All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Tribe Reimanen Mar 1, 2022 @ 2:51pm
How to scan for games + Disk write error.
Greetings. I have been having the Disk Write error all day long. Any game, update, etc simply stops after 2 seconds of downloading. I have found no solution anywhere. Ive only made the problem worse by reinstalling steam, which resulted in all my games not being detected by steam. When i try to add the folder where my games are located steam notifies me the folder has to be empty...

How would i have steam recognize my games again, and how do i fix the disk writing error?
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Originally posted by Elucidator:
"Failed to write chunk in file" this means the file for some reason became read only momentarily (due to it being in use by another application for example) or, that the chunk was assigned to the wrong location (due to a vdf file not being correct) for some reason. Its kinda vague basically.

the vdf file being corrupt, could be one related to the steamapps folder, but also the userdata folder. (it can also be related to the saved user profiles on the steam installation)
though like I said a complete reinstall normally fixes those issues, if it doesn't-- either there were leftovers, or something is very ... very weird with your system.
It would mean something outside of Steam is blocking a write to it.

Maybe an antivirus is scanning the file at the time steam tries to write to it, and then Steam fails. (something like that)
Currently, idk what causes it at least. -fs_log and -lognetapi can provide more info at least (to see if it got blocked somewhere or not).

Edit: you may need to disable any windows service that auto changes or updates files on the D: disk as well, such as the indexing service, so that you can be sure it isn't in use.

I recommend getting Process Explorer from SysInternals to see what the heck is using your D: drive.

(edit (2h later) to add a link for the lazy: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer )
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Showing 1-15 of 41 comments
76561198343548661 Mar 1, 2022 @ 2:54pm 
Any virus scan ?
#1
Set-115689 Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:01pm 
Scan the disk for problems with crystal disk.
Last edited by Set-115689; Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:01pm
#2
Tribe Reimanen Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:03pm 
Originally posted by littlecat20160:
Any virus scan ?
Windows Defender and Hitman Pro found no malicious software
#3
Tribe Reimanen Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:07pm 
Originally posted by Set-115689:
Scan the disk for problems with crystal disk.
I was thinking it might be a harddrive error considering the fact i have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ old HDD disk but crystal disk doesnt show any problems (Although im not completely sure how the application works? says its "Good" and no weird errors or anything)
#4
76561198343548661 Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:13pm 
Run the built-in Windows disk checking tool . Second , i dont trust a lot Defender , despite its success rating has improved
Last edited by smallcat; Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:13pm
#5
Tribe Reimanen Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:14pm 
Originally posted by littlecat20160:
Run the built-in Windows disk checking tool . Second , i dont trust a lot Defender , despite its success rating has improved
What anti virus do you recommend?
#6
76561198343548661 Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:15pm 
the best are Kaspersky and Bitdefender , but i use the free version of Avast . But , do disk check first .
#7
Tribe Reimanen Mar 1, 2022 @ 3:20pm 
Originally posted by littlecat20160:
the best are Kaspersky and Bitdefender , but i use the free version of Avast . But , do disk check first .
Ok i will try this tommorow, ill let you know how it went asap
#8
Tribe Reimanen Mar 2, 2022 @ 2:42am 
Originally posted by littlecat20160:
the best are Kaspersky and Bitdefender , but i use the free version of Avast . But , do disk check first .
So after scanning i see this in the Windows event vieuwer:


"Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
801280 file records processed.
File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 8.13 seconds.
19615 large file records processed.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.
Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.72 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
87420 reparse records processed.
1114122 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 26.19 seconds.
0 unindexed files scanned.
Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 3.21 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 2.21 seconds.
87420 reparse records processed.
Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 162.01 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 3388 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3388 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3388 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is compacting the security descriptor stream
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 110.61 milliseconds.
156422 data files processed.
Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.82 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
40217536 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 231.80 milliseconds.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
801264 files processed.
File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 6.34 minutes.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
2530988 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.

Windows has made corrections to the file system.
No further action is required.

116590591 KB total disk space.
105240132 KB in 475663 files.
309300 KB in 156425 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
917207 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
10123952 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
29147647 total allocation units on disk.
2530988 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 7.01 minutes (420968 ms).

Internal Info:
00 3a 0c 00 1d a5 09 00 90 14 11 00 00 00 00 00 .:..............
9a 04 00 00 e2 50 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .....P.........."

It says "No further action required" Does that mean im good?
Also at the top it says its scanning the C drive, but did it ONLY search that drive or did it also do my D drive?
#9
Tribe Reimanen Mar 2, 2022 @ 3:56am 
I found out i can install games on my C drive fine, so im guessing its a Disk problem then?
#10
Tribe Reimanen Mar 2, 2022 @ 4:17am 
Ok so now i scanned the D drive and i get this in the event viewer:

"Chkdsk was executed in read/write mode.

Checking file system on D:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Chkdsk may run if this volume is dismounted first.
ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID.
Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N) Volume dismounted. All opened handles to this volume are now invalid.
Volume label is DATA.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
359168 file records processed. File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 3.61 seconds.
180 large file records processed. Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed. Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.33 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
1677 reparse records processed. 458740 index entries processed. Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 37.61 seconds.
0 unindexed files scanned. Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 157.85 milliseconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found. Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 0.70 milliseconds.
1677 reparse records processed. Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 7.04 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 14 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 14 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 14 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 15.82 milliseconds.
49787 data files processed. Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.38 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
41269048 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 489.09 milliseconds.
Write failure with status 0xc0000483 at offset 0x100000 for 0x20000 bytes.
An unspecified error occurred (6e74667363686b2e 15bc).
Write failure with status 0xc0000483 at offset 0x2000 for 0x1e000 bytes.
An unspecified error occurred (6e74667363686b2e 17b4)."

