External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

cmj · 2009-11-08 17:51:34

This happened just recently with my migration from Slack to Arch. Basically, anytime I use my 500 GB external hard drive it takes about 10 minutes to finally appear on my desktop. Once I click on the icon it takes another 10 minutes or so to finally display its contents. Once I click on a folder, it is another 2-3 minutes...etc. I'm wondering if there is something I could optimize, or if it is something with my install of arch.

dmesg output

usb 3-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usb-storage: device found at 2
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ST350032             9QM1 SD35 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
usb-storage: device scan complete
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 976773168 512-byte logical blocks: (500 GB/465 GiB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 00 38 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
 sdb: sdb1
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
INFO: task nautilus:20113 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
nautilus      D 7329f2f6     0 20113   2140 0x00000000
 f6b3e720 00000082 c1106174 7329f2f6 f3d5de1c f68ea480 c10fc740 7329f2f6
 f3d5de08 f5140540 00003193 c1489140 c1489140 f6b3e8c8 c1484744 d044eb37
 00003193 f6b3e8c8 c1489140 c1489140 f4985950 00000000 c10ff00b 000000b8
Call Trace:
 [<c1106174>] ? dput+0x94/0x150
 [<c10fc740>] ? __follow_mount+0x30/0xa0
 [<c10ff00b>] ? __link_path_walk+0x6db/0xd50
 [<c13069c2>] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x112/0x2e0
 [<c1306ba8>] ? mutex_lock+0x18/0x40
 [<fb9b5d51>] ? fat_count_free_clusters+0x31/0x2d0 [fat]
 [<c10ff8f1>] ? do_path_lookup+0x41/0xb0
 [<c110061b>] ? user_path_at+0x5b/0xa0
 [<c110dba3>] ? mntput_no_expire+0x23/0x100
 [<fb9b8ba5>] ? fat_statfs+0xe5/0x100 [fat]
 [<c10f199d>] ? vfs_statfs+0x7d/0xa0
 [<c10f1b63>] ? sys_statfs64+0xb3/0x100
 [<c1078166>] ? sys_futex+0xd6/0x180
 [<c106e666>] ? getnstimeofday+0x56/0x110
 [<c1003cb3>] ? sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
INFO: task nautilus:2196 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
nautilus      D d8a6fd1d     0  2196   2140 0x00000000
 f64d9ce0 00000082 c1106174 d8a6fd1d f6463e1c f68ea480 c10fc740 d8a6fd1d
 c13115c0 f5140540 f6463e78 c1489140 c1489140 f64d9e88 c1484744 f4985950
 c110dba3 f64d9e88 c1489140 c1489140 00f8e230 00000000 c10ff00b f64d9ce0
Call Trace:
 [<c1106174>] ? dput+0x94/0x150
 [<c10fc740>] ? __follow_mount+0x30/0xa0
 [<c110dba3>] ? mntput_no_expire+0x23/0x100
 [<c10ff00b>] ? __link_path_walk+0x6db/0xd50
 [<c13069c2>] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x112/0x2e0
 [<c1306ba8>] ? mutex_lock+0x18/0x40
 [<fb9b5d51>] ? fat_count_free_clusters+0x31/0x2d0 [fat]
 [<c10ff8f1>] ? do_path_lookup+0x41/0xb0
 [<c110061b>] ? user_path_at+0x5b/0xa0
 [<fb9b8ba5>] ? fat_statfs+0xe5/0x100 [fat]
 [<c10f199d>] ? vfs_statfs+0x7d/0xa0
 [<c10f1b63>] ? sys_statfs64+0xb3/0x100
 [<c1078166>] ? sys_futex+0xd6/0x180
 [<c106e666>] ? getnstimeofday+0x56/0x110
 [<c106e739>] ? do_gettimeofday+0x19/0x50
 [<c104bf9c>] ? sys_gettimeofday+0x3c/0x90
 [<c1003cb3>] ? sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28
INFO: task nautilus:20113 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
"echo 0 > /proc/sys/kernel/hung_task_timeout_secs" disables this message.
nautilus      D 7329f2f6     0 20113   2140 0x00000000
 f6b3e720 00000082 c1106174 7329f2f6 f3d5de1c f68ea480 c10fc740 7329f2f6
 f3d5de08 f5140540 00003193 c1489140 c1489140 f6b3e8c8 c1484744 d044eb37
 00003193 f6b3e8c8 c1489140 c1489140 f4985950 00000000 c10ff00b 000000b8
Call Trace:
 [<c1106174>] ? dput+0x94/0x150
 [<c10fc740>] ? __follow_mount+0x30/0xa0
 [<c10ff00b>] ? __link_path_walk+0x6db/0xd50
 [<c13069c2>] ? __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x112/0x2e0
 [<c1306ba8>] ? mutex_lock+0x18/0x40
 [<fb9b5d51>] ? fat_count_free_clusters+0x31/0x2d0 [fat]
 [<c10ff8f1>] ? do_path_lookup+0x41/0xb0
 [<c110061b>] ? user_path_at+0x5b/0xa0
 [<c110dba3>] ? mntput_no_expire+0x23/0x100
 [<fb9b8ba5>] ? fat_statfs+0xe5/0x100 [fat]
 [<c10f199d>] ? vfs_statfs+0x7d/0xa0
 [<c10f1b63>] ? sys_statfs64+0xb3/0x100
 [<c1078166>] ? sys_futex+0xd6/0x180
 [<c106e666>] ? getnstimeofday+0x56/0x110
 [<c1003cb3>] ? sysenter_do_call+0x12/0x28
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-3: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2

