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Timothy A. Holmes <tholmes <at> mcaschool.net> writes: |
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> I now want to test the drives (they are now blank except for |
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> the os) to see if the problem was with fedora and lvm (the old one) or |
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> if it is a physical or electrical problem with the disks. The disks are |
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> SATA drives 2x 250gb -- I am not sure how to proceed and I googling has |
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> not been helpful -- it may be there, I just haven't found it. |
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We'll testing is a word that is 'wide open' for interpretation. |
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reformatting the drives, if practical is not a bad idea: |
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fdisk.... gparted..... |
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Other programs use numerous types of writes to essentially |
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blank the drivers so the old files cannot be recovered |
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(paranoid security measure)... It is also good, |
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again if you have the time and can erase the drives completely, |
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when weird issues arise. These (2) are extreme measure, but I |
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have been successful in revitalizing drives by using extreme measures. |
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You may need to map out bad sectors several times to completely |
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repair a older drive. |
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On the performance side of the drive issue |
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read about hdparm and all of the tests you can find. |
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hdparm -i /dev/hda |
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hdparm -I /dev/hda |
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Then use /etc/conf.d/hdparm to initialize the drives correctly: |
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Here's one of etc/conf.d/hdparm ; your will need to adjust per |
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your drives: |
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<snip> |
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all_args="-d1" |
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hda_args="-d1 -u1 -c1 -a256" |
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<snip> |
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rc-update add hdparm default <to activate your custom drive |
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settings upon reboot.> |
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Also, your performance depends on the file system as well as |
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the hard drive's interface chip. Make sure you have the correct |
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IDE driver built into the kernel for optimum performance. 'dmesg' |
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is your friend. |
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Also, you can use 'bonnie' and 'bonnie++' to test the |
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performance of your drives. It's a real time sink |
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using all of this stuff, but, you really get to know |
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your drives. This experience will be very valuable when |
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you go to purchase new hard drives. Separating fact |
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from hype. |
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Also 'hddtemp' is a good tool for monitoring your drives' |
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temperatures.... Hot equipment rarely performs optimally, |
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and often has flaky (inconsistent) performance. |
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There are many other tools and packages. Google and use |
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eix <keyword> to find things to try out. |
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hth, |
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James |
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-- |
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