SA8: What are these hard drive error messages dmesg?

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Q: What are these hard drive error messages dmesg?

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ata1: translated ATA stat/err 0x51/04 to SCSI SK/ASC/ASCQ 0xb/00/00
ata1: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
ata1: error=0x04 { DriveStatusError }

A: Many times these errors indicate drive failure in the near future. If you are unfortunate enough to witness these messages there are a few steps that can be taken.

• First: Begin backing things up starting with the most critical. If the drives are dying, the less disk activity there is, the longer it may live so choose wisely.
• Second: If the drives are still running after backing up essential files, it's time to check if the drives truly are failing. To do this, install sys-apps/smartmontools if you haven't already. After installing them, check IDE (hdX) drives (where X is your drive letter) by

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  smartctl -a /dev/hdX

  For SATA (sdX) drives, try:

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  smartctl -a --device=ata /dev/sdX

• Third: If no errors are reported, you may have escaped drive failure and a simple kernel config option may cure the errors. For kernel versions >=2.6.19, try enabling:

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  CONFIG_IDEDISK_MULTI_MODE:
  If you get this error, try to say Y here:
  
  hda: set_multmode: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
  hda: set_multmode: error=0x04 { DriveStatusError }
  
  If in doubt, say N.
  
  Symbol: IDEDISK_MULTI_MODE [=y]
  Prompt: Use multi-mode by default
     Defined at drivers/ide/Kconfig:156
     Depends on: BLOCK && IDE && BLK_DEV_IDE
     Location:
       -> Device Drivers
         -> ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support
           -> ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support (IDE [=y])
             -> Enhanced IDE/MFM/RLL disk/cdrom/tape/floppy support (BLK_DEV_IDE [=y])