# Current pending sector count error



## billubakra (Apr 12, 2019)

Hi Guys,

I am getting this Current pending sector count error/warning for my pc's WD internal hdd and my WD external my passport ultra hdd. The former was purchased in mid 2017 and the latter in mid 2014. Are these having 5 year warranties in India?
Now coming to the issues.

1. The internal hdd shows this warning-



 



The hdd operates normal with no issues whatsoever. I did some troubleshooting with the help of my brother @whitestar_999 but due to new firmware it wasn't of much help.

2. Now coming to the external hdd-


 

 



I think the wire of the external hdd, the usb cable, might also be loose. Can someone direct me to a link of an authentic usb cable or some amazon basics one which I can test. Tried copy pasting stuff but they are not completing.

Please guide.

Thanks


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## billubakra (Apr 12, 2019)

This is the exact error.*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190412/480d31b40f9e28ea85edfbe8db1cf894.jpg


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## Desmond (Apr 12, 2019)

Do you hear any clicky sounds coming from your HDD?


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## billubakra (Apr 12, 2019)

Desmond David said:


> Do you hear any clicky sounds coming from your HDD?


From the external one, today yes. Then kept it on the table and reinserted the usb cable and the noise was gone. Still want to give it a shot using a new cable.
Hear it at boot or during high cpu usage from the internal hdd also but I guess that's normal. Isn't it?


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 12, 2019)

It looks like you need to buy new HDDs.


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## Desmond (Apr 12, 2019)

billubakra said:


> From the external one, today yes. Then kept it on the table and reinserted the usb cable and the noise was gone. Still want to give it a shot using a new cable.
> Hear it at boot or during high cpu usage from the internal hdd also but I guess that's normal. Isn't it?


Clicking sounds from a HDD means a mechanical problem. These will also cause IO errors like the one in your last screenshot.

Even if your HDD is functional, its a sign that will it get worse. Better back up all your data while you still can.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> It looks like you need to buy new HDDs.





Desmond David said:


> Clicking sounds from a HDD means a mechanical problem. These will also cause IO errors like the one in your last screenshot.
> 
> Even if your HDD is functional, its a sign that will it get worse. Better back up all your data while you still can.
> 
> Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk



For the external one it is understood, my pc's hdd is working fine as of now. But still that caution sign is there. How can I convince WD for a RMA?

I am willing to try the external hdd with a new cable. The hdd is about 5 years old, should I go for any cable from the market or the 3.0 cables, I doubt that it will be supported, like these-

*www.amazon.in/s?k=external+hdd+cable&crid=1UXKOSJYTL4H0&sprefix=external+hdd+,aps,327&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_13

1 more thing, it won't matter but still needs to be mentioned. Half of the external hdd is partitioned as FAT and the rest as NTFS.


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

Is there any diagnostic tool/error repair thing that I can do?


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## patkim (Apr 13, 2019)

If the Internal HDD is operating normally otherwise, give it a try with low level formatting. It might help reverse the current pending sector, if it's a temporary issue, as so far nothing has been reallocated on that disk. If the condition deteriorates, then it does confirm that the HDD is really going bad.  This is data destructive, so anyhow take backup of important data, also if you want to restore Windows, take image of the system drive, EFI & MSR partitions if applicable to be restored later.

Check the WD website with your serial numbers about the exact warranty status. Check with them what they finally accept, is it the serial number or the invoice.

Seagate has seatools that sometimes also works with non-seagate HDDs. I think similarly WD has lifeguard diagnostics. Check WD website and try long tests.


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

patkim said:


> If the Internal HDD is operating normally otherwise, give it a try with low level formatting. It might help reverse the current pending sector, if it's a temporary issue, as so far nothing has been reallocated on that disk. If the condition deteriorates, then it does confirm that the HDD is really going bad.  This is data destructive, so anyhow take backup of important data, also if you want to restore Windows, take image of the system drive, EFI & MSR partitions if applicable to be restored later.
> 
> Check the WD website with your serial numbers about the exact warranty status. Check with them what they finally accept, is it the serial number or the invoice.
> 
> Seagate has seatools that sometimes also works with non-seagate HDDs. I think similarly WD has lifeguard diagnostics. Check WD website and try long tests.



The warranty for my WD Blue internal hdd is till 10 July 2019.* Is there only 2 year warranty on these drives?* Should I send WD the screenshots and ask for rma? + @whitestar_999 @Desmond David
For the external one just did the tests, pfa










P.S. It is connected with a laptop and not with my pc with the blue hdd. For the internal one will do the tests and will share the reports here. Started the extended test but it will take another 8 hours, can't cancel it now as it said that there might be data loss 

Can you suggest me a good usb cable from the link that I have posted above? The cable seems a little loose so just want to test with a good cable. I have used Samsung and WD hdd's in the past, no issues at all. But this internal blue hdd giving up within 2 years just sucks.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 13, 2019)

Usually WD don't consider 1 pending sector count as enough for rma,this value should at least be in 2 digits I think.Still it is better to be on safe side & start taking backup of important data.If this value increases before the end of warranty then apply for rma else keep it till it goes bad(may give another year or two if you are lucky).


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> Usually WD don't consider 1 pending sector count as enough for rma,this value should at least be in 2 digits I think.Still it is better to be on safe side & start taking backup of important data.If this value increases before the end of warranty then apply for rma else keep it till it goes bad(may give another year or two if you are lucky).



