After improper shutdown the boot is really slow, need advice.

[Kennerc]

Because S.M.A.R.T. reports all the failures that your HDD had:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

E.g. does it have bad blocks.
Simple format will not fix this issue.

But will it fix anything, or just show whats wrong?

 

[Berion]

Will not fix anything, just point that something goes wrong. It is simple diagnostic tool. There are three kind of tests, but even short (the default one) will should say You something about the problems You have (in assumption it is really a HDD problem). Do not rely on good/bad report just paste here whole results and we can help You intepreting them.

If You connect PS3 HDD to PC with Windows, be careful to NOT agree of initialization (by this stupid term, Windows understand that You allowed him to write MBR or GPT partition table which will overwrite PS3's partition table).

Another test is using some tool to show the per sector access time. If it is too low, can cause some unexpected slowdowns etc.

Since the HDD didn't corrupted any data in the almost 20 days that I used it while slow

How can be so sure? If You don't using filesystems with real time error correction codes/checksums/snapshots (like i.e ZFS) or just doesn't controlling bit integrity, You will never know that. Sometimes random values changes can be undetected because i.e application still works or i.e image still looks the same on the first sight. It is not that simple as peoples thinking it is. Data corruption doesn't mean that operating system will stop working, or all user data be wipe out.

Seriously can u just stop talking garbage and let people help other people.. From experience I had this same problem.. So I'm telling everyone else??

Is that a problem :/

The problem is Your problems with others advices. So, go ahead and help other peoples as You thinking You helping them, but You also must know that someone can question Your words... My opinion, well even facts, that what have You said is not a solution, but at least temporary solution with some luck. I'm appreciate that You spend time trying help, and I'm not appreciate the language You used towards me plus strange reaction to some constructive criticizm. And that's all, deal with it because world is full of opinions. Some peoples still says the Earth is flat and the only way to change their mind is mathematics, not feelings.

 

[DeViL303]

How can be so sure? If You don't using filesystems with real time error correction codes/checksums/snapshots (like i.e ZFS) or just doesn't controlling bit integrity, You will never know that. Sometimes random values changes can be undetected because i.e application still works or i.e image still looks the same on the first sight. It is not that simple as peoples thinking it is. Data corruption doesn't mean that operating system will stop working, or all user data be wipe out.

Exactly, you could probably corrupt 50% of dev_flash files without any obvious signs when just booting games, lots of files are used rarely. Also with games, you could corrupt half the games files and the first few levels might still work. Images and audio/video files can be fairly corrupted and still play too.

 

[sandungas]

Hi folks!

Sorta of a continuation of what I posted here

I merged the 2 threads, is better this way because the people that could help you should read the whole story

 

[sandungas]

@Kennerc when the PS3 crashes sometimes (not always) are damaged sectors of the hdd (real physical damage, is imposible to repair that sector)

In a PC the OS sends an order to the hdd bios to "remap" (or relocate) that sector to one of the spare sectors that all modern hdd's have
The amount of spare sectors ready to be used for remaps depends of the hdd manufacturer... when you reach the limit is imposible to remap more sectors (so the next damaged sectors are marked as "available to store data" permanently) and whatever filesystem you create or file you copy in it is going to be corrupted

--------------------
The first time you noticed the speed problems (and the dualshock3 sync problems) it was because either the filesystem was damaged or because you had new bad sectors (waiting for being remapped)

When you do the "restore filesystem" the PS3 firmware is supposed to identify and fix all the problems of the filesystem... and it should complete in around 5-10 minutes as you mentioned (so it seems it was completed fine without any huge error)

Inside the "restore filesystem" there is a text at beginning (before running it) that tells something like "a error happened, the filesystem is going to be checked" but this is not really a report (because the restore filesystem has not been initiated yet)

The fact that you was having dualshock3 sync problems makes me think the bad sector was located under dev_flash (so you had one or more firmware files damaged, not the games)
A firmware install should fix that though... at that point the bad sector should be identifyed and remapped by the hdd BIOS
But incase that hdd have reached the limit of "spare sectors" then it cant be remapped and is going to be there forever, if you install the same firmware version multiple times there is going to be a file that is going to be copyed on top of the bad sector (always the same firmware file corrupted)
This is one of the things you can know by loking at the S.M.A.R.T. info... if you have a big amount of sectors that are already remapped/relocated then that hdd is either not usable, or not much relliable

