check for badblocks without damage the system

['chris']

hi

howto check for badblocks ?
is it possible to start for example:

# badblocks -vs /dev/hda

on the running linux without damage the system ?

[rajv · Accepted solution]

Hi,

you can run fsck to check and fix the bad blocks.

#fsck -y /dev/hda

you can run this single usermode.

wtih out -y option system will ask want fix or not(y/n).

['chris']

thx, but the disk should be unmouted before running fsck.

[Ivan Ferreira]

badblocks should be called from fsck using the -c option. And yes, you must umount the file system. You don't have another option.

[Mike Stroyan]

Many disks support SMART self test. You can use smartctl to start a non-destructive bad blocks self test in the background even while a disk is in use.
See "man smartctl" and http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6983 for more information about smartctl.