Kismat hi SNIP hai yaar meri
Trying to open a ticket but getting this since last night
*An internal server error occurred during your visit.*


A system error was encountered during your request. If you need to contact us, please make sure to report the error number below to us.

Error number: *29105197*
How to contact us: email or phone.
Finally had a word with the cs, their support email page is down. Anyways they told me to do an extended test and then send them the screenshots. Fingers crossed.
Few things that the guy told-
Formatting an external hdd in two partitions is not advisable and told me to either go for ntfs or exfat.
Connecting the external hdd to a phone is not recommended by WD.


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

The worst has happened with the internal hdd


 



Since it is out of warranty so I am fked. Cannot copy the data in my pc as its hdd is also probably down. Need suggestions for a new external hdd with atleast 1.5 gigs of space and with the maximum warranty.
Just out of curiosity, can a faulty cable be the reason for these kinda errors?


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## Desmond (Apr 13, 2019)

So you are unable to read anything from the drive at all? Oh well, I hope you backed up all your data beforehand.


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## billubakra (Apr 13, 2019)

Desmond David said:


> So you are unable to read anything from the drive at all? Oh well, I hope you backed up all your data beforehand.



As of now I can read and write, copy only smaller files. If I try to copy some important folder which is like 100+gb then I get that read write error.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 13, 2019)

Try to copy important data first,few files at a time instead of trying to copy a 100+gb folder.


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## patkim (Apr 13, 2019)

I am not a subject matter expert on HDDs, however I think a bad cable might cause read/write errors and then OS might mark those as bad sectors, however these are generally Soft Bad sectors. There’s a chance that they can be repaired by low level formatting or even if next time I/O is successful they are back to normal. A hard bad sector can occur as a result of physical damage to the platter. This can occur due to physical wear and tear, head touching the platter, some manufacturing anomaly and so on.

Despite a poor cable (USB 3 connection that supplies power as well as data connection) can cause unexpected I/O errors, hangs or even HDD starving for power if the power is not adequate if there’s more voltage drop across the cable due to internal resistance.  A typical stall will give a short but sharp ‘tick’ sound as the head tries to turn but is not able to do so due to lesser power being received by the HDD.

Try the good old CHKDSK with /F option from the command line. If you are lucky it just might mark the bad sectors and will help prevent OS from performing I/O to it. This might give you some more time to transfer data just enough before the condition worsens.

Check the SMART again, it might have attempted to reallocate some of the bad sectors & if successful the parameter will show updated raw value.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 13, 2019)

patkim said:


> I think a bad cable might cause read/write errors and then OS might mark those as bad sectors


A bad sata cable results in ultraDMA CRC error count value increasing from zero in S.M.A.R.T. parameters.


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## patkim (Apr 13, 2019)

Yes I am aware that bad data cable causes CRC errors, I am talking about external HDDs that are powered by USB cables that carries power as well as data. That's the original question of OP, can a bad USB cable cause Bad Sectors.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 13, 2019)

patkim said:


> Yes I am aware that bad data cable causes CRC errors, I am talking about external HDDs that are powered by USB cables that carries power as well as data. That's the original question of OP, can a bad USB cable cause Bad Sectors.


If an external hdd has ultraDMA CRC error count value in its SMART parameters then the firmware of that external hdd is designed to consider such errors over usb connection too.e.g.in case of WD passport/element series,the usb connector is soldered to the hdd sata interface so there is no way that it can be connected directly via sata connection in which case if ultraDMA crc error count cannot consider such errors then it would not be there in the first place.


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## sling-shot (Apr 14, 2019)

I suggest you use this tool to take a backup to a new large drive so that at least your important personal files are saved. This will copy whatever is possible skipping any unrecoverable files behind.

FreeFileSync

After that on those pesky files which could not be copied you can try Unstopable Copier, a utility from Roadkill.net (I have not personally used it with Windows 10 yet) by keeping settings such that it will skip only the error filled sector after 1 try. After you have extracted whatever you can with this setting, you can try multiple effort settings so that it will try the maximum to recover any bad sector.

Roadkil.Net - Roadkil's Unstoppable Copier Program Download


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## billubakra (Apr 14, 2019)

Did the tests of the internal hdd-




 

 

 

For the extended test, left it running overnight but my bad the power saving option kicked in and the pc was sleeping when I checked it in the morning. But to my surprise it resumed from where it stopped. There is a repair option though but it said to backup everything as data on bad sectors might be lost. Didn't try it as my backup external hdd is also down.


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## Desmond (Apr 14, 2019)

Buy a new HDD and backup into that. It's better to back up any important data before you proceed.


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## billubakra (Apr 15, 2019)

Desmond David said:


> Buy a new HDD and backup into that. It's better to back up any important data before you proceed.


Up for suggestions for the internal one and an external one. For the latter willing to go for the same my passport one and for the former a seagate one. Can someone please suggest a model for normal usage like wd blue with maximum warranty? I had 2tb internal and 1tb external. Now planning to switch the sizes. Recommended? Any software using which I can copy c: data do that I don't have to reinstall everything again.
+ @whitestar_999


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 15, 2019)

All budget internal hdd now comes with 2 years warranty.

For transferring OS try macrium reflect free version.


