[ale] low level format

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Go to ultimatebootcd.com, download the cd, and burn it. Then boot it. There are some disk wiping utils there. I like copywipe. WARNING, be VERY careful which drive you tell the program to erase. Look at the partition structure. If you tell it to erase your main system drive, it will gladly do so. You could attach your junk drive to a usb housing or to an internal sata port. Try filling the drive with random numbers about 5-6 times. This takes a good bit of time. This lets the controller thoroughly, and repeatedly, analyze and find bad or questionable sectors. Then boot linux and format the drive. Then run disk utility (that's what it's called in Ubuntu) and run a long smart test if you have access to the smart subsystem at all. If all this works, you can probably trust the drive with data. HOWEVER, if the disk utility is showing bad sectors on the drive, it's better to retire it. If you were running Windows, you could run a disk check and read only surface analysis from Windows Explorer from the tools menu. I don't think it's possible to really low level format any more.

Sincerely,

Ron


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Ron Frazier
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linuxdude AT techstarship.com


Chuck Payne <terrorpup at gmail.com> wrote:

I haven't done a low level format since the days when I ran only SCSI.
Can I do a low level format on SATA Drives? I am trying to see if a
drive is really toast, or can be save. I am running Linux on the host
that it is on.

-- 
Terror PUP a.k.a
Chuck "PUP" Payne

(678) 636-9678
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