Exos X16 16TB drives on Intel Controller timing out when SATA link power management enabled

[lwfitzgerald]

I've got a bunch of Exos X16 16TB (ST16000NM001G) drives connected to the Intel W680 chipset SATA ports on my motherboard. If SATA link power management is enabled there appear to be occasional ATA timeouts communicating with the drives when they're put under load. The errors look like this:

Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x50000 action 0x6 frozen
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5: SError: { PHYRdyChg CommWake }
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: failed command: FLUSH CACHE EXT
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: cmd ea/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/a0 tag 13
                                        res 40/00:81:81:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: status: { DRDY }
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5: hard resetting link
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: configured for UDMA/133
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5.00: retrying FLUSH 0xea Emask 0x4
Nov 01 22:54:51 ubuntu kernel: ata5: EH complete

I believe I've ruled out a few of the common causes:

• SATA cables - replaced
• SATA port on motherboard - Issue occurs with Exos drives connected to any of the ports
• Motherboard UEFI/BIOS - updated to latest
• Single faulty drive -
  • The issue occurs across the multiple Exos drives I have
  • I've completed badblocks write+read passes over the drives with no issues found
  • SMART data appears to be clean on the drives (see below for a full report)
• PSU - Brand new (over-sized PSU)
• I'm unable to reproduce the issue with SATA link power management disabled.

I've started to suspect the issue is the Exos drives as I'm unable to reproduce the issue with other models of drive (still SATA 6Gbps, with SATA link power management support) connected to the same ports.

It's also possible that it's an incompatibility between the particular drive and the Intel SATA controller, as the issue doesn't seem to manifest when the drives are connected to a PCI-e ASMedia ASM1166 card with SATA link power management enabled.

The only configuration changes I've made to the drives (using bootable SeaChest) are:

• FastFormat to native 4K sectors (disable 512e)
• Disable Idle_b EPC (head parking), Idle_a remains enabled with the default timer

I've checked the serial numbers of the drives on the SeaGate website and it does not report any firmware updates currently available (currently on SN03).

I've included the SMART data report and openSeaChest_Info --showPhyEvents output for one of the drives at the end of this issue.

I was wondering if it might be possible to reach out to someone internally at Seagate that would know if there is a known incompatibility / firmware bug that might cause this. I've reached out to support via the Seagate website (Case No. 12871167), but they weren't able to help due to the drives not being connected to either a Windows or Mac machine.

Also of note is the similarity with this other open issue - #162.

---

SMART data from one of the drives:

# smartctl -x /dev/sdb
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.11.0-9-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, [www.smartmontools.org](http://www.smartmontools.org/)

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Seagate Exos X16
Device Model:     ST16000NM001G-2KK103
Serial Number:    <redacted>
LU WWN Device Id: <redacted>
Firmware Version: SN03
User Capacity:    16,000,900,661,248 bytes [16.0 TB]
Sector Size:      4096 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    7200 rpm
Form Factor:      3.5 inches
Device is:        In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is:   ACS-4 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.3, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Wed Nov  6 17:44:46 2024 GMT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
AAM feature is:   Unavailable
APM feature is:   Unavailable
Rd look-ahead is: Enabled
Write cache is:   Enabled
DSN feature is:   Disabled
ATA Security is:  Disabled, NOT FROZEN [SEC1]
Write SCT (Get) Feature Control Command failed: Connection timed out
Wt Cache Reorder: Unknown (SCT Feature Control command failed)

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

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x82) Offline data collection activity
was completed without error.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled.
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: ( 1034) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves 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: (   1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: (1405) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: (   2) minutes.
SCT capabilities:       (0x70bd) SCT Status supported.
SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
SCT Feature Control supported.
SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAGS    VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     POSR--   083   066   044    -    27546809
  3 Spin_Up_Time            PO----   090   090   000    -    0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        -O--CK   100   100   020    -    12
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   PO--CK   100   100   010    -    0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         POSR--   079   061   045    -    77717647
  9 Power_On_Hours          -O--CK   100   100   000    -    303
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        PO--C-   100   100   097    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       -O--CK   100   100   020    -    12
 18 Head_Health             PO-R--   100   100   050    -    0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
188 Command_Timeout         -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel -O---K   072   055   040    -    28 (Min/Max 26/28)
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count -O--CK   100   100   000    -    4
193 Load_Cycle_Count        -O--CK   100   100   000    -    24
194 Temperature_Celsius     -O---K   028   045   000    -    28 (0 23 0 0 0)
197 Current_Pending_Sector  -O--C-   100   100   000    -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   ----C-   100   100   000    -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    -OSRCK   200   200   000    -    0
200 Pressure_Limit          PO---K   100   100   001    -    0
240 Head_Flying_Hours       ------   100   253   000    -    301h+21m+44.005s
241 Total_LBAs_Written      ------   100   253   000    -    15986802296
242 Total_LBAs_Read         ------   100   253   000    -    15632576162
                            ||||||_ K auto-keep
                            |||||__ C event count
                            ||||___ R error rate
                            |||____ S speed/performance
                            ||_____ O updated online
                            |______ P prefailure warning