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## billubakra (Apr 15, 2019)

The WD guy called and told me to connect the drive as secondary to some other pc and then erase it using the tool. Can I use a hdd dock instead? It won't help as per him but for creating a rma it is necessary. If its rma'd then they will send a refurbished one. He told me to use the best softwares to format the drive so that the data isn't recoverable. When I asked him about the privacy concerns, he sent me the faq's link ha ha


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 15, 2019)

Type of connection doesn't matter(secondary hdd or dock) for using erasing software(use 7 passes option).


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## sling-shot (Apr 15, 2019)

So... unless you have government level secrets, once you have erased it with a low level format, things should be alright. 

Because this is a possibly failing hard drive, I suggest that you do a single pass erase first to ensure that you have at least altered all the bits at least once before the drive fails. Then for the second round you may go for multi-pass method if you want to be doubly sure.

CCleaner has option to erase empty drives so you may use that or go for other solutions.


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## billubakra (Apr 16, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> Type of connection doesn't matter(secondary hdd or dock) for using erasing software(use 7 passes option).


He told me to copy data first, then delete that data from this hdd. Leave c drive intact, install it as a secondary drive, he was against dock and then start that erase thing. As per him the c drive will be auto erased, once it is done I am supposed to perform a quick test. If it doesn't work then rma process will start. Could you please elaborate that 7 pass option?



sling-shot said:


> So... unless you have government level secrets, once you have erased it with a low level format, things should be alright.
> 
> Because this is a possibly failing hard drive, I suggest that you do a single pass erase first to ensure that you have at least altered all the bits at least once before the drive fails. Then for the second round you may go for multi-pass method if you want to be doubly sure.
> 
> CCleaner has option to erase empty drives so you may use that or go for other solutions.



Single pass erase? Please explain. For completely erasing data I read about those bootable pendrives which are unbeatable, its setup is easily available online.


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## sling-shot (Apr 16, 2019)

Let us say that you have written a love story in a notebook using a pencil. You have divided it into chapters. In the first page you have made a list of each chapter and the page numbers where each chapter is written. In the actual pages with content, you do not write any headings but only sentences. 

Now suddenly one day you feel embarassed about your story. You do not want to burn the notebook because you are environment conscious and believe in recycling. So you want to erase this notebook. You buy a good eraser and start erasing quickly from the first page. 

Once you have erased the first page, because now you have lost the chapter headings I no longer can say which chapter is in which page although I can still read a lot of sentences. This is how a normal file deletion works in almost all operating systems. 

To actual delete this love story, you need to erase all the pages. This is called one pass deletion. Now if you look at those pages from a distance, nothing is written. 

But if you look closely, you can see impressions of your writing in those pages. They say that a hard drive erased with one pass may still have recoverable data. 

So you rub the pages many times such that nothing is visible even when examined closely. This is multi-pass deletion. 

Well, my analogy may be wrong because in truth you may be a great writer, but please ignore that for now.

If you want to erase a hard disk in place without connecting to another computer, then bootable pendrives can be used.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 16, 2019)

Something like this:



You have the option to select method with various number of passes(more the passes more will be time taken),3 passes is minimum in my opinion & 7 should be enough for almost anybody.


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## billubakra (Apr 22, 2019)

External hdd after full erase with WD LG tool. But the drive cannot be seen in My Computer now. What's wrong?


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## sling-shot (Apr 22, 2019)

Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure. 

Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.


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## Desmond (Apr 22, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure.
> 
> Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.


This. Check whether you are able to view the disk/partition in Disk Management.


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## billubakra (Apr 22, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> Probably because it needs partitioning into Windows recognisable structure.
> 
> Disk management is where you should do it unless you have other third party partition tools.





Desmond David said:


> This. Check whether you are able to view the disk/partition in Disk Management.



Thanks. Will do when I get home. Shouldn't ntfs have been set as default?


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 22, 2019)

billubakra said:


> Thanks. Will do when I get home. Shouldn't ntfs have been set as default?


It is set as default when creating partition,if only hdd erasing is done then there are no partitions(some software ask for creating partition after erasing but seems like WD tool doesn't).


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## billubakra (Apr 22, 2019)

Done, thanks all. Selected MBR nothing happened, closed it reopened and partition done. What is mbr and gpt btw?




. Should I perform another extended test or anything? How can a full erase correct the pending sector count, even if temporarily? It reached to 2 before erasing last night.
Update- Copy/Write speed is less than 1MB/s so its definitely bad but crystal disk info is showing the health as good.

Now coming to the internal one, should I perform a full erase via a dock, my friend lives too far away and there is no time to go to his place and attach my hdd there so thinking of a dock. As per wd I can go for rma, I can use any format tools to delete anything as the extended tests didn't go through.


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## billubakra (Apr 23, 2019)

Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size. Anyways should I give the internal hdd a shot or just rma it? Either way I am going to start from scratch. I have another 40 days warranty left. The rma procedure will take about 2 weeks.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 23, 2019)

billubakra said:


> Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. *Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size.*


Then 1MB/s is normal,it is called random 4K read write speeds & these are the speeds that matters for OS operation & the reason why SSDs are much faster than HDDs for OS/running usual tasks.

Typical HDD:




Typical ssd:


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## sling-shot (Apr 23, 2019)

billubakra said:


> Another update- The transfer speed is acceptable now. Earlier I was copying firefox profile and some backup of an accounts software with zillions of files and folders, though very small in size. Anyways should I give the internal hdd a shot or just rma it? Either way I am going to start from scratch. I have another 40 days warranty left. The rma procedure will take about 2 weeks.


As you had seen errors earlier, and the warranty is short just go for RMA. 

