From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 6DE5E1382C5 for ; Tue, 16 Jun 2020 07:35:04 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id B12C4E0DF9; Tue, 16 Jun 2020 07:34:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-oi1-x22f.google.com (mail-oi1-x22f.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4864:20::22f]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 34C89E0DEE for ; Tue, 16 Jun 2020 07:34:59 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-oi1-x22f.google.com with SMTP id x202so18404153oix.11 for ; Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:34:59 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=subject:to:references:from:openpgp:autocrypt:message-id:date :user-agent:mime-version:in-reply-to; bh=YdDySrHkeLIMhfFc7b6eDqN+mjCGpSKCTe/G3Ck1bv4=; b=TrvSYxc32PMeiLPSbJaYaPVPUuaG/gX1HWPiCZ1+RF57gaL5MZ/5IgF7xV2IIpujG/ PoEylOdUuqbGNlB0fInZqio8rvkD2NM2RHPMSJMfZmvZ+vsXSuPZ//+tGcVLjSWvZCou 8PdxgtsdnZumEMUpWAWXzfFqP0H3sQh4rOpFdgIs0pWch6S86S1luQjmFIVRm7CIW8Zm X9WWr27+XISBlz+Ss0t+Z74MI5/JEice96nBxe/1Tg8ejJDjEs5FvOTsAFSsqTGkX1YN 8p1ECzDfoQVtn+g95ovTgRKpwWpCtO+9vBzZhomWompi03NaDD9vXQa6fC/BiZx0s4yR KJzA== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:subject:to:references:from:openpgp:autocrypt :message-id:date:user-agent:mime-version:in-reply-to; bh=YdDySrHkeLIMhfFc7b6eDqN+mjCGpSKCTe/G3Ck1bv4=; b=rCtcvHxGgolmONL49RTiRBFWdHA1je7SH9x/i9gh3HQ1Vdn27WQt2eS3Bye+VwYSEF kE7i6Te6i0MMGRPS4geVoCCPK1rqX8WHTXmgoqz5szzF2BAK7KrdzrfJVq0D798rKiKF HZF/MEN+XGRDOOnbuPcajqRznkxNW+q/J1DiOWK1lxtrNM6QllmCoee3yZtaWfu39775 HJ6hwr+YriLuJqWgzOVNXnCIMgJWx3Zye+4kGxRqm9zRDqmAQmh01l5mzh437E3hk1HF jkOGqsjvjC7bJSofjLnL/TrAAeMe/d00BmDbZlGK1RnnrnIqiyYztQUH9toN59T+SYWh vdHQ== X-Gm-Message-State: AOAM532UPrVi1l40gsaulfOtzL4yQSFbxSh9O6reG5tFT3QA6tHIt6fQ c3sXloC6/8z6o00Oh+1LB/B1d+lI X-Google-Smtp-Source: ABdhPJzmFG/tAxiDxlOZfYIc80VE4+KvziLIsuR7JH57Vw27cBfY5XY8afTlIZHHsO6wtNDsUDhDCg== X-Received: by 2002:a05:6808:48d:: with SMTP id z13mr2412562oid.22.1592292898428; Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:34:58 -0700 (PDT) Received: from [192.168.0.100] (adsl-074-188-241-018.sip.asm.bellsouth.net. [74.188.241.18]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id x10sm3842424oox.41.2020.06.16.00.34.57 (version=TLS1_3 cipher=TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 bits=128/128); Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:34:57 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] Testing a used hard drive to make SURE it is good. To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org References: <6d77acb3-5754-06cb-b8ef-2f1a5d7d8084@gmail.com> From: Dale Openpgp: preference=signencrypt Autocrypt: addr=rdalek1967@gmail.com; prefer-encrypt=mutual; keydata= mQINBFxc7MgBEAC+zrgEdqJJiDe/UDAB+ScmferXWfJTVjbVT2T4DQ7jiLrgP9aNUo1HioNF mrU3JPOCR32gvZyTbY1+niO5+VSo/+pSqQ785h6ZDj1klMkrg6tEzGnf2MNBpBj4houZwxQ+ WDKKTg2M9F+lv8wTIdR/JQn+hSviktLMtrghQlyLhpapsLXWLA6gMFebpQYwxUwemvan8ddX lQvJe9FGyFYvBi0dp1gl10F2O+DVZJxvX8xkX+yImVlhVJiC31gXHRcj+Qlo7gprlU7TIieF Uow6/ZvYKJ26pztVdFCg5w0rMJkF/x8Zd4A6wnuptiAPmWaQ1+YKgYDonbDUgwqFSx5/lN5z DGZ4LlioxeUTTPVvZsqBIeDz6jNFA583OYbo1/S26dqrvTFf2DKlsvoDpVfAhNlwJPjoixs0 X3FNqPv+M10n4kq5Iz7Q9E3O4s/nfFIYGocEslVka7zZPkXSaHbsn+KJlY8XV6qxtCEdh0/V XX1+1aU2J74M0JikWhpwxTZ1dP5aOyWSPPEgFFIRW6xwwC02SoRH9a7mggfGYp/YjPlONNaT SCL8sgRfvmq3D0XTbLyTjSbExxkfKDmbePQagawDE3TlI/oivHf1JaAcbwMb3LZuU4TGcOIl 5D+x7q0MUIeCop0ZFOwAnqW3AVVNvsBkv2KN+IHJryWAf0/iMQARAQABtBtEYWxlIDxyZGFs ZWsxOTY3QGdtYWlsLmNvbT6JAk4EEwEIADgWIQTZ7suruPBaS60bCYXvEM/XWu+ZnAUCXFzs yAIbIwULCQgHAgYVCgkICwIEFgIDAQIeAQIXgAAKCRDvEM/XWu+ZnN+7D/4/1dNG4aCz0+v+ 0dcjV5tY1feYEWCdHKyDzxWBxlCpd/0NPRQeNY4VMjbCl/sq7GkXi/c2SbfWDQ5BQRkkExG1 pSwuXSIehGok/4fpTi3HDAguRvzdCqlKPt7me05FyiC/WnpY5GOlJ3ruGw2qABv/RmV2q5b/ tkq7h1y1f16DTNr3/nsj8HzHcrHdXdL4kaYChSOe/dbQR9Stqak7eMyR+iwvrJMNF/CGl70P 2x5ybsXMDzRVOqNcpa5ZdhEMTVh6+vC1SOmm1BFMF8XCqBEvBbcHWDQmGYTdNCsS/ADm8CBl gvjJgLdIsAzoMu4WHQDFnzXAoArqFWgAf53isOS4AWrv29tF9b8Aa1vb7h5JEa+ArcMsA6Gl X38+GY6WXXaxKI9n3PTCWu9tPGnRh7mABjnwEosDDqmzw8aTAYECb3avDuGY2rmcjgh4H6RE w08d63j1T4d5J9wlm4TGtW/VHgbUFkATEdH3Acl/EjFiyqTiX7p8kU6Reu5enIkogA93xoQh Rmy7ZiST/5LN+ZkaOdyjIw0L+5KalslN9SKt809YxgJ6kPo657LNTFPiFvFA46/SEWcBYrzq Xk0wEW0gBRWf+BqN0qRhU0/EQ+QfRdLLFg2xtUePwlheYLXxfyDLrdCCOLWYpkzbjCZHLS4u 69smbvR9S9KBDNzJybxEWrkCDQRcXOzIARAA5IGRWTqaM44IJgBYghZg2fGj0Am7KWPhE7V7 T/EEe7vVSUEFqHtlHzI4ZK6Q0AZ9uAEjE8IJIQ7KoTjzNqAtabP0vp3s0szgtJlsZ+8vGKlQ my7fvzSrdoQL0Xn7CEwJYFXJ1EMUcYIQeoHG1cUAaXx73k9BFbjwjnUeMrqlV/ZovQlg7duW nESfQ7HZu5NrtYyY3jPMUouxiO9WQPh+IHxZbt1absF2VcvRAymD32RxGvMPbw6ChMRD/p9O 4PH7M5rXaxr78NXQX9E48vrI00f1cYb9NSN1HnSV8cW3jKObVjdBk6jPQwrMvdpgdQhUB9aZ HS/9mC9mmAgiXKyCpzXe7FPB6QznSfn4GIaC/luy1e6SLUkJhRK/niB+gq+Mfxg2zXNuDUTI cMGmpDCp3kgUoorkaltk8RW09io95BkXrGhcDNuSGZfAParBc7RXyYpbIcax8St7tEAd2oFh 4seYOPUlzuhGrPpqR/91wrFc4E1260GKauSr4UhMJv6tygBwyC0mmBMKi+ZXw6ZdZxA5fg7y 35P3TILjznCXXTDgRHq9A3NknKRMcgFacX6eIhANkMFo6oJVjuEgy1dvu1wFfDq7c+i8GAHu L4pYzyXYu6PporlNNU0xSwdVgzM/uuK0lt+UxCimgC+YR3IezgDcbfudb7h9dGIwL+bbPL0A EQEAAYkCNgQYAQgAIBYhBNnuy6u48FpLrRsJhe8Qz9da75mcBQJcXOzIAhsMAAoJEO8Qz9da 75mcXZ4P/1YXgWDZek7mhzrf6uaQzMxa92P89HeWz4PlgB/32symeEFAV04WazzBZffI8AYY rGA1Xmu/2VaB9+FOODyKhUWBc2UL0NRWBk6POwboyTdKlclmpixaN9zLcBt0YLejoRfN1B/5 