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random bits in badblocks



The option -t random specifies that "the block should be filled with a 
random bit pattern".

Now, just how random is that bit pattern.

Does it choose a random byte and fill the entire hard drive with it?

Does it make up a random disk block and write that to the whole disk?

Or does each block get its own randomly chosen data, presumably generated 
by a pseudorandom generator so as to catch bad seeks?  In this case, is 
the seed always the same, so I could take a disk I wrote on with -t 
random and check it next week, the computer being off in between?

-- hendrik


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