Peace of mind.


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## billubakra (Apr 23, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> Then 1MB/s is normal,it is called random 4K read write speeds & these are the speeds that matters for OS operation & the reason why SSDs are much faster than HDDs for OS/running usual tasks.
> 
> Typical HDD:
> View attachment 17996
> ...





sling-shot said:


> As you had seen errors earlier, and the warranty is short just go for RMA.
> 
> Peace of mind.



Thanks Guys. Last question, before I send it for rma, I will try to dock it tomorrow and use that eraser software mentioned above. Should I select the same settings as mentioned in the ss here-
Current pending sector count error

Also about the external hdd, how can a full erase correct the pending sector count, even if temporarily? It reached to 2 before erasing few nights back.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 23, 2019)

billubakra said:


> Should I select the same settings as mentioned in the ss here-


Don't use 10 passes,use 3 passes.

All hdd come with some 'spare sectors' meant for reallocating bad sectors & this can be triggered sometimes by chkdsk/low lever format/full erase so in your case those 2 bad sectors got replaced by 2 'spare sectors' after hdd detected them during full erasure.Pending sector count means this only: pending to replace a bad sector with a spare sector.


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## patkim (Apr 23, 2019)

> Also about the external hdd, how can a full erase correct the pending sector count, even if temporarily?



Bad sectors can be soft or hard. Soft bad sectors might be temporary. There are different scenarios here and depending upon the situation bad sectors are treated differently. 

When disk sector become bad, it may reflect under Current pending sector count, as what was seen in your first snapshot. This means that the sector is bad and is waiting to be remapped. However firmware has not yet reallocated it. Here since it's not a good sign, disk status becomes Caution. If after a few more attempts the sector is read properly (mostly being a soft issue) then it need not be remapped and is reversible. Most of these propitiatory tools (as well as third party tools like HDD Re-generator) attempt to read again and again from the bad sector to see if it can be reversible. If it works well then pending sector count decreases, reallocated count remains unchanged and if there are no more pending sectors, the value is restored and disk can in fact become from Caution to Good as what is seen in your next snapshot.

On the other hand when the sector is bad and can not be read anymore, firmware reallocates it to the spare area and then the Reallocated Sector count increases and disk status becomes Caution.

Generally reallocated bad sectors are not reversible and disk status does not change from Caution to Good. However in case of soft issues the process may be reversible.

I had a similar issue with my Seagate laptop HDD. It developed 96 pending sectors. I took a snapshot and mailed it to their RMA team. Before however sending the HDD to the service center, I did a low level format and everything was restored perfectly. All 96 pending sectors were recovered. I still decided to RMA it and got a replacement though.


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## billubakra (Apr 23, 2019)

patkim said:


> Bad sectors can be soft or hard. Soft bad sectors might be temporary. There are different scenarios here and depending upon the situation bad sectors are treated differently.
> 
> When disk sector become bad, it may reflect under Current pending sector count, as what was seen in your first snapshot. This means that the sector is bad and is waiting to be remapped. However firmware has not yet reallocated it. Here since it's not a good sign, disk status becomes Caution. If after a few more attempts the sector is read properly (mostly being a soft issue) then it need not be remapped and is reversible. Most of these propitiatory tools (as well as third party tools like HDD Re-generator) attempt to read again and again from the bad sector to see if it can be reversible. If it works well then pending sector count decreases, reallocated count remains unchanged and if there are no more pending sectors, the value is restored and disk can in fact become from Caution to Good as what is seen in your next snapshot.
> 
> ...


Thanks for that detailed post. Your posts are so informative. Did you get a refurbished one?


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## billubakra (Apr 25, 2019)

An update, my external hdd which was showing as good to go is giving errors like 90% of the times while copying even a 1 gb file. It cannot be used as a second backup drive now  but still in crystal disk info its health is shown as good. In my free time should I use WD tool to erase it again and try my luck again or use Eraser?

How much time will Eraser take for a 2tb hdd?

@whitestar_999
3 passes of any option? Army, Airforce?


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 25, 2019)

US DoD 3 passes is enough. For a 2TB hdd when connected to usb 3 port with avg write speeds of ~40MB/s it should take ~12-13 hours for 1 pass.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 25, 2019)

This is your new 2TB portable hdd,right. Then why use eraser for this.


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## billubakra (Apr 25, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> This is your new 2TB portable hdd,right. Then why use eraser for this.


The internal one which will be rma'ed


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## billubakra (Apr 26, 2019)

Docked and Erasing. Wish me luck. Unfortunately I will have to erase drive by drive as I cannot erase for the external hdd as a whole.
What is this system reserved drive for? Never saw the same in my other drives.


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## sling-shot (Apr 26, 2019)

May be if you delete the partition structure it will be possible to erase the drive as a whole.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 26, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> May be if you delete the partition structure it will be possible to erase the drive as a whole.


Partition structure is just like directory of files,if deleted all it results in disappearance of data from OS but data is still there & can be easily recovered by any data/partition recovery software.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 26, 2019)

billubakra said:


> What is this system reserved drive for? Never saw the same in my other drives.


This is a system partition created by windows during install.It is hidden during normal OS running & can be seen only in partition management softwares(within OS or outside OS via bootable media) or when you attach hdd as secondary to another system.


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## sling-shot (Apr 26, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> Partition structure is just like directory of files,if deleted all it results in disappearance of data from OS but data is still there & can be easily recovered by any data/partition recovery software.


