[ILUG] disk error checking

[Frank Duignan]

Thanks all.

On 5/30/06, Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> wrote:
>
> Quoting Frank Duignan (frank.duignan at gmail.com):
>
> > I've got an ide disk that is showing a "short read" error on a
> sector.  I
> > don't simply want to format it and perhaps hide an underlying
> problem.  I
> > really would like to know whether this is an actual error or simply an
> after
> > effect of a bad shutdown.  Any suggestions?
>
> Going by experience, I'd say 'short read' sounds a little ominous -- and
> the first thing you should do is update your backups -- but if you want
> to give the disk a chance, you might consider taking the machine
> offline, copying the filesystems elsewhere for safekeeping, and running
> 'badblocks -wv' on the device, (e.g., 'badblocks -wv /dev/hdb').
>
> If you have a little more time, try the manufacturer HD utilities.  Some
> of the manufacturers include pseudo-low-level formatting routines, that
> can in some cases do wonders for an aging ATA disk.
>
> (see 'Hard Drive Utilities' on http://linuxmafia.com/kb/Hardware)
>
> --
> Cheers,
> Rick Moen                 Tua mater tam antiquior ut linguam Latine
> loquatur.
> rick at linuxmafia.com
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