1. Isolate the problem to a hardware issue or a software issue first. Use a second hard disk. Make sure this is the only hard disk in the system. Remove the suspected one. Reinstall and see if Mageia is taking up that much of space.
You may also want to verify what kind of partitioning is being used...gparted or if unsure of using cmd line tools, install GNU Disk Utility (example image attached). You must be able to account for that 1TB of space ... somehow some one is using that space. Look into "dmesg" output after boot and see how many sectors the disk has... this is what I see for a 1TB WD hard disk:
- Code: Select all
[ 1.320012] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 300)
[ 1.332947] ata2.00: ATA-8: WDC WD10EALX-229BA1, 17.01H17, max UDMA/133
[ 1.332950] ata2.00: [b]1953525168 sectors[/b], multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32), AA
[ 1.334710] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[ 1.334777] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access ATA WDC WD10EALX-229 1H17 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
2. If hardware issue, I could suggest a few things about PC. Just a few pointers below ... after all this forum discusses mostly software issues.
- This could be an intermittent problem.
- Consider the age of your Power Supply and its current ability to supply at least 25 watts per rotating hard disk.
- Inspect the SATA power cable going to hard disk. Original power supply cable versus added those splitter cable. Original power cable from a PS costing about $60 will have pure copper cable. The splitter cable is frequently magnetic... it is iron plated with tin!
- Is the cable twisted so bad that the power connector has intermittent contact at the point where it connects to the disk?
- Ensure SATA data cable is firmly connected at both ends. Replace the cable and retry.
- Consider the age and vibration/handling related damage a rotating hard disk can accumulate over time.
- Keeping enough air flow around hard disk is important. They heat up!
- Consider the age of your motherboard.
- Run Memtest86 from a standalone CD or use the Mageia install DVD which typically has a mem test program (if I recall correctly).