My point was that he said he is only able to erase partition wise. I suggested that if he had no partitions, the disk as a whole could be visible as the only option making selection easier. 

Even otherwise there should have been an option to erase the disk as a whole.


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 27, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> My point was that he said he is only able to erase partition wise. I suggested that if he had no partitions, the disk as a whole could be visible as the only option making selection easier.
> 
> Even otherwise there should have been an option to erase the disk as a whole.


The thing is,this hdd contains OS & to fully erase it he either needs to use a usb dock with laptop or as a secondary hdd in some friend's pc.That is why this dilemma,anyway he went with usb dock method.


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## billubakra (Apr 30, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> I suggest you use this tool to take a backup to a new large drive so that at least your important personal files are saved. This will copy whatever is possible skipping any unrecoverable files behind.
> 
> FreeFileSync
> 
> ...



Tried FFS, it did help in copying few folders. Thanks but there is a little difference in the number of files etc.


 

Can it be ignored? It has zillions of files, no time to manually check every file. Now there are other folders mainly 20+gigs which will stop the process or cause FFS or Unstoppable copier to hang. Copying one file at a time is not possible

+ @whitestar_999


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## whitestar_999 (Apr 30, 2019)

No other option then,maybe you can try this Screenshots - WinMerge


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## billubakra (Apr 30, 2019)

UC also got stuck




Is TeraCopy good?


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## sling-shot (Apr 30, 2019)

billubakra said:


> UC also got stuck
> View attachment 18020
> 
> Is TeraCopy good?


This picture shows success. Why do you say it got stuck? 

TeraCopy is good. I use it regularly as a replacement of Windows' copy function.


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## billubakra (Apr 30, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> This picture shows success. Why do you say it got stuck?
> 
> TeraCopy is good. I use it regularly as a replacement of Windows' copy function.


Check the completion bar below, the green one stuck from the past 4 hours so I cancelled it and there were like 400 more files it did not skip this one and moved to the next. All settings are default.


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## sling-shot (Apr 30, 2019)

Please show the settings screen.


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## billubakra (May 2, 2019)

sling-shot said:


> Please show the settings screen.


Everything default


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## sling-shot (May 2, 2019)

You need to move the slider from 'Best data recovery' to 'Fastest data recovery' for one pass.


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## billubakra (May 22, 2019)

Hi guys,

Received the hdd. When I boot the cpu the fans start spinning and the LED's are on but there is no beep sound, cant hear the hdd spinning either. The monitor goes to power saving mode after few minutes and nothing. Pfa, any help?



P.s. cleaned the system when I took the faulty hdd out, cleaned it with a balloon air blower, the one's used by hardware guys, did not take out the mobo just the ram and the gfx. Bad cable management, I know *uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/2b9ca4fc360fc28a3fe0764fabb16d92.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/b0c9091d744137aec8bf689cecdb9c5c.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/0b6dfb582fd72091d27e9b93b72dd2da.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/d4012b6a9da348036dfa904fa0fa3ac2.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/212ef9b409e25fde940364cd0f5126eb.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/d24553c3fb4eb0a7267828ad5b5daaf4.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190522/d2ed8cb5ed4d439a0d9975046e7b030e.jpg


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## patkim (May 23, 2019)

Start with bare minimum components, disconnect HDD, DVD, USB , external fans etc, front Audio/USB etc
Reseat all components again, RAM GPU etc, try each and every RAM slot.
Replug all power and data cables firmly on applicable parts like mobo, GPU, HDD etc
For your board the recommended DIMM Slot for single stick of RAM is A2 but from your photo it seems you have inserted in A1. Check the boards manual available on Asus India site. This may not give optimum RAM performance and in worst case no POST.
If you have IPA Cleaner spray it directly on GPU and RAM slots to clean them off any dust. Dusting sometimes splashes dust from one place and it settles again on another part
For Beeps to be heard, generally a mobo speakar needs to be hooked to the motherboard and BIOS/UEFI might have an option to enable /disable beeps. Some board might have on board buzzer too.
Reset BIOS to defaults, there are two pins on board that must be shorted for 10 - 15 seconds to clear CMOS and set the lower defaults that can support booting
Try GPU in another PCIe 16 slot

If above does not help, then next would be to reseat CPU, try outside of the cabinet and so on.
Follow process of eliminating a part from the equation step by step


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## billubakra (May 25, 2019)

Sorry for the late reply, stuck in some personal issues. Relying on tapatalk, don't have the laptop with me either.
Disconnected hdd, no dvd etc in system but still no bios screen
About ram slot, it was plugged in the same slot for all these years but no issues. Changed it to the other slots but same result
No ipa, should I buy one?
I am talking about the boot beeps, or whatever they are called, that don't need any speaker.
How to reset bios to default? And how to clear cmos?
Trying the gpu in other slot would require it to be unscrewed and what not, will try it later. 
What exactly is this button for?
*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190524/1c2f3dd8718928b1b13cacbb68c83aca.jpg*uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190524/7b9eef766c06c3b9e7f221c0d3b34ccf.jpg


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## billubakra (May 25, 2019)

Will try to run it after removing the gfx and will post the results here


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## patkim (May 25, 2019)

Not just HDD, disconnect front audio, front USB ports too. If you hook any pen drives to back ports remove them too.
At this juncture the most common troubleshooting step is to try to install RAM and GPU in another slots and keep on trying a few more times. Try RAM in all possible slots one by one. Try it again and again in Slot A2. A simple loose connection somewhere might prevent PC from POSTing.