General Purpose Log Directory Version 1
SMART           Log Directory Version 1 [multi-sector log support]
Address    Access  R/W   Size  Description
0x00       GPL,SL  R/O      1  Log Directory
0x01           SL  R/O      1  Summary SMART error log
0x02           SL  R/O      5  Comprehensive SMART error log
0x03       GPL     R/O      5  Ext. Comprehensive SMART error log
0x04       GPL     R/O    256  Device Statistics log
0x04       SL      R/O      8  Device Statistics log
0x06           SL  R/O      1  SMART self-test log
0x07       GPL     R/O      1  Extended self-test log
0x08       GPL     R/O      2  Power Conditions log
0x09           SL  R/W      1  Selective self-test log
0x0a       GPL     R/W      8  Device Statistics Notification
0x0c       GPL     R/O   2048  Pending Defects log
0x10       GPL     R/O      1  NCQ Command Error log
0x11       GPL     R/O      1  SATA Phy Event Counters log
0x13       GPL     R/O      1  SATA NCQ Send and Receive log
0x21       GPL     R/O      1  Write stream error log
0x22       GPL     R/O      1  Read stream error log
0x24       GPL     R/O    768  Current Device Internal Status Data log
0x2f       GPL     R/O      1  Set Sector Configuration
0x30       GPL,SL  R/O      9  IDENTIFY DEVICE data log
0x80-0x9f  GPL,SL  R/W     16  Host vendor specific log
0xa1       GPL,SL  VS     160  Device vendor specific log
0xa2       GPL     VS   16320  Device vendor specific log
0xa4       GPL,SL  VS     160  Device vendor specific log
0xa6       GPL     VS     192  Device vendor specific log
0xa8-0xa9  GPL,SL  VS     136  Device vendor specific log
0xab       GPL     VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xad       GPL     VS      16  Device vendor specific log
0xbe-0xbf  GPL     VS   65535  Device vendor specific log
0xc1       GPL,SL  VS       8  Device vendor specific log
0xc3       GPL,SL  VS      56  Device vendor specific log
0xc7       GPL,SL  VS       8  Device vendor specific log
0xc9       GPL,SL  VS       8  Device vendor specific log
0xca       GPL,SL  VS      16  Device vendor specific log
0xcd       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xce       GPL     VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xcf       GPL     VS     512  Device vendor specific log
0xd1       GPL     VS     656  Device vendor specific log
0xd2       GPL     VS   10000  Device vendor specific log
0xd4       GPL     VS    2048  Device vendor specific log
0xda       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xe0       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Command/Status
0xe1       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Data Transfer
0xe2       GPL,SL  -      160  Reserved

SMART Extended Comprehensive Error Log Version: 1 (5 sectors)
No Errors Logged

SMART Extended Self-test Log Version: 1 (1 sectors)
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%       189         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%         1         -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

SCT Status Version:                  3
SCT Version (vendor specific):       522 (0x020a)
Device State:                        Active (0)
Current Temperature:                    28 Celsius
Power Cycle Min/Max Temperature:     25/28 Celsius
Lifetime    Min/Max Temperature:     22/45 Celsius
Under/Over Temperature Limit Count:   0/0
SMART Status:                        0xc24f (PASSED)
Vendor specific:
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

SCT Temperature History Version:     2
Temperature Sampling Period:         4 minutes
Temperature Logging Interval:        59 minutes
Min/Max recommended Temperature:     10/40 Celsius
Min/Max Temperature Limit:            5/60 Celsius
Temperature History Size (Index):    128 (59)

