Bad sector

[Mikkel L. Ellertson]

J.L. Coenders wrote:
> Dear list,
> 
> I have a problem. 
> Smartd reports that I have bad sectors on my disk. I have tried checking it 
> with badblocks which also reports bad sectors.
> I believe I have heard it is possible to repair this in a software manner. Is 
> this true, or do I need to buy a new disk?
> 
> Btw, fsck does not report any problems.
> 
> Thanks,
> Jeroen
> 
You may want to use hdparm and see if the on-drive defect management
feature is turned on. (-D option) If it is not, turn it on and let
the drive remap the bad sector. If it is already turned on, then you
should start looking for a new drive. If the drive has used up all
the spare sectors, then it is probably failing.

I have run into a few drives that do not seam to remap some bad
sectors until you run the manufacturer's drive test on them. You can
usualy download this from their web site. You can also download the
Ultimate Boot CD, boot from the CD, and select the correct test for
your drive. (It also has a lot of other nice tools on it.)

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Mikkel
-- 

  Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!