Pl. read the manual here *dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Sock...E13723_PRIME_B350-PLUS_UM_V3_WEB_20171114.pdf

Refer Section 1.4 for optimum memory installation
Refer Section 1.2.1 sub item 14 to know how to reset CMOS and reset BIOS to defaults.

There does not seem to be any button on this board, if any would have been there, the manual would have specified so. It seems from the photo that it’s just a mounting post for the attached heat sink. Do you feel it as a button?
Recheck that all power plugs are firmly connected to CPU, GPU, Board etc

What PSU do you have? It might also be possible that it’s not supplying adequate power to the system.
However in my own observation no POSTing after some sort of maintenance may be just attributed to loose connections or slightly disturbed component installation at a preliminary level.

On this board Grey colored slots are the ones that are to be populated first (For optimum performance). Hence RAM slots A2 & B2 as well as the very first PCIex16 slot is colored Grey here!


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## whitestar_999 (May 25, 2019)

Removing gfx card will not help in diagnosis as ryzen 1600 does not have integrated graphics & without display only thing to rely on is beep code which requires cabinet/mobo speaker.

@billubakra beep is generated by a a very small speaker(button size) which is either present in cabinet(which I don't think your cabinet has) or mobo(this also I am not sure) or you can buy one & attach it to the given pins/header present on mobo(I use this method).


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## billubakra (May 25, 2019)

Thanks for replying brother. Will disconnect everything. I did try the ram in all the slots but no results. Will try the gfx in another slot tonight. Hope that it works 
Thanks for that pdf, will do exactly as mentioned
Yes I felt it as a button as it can be pressed ha ha
All power plugs are firmly connected, rather the main one from the psu to the mobo is so firm that it cannot be removed. I think only unscrewing will remove it. But since all the leds, cabinet+mobo fan is working so not gonna do that.
It's Antec VP550P. But all the led's/fans are working+everything was working great, I should have just taken the hdd out for the rma that cleaning ruined everything.
About your last line, the bold part, while cleaning I took out the ram and the gfx and then installed them in the same slots. Tried ram in every slot but nothing worked. Will try the gfx in some other slot and will get back. From the pics that I have posted are all the cables connected to the gfx correctly?



patkim said:


> Not just HDD, disconnect front audio, front USB ports too. If you hook any pen drives to back ports remove them too.
> At this juncture the most common troubleshooting step is to try to install RAM and GPU in another slots and keep on trying a few more times. Try RAM in all possible slots one by one. Try it again and again in Slot A2. A simple loose connection somewhere might prevent PC from POSTing.
> 
> Pl. read the manual here *dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Sock...E13723_PRIME_B350-PLUS_UM_V3_WEB_20171114.pdf
> ...


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## patkim (May 25, 2019)

How many HDMI outs does your GPU has? I hope you are connecting thru HDMI. If more than one, did you try plugging it in another HDMI out?
If dusting has resulted into dust being displaced and again deposited elsewhere in the slots, (Especially if you don't have a powerful blower) then simple IPA cleaner spraying or cleaning the slots with soft light brush might also help.


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## billubakra (May 25, 2019)

patkim said:


> How many HDMI outs does your GPU has? I hope you are connecting thru HDMI. If more than one, did you try plugging it in another HDMI out?
> If dusting has resulted into dust being displaced and again deposited elsewhere in the slots, (Especially if you don't have a powerful blower) then simple IPA cleaner spraying or cleaning the slots with soft light brush might also help.


It has two or three don't recall. Tried in all but same result. Are you referring to this-
*www.amazon.in/NIKS-Iso-Propyl-Alco...cleaner+spray&qid=1558790057&s=gateway&sr=8-6
Should I spray it directly on components where there is dust and no brush, blower can reach? Like the fan of the gpu?

Will let you know the outcome. 
PERFORM THESE STEPS before posting about POST/boot/no video problems!

SOLVED: No display, no post, no bios - Desktop PC


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## patkim (May 25, 2019)

Yes 99.9% IPA should be fine. You need to spray it on the  PCIe slot and DIMM slots directly. The purpose is to ensure that the slot is free of dust and then all pins can make a firm contact with the inserted device like RAM or GPU. Also if you suspect dust deposition along any other part of the board you can spray it there too. After you spray, wait for a minute to allow it to evaporate and then insert the GPU or RAM.


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## billubakra (May 28, 2019)

patkim said:


> Not just HDD, disconnect front audio, front USB ports too. If you hook any pen drives to back ports remove them too.
> At this juncture the most common troubleshooting step is to try to install RAM and GPU in another slots and keep on trying a few more times. Try RAM in all possible slots one by one. Try it again and again in Slot A2. A simple loose connection somewhere might prevent PC from POSTing.
> 
> Pl. read the manual here *dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/Sock...E13723_PRIME_B350-PLUS_UM_V3_WEB_20171114.pdf
> ...



The RAM and gfx were already in that greyed slot, first changed ram to every slot nothing worked. Then changed gfx to second, black slot and altered ram slots but again nothing worked.
Coming to resetting cmos and bios I am not able to understand how to do it. PFA


Also if you check the other pics, my hdd's cable which is connected to the mobo is connected at number 6 spot. Is that fine in terms of performance?
@whitestar_999 
Called a local shop as you suggested. They said full reassembly will be done by done along with cleaning and applying of thermal paste, charges 1500 including gst+I will have to leave the system there for 1 day. Is the ram looking fine?