aQf9/lUDZMnAiCyz0FgeqEMUshldmwWC35RqnjrCbbuk2vIqSH6BLDIXU6jQrLHE1DF0ai41 wLtQFAFXPhn45n0ZwYhVs4Z32z4sjXrIvgBgCaXa4HM+L1Klne0KiNM8ReFTTpTE0SgyDOSZ O3MOa2n77i6JbVtsbiFYnNeP3J9S/l3jevGpZEtNQOKrIm1MW8jGuHWtsDeMkT/mCcSodlkt PxIo+mMK9GpGvG2hW80LiohqNfUbNwAmr3blOYY4URPXPRnEnPs4pmTmL5owjw2dkg145i9I D42Tq+XZ6YtWt3SGzGbAYow6XwTwZ5NFAzV9UQuCGrDw4KWan6O6Z+VIYWsn0UMZlu1Obxna aocofkaUCbISK26kImuD1aA8juSHC18Qv1xUage6/UakbSxyDtACqt6hOVFKX3IA59ApdNRT +2x3iCmlvF9MJsGgFq6IpqL+Fk7iWV8Kjbz0wQOId6N9+JdQh3LrLaS7a1PowUm1z9DK5/O0 Yg+gpDnEOOFI7WM5u7a7FSM2Z/LXGVwel/0eWvLk9tN6 Message-ID: Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 02:34:55 -0500 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/60.0 SeaMonkey/2.53.2 Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org X-Auto-Response-Suppress: DR, RN, NRN, OOF, AutoReply MIME-Version: 1.0 In-Reply-To: Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="------------452D182E5E1F46858729C502" X-Archives-Salt: b8961f18-cf99-4790-a57d-99924ee041c6 X-Archives-Hash: 5dd3dd09f5c1e053b5e48dda4bd885c5 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------452D182E5E1F46858729C502 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Mark Knecht wrote: > > > On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 12:37 PM Dale > wrote: > > > > Howdy, > > > > I finally bought a 8TB drive.  It is used but they claim only a > short duration.  Still, I want to test it to be sure it is in grade A > shape before putting a lot of data on it and depending on it.  I am > familiar with some tools already.  I know about SMART but it is not > always 100%.  It seems to catch most problems but not all.  I'm > familiar with dd and writing all zeores or random to it to see if it > can in fact write to all the parts of the drive but it is slow. It can > take a long time to write and fill up a 8TB drive. Days maybe??  I > googled and found a new tool but not sure how accurate it is since > I've never used it before.  The command is badblocks.  It is installed > on my system so I'm just curious as to what it will catch that others > won't.  Is it fast or slow like dd? > > > > I plan to run the SMART test anyway.  It'll take several hours but > I'd like to run some other test to catch errors that SMART may miss.  > If there is such a tool that does that.  If you bought a used drive, > what would you run other than the long version of SMART and its test?  > Would you spend the time to dd the whole drive?  Would badblocks be a > better tool?  Is there another better tool for this? > > > > While I'm at it, when running dd, I have zero and random in /dev.  > Where does a person obtain a one?  In other words, I can write all > zeros, I can write all random but I can't write all ones since it > isn't in /dev.  Does that even exist?  Can I create it myself > somehow?  Can I download it or install it somehow?  I been curious > about that for a good long while now.  I just never remember to ask. > > > > When I add this 8TB drive to /home, I'll have 14TBs of space.  If I > leave the 3TB drive in instead of swapping it out, I could have about > 17TBs of space.  O_O > > > > Thanks to all. > > > > Dale > > > > :-)  :-) > > The SMART test, long version, will do a very reasonable job catching > problems. Run it 2 or 3 times if it makes you feel better. > > Chris's suggestion about Spinrite is another option but it is slow, > slow, slow. Might take you weeks? On a drive that large if it worked > at all. > > As an aside, but important, I fear that you're possibly falling into > the trap most of us do at home. Please don't. Once you have 17TB of > space on your system how are you planning on doing your weekly > backups? Do you have 17TB+ on an external drive or system? Will you > back up to BlueRay discs or something like that? > > Mark Way back, we used Spinrite to test drives.  Think mid 90's.  Yea, it was slow then on what today is a tiny hard drive.  Can't imagine modern drive sizes.  It is good tho.  It reads/writes every single part of a drive.  It will generally find fault if there is one.  Right now, I'm backing up to a 8TB external drive, sadly it is a SMR drive but it works.  As I go along, I'll be breaking down my backups.  Example.  I may have my Documents directory, which includes my camera pics, backed up to one drive.  I may have videos backed up to another drive.  Other directories may have to be on other drives.  The biggest things I don't want to lose:  Camera pics that could not be replaced except with a backup.  Videos, some of which are no longer available.  That requires a large drive.  It currently is approaching 6TBs and I have several videos in other locations that are not included in that.  Documents which would be hard to recreate.  Since I have all my emails locally, I don't want to lose those either.  Just a bit ago, I was searching for posts regarding smartctl.  I got quite a few hits. Even if I build a NAS setup, I still need a backup arrangement.  Even if I have a RAID setup, still need backups.  It gets complicated for sure.  Sort of expensive too.  Just imagine if my DSL was 10 times faster.  O_O  I'd need to order drives by the case. Dale :-)  :-)  --------------452D182E5E1F46858729C502 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Mark Knecht wrote:


