[Elphel-support] the problems from the hdd (in short)

[Andrey Filippov]

Hello Carlos,

I'm sorry I was not quick enough to tell you not to open the camera as the
problem is not likely to be a hardware one (if there was no contact you'll
not be able to read anything from the HDD). We definitely can fix that
connector, but even with the proper paperwork to avoid extra taxing, the
shipping is still expensive. I would try to find a local computer repair
shop who can solder the connector back in place - it is not too difficult
and should be less expensive than shipping. Oleg will send you the links to
photos that show some of the parts you need to be careful when taking apart
or re-assembling.

Andrey

PS. It is actually the second time that somebody damaged the camera
following the advice on this mailing list. What can we do to warn everybody
to get our (Elphel engineers) recommendations before doing that? Our
hardware is all open, of course, we do not want to discourage anybody from
hacking it, but it is still delicate piece of equipment and we are always
eager to help with advices how to do that safer.


On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 10:00 AM, Carlos Padial <palidoestudio2 at gmail.com>wrote:

> well, unfortunately I have started to open the camera and examine the
> connections before the arrival of andrey's mail and now the problem is
> more serious.
> The hard disk connection to the plate 10369 has been separated by
> where is welded.
>
> I opened the camera already once before and was alert about the
> sensitive short cable.
> i must say i have been extremely careful when I open the camera, and I
> dont think that has forced the connection at all. I noticed that the
> connection was loose and by moving it slightly it was released.
>
> ???
>
> 2012/2/3 Sebastian Pichelhofer <sebastian.pichelhofer at gmail.com>:
> > Ah, I did not know it is a camera with INTERNAL HDD.
> >
> > Yes makes perfect sense. All my comments assumed it is an external HDD
> > connected via SATA port.
> >
> > Regards Sebastian
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 17:16, Andrey Filippov
> > <support-list at support.elphel.com> wrote:
> >> Sebastian,
> >>
> >> 4096 byte blocks are not the problem in the 353 cameras - they all now
> have
> >> this block size. Please see our Development Blog post on that matter:
> >>
> http://blog.elphel.com/2010/11/elphel-cameras-and-4096-4k-sector-drives/
> >>
> >> And the disk was correctly formatted and tested _in the camera_ (not in
> the
> >> external computer) - it is not a good idea to try to remove it - the
> flex
> >> cable is not so easy to handle if you do not have such experience
> already. I
> >> believe Carlos should continue to follow Oleg's instructions - it was
> he who
> >> formatted and tested the HDD in the camera
> >>
> >> Andrey
> >>
> >> On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 8:48 AM, Sebastian Pichelhofer
> >> <sebastian.pichelhofer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 16:44, Carlos Padial <palidoestudio2 at gmail.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>> >> OK so do I understand this correctly that the new 4K block size of
> >>> >> newer harddisks is the problem:
> >>> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_sector ?
> >>> >
> >>> > dont know, but this you say remember me something readed about this
> >>> > digging in the list archive. But i dont fully understand if it was
> the
> >>> > same case. it was about using ext3... and my disk was formated as
> >>> > ext2... (i believe)
> >>> >
> >>> >> Since the embedded linux in the 353 camera is already several years
> >>> >> old it could well be the case that it has problems with 4K sectors.
> >>> >
> >>> >> Carlos, one idea: Could you prepare the HDD and the partition tables
> >>> >> on a PC and then see if the camera can talk to it nicely.
> >>> > i am afraid i dont have this kind of conexion for this, i will look
> >>> > for an adapter...
> >>> > what kind of hardware i need for this?
> >>>
> >>> The SATA port on the camera is the very same connector as in any normal
> >>> PC.
> >>> If you only have a laptop you can use any external HDD (eg. USB2)
> >>> enclosure.
> >>>
> >>> Regards Sebastian
> >>>
> >>> >
> >>> >> I do think we should put a notice on the wiki about the 4K sector
> >>> >> problem once we have a full understanding, and probably recommend
> >>> >> customers to not use/or use with caution 4K HDDs for now.
> >>> >
> >>> > Yes, i think this shoud be done. But i have not full understanding of
> >>> > the problem yet.
> >>> >
> >>> > So there is no other way?
> >>> >
> >>> > Thanks oleg and sebastian for your support.
> >>> >
> >>> >> Regards Sebastian
> >>> >>
> >>> >> On Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 14:28, Carlos Padial <
> palidoestudio2 at gmail.com>
> >>> >> wrote:
> >>> >>> Thanks to oleg who kindly help me a lot yesterday, we have narrow
> down
> >>> >>> the problem to this one:
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> # fdisk -l
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> Note: sector size is 4096 (not 512)
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> Disk /dev/hda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
> >>> >>> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1824 cylinders
> >>> >>> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 4096 = 65802240 bytes
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> Disk /dev/hda doesn't contain a valid partition table
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> So i need to make a new partition table.
> >>> >>> I found about fix tables with cfdisk but seems its not installed
> >>> >>> With the -o option in fdisk the changes seems not  to be applied at
> >>> >>> all...
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> someone knows how to proceed?
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> best regards.
> >>> >>> --
> >>> >>> Carlos Padial
> >>> >>> surreal.asturnazari.es
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > --
> >>> > Carlos Padial
> >>> > surreal.asturnazari.es
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Support-list mailing list
> >>> Support-list at support.elphel.com
> >>>
> http://support.elphel.com/mailman/listinfo/support-list_support.elphel.com
> >>
> >>
>
>
>
> --
> Carlos Padial
> surreal.asturnazari.es
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://support.elphel.com/pipermail/support-list_support.elphel.com/attachments/20120203/e8ff4a3e/attachment-0002.html>