Thanks, I had noticed smartctl but the amount of output was a bit much at first.
Michael Whapples On 22/12/09 19:06, David Maus wrote: > At Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:33:30 +0000, > Michael Whapples wrote: > >> Hello, >> I am wondering whether GRML can help me here. I have agreed to check a >> computer (tomorrow) for someone as it isn't booting properly (its a >> windows XP computer). By the sound of it I suspect the hard disk is >> failing or totally failed or windows has become corrupted to the point >> it won't boot. >> > IMHO the first question should be how important the data on the hard > disk is. If the hdd sounds unhealthy chances are goot the it may be a > mechanical defect that gets worse and destroys data simply by spinning > the discs. I personally refuse to check computers whose hard disks > make unhealthy noises. > > If you decide to check it, my second step would be booting grml and > making a backup of the drive using ddrescue. > > To check the hdd I would use smartmontools that queries the internal > log of the hard disk. > > smartctl -a /dev/<disk> > > Displays a overview over the hard disk's state. I normally check the line > > SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: > > and on the SMART Attributes > > - 196: Reallocated_Event_Count > > Physically damaged sectors are reallocated; it's okay if this > happes sometimes but an increasing number of reallocated sectors > is troubel ahead. > > - 197: Current_Pending_Sector > > Pending sectors are sectors that are marked for reallocation but > can't be reallocated for some reason. > > Please be aware that the attribute table is hard to interpret because > what most of the values actually /mean/ depends on the hard disk > manufacturer. It is for instance normal for a "Seagate Barracuda > 7200.10 family" that the raw value of attribute 1: Raw_Read_Error_Rate > is about 124438548 etc. > > It's my practical expirience as a sysadmin that the attributes 196 and > 197 are good indicators of failing hdds. > > You may also start an internal self-test of the hdd (smartctl -t) -- > the possible test routines depend on the hdd model but I would try a > long selftest (smartctl -t long). > > As I had to debug a failing hdd recently I can only stress that what > ever you do you should check the SMART values occasionally. In my case > I noticed an increasing rate of reallocated sectors while trying to > fix the filesystem. > > On the question how to check and/or fix a broken ntfs filesystem, I am > lost. > > HTH > > -- David > > _______________________________________________ Grml mailing list - Grml@mur.at http://lists.mur.at/mailman/listinfo/grml join #grml on irc.freenode.org grml-devel-blog: http://grml.supersized.org/