Slow Hard drive.... unable to reach BIOS

Hey, that sounds great! I'm still at work (12-hr shifts) and it turned hectic here this afternoon, so I haven't been able to get back to you. And still can't... gotta run. But you're on the right path! :D

Cheers
 


I had used it on Windows that is why I made reference to it - It's been that long since I made my copy now :)I should have been clearer:oops::oops:By using it, it won't muck anything up unless you kill the drive only then major changes take place. It is a simple tool to use - if the test comes back okay then you know it's a software problem - if not then it is a hardware one. In any case I think we can all get lost when an easy solution might be right in front of us - killdisk is one of my short cuts, but then I know what I am doing.
My mistake, totally. I was at work earlier today and I did not follow your link. That should have made everything clear to me. :confused::D:D
 
Ok, I am downloading 16.04.4 and have found the instructions to make a bootable usb so hopefully tomorrow I can do this. I will be using Startup Disk Creator for the usb.
Hey Christina! Didn't see you on today.... was hoping to hear you say that you got the new Ubuntu on the flash drive and got it booting up properly. Yes? No? I'm just having issues managing my time when I'm in a work cycle, so sorry if I seem to ignore you. I've got one more dayshift tomorrow (Thur) but sometimes I can get online and sometimes they make me work way more than I want. :eek::D

Maybe one of the guys here will steer you differently, but I'd guess the next step would be to boot on the flash drive and use Gparted to totally erase and reformat your hard drive. Then while still running the Live USB, use the badblocks command like you did before and see what it reports on the empty drive. Badblocks is built-in to Ubuntu so it should be available from the Live USB. After taking some notes on what the result of that is, then go ahead and install 16.04.4 and we'll run another test or two and get you to evaluate how its working. At that point you could reinstall GSmartControl, but we might not need to do that again. If you want to test with the KillDisk app that @Ptahhotep suggested, you will need another USB flash drive or will have to re-use the one that has Ubuntu on it since your DVD drive is not working. Still some options for you to consider... which way you want to go next.

Cheers
 
Just passing through while I am killing the Windozer (not really, Stan) on the new Dell and writing this from Peach OSI - I found a page on KillDisk that better describes some options

http://www.killdisk.com/linuxfree.htm

... and it seems you can actually get it working from Linux on a stick. Download the Zip, not the TAR unless you know how to unTAR and make/compile.

Once you unzip it, you are supposed to be able to run something like (don't have it here in front of me)

Code:
sudo ISOtoUSB

and get it on a stick. I did not have any luck in that department, but maybe I was holding my mouth the wrong way? :rolleyes:

I won't further derail Christina's Thread with this, unless she chooses to follow that option. But when I have time, I would like to pursue this with Ptah, perhaps in a new Thread? It sounds very useful.

Cheers

Wizard
 
Sorry guys, had to do some canning yesterday (spaghetti sauce and chokecherry jelly lol) and did not get a chance to even try this. I should be able to attempt it today. Thanks for checking up on me and for all the help.
 
Are you familiar with Gparted? I think what you want to do now is delete everything, but that can be a little confusing.

I think I can walk you through if needed, but I may have to pause at times because of my job. I'm here all day though, so we should be able to get you along a little further.
 
Are you familiar with Gparted? I think what you want to do now is delete everything, but that can be a little confusing.

I think I can walk you through if needed, but I may have to pause at times because of my job. I'm here all day though, so we should be able to get you along a little further.

I am not familiar with it lol. Here is the screen shot after ignoring:

Screenshot from 2018-07-19 09-39-26.png
 
Okay. Click on Linux Swap first to highlight it, then click the Device menu up above and choose Swap Off. Then highlight Linux Swap again (if it isn't), go back to Device menu again, and choose Delete this time.

Do the Extended partition next, but instead of Swap Off, you will have to first do Unmount (if it's available, it may not be). After Unmount, you can Delete the same as before.

Then do the Ext4 partition the same... Unmount first, then Delete.

Oops... I think it's the Partition menu up above instead of Device. Sorry.

Important: when these steps are done, you have to click the check mark symbol up above to apply all the changes we just covered.

Let me know how this goes, then we will create and format a new partition.
 
Okay. Click on Linux Swap first to highlight it, then click the Device menu up above and choose Swap Off. Then highlight Linux Swap again (if it isn't), go back to Device menu again, and choose Delete this time.

Do the Extended partition next, but instead of Swap Off, you will have to first do Unmount (if it's available, it may not be). After Unmount, you can Delete the same as before.

Then do the Ext4 partition the same... Unmount first, then Delete.

Oops... I think it's the Partition menu up above instead of Device. Sorry.

Important: when these steps are done, you have to click the check mark symbol up above to apply all the changes we just covered.

Let me know how this goes, then we will create and format a new partition.

Ok, done:

Screenshot from 2018-07-19 09-55-46.png
 
See how easy? :D

Next, I have to wing it a little from memory, so terms or steps may be a little off.

Click the unallocated space to highlight it. This time I think it is Device menu that you want. Looking for something like Create New Partition Table. When you get this, the default will be msdos, but click the small down arrow and choose gpt instead.

Correct me if the steps aren't right, but we can do over at any point if we get off track.

The next window that appears will let you resize, label, pick a filesystem... I think these are all going to be okay as is with using the full size and an ext4 file system. So give it a go and see what happens.
 
See how easy? :D

Next, I have to wing it a little from memory, so terms or steps may be a little off.

Click the unallocated space to highlight it. This time I think it is Device menu that you want. Looking for something like Create New Partition Table. When you get this, the default will be msdos, but click the small down arrow and choose gpt instead.

Correct me if the steps aren't right, but we can do over at any point if we get off track.

The next window that appears will let you resize, label, pick a filesystem... I think these are all going to be okay as is with using the full size and an ext4 file system. So give it a go and see what happens.


I don't think it worked...... When I hit Ignore, it just came back to same window and I tried 3 times..... never got any other window.....

Screenshot from 2018-07-19 10-09-33.png
Screenshot from 2018-07-19 10-09-48.png
[/QUOTE]
 
Hmmm, let's regroup. Exit Gparted and then open it again. Are we still with unallocated space?
 
If ignore doesn't work, try cancel.

Still the same. Under Device is 'Create Partition Table' and Attempt Data Rescue. However, I just noticed something and clicked on it, it is the far left icon with a + under GParted

Screenshot from 2018-07-19 10-31-36.png
 
This is one screen I am heading for, and you would click Add to move forward. But wasn't there a screen first that showed "msdos" ? I think it comes before the screen you are on now.
 
But I might be out of sequence, as I said earlier. If you don't see it yet, click Add and maybe it is the next step. I do want you to change from msdos to gpt if we can as it is more UEFI friendly.
 

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