2tb Hard disk extremely slow

[tackskull]

Hi there, I am using an external 2tb hard disk drive and untill a month ago to write files on it was fast, but at a certain point the hard disk become very slow, like to copy a file of 3gb require hours to complete. I am not understanding what's the problem, can you guys help me to fix my hard disk?

Edit: I tried to use my hard disk on another pc and is very fast, looks like it get slow only on this pc where I am using linux mint. On the other two laptops (one running ubuntu and the other running manjaro) is everything ok. Can you help me understand why this linux mint pc make my hard disk slow and how to solve it?

[23dornot23d]

Seems to me from your description - that the hard disk itself is not the problem - if it is working on two other systems ok.

Is the linux mint pc a older pc ...............

Not sure if you can run this on it ..... but no harm in trying to get some more information as people will need it later on to work
out what is happening.

$ sudo apt install inxi

$ inxi -F

Post back the information ...... from the Linux Mint PC ........ see what processor etc and memory it has .......

Quite possible that its a older machine .... but who knows.

[angisky]

To add to what the previous user said you can also try opening system monitor while doing the file transfer and viewing what resources are being used. For example if it's an old PC you'll likely see the CPU and even ram be completely consumed during the transfer process. If you see that neither of those things happen then it might be some bottle neck going on somewhere else in the system.

A good question would also be whether this is an external drive being used through USB or if it's an internal drive using SATA. USB can be bottle necked by other devices that are plugged into the same bus as with USB every connection has to be processed by the same bus causing multiple devices to interfere with each other.

[tackskull]

Thanks guys for reply.

My pc is quite recent and it have 2 usb holes. In one I have insert my wireless mouse and to the other one there is the 2tb external hard disk drive. The laptop has a bluetooth game controller connected, the ethernet cable for the internet and the hdmi cable for the tv as well.

$ inxi -F
System:    Host: tackskull-Lenovo-ideapad-320-15ABR Kernel: 4.15.0-39-generic x86_64
           bits: 64
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9  Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: laptop System: LENOVO product: 80XS v: Lenovo ideapad 320-15ABR serial: N/A
           Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40709WIN serial: N/A
           UEFI: LENOVO v: 5QCN18WW date: 07/13/2017
Battery    BAT0: charge: 26.4 Wh 98.1% condition: 26.9/30.0 Wh (90%)
CPU:       Quad core AMD A10-9620P RADEON R5 10 COMPUTE CORES 4C+6G (-MCP-) 
           cache: 4096 KB
           clock speeds: max: 2500 MHz 1: 1343 MHz 2: 1367 MHz 3: 1284 MHz
           4: 1283 MHz
Graphics:  Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Carrizo
           Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Topaz XT [Radeon R7 M260/M265 / M340/M360 / M440/M445]
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: ati,amdgpu (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa,radeon)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD CARRIZO (DRM 3.23.0 / 4.15.0-39-generic, LLVM 6.0.0)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 18.0.5
Audio:     Card-1 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Device 157a
           driver: snd_hda_intel
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Kabini HDMI/DP Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-39-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath10k_pci
           IF: wlp1s0 state: down mac: e8:2a:44:fd:b2:c7
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169
           IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
           mac: 54:e1:ad:f8:dc:39
           Card-3: Atheros
           IF: null-if-id state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 3000.6GB (53.0% used)
           ID-1: USB /dev/sda model: M3 size: 2000.4GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD10SPZX size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 916G used: 575G (67%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb2
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 0.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 42.0,N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 228 Uptime: 2:39 Memory: 2203.0/7424.9MB
           Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.56

[23dornot23d]

What boot mode are you using ........... Rapid ? if so that could be a problem.

The other thing I read about was power saving in BIOS ........ - that also can effect the USB apparently ........

They are the two things I spotted while having a look around the Lenovo problems already found on USB's
Although there are lots of other posts complaining about the speed of the model you have ......
Lenovo-ideapad-320-15ABR
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-...w/td-p/3763971

[deadflowr]

Thread moved to MINT

[tackskull]

What do you mean with rapid boot? On the power management I don't have any option activated, the pc is in full work

[23dornot23d]

The options are in the BIOS ....... Basic Input Output System ......

I believe you have to press Fn2 ( Function key 2 ) at boot up to see the settings ........

On looking for the USB 3.0 ...... which could increase transfer rates - there is one sceen shot I will show - but if you are not used to doing things in the BIOS
it may be better to ask or wait from more help from someone that knows more about your Lenovo Laptop on the Lenovo site https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-...T/td-p/4124630

I have been searching around for possible problems ...... and the ones I gave initially are on the Lenovo site ..... you could ask there - as the Ubuntu Forum probably
is not going to help you that much with it being MINT you are using for no 1 and the problem you are encountering - which may be just something to do with the
BIOS setup on that one machine - as you said previously it works fine on 2 other machines.

[tackskull]

I solved the problem. First I diabled fast boot but the hard disk still was slow, then I tried to poot the hard disk on the other usb hole (the one closest to the hdmi) and the hard disk is running so fast like I never seen on this pc. So I imagine that both the solution togheter can solve the problem. Thank you guys

[23dornot23d]

Nice to know you sorted it ......... great work ........