linux - Input/Output error on external hard drive and bad sectors

While accessing my exFAT external hard from the TV to watch some videos, I noticed that there was a particular folder on it that would make everything crash if I'd try to open it.

So, I plugged the hard drive into my computer (I run the latest Linux Mint) and I tried to access said folder; I would be able to open it but it was now empty: I decided to delete it and I did so successfully, or at least I was able to send this empty folder to .Trash-1000.

Now, when I try to delete .Trash-1000, it gives me an Input/Output error and the folder is not deleted, while everything else seems to work and be accesible as it should.

I decided to run fsck.exfat on my hard drive and this is what I got in return:

exfatfsck 1.2.8
Checking file system on /dev/sda1.
File system version           1.0
Sector size                 512 bytes
Cluster size                256 KB
Volume size                 932 GB
Used space                  841 GB
Available space              91 GB
ERROR: failed to read cluster 0x321c01.
Totally 797 directories and 37933 files.
File system checking finished. ERRORS FOUND: 1.

So there is an error on the filesystem and I guess that's causing the Input/Output error. I tried repairing the filesystem on a Windows OS but, while saying that there is an error, it also says that it's not able to solve the problem.

How can I fix this? Thank you!

Answer

You have a bad sector on the disk (or stick). Your options are:

• Accept the situation and let the sector stay in .Trash-1000


• Reformat the disk using deep format (although this might also fail).

I would advise to choose the first option, but prepare yourself for the
possibility that the disk may need replacement some time in the future.