This to me seems like something is wrong. What should i do?
#11
_I_ Mar 2, 2022 @ 6:29am 
replace the drive
#12
ギャルガールです Mar 2, 2022 @ 6:30am 
Their secret
#13
Elucidator Mar 2, 2022 @ 7:24am 
Uninstall Steam, remove all related files.
Remove registry leftovers, etc.
Then reinstall Steam to D:, make D: your default library.
It should work then.

Those 'errors' scandisk shows happens when it tries to update the journalling information on D:, which can be due to a number of reason including "read only" files. Nothing too serious.
Any fixes scandisk makes is usually due to some journalling or indexing update (as shown with the C: disk results). There is no real corruption it fixes, just outdated information.

as the information says, it helps if you unmount D: first. (which turns the Volume D: with the label DATA into just the partition DATA.)
unmounting can be done with Safe Removal, or (see edit below), etc.
While D: is unmounted, any files, executables, etc anything that refers to D: cannot work properly. You cannot access D: while the file system isn't mounted to it, so you need to close stuff that runs from D: before doing scandisk.

Anyway...
Disk Write Error usually is a result of some kind of problem, but the problem usually isn't specified. Look in Steam/logs/content_log.txt and look what exactly it has problems with, this may give a hint.
If it isn't enough of a hint you may need to enable additional logging with the commandline options -fs_log and -lognetapi, which may give better hints. (there will be more logs present in the logs folder)

Disk Write Error isn't the same as Disk Error, it specifically refers to an Attempt to Write Data, during a specific Operation (time, event), at a specific Location on the Disk.


Edit:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/158668-how-mount-unmount-drive-volume-windows.html
Last edited by Elucidator; Mar 2, 2022 @ 7:28am
#14
Tribe Reimanen Mar 2, 2022 @ 7:43am 
Originally posted by Elucidator:
Uninstall Steam, remove all related files.
Remove registry leftovers, etc.
Then reinstall Steam to D:, make D: your default library.
It should work then.

Those 'errors' scandisk shows happens when it tries to update the journalling information on D:, which can be due to a number of reason including "read only" files. Nothing too serious.
Any fixes scandisk makes is usually due to some journalling or indexing update (as shown with the C: disk results). There is no real corruption it fixes, just outdated information.

as the information says, it helps if you unmount D: first. (which turns the Volume D: with the label DATA into just the partition DATA.)
unmounting can be done with Safe Removal, or (see edit below), etc.
While D: is unmounted, any files, executables, etc anything that refers to D: cannot work properly. You cannot access D: while the file system isn't mounted to it, so you need to close stuff that runs from D: before doing scandisk.

Anyway...
Disk Write Error usually is a result of some kind of problem, but the problem usually isn't specified. Look in Steam/logs/content_log.txt and look what exactly it has problems with, this may give a hint.
If it isn't enough of a hint you may need to enable additional logging with the commandline options -fs_log and -lognetapi, which may give better hints. (there will be more logs present in the logs folder)

Disk Write Error isn't the same as Disk Error, it specifically refers to an Attempt to Write Data, during a specific Operation (time, event), at a specific Location on the Disk.


Edit:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/158668-how-mount-unmount-drive-volume-windows.html

After reinstalling Steam and trying to install TES Skyrim with no luck, this in the log:

[2022-03-02 16:40:07] HTTP (SteamCache,186) - cache3-ams1.steamcontent.com (155.133.248.14:80 / 155.133.248.14:80, host: cache3-ams1.steamcontent.com): Closing connection
[2022-03-02 16:40:07] HTTP (SteamCache,190) - cache1-ams1.steamcontent.com (155.133.248.18:80 / 155.133.248.18:80, host: cache1-ams1.steamcontent.com): Closing connection
[2022-03-02 16:40:07] HTTP (SteamCache,185) - cache2-ams1.steamcontent.com (155.133.248.13:80 / 155.133.248.13:80, host: cache2-ams1.steamcontent.com): Closing connection
[2022-03-02 16:40:08] Failed to write chunk in file "TESV.exe", 1048576 bytes at offset 6291456 (Unknown)
[2022-03-02 16:40:08] AppID 72850 update canceled : Failed updating depot 72852 while writing chunk, offset 6291456 (Unknown) (Disk write failure) "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\downloading\72850\TESV.exe"
[2022-03-02 16:40:08] AppID 72850 update changed : Running,Downloading,Staging,Stopping,
[2022-03-02 16:40:11] AppID 72850 update changed : Running,Stopping,
[2022-03-02 16:40:11] AppID 72850 update changed : None
[2022-03-02 16:40:11] AppID 72850 state changed : Update Required,Update Queued,Update Started, (Disk write failure)
[2022-03-02 16:40:11] AppID 72850 state changed : Update Required,Update Paused,Update Started,
[2022-03-02 16:40:11] AppID 72850 scheduler finished : removed from schedule (result Disk write failure, state 0x602)
Last edited by Tribe Reimanen; Mar 2, 2022 @ 7:43am
#15
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All Discussions > Steam Forums > Hardware and Operating Systems > Topic Details
Date Posted: Mar 1, 2022 @ 2:51pm
Posts: 41
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