My WD External HDD take more than 3 days to format?

Question

I have WD elements 2TB. I have tried to erase or format it but without success. Took long time, more than 3 days but nothing happens. The progress is stuck on 1%.

Also with try check bad sectors won't continue after 30 minutes

:~$ sudo badblocks -svw -o badblocks.log /dev/sdc
Checking for bad blocks in read-write mode
From block 0 to 1953481727
Testing with pattern 0xaa:   0.01% done, 31:34 elapsed. (0/0/0 errors)

And here is output of (smartctl --all)

~$ sudo smartctl --all /dev/sdd
smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.15.0-52-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Elements / My Passport (USB, AF)
Device Model:     WDC WD20NMVW-11AV3S2
Serial Number:    WD-WX21E949F5A4
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 20b794cca
Firmware Version: 01.01A01
User Capacity:    2,000,398,934,016 bytes [2.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    5200 rpm
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 3.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Thu Nov  3 23:08:31 2022 +03
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Status not supported: Incomplete response, ATA output registers missing
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: FAILED!
Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA.
Warning: This result is based on an Attribute check.
See vendor-specific Attribute list for failed Attributes.
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:        (37620) 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:    ( 415) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (   5) minutes.
SCT capabilities:          (0x7035) 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       -       49
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   216   193   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       4166
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1535
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   133   133   140    Pre-fail  Always   FAILING_NOW 2805
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   001   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       40614
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   097   097   000    Old_age   Always       -       2221
 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       -       1407
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   199   199   000    Old_age   Always       -       1370
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   187   187   000    Old_age   Always       -       40166
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   107   101   000    Old_age   Always       -       45
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   002   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       198
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
ATA Error Count: 7 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
    CR = Command Register [HEX]
    FR = Features Register [HEX]
    SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
    SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
    CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
    CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
    DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
    DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
    ER = Error register [HEX]
    ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.
Error 7 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2167 hours (90 days + 7 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

04 61 00 00 00 00 00  Device Fault; Error: ABRT
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name

ef 02 00 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
  ef 90 06 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  SET FEATURES [Disable SATA feature]
  e1 00 02 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ec 00 01 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.523  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  e1 00 0f 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
Error 6 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2167 hours (90 days + 7 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

04 61 06 00 00 00 00  Device Fault; Error: ABRT
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name

ef 90 06 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  SET FEATURES [Disable SATA feature]
  e1 00 02 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ec 00 01 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.523  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  e1 00 0f 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ef 02 00 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
Error 5 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2167 hours (90 days + 7 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

04 61 02 00 00 00 00
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name

e1 00 02 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.524  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ec 00 01 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:23.523  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  e1 00 0f 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ef 02 00 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
  ef 90 06 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Disable SATA feature]
Error 4 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2167 hours (90 days + 7 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

04 61 0f 00 00 00 00
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name

e1 00 0f 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ef 02 00 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
  ef 90 06 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Disable SATA feature]
  e1 00 02 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ec 00 01 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.578  IDENTIFY DEVICE
Error 3 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 2167 hours (90 days + 7 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.
After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER ST SC SN CL CH DH

04 61 00 00 00 00 00  Device Fault; Error: ABRT
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC   Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name

ef 02 00 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Enable write cache]
  ef 90 06 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  SET FEATURES [Disable SATA feature]
  e1 00 02 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.579  IDLE IMMEDIATE
  ec 00 01 00 00 00 00 00      00:01:22.578  IDENTIFY DEVICE
  b0 d0 00 00 4f c2 00 00      00:00:17.757  SMART READ DATA
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
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.

Is it dead or can I fix it ?!!

P.S: I am using Ubuntu 22.04

I think the message you've gotten is pretty clear. overall-health self-assessment test result: FAILED! Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA. What other confirmation would you need? — Marcus Müller, Nov 03 '22 at 20:17

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '22 at 02:22

That disk is about to die.

SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: FAILED!
Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA.

Let's look at the SMART attributes:

ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
...
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   133   133   140    Pre-fail  Always   FAILING_NOW 2805
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   001   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       40614
...
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   002   001   000    Old_age   Always       -       198

The failure message was triggered by the count of internally reallocated sectors reaching the limit: there are (at least) 2805 blocks on the disk that can no longer be read, and have been redirected to spare blocks internally by the disk itself.

The reallocated event count (raw value) is 198, which suggests those 2805 blocks have been detected in swathes of more than 10 failed blocks at a time, on average. That suggests there might be significant area(s) on the surface of the disk with physical damage. That cannot be fixed with any software commands.

(If the disk was, for example, knocked about while it was powered on, the read/write heads may have actually touched the disk surface, causing the actual magnetic material to be violently chipped off from that area. The resulting magnetic dust might then clog the read/write heads, degrading their performance, or land somewhere else to cause other problems.

And the seek error rate (scaled values) seems to be just one step away of its failure threshold (although the threshold value is "0"). If that indication is correct, the disk might start failing its start-up self-tests and become totally inaccessible at any time.

Basically, the only reason the disk still works is that it's trying its best to give you a last chance to backup any important data that may be still readable.

It is time to scrap that disk and get a new one. If you need to make sure all the data that was on it is unrecoverable, open the disk case, remove the disk platters, put them into a plastic bag (to contain any possible shrapnel) and smash them to pieces with the biggest hammer-like object you can easily use for that purpose.

Someone said (paraphrased): "All HDDs are ultimately just wearing-down machines; data storage is just a temporary side effect."

My WD External HDD take more than 3 days to format?

1 Answers1