Re: [PLUG] Has my disk gone bad?

[edgee@cyberpass.net]

Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 22:22:28 -0500
From: edgee@goppelt.net
Reply-To: edgee@goppelt.net
Subject: Re: [PLUG] Has my disk gone bad?
To: plug@lists.phillylinux.org

Quoting Bill Jonas <bill@billjonas.com>:

> On Fri, Nov 10, 2000 at 09:31:00AM -0400, Ed G. wrote:
> > My disk has about 110,000 files in it.  Can I safely conclude from
> > two known bad files that the disk is roasted or is this an
> > "acceptable" rate of failure?  How common is it in your experience
> > for small bits of the disk drive to fail, rather than a single
> > catastrophic failure that leaves you unable to boot up?
>
> Hmm...  I would suspect memory, first.  These same kind of symptoms

Well, you were right on the money about it's not being the disk.  Shortly after
I received your email, my computer went belly up--wouldn't even turn on.
After a motherboard transplant, all is well and the "corrupted" files have gone
back to their uncorrupted state.

> of memory) that were in a marginal state to fail.  The corruption of a
> few
> binaries most likely resulted from those files being cached in a bad
> part
> of memory (I copied the binaries over from another Debian 2.2 box, and
> they
> worked fine then, although it was suggested by my boss that I could have
> simply touch'd the files).

This hadn't occurred to me, but it makes sense.  After I replaced the
motherboard, I went back and looked at the corrupted file, and wonder of
wonders, it wasn't corrupted any more!

> I'd try using memtest86 or some other memory tester before you replace
> the
> disk.

Thanks for the tip.  Can you recommend any disk diagnostic software for linux,
something that would really exercise the drive and (hopefully) cause a marginal
drive to fail?

Ed G.

-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: localhost

----- End forwarded message -----


-------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: localhost


______________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group       -      http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements-http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  -  http://lists.phillylinux.org/mail/listinfo/plug