From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Oct 27 08:16:21 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 309A3106568B for ; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:16:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (gate6.infracaninophile.co.uk [IPv6:2001:8b0:151:1::1]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BAB328FC19 for ; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:16:20 +0000 (UTC) Received: from happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk (localhost [IPv6:::1]) (authenticated bits=0) by smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (8.14.3/8.14.3) with ESMTP id n9R8GEEs071789; Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:16:15 GMT (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) X-DKIM: Sendmail DKIM Filter v2.8.3 smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk n9R8GEEs071789 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=infracaninophile.co.uk; s=200708; t=1256631375; bh=Apl7UaLIlNMRheeqUaRsZCKwHyVOcM2YQ4wZVaP3zYY=; h=Message-ID:Date:From:MIME-Version:To:CC:Subject:References: In-Reply-To:Content-Type:Cc:Content-Type:Date:From:In-Reply-To: Message-ID:Mime-Version:References:To; z=Message-ID:=20<4AE6AC47.9070800@infracaninophile.co.uk>|Date:=20T ue,=2027=20Oct=202009=2008:16:07=20+0000|From:=20Matthew=20Seaman= 20|Organization:=20Infracaninophi le|User-Agent:=20Thunderbird=202.0.0.23=20(X11/20090823)|MIME-Vers ion:=201.0|To:=20=3D?ISO-8859-1?Q?Gr=3DFCnewald_Micha=3DEBl?=3D=20 |CC:=20freebsd=20questions=20general=20 |Subject:=20Re:=20Bad=20sectors:=20 how=20bad=20can=20it=20be|References:=20|In-Reply-To:=20|X-Enigmail-Version:=200.95.6|Content-Type:=20mu ltipart/signed=3B=20micalg=3Dpgp-sha256=3B=0D=0A=20protocol=3D"app lication/pgp-signature"=3B=0D=0A=20boundary=3D"------------enigB13 802AEAC2BF98179D5F2FC"; b=ZTwE6/ZOKkNrVpawjw846ceOB6HD69E3zw5qm3CWWnuejr7aRur97P/tkQSthUFQ5 cqPi4AUGSDFE3ULTsvOcLNWJJ1dm0FawUnIyKDwvqlAyJE7Nc7n3UkTAS4nV0Q1vJ2 arR9bkDfN2dd5uN1zNXoY435EF/mqdD4vg9iut9Q= X-Authentication-Warning: happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk: Host localhost [IPv6:::1] claimed to be happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk Message-ID: <4AE6AC47.9070800@infracaninophile.co.uk> Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:16:07 +0000 From: Matthew Seaman Organization: Infracaninophile User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 (X11/20090823) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Gr=FCnewald_Micha=EBl?= References: In-Reply-To: X-Enigmail-Version: 0.95.6 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha256; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="------------enigB13802AEAC2BF98179D5F2FC" X-Virus-Scanned: clamav-milter 0.95.2 at happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk X-Virus-Status: Clean X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.0 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VERIFIED,NO_RELAYS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk Cc: freebsd questions general Subject: Re: Bad sectors: how bad can it be X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:16:21 -0000 This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enigB13802AEAC2BF98179D5F2FC Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Gr=FCnewald Micha=EBl wrote: > Dear list, >=20 > after an incorrect power-off of my FreeBSD system, it does not boot any= =20 > more, BTX stops even before showing the cute beastie menu. Starting the= =20 > machine by other means, I found that the hard-drive is installed on has= =20 > bad sectors. I am looking for advices on how to recover from this, if=20 > possible. >=20 > Basically the question is: shall I discard my hard-drive with=20 > bad-sectors, or can I continue using it? >=20 > The Linux system I use to diagnose this says: >=20 > hdb: media error (bad sector): status=3D0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplet= e=20 > Error } > hdb: media error (bad sector): error=3D0x30 { LastFailedSense=3D0x03 = } > ... > Buffer I/O error on device hdb, logical block 1663200 >=20 > etc. >=20 > Since I use computers (1992) these are my first bad sectors :) (on hard= =20 > drives, taking floppies into account is no fun!). I hence have several = > questions: > -- is it possible to let these sectors? > -- to which extents a hard-drive with bad sectors is usable? > -- while the apparition of these bad sectors coincide with an=20 > incorrect power-off, are the two events related? The machine suffered=20 > plenty improper power-offs (or many), in the last years and did not=20 > react so badly! Yes. Back up your data and replace that disk ASAP. It's toast. All disks come with a built-in set of spare sectors, which the firmware will automatically substitute for any sectors that go bad. If you get to the state where the OS is seeing bad blocks, it means the disk has run out of spare sectors. It's worn out. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW --------------enigB13802AEAC2BF98179D5F2FC Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.13 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEAREIAAYFAkrmrE4ACgkQ8Mjk52CukIzdCACggD6To41866mnPgvY87F5vFv4 pjQAn3Hcpcn4YL2U5LZLSVuscg3WTgjW =J/KV -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enigB13802AEAC2BF98179D5F2FC--