FreeAgent Theater and GoFlexTV

[MithrilMike]

Hi All,

I've searched the forums and found problems that sound similar to mine, but nothing that matches exactly.  The problem I am seeing is that random files on my external hard drive get truncated to zero byte size.  I can't tell exactly when the corruption occurs because the FAT+ does not show the file sizes, so I have to check it by plugging into a PC, and that's all compounded by the fact that my 2TB drive holds a LOT of files.

Just to clarify, the file system is intact, the drive plays my other files fine, but random files get overwritten.  Running a chkdsk does not fix the problem.  The file has its normal name and zero size.

Has anyone else seen this issue?  Any suggestions on how to prevent this?  I just can't keep using this drive if I know it may corrupt a file I don't have a working backup for.

Other info:

firmware version 2.23 (but saw the same problem with 2.20, can't remember earlier versions)

WD 2TB external drive (has it's own power supply, so not a power problem)

connecting to the rear USB port on the FAT+

occurs infrequently - maybe once a month or less? (but once is too much)

affects random files of different extensions (.flv, .mkv) with no discernible pattern

Thanks!

[bodhi78]

---

MithrilMike wrote:

Hi All,

I've searched the forums and found problems that sound similar to mine, but nothing that matches exactly.  The problem I am seeing is that random files on my external hard drive get truncated to zero byte size.  I can't tell exactly when the corruption occurs because the FAT+ does not show the file sizes, so I have to check it by plugging into a PC, and that's all compounded by the fact that my 2TB drive holds a LOT of files.

Just to clarify, the file system is intact, the drive plays my other files fine, but random files get overwritten.  Running a chkdsk does not fix the problem.  The file has its normal name and zero size.

Has anyone else seen this issue?  Any suggestions on how to prevent this?  I just can't keep using this drive if I know it may corrupt a file I don't have a working backup for.

Other info:

firmware version 2.23 (but saw the same problem with 2.20, can't remember earlier versions)

WD 2TB external drive (has it's own power supply, so not a power problem)

connecting to the rear USB port on the FAT+

occurs infrequently - maybe once a month or less? (but once is too much)

affects random files of different extensions (.flv, .mkv) with no discernible pattern

Thanks!

---

More info is needed: how full is your 2TB drive? what format is the drive (ntfs, Fat32,...)?

[MithrilMike]

2TB drive was about 50% full when I first noticed the problem.  It still has at least 2/3 of a gig free left on it now.

I believe the drive was pre-formatted as FAT32.  I'll check on that and if I see that's not the case I'll post a correction.

[bodhi78]

---

MithrilMike wrote:

2TB drive was about 50% full when I first noticed the problem.  It still has at least 2/3 of a gig free left on it now.

I believe the drive was pre-formatted as FAT32.  I'll check on that and if I see that's not the case I'll post a correction.

---

I think you meant to say 2/3 of a TB free?

In any case, if you're using Windows XP, then it will not warn you if the disk is corrupted. If you're using Windows 7 then it will force you to run check disk whenever you plug in the disk. So I'm guessing that you're using Windows XP?

I woul connect this WD drive to Windows XP and run a checkdisk (i.e. scan for errors), there are 2 options to correct problems in the dialog which should be unchecked. Just see if you have a corrupted file system before doing anything else. And if Windows XP reports errors, then prepare by backing up this disk first, and then scan for errors again with both options checked (expect to wait several hours, it could take all day to scan a 2TB drive) .

[MithrilMike]

Yeah, that's what I get for not proofreading ;-)

Corrections:

It is a 2TB drive with 1TB free.

It is formatted to NTFS, not FAT32.

I am using Windows 7, and it prompts me to check the disk.

I see that it has lost the data for a jpg file and an avi file.  The checkdisk did not fix the missing data.  I will run a bad sector scan over night.

[MithrilMike]

No problems with the drive found with chkdsk (bad sector scan).

[Window Title]
Checking Disk TV Drive (G

[Main Instruction]
Your device or disk was successfully scanned

[Content]
No problems were found on the device or disk. It is ready to use.

If you removed the device or disk before all files were fully written to it, parts of some files might still be missing. If so, go back to the source and recopy those files to your device or disk.

[^] Hide details  [Close]

[Expanded Information]
Volume label is TV Drive.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
  7424 file records processed.                                         

File verification completed.
  17 large file records processed.                                   

  0 bad file records processed.                                     

  0 EA records processed.                                           

  0 reparse records processed.                                      

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
  9912 index entries processed.                                        

Index verification completed.


CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
  7424 file SDs/SIDs processed.                                        

Security descriptor verification completed.
  1245 data files processed.                                           

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  4983424 USN bytes processed.                                            

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
  7408 files processed.                                                

File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
  294432231 free clusters processed.                                        

Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

1953480703 KB total disk space.
 775610824 KB in 5975 files.
      2848 KB in 1246 indexes.
    138107 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
1177728924 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
 488370175 total allocation units on disk.
 294432231 allocation units available on disk.