SSD changes mount point during partitioning

Question

I booted up my computer after a week without using it and I was greeted with a MS-DOS prompt saying that my disk had read errors instead of booting up Windows. Fed up with the latter OS, I decided to format my SSD and install Pop!_OS. However, when partitioning my drive, I have the following log :

GParted 1.2.0

configuration --enable-libparted-dmraid --enable-online-resize

libparted 3.4

========================================
...
elapsed by me : description of my other drives
mounted on /dev/sda and /dev/sdb
...
========================================
Device: /dev/sdc
Model:  ATA KINGSTON SA400S3
Serial: 50026B73811B943A
Sector size:    512
Total sectors:  937703088
 
Heads:  255
Sectors/track:  2
Cylinders:  1838633
 
Partition table:    msdos
 
Partition   Type    Start   End Flags   Partition Name  File System Label   Mount Point

========================================
Device: /dev/sdd
Model:  Generic Flash Disk
Serial: 
Sector size:    512
Total sectors:  15728640
 
Heads:  255
Sectors/track:  2
Cylinders:  30840
 
Partition table:    none
 
Partition   Type    Start   End Flags   Partition Name  File System Label   Mount Point
/dev/sdd    Unpartitioned   0   15728639            iso9660 Pop_OS 21.10 amd64 Nvidia   

========================================
Create Primary Partition #1 (ext4, 447.13 GiB) on /dev/sdc  00:00:19    ( ERROR )
        
create empty partition  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
        
path: /dev/sdc1 (partition)
start: 2048
end: 937701375
size: 937699328 (447.13 GiB)
clear old file system signatures in /dev/sdc1  00:00:19    ( ERROR )
        
write 512.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 0  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
write 4.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 67108864  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
write 4.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 274877906944  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
write 512.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 480101531648  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
write 4.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 480101990400  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
write 8.00 KiB of zeros at byte offset 480102047744  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )
flush operating system cache of /dev/sdc  00:00:18    ( ERROR )
        
libparted messages    ( ERROR )
        
Input/output error during write on /dev/sdc
Error fsyncing/closing /dev/sdc: Input/output error

After checking my Disks menu, I can see the KINGSTON SA400S3 drive mounted on /dev/sde. How can I fix this?

Answer 1

Bad news: your disk is probably dead. Check log (journalctl -r), you'll probably see some I/O errors there too. You can also try running SMART test to check the disk health (GNOME Disks can do that too).

It is also possible the disk itself is OK and this is just a bad cable/connection. Disk that disappeared and reappeared after being disconnected and reconnected would explain the change from /dev/sdc to /dev/sde (these are not mount points, but device files representing the raw block device assigned by kernel when the block device (disk) appears).

Answer 2

and thanks for your answer! journalctl -r indeed contains I/O errors, such as :

Apr 02 17:34:27 pop-os kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.SAT0.SPT4._GTF.DSSP], AE_NOT_FOUND (20210930/psargs-330)

Apr 02 17:34:55 pop-os kernel: Buffer I/O error on dev sde, logical block 0, async page read
Apr 02 17:34:55 pop-os kernel: I/O error, dev sde, sector 0 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
Apr 02 17:34:55 pop-os kernel: I/O error, dev sde, sector 0 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 4 prio class 0

However, my disk passes the SMART!

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Phison Driven SSDs
Device Model:     KINGSTON SA400S37480G
Serial Number:    50026B73811B943A
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0026b7 3811b943a
Firmware Version: S3H01103
User Capacity:    480,103,981,056 bytes [480 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
TRIM Command:     Available
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 4
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.2, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Sat Apr  2 17:52:45 2022 CEST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x02) Offline data collection activity
                    was completed without error.
                    Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0) The previous self-test routine completed
                    without error or no self-test has ever 
                    been run.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:        (  120) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:            (0x11) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    No Auto Offline data collection support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    No Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    No Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    No Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0002) Does not save SMART data before
                    entering power-saving mode.
                    Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                    General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time:    (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (  10) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       100
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       374
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       71
148 Unknown_Attribute       0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
149 Unknown_Attribute       0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
167 Write_Protect_Mode      0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
168 SATA_Phy_Error_Count    0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       9965
169 Bad_Block_Rate          0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
170 Bad_Blk_Ct_Erl/Lat      0x0000   100   100   010    Old_age   Offline      -       0/0
172 Erase_Fail_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
173 MaxAvgErase_Ct          0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
181 Program_Fail_Count      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
182 Erase_Fail_Count        0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
192 Unsafe_Shutdown_Count   0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       18
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   026   026   000    Old_age   Always       -       26 (Min/Max 16/26)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
199 SATA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
218 CRC_Error_Count         0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       9965
231 SSD_Life_Left           0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       100
233 Flash_Writes_GiB        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       528
241 Lifetime_Writes_GiB     0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       994
242 Lifetime_Reads_GiB      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       462
244 Average_Erase_Count     0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       7
245 Max_Erase_Count         0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       21
246 Total_Erase_Count       0x0000   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       3891

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%       374         -
# 2  Extended offline    Aborted by host               70%       372         -
# 3  Extended offline    Aborted by host               70%       372         -
# 4  Extended offline    Aborted by host               70%       372         -
# 5  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%       370         -
# 6  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%       370         -

Selective Self-tests/Logging not supported

I will try to change the SATA port in which my drive is connected & the cable, and if that does not change anything, I guess it's back to the drawing board.

Answer 3

Problem is now solved! The cause of my problems has been found : my SATA port seems to be faulty. I switched from SATA_5 to SATA_6 and I managed to partition my drive successfully!