From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Sat, 5/17/2025 11:02 PM, Jimmy Anderson wrote:   
   >  To: CtrlAltDel   
   > -=> CtrlAltDel wrote to alt.os.linux <=-   
   >   
   > Ct> From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux   
   >   
   > Ct> Thanks for the responses, everyone, both genuine and sarcastic. I'm   
   > Ct> beginning to get the idea that what I wish to do can't be done,   
   > Ct> although I'm still not sure why.   
   >   
   > Ct> The thing is, I hate to waste anything. Just think of all the metal and   
   > Ct> parts and cards and plastic, etc... that will be useless and can't be   
   > Ct> recycled or anything if I can no longer use the 3 HDD drives I   
   > Ct> currently have.   
   >   
   > Why not find someone that WILL use the HDD's? That way they aren't   
   > 'junked'?   
   >   
      
   The S.M.A.R.T table can tell you what shape the drives are in.   
      
   As can a read benchmark.   
      
   "gnome-disks" has a benchmark window for the entire disk drive,   
   from the upper right three-ball menu. You're looking for "downward spikes"   
   indicating excess re-allocations, as an indication   
   of whether the drive is still suited to main usage.   
      
   I usually deassert the tick box for write benchmark, and only do reads.   
   It is hard for me to say whether the benchmarks are accurate. The main   
   purpose of running a bench, is to check for "smoothness". There have   
   been problems in the past, with more than one benchmark not being   
   able to measure speed properly. Some need a bug fix for this.   
      
      [Picture]   
      
       https://i.postimg.cc/BQ5GLTsW/disk-drive-testing.gif   
      
   I sort the drives into three piles.   
      
   1) Unconditional use. Transfer curve is relatively smooth.   
   2) Not for regular use. Like the drive in the picture, some   
      signs of wear are present.   
   3) The third level, is the "close to failure level". The   
      downward spikes are 50GB wide, and the slowness of the drive is   
      apparent. The "Reallocated" raw data box, is not zero and   
      might read 200 or 300. This is a drive with limited   
      remaining spare sectors. It still works as well as (2),   
      but is just less trustworthy. There could be room for the   
      reallocated to show up to 5500, but the application may   
      not tolerate the condition of the drive all the way to max.   
      It might take "ddrescue" from package "gddrescue", to copy the disk.   
      
     Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)