34Hyperion · 2009-11-08 18:13:41

Perhaps you plugged it in a USB 1.x Slot. If your HDD is filled properly it could slow it down.
You could also try to defrag your Device.

cmj · 2009-11-08 18:26:25

Is there any type of linux utility that will allow me to defrag a Fat32 partition. I don't believe it is full, this didn't happen 3 days ago when I was running slack.

fsckd · 2009-11-08 19:15:21

Fat32 for 500 GB? I'm surprised it wasn't slow before. I suggest switching to NTFS if you have to share with Windows or ext3/4 if not.

There are some defrag utilities in AUR and community. I don't know how well they work with vfat. Backup your data before trying them, etc.

grey · 2009-11-08 19:17:24

I don't know what these error messages in dmesg mean, but it doesn't look like the kind of thing that could be caused by a fragmented drive.
If you have your slack install still around, you could look at its dmesg output and compare. If you don't, maybe you could try a liveCD.

cmj · 2009-11-08 20:02:10

Using an ubuntu live cd, the hard drive functions fine. No lag when going through the drive.

ziarkaen · 2009-11-08 21:03:58

It is using USB2 because of the ehci_hcd module in dmesg output. The USB device is resetting repeatedly (shouldn't happen) and nautilus is blocking on an IO call to do with the mounting.

If I had to guess from this I would say the hardware was faulty; check again using a liveCD.

FAT32 shouldn't be _this_ much of a problem, nor fragmentation.

Could you do try:

su RETURN
Password: [YOUR ROOT PASSWORD]
mkdir /mnt/usb
mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
ls -l /mnt/usb
touch /mnt/usb/testfile
umount /dev/sdb
rmdir /mnt/usb

whilst *not* running X (to eliminate nautilus from the equation) and tell us the results (any hanging? at what stage?) along with "dmesg | tail -n 20" output.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=NAME_O … URER+LINUX

cmj · 2009-11-08 21:37:14

No hanging

dmesg |tail -n 20
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 3-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2

ziarkaen · 2009-11-08 22:34:09

Well, if them commands worked fine with no aforementioned blocking/time delays, then the drive is functioning correctly using simple mount/access commands from the command line.

The problem must lie with Nautilus mounting it; unfortunately I know nothing about the GNOME mounting subsystem, but you might try asking in nautilus/gnome IRC channels and forums.

grey · 2009-11-09 00:04:56

ziarkaen: what about these 'reset' messages - are they normal?

ziarkaen · 2009-11-09 12:35:07

No, they suggest some type of USB hardware fault, but if it functions from the CL and doesn't from Nautilus then we have isolated the main problem.

Ideas about the resets:
1. Try using a powered USB hub rather than a pasive one (or straight into the PC)
2. If your drive has an additional power cable, use it.
3. Try 'modprobe -R ehci_hcd', then plugging it in. This will force Arch to use the USB1.0 protocol (more reliable)
EDIT: Use 'modprobe ehci_hcd' to get USB2.X running again.
4. Try a different USB cable.
5. From google: 'echo 64 > /sys/block/sdb/device/max_sectors', if your drive is sdb. If this works, test 128. Default 240 is too fast for some people, it seems.

Last edited by ziarkaen (2009-11-09 12:35:43)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-11-08 17:51:34

External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#2 2009-11-08 18:13:41

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#3 2009-11-08 18:26:25

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#4 2009-11-08 19:15:21

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#5 2009-11-08 19:17:24

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#6 2009-11-08 20:02:10

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#7 2009-11-08 21:03:58

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#8 2009-11-08 21:37:14

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#9 2009-11-08 22:34:09

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#10 2009-11-09 00:04:56

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

#11 2009-11-09 12:35:07

Re: External hard drive slow to mount, seek, etc

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