today.

 

[eidairaman1]

Actually eidaraman1 toshiba does have a utility to check their HDD's so I'll give that a whirl today.

Do both to garner an idea dft worked on other drives

 

[80251]

Well after 4 hrs. the HDD passed the Toshiba diagnostics check. I still don't understand why the spin retry count went from a non-zero value to a zero value. There's no way the HDD could know I reconnected the data and power cables after coating them with dielectric grease.

 

[eidairaman1]

Well after 4 hrs. the HDD passed the Toshiba diagnostics check. I still don't understand why the spin retry count went from a non-zero value to a zero value. There's no way the HDD could know I reconnected the data and power cables after coating them with dielectric grease.

See if DFT runs

 

[80251]

The newest version of Hitachi DFT (4.16) creates a DOS boot diskette, but I don't have any floppy drives anymore.

https://www.techspot.com/downloads/543-hitachi-drive-fitness-test.html

The Ultimate Boot CD has Hitachi DFT though so I'll try running it from that.

 

[eidairaman1]

The newest version of Hitachi DFT (4.16) creates a DOS boot diskette, but I don't have any floppy drives anymore.

https://www.techspot.com/downloads/543-hitachi-drive-fitness-test.html

The Ultimate Boot CD has Hitachi DFT though so I'll try running it from that.

Anything?

 

[80251]

Haven't had time to give up my only computer system for a 4 hour disk test.

 

[Ahhzz]

Haven't had time to give up my only computer system for a 4 hour disk test.

I recommend leaving it running over nite.

 

[MarsM4N]

I had a similar problem some years ago. It turned out I had a bad 4pin molex/sata connector. Can you hear any "spinning up noises" during heavy access/data writing?
So I would check that first, maybe replace cables. If you're using molex connectors retighten/bent the female pins with srewdriver.

Next I would run CHKDSK on the drive. It will check your drive & fix bad sectors.
And then run the "TOSHIBA Storage Diagnostic Tool".

Hitachi DFT is good for error tests, but I am not sure if it fixes them. Tools like "CrystalDiskInfo" or "HDD Health" in general are good for checking the SMART parameters, but the thing is that they are sometimes hard to interptret, because each HDD/SSD manufacturer sets their own numbers.

Btw. "The last, and least common cause of hard drive failure, is hard drive motor failure, accounting for only 1 percent of failures, testament again to modern manufacturing precision and reliability." BackBlaze

If you feel the drive is gonna be on its way out, keep backups.

No. You should always have a backup, or better two.

Because when you "feel" corrupted files due to damaged sectors or a ransomware virus infection that's encrypting your files it's already too late.
And there is also the sudden HDD failure, meaning everything is lost, just like that.

 

[80251]

It seems like eidairaman1's suggestion about using dielectric grease on the contacts worked. I applied dielectric grease to both the power and data connectors.

 

[MarsM4N]

It seems like eidairaman1's suggestion about using dielectric grease on the contacts worked. I applied dielectric grease to both the power and data connectors.

That's good. Would still do a run with CHKDSK to realocate any bad sectors, if present.

 

[80251]

I did run the Toshiba disk diagnostic and it came up with no errors. The SMART stats show no error either.

 

[chrcoluk]

If thats the only non zero SMART metric and you keep the system powered up 24/7 then might be ok to keep using. But if you power cycling I would start the process of replacing it.

Backup any data that would annoy you to lose.

 

[eidairaman1]

I did run the Toshiba disk diagnostic and it came up with no errors. The SMART stats show no error either.

Run DFT please while sleeping during a calm night