[kwlug-disc] Checking a USB disk for errors

[William Park]

mkfs.ext4 can map out bad sectors using '-c' option.  According to
manpage, mkfs.ntfs scans for bad sectors default, unless you specify
"quick format".

Heat may be causing the problem.  Remove the USB casing, or get
something with ventilation.  I recommend Mediasonic 4-bay case which
holds the disks in place, unlike those docking devices where disks can
wiggle and disconnect.

In any case, hold on to your Samsung harddisks.  I really miss Samsung
harddisks.  They have 1 in 10^15 error rate, excellent for Raid.
-- 
William

On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 11:38:51AM -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> Well, I ran badblocks for several days.
> 
> Output is below, a bit mangled since I hit enter several times to keeps
> some info on the screen.
> 
> For a 1TB disk that will be used for non-critical stuff (PVR, ...etc.), is
> this still useable?
> 
> It will have NTFS, which I am not sure can re-map bad blocks? the mkfs.ntfs
> command on Linux (part of ntfs-3g package) initializes the drive with zeros
> (and takes forever).
> 
> # time badblocks -b 4096 -c 4096 -svw /dev/sdc
>
...
> Pass completed, 3 bad blocks found. (3/0/0 errors)
> 
> real    3932m43.250s
> user    23m9.291s
> sys     16m37.766s
> 
> The bad blocks (4096 ones) are:
> 
> 22135426
> 22135188
> 22135663
> 
> In dmesg, the bad sectors are:
> 
> [33236.834113] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177083312
> [33238.460149] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177083408
> [90852.162163] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177081392
> [90853.316978] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177083312
> [90854.968393] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177081504
> [90855.973362] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector 177083408
> [151635.813773] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector
> 177081392
> [151637.564844] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector
> 177081504
> [211887.403595] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector
> 177085232
> [211888.847139] end_request: critical target error, dev sdc, sector
> 177085304
> 
> 
> -- 
> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> 2bits.com, Inc.
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