OT: disk drive question

[Lowell Gilbert]

Wojciech Puchar <wojtek at wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> writes:

> sorry for posting here but possibly someone here will know the answer.
>
> i have 120GB seagate in my thinkpad. yesterday i (possibly) overheated
> the disk somehow, by putting laptop on flat sticky surface.
>
> bad blocks developed on one partition like this
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA status=51<READY,DSC,ERROR>
> error=40<UNCORRECTABLE> LBA=52944196
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA status=51<READY,DSC,ERROR>
> error=40<UNCORRECTABLE> LBA=52955844
> ad0: FAILURE - READ_DMA status=51<READY,DSC,ERROR>
> error=10<NID_NOT_FOUND> LBA=52956740
>
>
> i was able then (with normal cooling) to back up data from there, and tried
>
> dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/partition bs=1m
>
> to force bad block reallocation.
>
> but it doesn't work, then reading always shows read errors.
>
> how to force this, or possibly is there any disk utility that would do this.
>
> if it requires disk to be cleaned out (reformatted somehow) that's not
> a problem

If you can, try the manufacturer's diagnostics
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

If not, try plugging the disk in on a working system and use SMART
capabilities to check things out.

Most likely, you need a new disk, but depending on the relative value
of your time and the price of a disk, it's worth checking to make sure
before springing for new gear.

Good luck.