SATA errors showing up in Journalctl while SMART Diagnostic ok - Motherboard issue?

Question

After noticing abnormally long disk operations delays, I looked up journalctl and this is what I found:

Feb 22 14:02:11.711182 Onan01 kernel: ata10: hard resetting link
Feb 22 14:02:12.186958 Onan01 kernel: ata10: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310)
Feb 22 14:02:12.187044 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: configured for UDMA/33
Feb 22 14:02:12.187068 Onan01 kernel: ata10: EH complete
Feb 22 14:02:22.782960 Onan01 kernel: ata10: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310)
Feb 22 14:02:22.783033 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: configured for UDMA/33
Feb 22 14:03:27.472083 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0xd0000 action 0x6 frozen
Feb 22 14:03:27.472241 Onan01 kernel: ata10: SError: { PHYRdyChg CommWake 10B8B }
Feb 22 14:03:27.472271 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
Feb 22 14:03:27.472300 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: cmd 35/00:18:00:35:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 14 dma 12288 out
                                               res 40/00:01:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Feb 22 14:03:27.472323 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: status: { DRDY }
Feb 22 14:03:27.472345 Onan01 kernel: ata10: hard resetting link
Feb 22 14:03:27.950979 Onan01 kernel: ata10: SATA link up 1.5 Gbps (SStatus 113 SControl 310)
Feb 22 14:03:27.951084 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: configured for UDMA/33
Feb 22 14:03:27.951113 Onan01 kernel: ata10: EH complete
Feb 22 14:04:03.852081 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x40d0000 action 0xe frozen
Feb 22 14:04:03.852242 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: irq_stat 0x00000040, connection status changed
Feb 22 14:04:03.852274 Onan01 kernel: ata10: SError: { PHYRdyChg CommWake 10B8B DevExch }
Feb 22 14:04:03.852301 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
Feb 22 14:04:03.852325 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: cmd 35/00:38:58:35:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 17 dma 28672 out
                                               res 50/00:00:38:23:00/00:00:ac:00:00/e0 Emask 0x10 (ATA bus error)
Feb 22 14:04:03.852357 Onan01 kernel: ata10.00: status: { DRDY }

The first type of error (timeout) seems more frequent than the second one (ATA bus error). There are quite a number of each. The SATA channel ata10 is connected to a WD Caviar Green HDD.

The SMART diagnostic on this disk is apparently clean:

sudo smartctl --all /dev/sdf1
smartctl 7.1 2019-12-30 r5022 [x86_64-linux-5.4.0-100-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-19, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     WDC WD20EZAZ-00GGJB0
Serial Number:    WD-WXT1A29LE265
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 211b07a4f
Firmware Version: 80.00A80
User Capacity:    2,000,398,934,016 bytes [2.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    5400 rpm
Form Factor:      3.5 inches
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 5
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Wed Feb 23 11:37:14 2022 IST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                    was never started.
                    Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0) The previous self-test routine completed
                    without error or no self-test has ever 
                    been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:        (32520) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:            (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
                    power-saving mode.
                    Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                    General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time:    (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:    ( 103) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (   2) minutes.
SCT capabilities:          (0x3035) SCT Status supported.
                    SCT Feature Control supported.
                    SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   184   170   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       1783
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1573
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   083   083   000    Old_age   Always       -       13100
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1524
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   199   199   000    Old_age   Always       -       761
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   147   147   000    Old_age   Always       -       160779
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   115   104   000    Old_age   Always       -       28
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     13100         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     13099         -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

One weird thing though, long SMART tests don't seem to work right. They go from progress 90% to finished directly (no 80%, 70%, etc) and afterwards, they don't show up in the "SMART Self-test log" section.

I have experienced the file operations delays for two days in a row. After reboot, the problem seems to go away and then it comes back. Specifically, the problems take the form of long delays in copying or moving files and in LibreOffice hanging on a file save. Any idea what could be the cause of such errors?

OS: Ubuntu 20.04

Processor: Ryzen 3

MB: Gigabyte X570 UD

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 23 '22 at 09:21

2

The messages you quote are an indication of hardware problems on the S-ATA link. S.M.A.R.T. focuses on the internal working of the disk drive itself and does not report that kind of problem.

Possible causes include a damaged or flaky S-ATA cable, dirty or improperly seated connectors, or a defective interface on your motherboard or the disk drive.

Troubleshooting steps:

unplug and replug the S-ATA cable
inspect the S-ATA cable and connectors for damage or dirt
replace the S-ATA cable
try a different S-ATA port on your motherboard
try a different hard disk

answered Feb 23 '22 at 09:21

Tilman Schmidt

3,778
10
23

Thanks a lot. Is there a way to get a more precise diagnostic form the error messages? – fi11222 Feb 23 '22 at 09:24
The messages are as precise as they can possibly get. They tell you exactly what happened from the point of view of the controller. To get more detail you'll have to actually measure physically on the S-ATA bus wires but that wouldn't be cost efficient. If the steps above do not solve the problem it's best to invoke your service contract and request a repair. – Tilman Schmidt Feb 23 '22 at 13:09

SATA errors showing up in Journalctl while SMART Diagnostic ok - Motherboard issue?

1 Answers1