Index    Estimated Time   Temperature Celsius
  60    2024-11-01 12:48    40  *********************
  61    2024-11-01 13:47    40  *********************
  62    2024-11-01 14:46    40  *********************
  63    2024-11-01 15:45    39  ********************
  64    2024-11-01 16:44    38  *******************
  65    2024-11-01 17:43    34  ***************
  66    2024-11-01 18:42    35  ****************
  67    2024-11-01 19:41    34  ***************
  68    2024-11-01 20:40    35  ****************
  69    2024-11-01 21:39    35  ****************
  70    2024-11-01 22:38    34  ***************
  71    2024-11-01 23:37    34  ***************
  72    2024-11-02 00:36    35  ****************
  73    2024-11-02 01:35    34  ***************
  74    2024-11-02 02:34    34  ***************
  75    2024-11-02 03:33    34  ***************
  76    2024-11-02 04:32    35  ****************
  77    2024-11-02 05:31    35  ****************
  78    2024-11-02 06:30    34  ***************
  79    2024-11-02 07:29    35  ****************
 ...    ..(  9 skipped).    ..  ****************
  89    2024-11-02 17:19    35  ****************
  90    2024-11-02 18:18    36  *****************
  91    2024-11-02 19:17    36  *****************
  92    2024-11-02 20:16    37  ******************
  93    2024-11-02 21:15    37  ******************
  94    2024-11-02 22:14    35  ****************
  95    2024-11-02 23:13    35  ****************
  96    2024-11-03 00:12    35  ****************
  97    2024-11-03 01:11    34  ***************
 ...    ..(  3 skipped).    ..  ***************
 101    2024-11-03 05:07    34  ***************
 102    2024-11-03 06:06    32  *************
 103    2024-11-03 07:05    34  ***************
 104    2024-11-03 08:04    35  ****************
 ...    ..(  4 skipped).    ..  ****************
 109    2024-11-03 12:59    35  ****************
 110    2024-11-03 13:58    34  ***************
 111    2024-11-03 14:57    35  ****************
 ...    ..( 11 skipped).    ..  ****************
 123    2024-11-04 02:45    35  ****************
 124    2024-11-04 03:44    34  ***************
 ...    ..( 12 skipped).    ..  ***************
   9    2024-11-04 16:31    34  ***************
  10    2024-11-04 17:30    33  **************
 ...    ..( 18 skipped).    ..  **************
  29    2024-11-05 12:11    33  **************
  30    2024-11-05 13:10    34  ***************
  31    2024-11-05 14:09    34  ***************
  32    2024-11-05 15:08    34  ***************
  33    2024-11-05 16:07    33  **************
  34    2024-11-05 17:06    33  **************
  35    2024-11-05 18:05     ?  -
  36    2024-11-05 19:04    22  ***
  37    2024-11-05 20:03     ?  -
  38    2024-11-05 21:02    25  ******
  39    2024-11-05 22:01     ?  -
  40    2024-11-05 23:00    38  *******************
  41    2024-11-05 23:59     ?  -
  42    2024-11-06 00:58    23  ****
  43    2024-11-06 01:57     ?  -
  44    2024-11-06 02:56    25  ******
  45    2024-11-06 03:55    41  **********************
  46    2024-11-06 04:54    44  *************************
  47    2024-11-06 05:53    42  ***********************
  48    2024-11-06 06:52    42  ***********************
  49    2024-11-06 07:51    41  **********************
 ...    ..(  6 skipped).    ..  **********************
  56    2024-11-06 14:44    41  **********************
  57    2024-11-06 15:43    42  ***********************
  58    2024-11-06 16:42     ?  -
  59    2024-11-06 17:41    25  ******

SCT Error Recovery Control:
           Read:    100 (10.0 seconds)
          Write:    100 (10.0 seconds)

