I have a Western Digital HDD WD20EZBX 2TB with SMR and one ext4 partition. After a series of file system mounts/unmounts (I cannot provide a more precise background, because I do not remember), I lost an ability to mount it again. For example, when I try
sudo mount -v /dev/sda1 /mount/point
I got
mount: /mount/point: can't read superblock on /dev/sda1.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call
dmesg did the following output during that procedure:
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:54 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x800000 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:54 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:54 2026] ata1.00: cmd 61/08:b8:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 tag 23 ncq dma 4096 out
res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:54 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:54 2026] ata1: hard resetting link
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1.00: Read log 0x00 page 0x00 failed, Emask 0x1
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1.00: ATA Identify Device Log not supported
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:01:55 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:25 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x8 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:25 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:25 2026] ata1.00: cmd 61/08:18:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 tag 3 ncq dma 4096 out
res 40/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:25 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:25 2026] ata1: hard resetting link
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:26 2026] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:26 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:26 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:26 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:26 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:56 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x20 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:56 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:56 2026] ata1.00: cmd 61/08:28:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 tag 5 ncq dma 4096 out
res 40/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:56 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:56 2026] ata1: hard resetting link
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:57 2026] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:57 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:57 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:57 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:02:57 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1.00: NCQ disabled due to excessive errors
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x80 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1.00: cmd 61/08:38:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/40 tag 7 ncq dma 4096 out
res 40/00:01:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:27 2026] ata1: hard resetting link
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: cmd ca/00:08:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 12 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: cmd ca/00:08:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 tag 14 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:00/00:00:00:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#14 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=125s
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#14 Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#14 Add. Sense: Internal target failure
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#14 CDB: Write(10) 2a 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 08 00
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] I/O error, dev sda, sector 2048 op 0x1:(WRITE) flags 0x800 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] I/O error, dev sda, sector 2048 op 0x1:(WRITE) flags 0x800 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] Buffer I/O error on dev sda1, logical block 0, lost sync page write
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] EXT4-fs (sda1): I/O error while writing superblock
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] EXT4-fs (sda1): mount failed
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] Aborting journal on device sda1-8.
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 21 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:28 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 9 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 23 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 31 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 10 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: irq_stat 0x40000001
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed command: WRITE DMA EXT
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: cmd 35/00:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 tag 12 dma 4096 out
res 61/04:08:00:08:44/00:00:74:00:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: status: { DRDY DF ERR }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: error: { ABRT }
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: failed to enable AA (error_mask=0x1)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133 (device error ignored)
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#12 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=0s
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#12 Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#12 Add. Sense: Internal target failure
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#12 CDB: Write(10) 2a 00 74 44 08 00 00 00 08 00
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] I/O error, dev sda, sector 1950615552 op 0x1:(WRITE) flags 0x9800 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] I/O error, dev sda, sector 1950615552 op 0x1:(WRITE) flags 0x9800 phys_seg 1 prio class 2
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] Buffer I/O error on dev sda1, logical block 243826688, lost sync page write
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] ata1: EH complete
[Sat Sep 12 18:03:29 2026] JBD2: I/O error when updating journal superblock for sda1-8.
I was able to recover my data from that disk with a debugfs utility. However, I can not write anything to the drive even format it: the same error.
From ChatGPT or something like that I knew a possible reason for the error, it may be a so-called SMR panic, i.e. drive’s firmware, after the bad series of file system mounts/unmounts, entered the SMR panic mode due to conflicting instructions, outdated I/O operation buffer or something like that.
So, I would like to know if there is a chance to restore the drive without a special service?
