[gentoo-user] {OT} smartctl: read failure

[gentoo-user] {OT} smartctl: read failure

[Grant]

I get this on my laptop's internal HDD:

# smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining
LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       60%     12400
      149547192

after some Googling, it sounds like it's bad sectors and not
necessarily cause for alarm.  Does anyone have experience with this
type of error?  Can you suggest other tests to run, or comment on the
severity of the error?

- Grant

[gentoo-user] Re: {OT} smartctl: read failure

[walt]

On 08/09/2009 03:15 PM, Grant wrote:
> I get this on my laptop's internal HDD:
>
> # smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda
> Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining
> LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
> # 1  Extended offline    Completed: read failure       60%     12400
>        149547192
>
> after some Googling, it sounds like it's bad sectors and not
> necessarily cause for alarm.  Does anyone have experience with this
> type of error?  Can you suggest other tests to run, or comment on the
> severity of the error?

I have a disk that seemed very flakey in the lowest 10GB or so, even
when it was relatively new. I ran e2fsck with the -c and -k flags over
a period of time, and now I can use all of the disk with no apparent
problems.

You should read the man pages for e2fsck and badblocks before doing
anything, of course.

I've heard that SMART in newer disks is supposed to substitute bad
block automatically, but I don't seem to have any disks that new.
(Informed advice is very welcome :o)