On Mon, Jun 15, 2020 at 12:37 PM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Howdy,
>
> I finally bought a 8TB drive.  It is used but they claim only a short duration.  Still, I want to test it to be sure it is in grade A shape before putting a lot of data on it and depending on it.  I am familiar with some tools already.  I know about SMART but it is not always 100%.  It seems to catch most problems but not all.  I'm familiar with dd and writing all zeores or random to it to see if it can in fact write to all the parts of the drive but it is slow. It can take a long time to write and fill up a 8TB drive. Days maybe??  I googled and found a new tool but not sure how accurate it is since I've never used it before.  The command is badblocks.  It is installed on my system so I'm just curious as to what it will catch that others won't.  Is it fast or slow like dd?
>
> I plan to run the SMART test anyway.  It'll take several hours but I'd like to run some other test to catch errors that SMART may miss.  If there is such a tool that does that.  If you bought a used drive, what would you run other than the long version of SMART and its test?  Would you spend the time to dd the whole drive?  Would badblocks be a better tool?  Is there another better tool for this?
>
> While I'm at it, when running dd, I have zero and random in /dev.  Where does a person obtain a one?  In other words, I can write all zeros, I can write all random but I can't write all ones since it isn't in /dev.  Does that even exist?  Can I create it myself somehow?  Can I download it or install it somehow?  I been curious about that for a good long while now.  I just never remember to ask.
>
> When I add this 8TB drive to /home, I'll have 14TBs of space.  If I leave the 3TB drive in instead of swapping it out, I could have about 17TBs of space.  O_O
>
> Thanks to all.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)

