Check disk - Revision history

M at 19:39, 20 March 2025

2025-03-20T19:39:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:39, 20 March 2025
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			== BASIC CHECK ==
	See what you have. Use gparted, or these...		See what you have. Use gparted, or these...
	# basics		# basics
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	watch -n 3 smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdf # until success, takes about 1 minute		watch -n 3 smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdf # until success, takes about 1 minute
	# if you're feeling ambitious, rerun with [-t long]		# if you're feeling ambitious, rerun with [-t long]
	You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.
			== HEAVIER READ-WRITE TEST ==

			You can do more (but it's more dangerous as you'll be writing a LOT). Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.

			* plug it into the SSD usb mounter, but don't mount
			* sudo e2fsck -c -c /dev/sda1 # non-destructive read/write, takes 8 hours on 8TB drive

	== NUKING AND REFORMATTING AND TESTING A DRIVE ==		== NUKING AND REFORMATTING AND TESTING A DRIVE ==
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	e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks] (see next test). But if you can't get a partition written you will need badblocks. OR IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY. :-)		e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks] (see next test). But if you can't get a partition written you will need badblocks. OR IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY. :-)

	=== TEST VIA CREATING A PARTITION ===		=== TEST VIA WIPING AND CREATING A NEW PARTITION ===

	* plug it into the SSD usb mounter		* plug it into the SSD usb mounter

M at 19:37, 20 March 2025

2025-03-20T19:37:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:37, 20 March 2025
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	You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.		You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.

	This ~~is a tested way to check a PARTITION~~ for ~~bad blocks~~, ~~and repair:~~		== NUKING AND REFORMATTING AND TESTING A DRIVE ==
	~~su -~~
	~~e2fsck -c /dev/sda5~~		This can be done for new drives, or old drives that need a complete refresh.

			=== DIRECT NUKE TEST ===

	badblocks is an old program that destructively scans an entire drive (like dd) looking for bad blocks, by writing data to them all (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?). You have to use -b param to get it to work with larger drives. THIS IS DESTRUCTIVE:		badblocks is an old program that destructively scans an entire drive (like dd) looking for bad blocks, by writing data to them all (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?). You have to use -b param to get it to work with larger drives. THIS IS DESTRUCTIVE:
	sudo badblocks -t random -w -svv -b 4096 /dev/sda		sudo badblocks -t random -w -svv -b 4096 /dev/sda
	e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks]~~, but~~ if you can't get a partition written you will need badblocks.		e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks] (see next test). But if you can't get a partition written you will need badblocks. OR IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY. :-)

			=== TEST VIA CREATING A PARTITION ===

			* plug it into the SSD usb mounter
			* sudo fdisk /dev/sda
			* p
			* d # to remove any existing partition
			* n # to create new one, use defaults to make /dev/sda1
			* w
			* sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda1
			* sudo mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 # ensure it mounts
			* sudo umount /mnt/sda1
			* sudo e2fsck -c -c /dev/sda1 # non-destructive read/write, takes 8 hours on 8TB drive

M at 19:07, 20 March 2025

2025-03-20T19:07:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:07, 20 March 2025
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	su -		su -
	e2fsck -c /dev/sda5		e2fsck -c /dev/sda5
	~~To scan~~ an entire drive for ~~badblocks~~ (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?):		badblocks is an old program that destructively scans an entire drive (like dd) looking for bad blocks, by writing data to them all (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?). You have to use -b param to get it to work with larger drives. THIS IS DESTRUCTIVE:
	badblocks -svv /dev/sda		sudo badblocks -t random -w -svv -b 4096 /dev/sda
	~~To repair a drive, you MAY try this, but not tested.~~ e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks]		e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks], but if you can't get a partition written you will need badblocks.
	badblocks ~~-svvn -c 262144 /dev/sda~~

M at 16:12, 14 April 2016

2016-04-14T16:12:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:12, 14 April 2016
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			See what you have. Use gparted, or these...
			# basics
			df
			# NICE, this shows ALL DRIVES and where they are mounted!
			sudo lsblk
			# This is nice too, shows "data" for a raw drive, or type for a formatted one. Nice to know!
			sudo file -s /dev/xvdf
	Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T.		Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T.
	# install smartctl tools		# install smartctl tools

M at 16:09, 14 April 2016

2016-04-14T16:09:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:09, 14 April 2016
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	This is a tested way to check a PARTITION for bad blocks, and repair:		This is a tested way to check a PARTITION for bad blocks, and repair:
	su -		su -
	e2fsck -c /dev/~~sda~~		e2fsck -c /dev/sda5
	To scan an entire drive for badblocks (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?):		To scan an entire drive for badblocks (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?):
	badblocks -svv /dev/sda		badblocks -svv /dev/sda
	To repair a drive, you MAY try this, but not tested. e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks]		To repair a drive, you MAY try this, but not tested. e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks]
	badblocks -svvn -c 262144 /dev/sda		badblocks -svvn -c 262144 /dev/sda

M at 16:08, 14 April 2016

2016-04-14T16:08:36Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:08, 14 April 2016
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	Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T.		Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T.
			# install smartctl tools
			smartctl -c /dev/sdf # to peek at available tests and how long they typically take to run
			smartctl -t short /dev/sdf
			watch -n 3 smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdf # until success, takes about 1 minute
			# if you're feeling ambitious, rerun with [-t long]
	You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.		You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.

M: Created page with "Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T. You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions. This is a tested way to check a PARTITION for ba..."

2016-04-14T16:06:13Z

Created page with "Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T. You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions. This is a tested way to check a PARTITION for ba..."

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Most drive health maintenance is done internally by S.M.A.R.T.
You can do more. Boot to a live mode to test root partitions.

This is a tested way to check a PARTITION for bad blocks, and repair:
su -
e2fsck -c /dev/sda
To scan an entire drive for badblocks (which MAY cause firmware to improve things...?):
badblocks -svv /dev/sda
To repair a drive, you MAY try this, but not tested. e2fsck should be preferred according to [man badblocks]
badblocks -svvn -c 262144 /dev/sda