# failure - write_dma



## jalmberg (Jan 6, 2012)

One of my servers -- I believe running 6.x -- developed a HDD problem last night. The console was displaying the following, over and over again:


```
g_vfs_done():ad0s1d[WRITE(offset=970506240, length=-16384)error= 5
ad0: FAILURE - WRITE_DMA status=71<READY,DMA_READY,DSC,ERROR> error=4<ABORTED> LBA=3918703
```

My FreeBSD servers have all be quite reliable since I started using them 4 or 5 years ago. In fact, this is the first failure I've seen, so I don't have much experience debugging them.

Can anyone give me a hint about what might be wrong (I assume with the HDD), and how/if it might be fixable?

TIA: John


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## wblock@ (Jan 6, 2012)

Install sysutils/smartmontools.  If it reports reallocated sectors on that drive, replace it.  Four or five years on a drive in a server is respectable.


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## gkontos (Jan 6, 2012)

The time for a disk replacement has come!


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## Sfynx (Jan 12, 2012)

Yeah, faulty drive... a regular occurrence for most server administrators 
Replace and let it rebuild or restore from backup


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## soulreaver1 (Jan 15, 2012)

I would rather check this device first. It could be also hdd controller or hdd connector/wire... I would remove the device and check it on another computer using ex. MHDD.


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