Low level format VS Full Test? What's faster

[JakkyTchong]

I need to check many dozens of hard drives and make sure they're error
free and ready to install an OS. What's the fastest way to do this? I
thought about doing the drive's manufacturer quick test, but I think it
might miss some errors/bad sectors on the drive. I also thought about
doing the full test. I think it's kind of long and if it finds errors
I'll need to do the Low level formating (zero filling) (Even more
time). In that case it'd have been faster to just do the Low level
formating no (saving the full test step)?

If we need to be abolutely sure a drive is error free and repair all
errors if there's any, what's the fastest way to do so? Simply low
level formating all drives?

JakkyTchong

 

[Arno Wagner]

I need to check many dozens of hard drives and make sure they're error
free and ready to install an OS. What's the fastest way to do this? I
thought about doing the drive's manufacturer quick test, but I think it
might miss some errors/bad sectors on the drive. I also thought about
doing the full test. I think it's kind of long and if it finds errors
I'll need to do the Low level formating (zero filling) (Even more
time). In that case it'd have been faster to just do the Low level
formating no (saving the full test step)?

If we need to be abolutely sure a drive is error free and repair all
errors if there's any, what's the fastest way to do so? Simply low
level formating all drives?

You cannot low-level format modern drives. It would destroy them.

The only thing you can do is run a long SMART selftest. This will
find all defects and remap them. If will not find out whether a
drive has been dropped, overheated or mistreated in another
way that does not cause immediate defects but severely limits
it remaining lifetime.

As drives are error-free when you buy them, I would guess these
are not new or were harmed in some way. If that is the case,
then what you want cannot be done for most practical purposes.

Arno

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

You cannot low-level format modern drives. It would destroy them.

Babblebot utterly clueless as always.
No SCSI drive is ever destroyed by a Low Level Format.

The only thing you can do is run a long SMART selftest.

Utterly clueless as always.
Obviously there a whole host of things that you can do.

This will find all defects and remap them.

No it won't. Utterly clueless as always.

If will not find out whether a drive has been dropped, overheated
or mistreated in another way that does not cause immediate defects

But a drive exerciser may find less than cooperative sectors by timing the response time.

but severely limits it remaining lifetime.

Looming trouble that a drive exerciser may find.

As drives are error-free when you buy them,
Supposedly.

I would guess these are not new or were harmed in some way.

Like they were sent in the mail maybe? Carried around from delivery service to delivery service? Being stored in a warehouse and
retrieved again, while been repacked a few times?

If that is the case, then what you want cannot be done for most practical purposes.

Practical, as in quick, not always. Doable yes. Some drives have G sensors.
Some mfgr utes can recognize whether the platters have shifted.

 

[Bugs Bunny]

You cannot low-level format modern drives. It would destroy them.

I thought low level format just writes zeros to the drive? I did a low
level format recently on a SATA2 HDD and it didn't destroy it.

 

[Rod Speed]

I need to check many dozens of hard drives and make sure they're
error free and ready to install an OS. What's the fastest way to do this?

Check the Everest SMART report.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

I thought about doing the drive's manufacturer quick test,
but I think it might miss some errors/bad sectors on the drive.

Varys with the hard drive manufacturer, but yes, that approach
has downsides and you need the correct one unless you are
happy with the quick generic drive test some of them have.
The Everest SMART report is much better than that.

I also thought about doing the full test.

Thats a lot better but suffers from the need to use the correct diag.

I think it's kind of long and if it finds errors I'll
need to do the Low level formating (zero filling)

Zero filling isnt a LLF. Its worth doing if the
SMART report shows pending reallocated sectors.

(Even more time). In that case it'd have been faster to
just do the Low level formating no (saving the full test step)?

Nope, most drives wont need that.

If we need to be abolutely sure a drive is error free and repair
all errors if there's any, what's the fastest way to do so?

Use the hard drive manufacturer's diag.

Simply low level formating all drives?

You cant LLF modern drives and zero filling is a pretty poor way
to test a drive, most obviously with intermittently bad sectors.

 

[Rod Speed]

Arno Wagner wrote

I thought low level format just writes zeros to the drive?

Thats what happens if you tell the drive to do a LLF, it ignores
that instruction and just writes zeros thru all the sectors.

I did a low level format recently on a SATA2 HDD

No you didnt, you just wrote zeros thru every sector.

and it didn't destroy it.

Because you just wrote zeros thru every sector.

 

[timeOday]

I need to check many dozens of hard drives and make sure they're error
free and ready to install an OS. What's the fastest way to do this? I
thought about doing the drive's manufacturer quick test, but I think it
might miss some errors/bad sectors on the drive. I also thought about
doing the full test. I think it's kind of long and if it finds errors
I'll need to do the Low level formating (zero filling) (Even more
time). In that case it'd have been faster to just do the Low level
formating no (saving the full test step)?

If we need to be abolutely sure a drive is error free and repair all
errors if there's any, what's the fastest way to do so? Simply low
level formating all drives?

