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Semaphore timeout

Aceman.au

Aceman.au

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Jun 19, 2008
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Shepparton, Victoria, Australia
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System Name Toaster!
Processor Intel Core i7 10700KF @ 3.8/5.1GHZ
Motherboard ASUS Prime Z490-P Motherboard
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Memory G.Skill Trident Z RGB 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz CL16 DDR4
Video Card(s) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 OC 24GB
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Power Supply Corsair AX1000 Titanium Modular
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Keyboard Corsair K70.
Software ALL HAIL WINDOWS 10.
Benchmark Scores Old system: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6805248
My brother gave me his 2TB portable HDD to give him a whole bunch of files, but the files wouldn't copy. So I ran the basic windows format tool and the repair tool windows offers to fix erros and it simply refused to format or fix the drive. So I got a stronger tool, namely KillDisk to try and force the format. But it won't work and gives me the error, "The semaphore timeout period has expired" and "Cannot write to sectors from XXXXX to XXXXX." (On the same line)

I tried looking on google to no avail. I assume the HDD is dead/dying, my brother isn't the most gentle person when it comes to technology. But if there is a fix I'd appreciate it.
 
Try opening an Administrative Command Prompt and running the command "chkdsk X: /f" (do not use the quotation marks and "X" being your drive letter).

If the drive is full, try removing some files and then check the disk.
Check for long folder/file names that may exceed the maximum. Try renaming or moving the files to a folder with a shorter name.
You may want to try a defrag on it.
It is, also, possible the controller has gone wacky.

Try repairing the drive on a Linux OS.
 
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I think its CHKDSK [Drive letter]: /F /R

also this util can find the long file names - Path Length Checker. Its old and im sure there are a few better now with powershell
 
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CHKDSK returned no errors. However I have a second identical drive I plugged in and I can't copy onto or format either. They're Seagate drives and install software upon connection (which might be the issue, looking into now). Not sure of exact type of drive but they're 2TB
 
Have you tried taking them out of the external housing and placing them in your computer?
 
Caring1 said:
Have you tried taking them out of the external housing and placing them in your computer?
Click to expand...
I'm running a program off Seagates website that "Fixes errors". It's been slowly progressing for last 12 hours. Appears to be doing something as the HDD is quite warm. I'll let it finish overnight and if that fails. I'll give that a go.
 
Aceman.au said:
I'm running a program off Seagates website that "Fixes errors". It's been slowly progressing for last 12 hours. Appears to be doing something as the HDD is quite warm. I'll let it finish overnight and if that fails. I'll give that a go.
Click to expand...
dont forget to put some ice cubes on top to keep it cooler :laugh::roll::laugh:
 
DeathtoGnomes said:
dont forget to put some ice cubes on top to keep it cooler :laugh::roll::laugh:
Click to expand...

It's winter here, so the room temp is nice and cool :)

The thing finished and "fixed all errors" but didn't alleviate the issue. I tried format it as NTFS with 4096 allocation, but it didn't work. I formatted it as exFAT with 4096 allocation, also didn't work. The copying process just hangs.

I'll try and find that PnP software and remove it/update it.
 
If you want to lay it bare, you could use the embedded diskpart utility.

From an administrator command line :

Code: 
diskpart

then

Code: 
list disks

then select the disk to wipe (be carefull, choose the right one !):

Code: 
select disk XX

you then proceed to lay it bare :

Code: 
clean

and then recreate the partition table :

Code: 
create partition primary

then all is left to do is to select the newly created partition and format it :

Code: 
select partition 1

Code: 
format fs=ntfs quick

Give it a drive letter and you should be able to browse it :

Code: 
assign

and when you're done with diskpart, simply

Code: 
exit
 
Says access is denied when I try to run the clean command. I did run the CMD prompt as admin.
 
now that's totally unusual !

As a last resort measure, i would boot on a live linux distro (preferably gparted live) and try to fix the disk....but i'm afraid it's the hardware that's faulty this time. :/
 
blobster21 said:
now that's totally unusual !

As a last resort measure, i would boot on a live linux distro (preferably gparted live) and try to fix the disk....but i'm afraid it's the hardware that's faulty this time. :/
Click to expand...
I think it might be Windows 10. 2 different drives of the same model. 1 used last week. The other not used in 4 years. Both very old drives.
 
blobster21 said:
now that's totally unusual !

As a last resort measure, i would boot on a live linux distro (preferably gparted live) and try to fix the disk....but i'm afraid it's the hardware that's faulty this time. :/
Click to expand...
Oh man. I can't remember how to use Linux. Been probably a decade since I used Ubuntu
 
You will be happy to hear that there's no knowledge involved if you want to use gparted live.

It's "just" a live distro with xfce as desktop environment. The gparted GUI is started automatically, it goes straight to the point.

gparted is pretty straightforward too, it reminds me the old Powerquest partition magic, everything is done using your mouse.

You can create a bootable gparted live USB key using free third party windows programs such as Rufus or Yumi, the later will even give you the choice to download the latest gparted live iso, and will do the integration.
 
blobster21 said:
You will be happy to hear that there's no knowledge involved if you want to use gparted live.

It's "just" a live distro with xfce as desktop environment. The gparted GUI is started automatically, it goes straight to the point.

gparted is pretty straightforward too, it reminds me the old Powerquest partition magic, everything is done using your mouse.

You can create a bootable gparted live USB key using free third party windows programs such as Rufus or Yumi, the later will even give you the choice to download the latest gparted live iso, and will do the integration.
Click to expand...
A lot of stuff in Linux is done by CMD line isn't it? But good, a idiot friendly GUI will be a help. Contacting my friend who uses a lot of linux for guidance.
 
Oh right. Live CD/USB. Derp, don't need teh linuxes
 
So this HDD is an external USB drive?

Take it out of the case and plug it in directly to your system.
 
DeathtoGnomes said:
So this HDD is an external USB drive?

Take it out of the case and plug it in directly to your system.
Click to expand...

This is a very bad idea if it uses one of those self-encryption doohickeys, which judging from it loading it's own software it sounds like it might. You could lose your data forever.

What model?
 
The OP is just trying to format it, so I dont think that matters.

I cant help but wonder if the adapter is corrupted. Maybe the OP as a spare pc to plug it in?
 
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