System Information:

  • Kali Version: 2023.4 XFCE
  • Kali Installation: SSD
  • Host: ThinkPad T470
  • HDD: ADATA SU760



Issue Description:

Ever since the installation of Kali Linux (approximately 2 weeks ago), I have been experiencing periodic freezes in active applications, forcing me to halt any work for 5 to 10 seconds. The issue persists since the installation

Upon investigating, I found the following I/O error in the dmesg output related to the device /dev/sda:

Code:
[301424.403939] ata3: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)[301424.409356] ata3.00: ACPI cmd f5/00:00:00:00:00:a0(SECURITY FREEZE LOCK) filtered out
[301424.409362] ata3.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:03:00:00:00:a0(SET FEATURES) filtered out
[301424.431121] ata3.00: ACPI cmd f5/00:00:00:00:00:a0(SECURITY FREEZE LOCK) filtered out
[301424.431128] ata3.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:03:00:00:00:a0(SET FEATURES) filtered out
[301424.446402] ata3.00: configured for UDMA/133
[301424.458551] scsi_io_completion_action: 4 callbacks suppressed
[301424.458558] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] tag#17 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[301424.458563] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] tag#17 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[301424.458565] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] tag#17 Add. Sense: Unaligned write command
[301424.458568] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] tag#17 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 02 96 65 80 00 00 08 00
[301424.458569] blk_print_req_error: 4 callbacks suppressed
[301424.458571] I/O error, dev sda, sector 43410816 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[301424.458610] ata3: EH complete

Additionally, there is another possibly related error:

Code:
[301424.085138] ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
[301424.085140] ata3.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED
[301424.085142] ata3.00: cmd 61/08:f0:70:8b:55/00:00:06:00:00/40 tag 30 ncq dma 4096 out
                         res 40/00:ff:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)                                                                                                                                    
[301424.085148] ata3.00: status: { DRDY }
I have also checked the SMART attributes of the drive and found no issues, with Reallocated_Sector_Ct showing 0.

Code:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   100   100   050    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       4680
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       2529
177 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       118
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total  0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total  0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       41
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       26
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
232 Available_Reservd_Space 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       100
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       336297
242 Total_LBAs_Read         0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       209235
245 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       513329

  • I have come across an article suggesting that a faulty drive may be the cause. However, after inspecting the S.M.A.R.T, the drive seems to be healthy.
  • One potential solution I found is running the repair utility fsck, but I am unsure if this is a safe option.


I would appreciate any guidance to help with the problem!