MAN page from Other e2fsprogs-1.15-0.i386.rpm

BADBLOCKS

Section: Maintenance Commands (8)
Updated: July 1999
Index

NAME

badblocks - search a device for bad blocks

SYNOPSIS

badblocks[-bblock-size][-ooutput_file][-s][-v][-w]deviceblocks-count [ start-block ]

DESCRIPTION

badblocksis used to search for bad blocks on a device (usually a disk partition).
deviceis the special file corresponding to the device (e.g /dev/hdXX).
blocks-countis the number of blocks on the device.

OPTIONS

-b block-size: Specify the size of blocks in bytes.
-o output_file: Write the list of bad blocks to the specified file. Without this option,badblocksdisplays the list on its standard output. The format of this file is suitablefor use by the -l option in e2fsck(8)ormke2fs(8).
-s: Show the progress of the scan by writing out the block numbers as theyare checked.
-v: Verbose mode.
-w: Use write-mode test. With this option,badblocksscans for bad blocks by writing some patterns (0xaa, 0x55, 0xff, 0x00) onevery block of the device, reading every block and comparing the contents.

WARNING

Never use the `-w' option on an device containing an existing file system.This option erases data!

AUTHOR

badblockswas written by Remy Card <cardAATTmasi.ibp.fr>, the developer and maintainerof the ext2 fs.

BUGS

I had no chance to make real tests of this program since I use IDE drives,which remap bad blocks. I only made some tests on floppies.

AVAILABILITY

badblocksis part of the e2fsprogs package and is available for anonymous ftp from tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/packages/ext2fs.

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