The next thing you should check is if the hdd sectors are working at normal speeds, there are programs like MHDD that can run a "surface scan" and reports the speeds of all the sectors as stadistics, results of this test are very usefull, and the test doesnt deletes any data btw (only reads sectors and calculates the access speeds of that reads... but doesnt writes anything)
If you see the hdd have all the sectors "healthy" then is great... you can treat it like if it was taken out from the factory today... the hdd is perfect and you can abuse of it for several years, lool
If you see that it have a lot of sectors with low speeds most probably means the "headers" are weared (so the problem are not the sectors, but in the component that reads the sectors and cant be repaired)
And so on... depending in the results of that "surface scan" you can deduce a lot of things
Actually, MHDD is going to tell you the exact location of the vague/slow/damaged sectors and eventually you are going to see how they appears together or repeating a checkboard patter... that ones are "scratches" of the reading head over the plate (or "landings" in hdd slang), it happens when you hit it while is working

If you pass this "surface scan" successfully... the only posible culprit is the filesystem (software, created by the PS3 firmware), and the only way to fix it is either in the "restore filesystem" (but it seems this is not fixing it), or by formatting the hdd in PC

Is better to format it in PC than in PS3, because the PC is going to wipe it entirelly (not a single byte can escape)
if you do it in the PS3 it seems some of the info related with partitions offsets/sizes, and even some of the data from the partition is preserved... and eventually (incase that preserved data is wrong) it can cause the PS3 to refuse to boot or other weird problems

Moral of the story... if you are in problems (or for cleanup purposes) is much better to format the hdd in PC, this way you are 100% sure that there is no "sony data" in it... and the result when you connect it back to the PS3 is the same than if you buy a new hdd from factory completly filled with zeroes

I had this problem before.. And it worked so stfu and mind ur own business..

Soft that language, he didn't said anything unpolite to you, and he is right

Formatting the hdd "sometimes" works incase the problem is in the filesystem created by the PS3... in other words is software, and by deleting the filesystem and creating a new one is solved
But there are many times when is not posible to be sure if the problem is just the filesystem or something more serious like the bad sectors we was talking about
The failproof way to know it is by doing that "surface scan" i mentioned... if the results are good the hdd is perfect
Also, if you have a big amount of remapped/relocated sectors it means the problem is happening since weeks/months ago

 

[ElGris]

You're pretty late in checking that hdd state. Just put it on a PC, run Crystal Disk Info and see why it's slow. It should be on yellow state, and that means your hdd will probably provoke reading errors on your PS3, crashes or something like that. Until it finally dies, like everything on this universe. So go ahead, check it and if it is damaged, just change it.

BTW, 2.5" hdds are crappier than the 3.5 ones, but that depends of the brand too. The real fact is that hdds on PS3 get hotter than in a normal PC. Meaning more damage probabilities.

 

[Kennerc]

@sandungas a bunch of useful info.
Right now I don't have the means of connecting to a PC, I think I had a case somewhere but I didn't find it, and my PC is ancient tech, so I only have one SATA slot, the other ones are IDE.
Just two question:
In order to run the diagnosis tools would I need to format first? I don't know since the HDD is encrypted.
If I decide to use it this way, since disc games and PSN titles are running fine, and my favorite games are already in there, aside from the disc unexpectedly dying there is a risk to the other PS3 components.

Just one more, if I install the OFW 4.85, I'll have to do the whole exploit again? Or all I'll need is the CFW?

 

[sandungas]

@sandungas a bunch of useful info.
Right now I don't have the means of connecting to a PC, I think I had a case somewhere but I didn't find it, and my PC is ancient tech, so I only have one SATA slot, the other ones are IDE.

You are good with that, actually the best way to run the program MHDD is by disconnecting all the IDE and SATA drives of the PC motherboard... and keep only connected the PS3 hdd
This way when MHDD starts you are going to see only 1 hdd... so there is no room for errors, that hdd is "the only one" you have connected to the motherboard

MHDD is an ISO, you need to "burn" it to a rewritable CD or to an USB https://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
And you need to configure the BIOS of your PC to boot from from CD or USB
When the PC boots it loads MHDD... is a bit ugly it looks like MSDOS
Search for some tutorials or videos about how to run the "surface scan", the options availables (defaults are ok) and how it works

Just two question:
In order to run the diagnosis tools would I need to format first? I don't know since the HDD is encrypted.
If I decide to use it this way, since disc games and PSN titles are running fine, and my favorite games are already in there, aside from the disc unexpectedly dying there is a risk to the other PS3 components.

No, the "surface scan" (using default options) doesnt changes a single byte of the hdd
In other words... the data before and after the "surface scan" of MHDD is identical 100%

The fact that most of the data inside a PS3 hdd is encrypted doesnt matter, MHDD reads the sectors in "raw" and calculates the access time for that sector
The access times to a sector are the same in all cases, if the sector is filled qith zeroes, or with real data, or encrypted data

*But be careful, the "surface scan" have some options availables (to remap bad blocks automatically and things like that), that could cause damage if used in a wrong way

*MHDD allows to do a lot more things (like formatting the hdd), but you should not use them in this case... you only need to worry about how works the "surface scan"

Just one more, if I install the OFW 4.85, I'll have to do the whole exploit again? Or all I'll need is the CFW?