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## patkim (May 28, 2019)

SATA port should not matter, however depending on the chipset/CPU  architecture certain SATA ports may share the bandwith with M.2 slot. So in that case manual specifies (if applicable) which SATA/PCIe ports get disabled if you install an M.2 device in the M.2 slot. However in your case from your pics it seems there's no M.2 device installed. However do refer the manual for any future expansions.

How to clear CMOS - Turn off the power. Remove power chord or put power button on back panel of PSU to OFF position. Press the Start button on front panel and keep it pressed for 15 seconds. Now using a metallic screwdriver short the Reset CMOS or Reset RTC pins for about 10 - 15 seconds. OR simply remove the CMOS battery for 5 - 10 minutes and reinsert. Now BIOS shall reset to lowest defaults.

However since basic troubleshooting has not helped and if you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, I suggest you take it to a local repair shop. The guy might have spare components to check or even test it outside of the cabinet etc. 

It could be as simple as dust causing poor contacts to any failed components, or even corrupted BIOS.


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## whitestar_999 (May 28, 2019)

Ram looks fine but 1500+gst is a bit much just for reassembling.If planning on leaving the system there then either take out the hdd or remove any confidential info(bank account passwords in browsers etc) by using usb dock.


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## patkim (May 28, 2019)

Just a small speculation - (Well and good if it's not true) Before you take your system to a local shop, ask the guy if he has spare components to nail down if there's any faulty part. Ryzen is barely 2 years old and the local repair shops (that are on tight profit margins) might not have spare components unlike how they generally have it for older systems like AM3, DDR2, DDR3 etc. That might be the reason he is suggesting to reassemble the system. While that's a valid troubleshooting step, replacement testing could be next if first does not help. So get the understanding upfront to avoid additional charges.


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## billubakra (May 28, 2019)

patkim said:


> SATA port should not matter, however depending on the chipset/CPU  architecture certain SATA ports may share the bandwith with M.2 slot. So in that case manual specifies (if applicable) which SATA/PCIe ports get disabled if you install an M.2 device in the M.2 slot. However in your case from your pics it seems there's no M.2 device installed. However do refer the manual for any future expansions.
> 
> How to clear CMOS - Turn off the power. Remove power chord or put power button on back panel of PSU to OFF position. Press the Start button on front panel and keep it pressed for 15 seconds. Now using a metallic screwdriver short the Reset CMOS or Reset RTC pins for about 10 - 15 seconds. OR simply remove the CMOS battery for 5 - 10 minutes and reinsert. Now BIOS shall reset to lowest defaults.
> 
> ...



About clearing cmos I was looking for a jumper to take out and then reinserting the same. Can you highlight which pins to short?

Gou has only 1 hdmi output


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## patkim (May 28, 2019)

There are 2 pins named CLRTC just to the right of the Front Audio connector (as per the manual's block diagram). There's no jumper here. If you have a spare jumper, you can insert it in those 2 pins, wait for 10 seconds and remove the jumper. If you don't have a jumper just using a metallic screwdrivers short the two pins for 10 seconds. That's it.


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## billubakra (May 30, 2019)

System's up. Thanks to all especially patkim and whitestar. I will post what was the issue once the system is completely running. Stuck in the partition phase. My previous hdd had 1.3 tb in d and the rest in c. But this drive can only allocate 930.68 gb to d. The options greys out if I enter a higher number. If I try to create a drive e after creating d it says o mb can be shrunk now.

Pfa. Posting from phone so here's another screenshot, not able to upload it due to sizing issues
*oi64.tinypic.com/8y5pae.jpg


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## whitestar_999 (May 30, 2019)

Your 1st screen shot everything is correct.450MB+99MB+931.78GB+930.68GB=approx 1863GB.


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## billubakra (May 30, 2019)

whitestar_999 said:


> Your 1st screen shot everything is correct.450MB+99MB+931.78GB+930.68GB=approx 1863GB.


My point is I want d drive to have 1300-1400gb and rest in system reserve, c etc etc so what number should I fill in that column? The max number that it's allowing me can fetch me 930 gb in d drive


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## patkim (May 31, 2019)

From what I best understand, I think you need to shrink current C drive to create more space at the end of it to allocated more than 930 GB for the next drive say D. Right click C and click Shrink volume and see how much it offers to shrink and then decide the size to be shrunk first.


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## whitestar_999 (May 31, 2019)

C drive needs to be smaller first before D drive space can be increased.


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## billubakra (May 31, 2019)

Dear patkim and whitestar
Please check the photos which i have posted above and the one which i uuploade to tinypic. I did what you are saying but the option becomes zero if i enter a value which will give me more than 930gb in d. Sorry replying from phone, it's a mess to upload photos via phone.


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## whitestar_999 (May 31, 2019)

Use one of these:
Free partition manager software to resize partitions - EaseUS® Partition Master Free
Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free

Seems like partition layout is not as expected.I think one of the system partition is in between C & D drive.Any one of the above should show it clearly in their main window.


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## patkim (May 31, 2019)

I think what you are trying to do is enter a value more than the max possible shrink value. The max possible shrink value is 953018 MB and you are entering 1024000. You already have 930GB allocated after C and you can theorotically shrink C to 953018 adding 953018 + 930000 then becoming a free space. If you do it that way, C will have virtually no space left.

