Read error while booting

Question

I am getting the error message read error while booting. After power up, I get a black screen with cursor at top, and after a while around 1:30 min. I get a read error message at the top.

I shut down and restarted a couple of times, and it went back to normal. Was it a hard-disk error, or was it coming from Ubuntu?

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 28 '11 at 07:32

The best way to check your hard disk for errors, is to download diagnose software from the hard disk vendor.

You can also install the program smartmontools and

Check the S.M.A.R.T. values of the disk using sudo smartctl -A /dev/sda (change /dev/sda to fit your hard disk),
Run a self test: sudo smartctl -t long /dev/sda (will take some time, you can check the status of the self test running sudo smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda).

does my error mean I have a hardware error? – S L Feb 28 '11 at 07:47 — S L, Feb 28 '11 at 07:47

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '11 at 07:22

2

If you mean I/O read error when reading from the harddisk then it probably is a hardware error. I would check the health of the drive (use smartmontools or Palimpsest Disk Utility).

answered Feb 28 '11 at 07:22

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Read error while booting

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