JakkyTchong

I'll tell you what happened to me just a few days ago.

I had a RAID volume that kept failing but I couldn't tell which disk was
to blame. I ran Seagates' SeaTools full diagnostics (which takes just
as long as a full format) over the weekend, it found nothing. Then
Maxtor's diagnostics tool, which also said all drives were fine.
Finally, I tried a full format (not low-level, just a full format in
Windows) on each drive, and sure enough the bad one raised an error
after only a couple of minutes. Popped in a spare and the RAID volume
now works.

It's very disappointing that the diagnostics software failed to find the
error even in full tests that take hours. Yet the drive would fail
after only a minute or two of actual use. I'm sure there are many cases
where the opposite would hold - a format would seem OK but the
diagnostics tools would pick up something more subtle.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I'll tell you what happened to me just a few days ago.

I had a RAID volume that kept failing but I couldn't tell which disk
was to blame. I ran Seagates' SeaTools full diagnostics (which takes
just as long as a full format) over the weekend, it found nothing.
Then Maxtor's diagnostics tool, which also said all drives were fine.

Finally, I tried a full format (not low-level, just a full format in Windows)

on each drive,

How the hell can you do a filesystem format on single drives at a time
in a RAID set.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I thought low level format just writes zeros to the drive?

Depends on what it does on a Format Track command.
It depends/differs per model.

I did a low level format

Did you?

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I need to check many dozens of hard drives and make sure they're error
free and ready to install an OS. What's the fastest way to do this?

I thought about doing the drive's manufacturer quick test, but I
think it might miss some errors/bad sectors on the drive.

Most of 'm. Usually this only tests whether the drive is functional.

I also thought about doing the full test.

Some still don't test the full drive in that mode.

I think it's kind of long and if it finds errors I'll need to do the
Low level formating (zero filling)

Not if it does read and write testing.

(Even more time).

And then you have to do it all over again.
There are no shortcuts. Just do the W/R testing.

In that case it'd have been faster to just do the Low level formating no

If you think that will be enough then why not use a physical drive
backup set to do the writing for you. Zeroes or real data, don't care.

(saving the full test step)?

If we need to be abolutely sure a drive is error free and repair all
errors if there's any, what's the fastest way to do so?

Simply low level formating all drives?

Doesn't check read capability, before nor after.

 

[Bugs Bunny]

It's very disappointing that the diagnostics software failed to find the
error even in full tests that take hours. Yet the drive would fail
after only a minute or two of actual use. I'm sure there are many cases
where the opposite would hold - a format would seem OK but the
diagnostics tools would pick up something more subtle.

Yea, I had a bad HDD just recently and Samsungs diagnostics showed no
errors on the HDD. I ran HDTune on it and it found the error. Don't use
quickscan though as that didn't find the error either.

http://www.hdtune.com/

 

[Arno Wagner]

On 8 Nov 2006 23:25:25 GMT, Arno Wagner wrote:

I thought low level format just writes zeros to the drive? I did a low
level format recently on a SATA2 HDD and it didn't destroy it.

That is not a low-level format. It is just a disk overwrite.
It does not really matter. For modern disks there is nothing
besides ordinary reads and writes the user can do. The SMART
self-test do a bit more, but are entirely done by the drive.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

I'll tell you what happened to me just a few days ago.

I had a RAID volume that kept failing but I couldn't tell which disk was
to blame. I ran Seagates' SeaTools full diagnostics (which takes just
as long as a full format) over the weekend, it found nothing. Then
Maxtor's diagnostics tool, which also said all drives were fine.
Finally, I tried a full format (not low-level, just a full format in
Windows) on each drive, and sure enough the bad one raised an error
after only a couple of minutes. Popped in a spare and the RAID volume
now works.

It's very disappointing that the diagnostics software failed to find the
error even in full tests that take hours. Yet the drive would fail
after only a minute or two of actual use. I'm sure there are many cases
where the opposite would hold - a format would seem OK but the
diagnostics tools would pick up something more subtle.

Not so surptisind. Disk storage is still in a pretty sad state.
However what should really piss you off is that the RAID controller
did not tell you exactly which disk had the problem.

Arno

 

[timeOday]

Not so surptisind. Disk storage is still in a pretty sad state.
However what should really piss you off is that the RAID controller
did not tell you exactly which disk had the problem.

Arno

Indeed. This was the Intel Matrix Raid controller on an ICH6
motherboard, with the latest BIOS and Intel Raid Console software. I
searched but never found anything besides vague messages such as a
delayed write has failed, and the array has failed. It's so odd, I have
to think I might have simply failed to look in the right place for the
information, but then the Intel Raid console is very simplistic.

I'm sure a dedicated RAID card would have better diagnostics, but this
is a transportable video capture box in a Shuttle case with both slots
used up. Besides I did like the idea of the HDD data not crossing the
PCI bus, which is accomplished with a chipset Raid controller.