Since your target is 1400 GB set the amount to shrink as 447000 so that 447 + 953 GB = 1400 GB available as free space after C in which you can create D. Note that successful shrinking C is only going to create free space on the drive after C. You will have to create a simple volume and allocate all of the space which shall be around 1400GB and create D therein.


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## billubakra (May 31, 2019)

patkim said:


> I think what you are trying to do is enter a value more than the max possible shrink value. The max possible shrink value is 953018 MB and you are entering 1024000. You already have 930GB allocated after C and you can theorotically shrink C to 953018 adding 953018 + 930000 then becoming a free space. If you do it that way, C will have virtually no space left.
> 
> _Since your target is 1400 GB set the amount to shrink as 447000 so that 447 + 953 GB = 1400 GB available as free space after C in which you can create D. Note that successful shrinking C is only going to create free space on the drive after C. You will have to create a simple volume and allocate all of the space which shall be around 1400GB and create D therein._


This is the issue, or I am messing it up somehow, if I enter 447000 in that shrink column, it will create a new drive(unallocated one) with a total size of 447gigs. It is not letting me shrink anything more than 930 gigs.
I am not able to post screenshots as I am not installing anything in the system before sorting this out. Will post photos once I have access to the pc.


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## patkim (May 31, 2019)

It will not let you shrink anything more than 930 because beyond that point files (either OS or system default files etc) exists on C drive. So you can not go any further than 930.

After shrinking 447 if it shows two separate un-allocated spaces, one for 447 and another for 930 GB then there's something after C, else that freed 447 should have merged into 930 giving you a total of about 1.4TB of free space, where you can create your D drive.

I am bit unclear as to what you plan to achieve. Is OS installed on C? What is the size of the Windows OS partition (C) do you plan to have?
Did you choose 931 GB as C drive size at the time of OS install? Or did the system take it by default?

If it's getting too complex, just do a clean install of Windows 10 and choose the exact size of C drive that you intend to have during install. You can manage/delete partitions during install where it says 'Where do you want to install Windows' section of the Installer.


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## whitestar_999 (May 31, 2019)

Use the software I mentioned & post the screenshot from them here showing partition layout.


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## billubakra (Jun 1, 2019)

So, ease us one actually allowed me to create a partition of my choice after like 2 restarts. Pfa, is it looking fine now? Sorry the ss's are not sorted posting via phone.
If it's fine then what was the issue with the inbuilt partition manager?


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## whitestar_999 (Jun 1, 2019)

You already partitioned the hdd.Now cannot confirm my guess as you didn't took the screenshot before modifying the partitions using Easeus.My guess was that one of the system reserved partition was coming between C & D drive & if this was the case then windows inbuilt partition manager can't do anything as it does not have the ability to move partitions.

system partition 1|C|system partition 2|D------>windows partition manager can shrink C but it cannot add that extra freed space to D because system partition 2 is coming in between.

Easeus/3rd party partition managers can solve this issue by first moving system partition 2 & then resizing C & D.------->system partition 1|system partition 2|C|D


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## billubakra (Jun 1, 2019)

^^^^
Whatever reserved partition was coming in between, is that a sign of some crap waiting to happen? I took screenshots, will post some ss's once it is up and running

Thank you so much @patkim and @whitestar_999 bhaiyo, I owe you a cold coffee. Haven't installed all of the apps as was busy and the system was updating. Installed asus mobo drivers after installing windows but asus utility, using which we can update g\the driver, increase or decrease fan speed, can keep an eye on temps etc. is nowhere to be found. Any fix?

So, it seems that resetting the rtc and taking out the cmos battery did it. Did the dust mess it up in the first place? Next time onward this is the troubleshooting step to be followed in the first place.

I would like to share an experience, the wd guy told me that after dropping the hdd to the drop point it will take a maximum of 10-14 days for the replacement drive to reach my place. When I went to that drop centre, it was a whore house, sorry to use that word. It was completely empty and inappropriate things were happening behind that door. None of my business. When I handed over my drive I was given a print out which said "Conditional Acceptance" and below the same it was written that hdd needs to be physically inspected as some (technical word, can't recall) wire is broken and the hdd is mishandled or something, will try to find that letter. Anyways I confronted her because my drive was like new. She said its normal. But I took photos from every angle in front of her. More than 20 days passed but there was no sign of the hdd. The ch*tiya wd guy kept on telling me that the hdd is still in transit. Shooted some mails to their management and this guys manager called and said that a. my drive needs to be physically inspected as it was accepted on conditional basis because of the damage and b. the drop point will send them the drive when they have a like 5-6 drives. For point a I sent her the photos which I took in that drop centre and for point b I said if another customer comes after 5 months, then will they wait for 5 months just to send my drive to them? Radio silence. Resent some mails and after few days I was told that the replacement drive is on the way and this process should have only taken a maximum of 7 days. She said that the wd guy is being given proper training and that they are taking internal action against the drop point and in the end got 6 months extended warranty as a token of apology.
Moral- Read every point written on the receipt. Take photos of your device, be it a phone/drive etc., in the service centre/drop point itself.
Edit- It's a 4 month extended warranty, 2 months were left in warranty they gave additional 4 months so a total of 6 months.


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## whitestar_999 (Jun 1, 2019)

I think on some systems windows installer may create system reserved partition after C drive(completely random so case of a bad luck).


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