Yes if you install 4.85 OFW you will need to redo all the ps3xploit again, and thats a pita and it involves certain risks... so is better to dont return to OFW ever

Sometimes, when you are having a problem that is driving you crazy and you dont know what more to try... it could help to install OFW (just to confirm that the CFW is not the problem), and maybe you are so desperate that you are thinking in doing it, but in my oppinion in this case you dont need it

 

[Kennerc]

You are good with that, actually the best way to run the program MHDD is by disconnecting all the IDE and SATA drives of the PC motherboard... and keep only connected the PS3 hdd
This way when MHDD starts you are going to see only 1 hdd... so there is no room for errors, that hdd is "the only one" you have connected to the motherboard

MHDD is an ISO, you need to "burn" it to a rewritable CD or to an USB https://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
And you need to configure the BIOS of your PC to boot from from CD or USB
When the PC boots it loads MHDD... is a bit ugly it looks like MSDOS
Search for some tutorials or videos about how to run the "surface scan", the options availables (defaults are ok) and how it works


No, the "surface scan" (using default options) doesnt changes a single byte of the hdd
In other words... the data before and after the "surface scan" of MHDD is identical 100%

*But be careful, the "surface scan" have some options availables (to remap bad blocks automatically and things like that), that could cause damage if used in a wrong way

*MHDD allows to do a lot more things (like formatting the hdd), but you should not use them in this case... you only need to worry about how works the "surface scan"


Yes if you install 4.85 OFW you will need to redo all the ps3xploit again, and thats a pita and it involves certain risks... so is better to dont return to OFW ever

Sometimes, when you are having a problem that is driving you crazy and you dont know what more to try... it could help to install OFW (just to confirm that the CFW is not the problem), and maybe you are so desperate that you are thinking in doing it, but in my oppinion in this case you dont need it

I was already settled with the problem I shouldn't had formatted the first time, I had about 40 games, 400GB worth of data.
All I wanted and a few more.
Now I'll use it this way for now, if some day I run some tests, or start getting noticeable data corruption I'll update it here.
Time to use discs back again, lol, I was missing the noise the reader makes.

 

[sandungas]

I was already settled with the problem I shouldn't had formatted the first time, I had about 40 games, 400GB worth of data.
All I wanted and a few more.
Now I'll use it this way for now, if some day I run some tests, or start getting noticeable data corruption I'll update it here.
Time to use discs back again, lol, I was missing the noise the reader makes.

But what you did to fix it ?

 

[Kennerc]

But what you did to fix it ?

Nothing, but aside from the longer boot, that now is shorter, since I've formated it and there's only 6 games there, when playing from discs or PSN games it works fine, the saves take 2 seconds longer, but otherwise I can use it like that.
Disc backups however, better avoid it.

 

[sandungas]

Nothing, but aside from the longer boot, that now is shorter, since I've formated it and there's only 6 games there, when playing from discs or PSN games it works fine, the saves take 2 seconds longer, but otherwise I can use it like that.
Disc backups however, better avoid it.

Ok, so you took the easy/unsafe route :P

In my oppinion thats bad news btw because it means the filesystem was not the only problem, most probably that hdd have a bunch of slow sectors, or the reader head is damaged, or some probem in the circuit board

Eventually the slow sectors could become damaged sectors and you are going to be back at step one

 

[Kennerc]

..., or some probem in the circuit board...

You mean in the HDD, or the PS3?

 

[sandungas]

You mean in the HDD, or the PS3?

The circuit board of the hdd, sometimes a simple capacitor could make the whole hdd to have random reading errors

This is the kind of thing you could know by doing the surface scan, keep in mind in the surface scan are checked all this things:
-the sector access times
-the headers reading quality
-the motors that moves the headers and spins the disc
-most of the components of the hdd crcuit board


For a successfull surface scan all that needs to work perfect... so you are checking the whole hdd
As i said before... if you pass the surface scan successfully you can be 100% confident that the hdd is perfect

 

[Kennerc]

The circuit board of the hdd, sometimes a simple capacitor could make the whole hdd to have random reading errors

This is the kind of thing you could know by doing the surface scan, keep in mind in the surface scan are checked all this things:
-the sector access times
-the headers reading quality
-the motors that moves the headers and spins the disc
-most of the components of the hdd crcuit board


For a successfull surface scan all that needs to work perfect... so you are checking the whole hdd
As i said before... if you pass the surface scan successfully you can be 100% confident that the hdd is perfect

But if the HDD was perfect then the problem would be in the PS3? Could it be a hardware issue?

 

[sandungas]

But if the HDD was perfect then the problem would be in the PS3? Could it be a hardware issue?

Yes, but based in what you have been saying most probably the problem is in the hdd