The SMART test, long version, will do a very reasonable job catching problems. Run it 2 or 3 times if it makes you feel better.

Chris's suggestion about Spinrite is another option but it is slow, slow, slow. Might take you weeks? On a drive that large if it worked at all.

As an aside, but important, I fear that you're possibly falling into the trap most of us do at home. Please don't. Once you have 17TB of space on your system how are you planning on doing your weekly backups? Do you have 17TB+ on an external drive or system? Will you back up to BlueRay discs or something like that?

Mark


Way back, we used Spinrite to test drives.  Think mid 90's.  Yea, it was slow then on what today is a tiny hard drive.  Can't imagine modern drive sizes.  It is good tho.  It reads/writes every single part of a drive.  It will generally find fault if there is one. 

Right now, I'm backing up to a 8TB external drive, sadly it is a SMR drive but it works.  As I go along, I'll be breaking down my backups.  Example.  I may have my Documents directory, which includes my camera pics, backed up to one drive.  I may have videos backed up to another drive.  Other directories may have to be on other drives.  The biggest things I don't want to lose:  Camera pics that could not be replaced except with a backup.  Videos, some of which are no longer available.  That requires a large drive.  It currently is approaching 6TBs and I have several videos in other locations that are not included in that.  Documents which would be hard to recreate.  Since I have all my emails locally, I don't want to lose those either.  Just a bit ago, I was searching for posts regarding smartctl.  I got quite a few hits.

Even if I build a NAS setup, I still need a backup arrangement.  Even if I have a RAID setup, still need backups.  It gets complicated for sure.  Sort of expensive too.  Just imagine if my DSL was 10 times faster.  O_O  I'd need to order drives by the case.

Dale

:-)  :-) 
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