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How to test newly bought hard drive using badblocks on Linux

sylviabrowyn

Published: 24 Mar 2018 › Updated: 24 Mar 2018How to test newly bought hard drive using badblocks on Linux

How to test newly bought hard drive using badblocks on Linux

Caution: these steps will delete all the data in the selected partition of hard drive.

Understand the following command:

sudo = root permission
badblocks = testing program on Linux
-b = block size, 4096 is preferable for external hdd which is more than 2TB
-wsv = write & then read test, with response.
/dev/sdX = drive location which you can find from Disk program (you can change into your particular drive eg: sdb. Please make sure to select the correct drive or lose data)
-t = test type (eg: 0xaa, 0x55, 0xff, 0x00)
-o = output file to a specific location
Last two numbers = range of block to be tested, eg: from #1 to #400000000. Beware, the range is in reversed order.

Open the terminal, you can start input your command, for example:

sudo badblocks -b 4096 -wsv /dev/sdX -t 0x55 -o /mnt/1BE48F33510B4128/output.txt 400000000 1

An error-free result will look like the following:
Testing with pattern 0xaa: sdone
Reading and comparing: done
Testing with pattern 0x55: done
Reading and comparing: done
Testing with pattern 0xff: done
Reading and comparing: done
Testing with pattern 0x00: done
Reading and comparing: done

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