Re: copying data from a partition with badblocks
On Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:07:15 -0400, Kamaraju S Kusumanchi wrote:
> One of the partitions on my hard drive has badblocks. I did a
>
> $sudo e2fsck -c -c -f -v /dev/sdb7
>
> on it and it found 757 badblocks. The partition itself is 100 GB and
> only 18 GB of it is filled. Now my question is how to salvage the data?
Badblocks "per se" are not indicative for an inminent hard disk failure.
Badblocks usually come along with another signals as smart test failures,
I/O errors in the logs, speed decreasing when running common tasks,
smarctl showing a rapid increment for the values tagged as "pre_fail" and
such.
Modern hard disks will handle bad blocks automatically and transparently
for the user and mark them when found as "avoidable" so no writing takes
place in those sectors.
> I did a rsync of files from this partition to another drive (say sdc9)
> and there were no errors during the copy. But I am wondering if there is
> a better way to copy the data from a drive with badblocks. Any
> suggestions?
>
> Also, if one of the partitions developed badblocks, how likely is it
> that other partitions (of the same drive) will also go bad in the
> future? Can I keep using the other partitions? or is it recommended to
> abandon the drive entirely?
If you still decide to replace the disk with a newer one, I'd copy the
data from an off-line system (e.g., from a LiveCD). If data is still
fully accessible you can use any tool you prefer for the task.
When it comes to cloning a full system I like Clonezilla (or the like)
applications.
And for deep data corruption that lead to data lose there are specialized
tools such "PhotoRec/TestDisk" that can help you with recovery.
> Can someone recommend a hard drive manufacturer/model that is more
> resistant to developing badblocks? The drive that gone bad is an iomega
> prestige portable USB 3.0 external hard drive.
For a company I prefer to choose those hard disks tagged as "enterprise"
with 5 years guarantee (since I switched to SATA I always buy Seagate).
Also, I tend to avoid as much as I can those external hard disks that
came integrated along with the enclosure: I prefer to buy the case and
the disk as separate items so I can choose the best devices in the market
and also by doing it this way I can replace the hard disk in the event it
breaks or should I need more space :-)
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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