Device Statistics (GP Log 0x04)
Page  Offset Size        Value Flags Description
0x01  =====  =               =  ===  == General Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x01  0x008  4              12  ---  Lifetime Power-On Resets
0x01  0x010  4             303  ---  Power-on Hours
0x01  0x018  6     15986802296  ---  Logical Sectors Written
0x01  0x020  6       123648233  ---  Number of Write Commands
0x01  0x028  6     15632570641  ---  Logical Sectors Read
0x01  0x030  6       122291431  ---  Number of Read Commands
0x01  0x038  6               -  ---  Date and Time TimeStamp
0x03  =====  =               =  ===  == Rotating Media Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x03  0x008  4             302  ---  Spindle Motor Power-on Hours
0x03  0x010  4             300  ---  Head Flying Hours
0x03  0x018  4              24  ---  Head Load Events
0x03  0x020  4               0  ---  Number of Reallocated Logical Sectors
0x03  0x028  4               0  ---  Read Recovery Attempts
0x03  0x030  4               0  ---  Number of Mechanical Start Failures
0x03  0x038  4               0  ---  Number of Realloc. Candidate Logical Sectors
0x03  0x040  4               4  ---  Number of High Priority Unload Events
0x04  =====  =               =  ===  == General Errors Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x04  0x008  4               0  ---  Number of Reported Uncorrectable Errors
0x04  0x010  4               0  ---  Resets Between Cmd Acceptance and Completion
0x04  0x018  4               0  -D-  Physical Element Status Changed
0x05  =====  =               =  ===  == Temperature Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x05  0x008  1              28  ---  Current Temperature
0x05  0x010  1              36  ---  Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x018  1               -  ---  Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x020  1              45  ---  Highest Temperature
0x05  0x028  1              27  ---  Lowest Temperature
0x05  0x030  1              40  ---  Highest Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x038  1              33  ---  Lowest Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x040  1               -  ---  Highest Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x048  1               -  ---  Lowest Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x050  4               0  ---  Time in Over-Temperature
0x05  0x058  1              60  ---  Specified Maximum Operating Temperature
0x05  0x060  4               0  ---  Time in Under-Temperature
0x05  0x068  1               5  ---  Specified Minimum Operating Temperature
0x06  =====  =               =  ===  == Transport Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x06  0x008  4              30  ---  Number of Hardware Resets
0x06  0x010  4               4  ---  Number of ASR Events
0x06  0x018  4               0  ---  Number of Interface CRC Errors
0xff  =====  =               =  ===  == Vendor Specific Statistics (rev 1) ==
0xff  0x008  7               0  ---  Vendor Specific
0xff  0x010  7               0  ---  Vendor Specific
0xff  0x018  7               0  ---  Vendor Specific
                                |||_ C monitored condition met
                                ||__ D supports DSN
                                |___ N normalized value

Pending Defects log (GP Log 0x0c)
No Defects Logged

SATA Phy Event Counters (GP Log 0x11)
ID      Size     Value  Description
0x000a  2            1  Device-to-host register FISes sent due to a COMRESET
0x0001  2            0  Command failed due to ICRC error
0x0003  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host data FIS
0x0004  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS
0x0006  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host non-data FIS
0x0007  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS

openSeaChest_Info --showPhyEvents for the same drive as the above SMART data:

# openSeaChest_Info --showPhyEvents -d /dev/sg1
==========================================================================================
 openSeaChest_Info - openSeaChest drive utilities - NVMe Enabled
 Copyright (c) 2014-2024 Seagate Technology LLC and/or its Affiliates, All Rights Reserved
 openSeaChest_Info Version: 2.7.0-8_0_1 X86_64
 Build Date: Sep 25 2024
 Today: 20241106T174542 User: root
==========================================================================================

/dev/sg1 - ST16000NM001G-2KK103 - <redacted> - SN03 - ATA

====SATA Phy Event Counters====
V = Vendor Unique event tracker
M = Counter maximum value reached
D2H = Device to Host
H2D = Host to Device
    ID                Value Description
    10                    1 H2D FISes sent due to COMRESET
     1                    0 Command failed with iCRC error
     3                    0 R_ERR response for D2H data FIS
     4                    0 R_ERR response for H2D data FIS
     6                    0 R_ERR response for D2H non-data FIS
     7                    0 R_ERR response for H2D non-data FIS

[vonericsen]

@lwfitzgerald,

Thanks for reporting this here!

Can you share the output of openSeaChest_Info -d <handle> -i -v4 | tee verboseInfo.txt
If you can get it for both the motherboard and the asmedia controller for comparison that could be helpful to see if there are differences in how the drive is setup by the controller on boot.
The -v4 runs in very very verbose mode with the raw data buffers returned so I can review the bit fields manually. Not everything it humanized out of the low-level drive info since some of it doesn't impact most of what these tools provide and what users are after.

I'm also working on figuring out who inside Seagate may be the right person to help debug what this issue is, but that may take some time to figure out who that should be.