[lug] Laptop hard drive issues

[Chris Riddoch]

Hi, everyone.

Here's a problem.  The hard drive on my laptop (Toshiba Satellite Pro
435CDS) occasionally freezes just after powerup.  It seems to happen
independently of:

1) whether I have APM installed in the kernel or not
2) whether I suspended the laptop or shut it down, and
3) whether I am running off AC or battery, battery power is also
unrelated

Sometimes pressing reset or power works. Sometimes it doesn't.  On
powering up, the perceptible bootup sequence is this: CD-ROM spins up,
the caps lock light blinks twice, the screen turns on, and then the
hard drive either spins up or it doesn't.

When it doesn't, Linux spews out these errors, in no particular order:

hda: status timeout: status=0xfe { Busy }
hda: drive not ready for command
end_request: I/O error, dev 03:01 (hda) sector 2376400
ide0: reset timed-out, status 0xfe

Any solutions?

--
Chris Riddoch
socket at peakpeak.com