Testing New Hard Drive after Installing Linux Mint?

[bblu87]

I am a long time Windows user and I'm planning on installing Linux Mint Mate on an older computer. I have to buy a new hard drive and I was told I should test/scan it before the return period to make sure it's good. Can I test/scan it after installing Linux Mint Mate on it? If I were to test it with Windows, I'd either have to install it as a second hard drive (I don't want to do this) or buy an external enclosure and I don't want to spend money on that.

Since I'm not familiar with Linux, I want to see what my options were before doing anything.

[deck_luck]

I would encourage anyone to do a thorough test of any new disk drive. I am sure there will be a number of different suggestions to perform the tasks. Some will tell you to use the disks utility format option. It is very quick and not as thorough as running the badblocks command with the destructive write option. However, the disks utility does have the ability to read the s.m.a.r.t status of your new hard drive. I would suggest you read the status before attempting any bad blocks scan. The badblocks utility will write then read back four different patterns. I generally use the badblocks utility to write on all blocks or the entire disk. Some people will tell you to use the mke2fs with the -cc option. Well, that only checks the file system container or partition. It will never verify the entire disk which includes the file system(s), partition table schema, and boot blocks.

Since you are a new user you must make sure you are only accessing the new disk drive. The most proven way for a new user is to remove any other disk(s) and only have the new disk drive connected. You can boot the Linux Mint 19.X MATE Live installation image and manually run the badblocks from a terminal command line. This is similar to using the Window power shell. The terminal command line icon is the little black square with the $_ symbols. You can run the badblocks command on the entire disk as follows:

Code: Select all

sudo badblocks -sw /dev/sd?

In the example /dev/sd? must be replace with the properly identified new disk drive. If you only have the new drive connect and no other media connected it will be the /dev/sda device. Depending on the size and throughput of the disk drive this can take many hours. It is best to run the command with your computer connect to an uninterruptible power source (UPS) to prevent a power outage from disturbing the badblocks scan and requiring a restart.

If the badblocks utility discover any bad blocks please post the output to discuss further steps. In most cases a new hard disk drive will not have any new bad blocks.

[Pierre]

from Start Menu - Accessories - Disks:
& then click on the hamburger icon at the Top of that screen.
& & then on Smart data & self tests & look for any RED errors in that list.
finally, then click on Benchmark Disk - Start Benchmark & run the short test & look again, for any errors.

[bob466]

All brand new HDDs and SSDs come with a warranty from 3 to 5 years...so I would only test the Drive if I suspected a problem and that's after years of use...I've never had a problem with a new Drive but keep your receipt just in case.

[AndyMH]

I've never bothered and not had any problems within the warranty period. I would buy an SSD not a HDD.

[bblu87]

So are you all saying I can check for errors, bad blocks, etc. after I've installed Linux Mint? Or, possibly from the Live DVD before I've installed Linux Mint?

I considered getting a SSD, but they're kind of expensive and I don't even know if the computer works. It might work but be slow. A 1 TB hdd costs $50 and a 250 GB SSD costs $72. Honestly, if I could afford to buy an SSD, I would also just buy and install Windows 10. Money is really the only reason I'm trying Linux Mint. I know it's better than Windows, but the thought of learning a new OS is a little overwhelming. Plus, I need to buy another hard drive or something for my Win 10 backups, so that's another $30 - $75.

[deck_luck]

The previously supplied badblocks command is a thorough destructive write and read test with multiple patterns. So you must run it from a Linux Mint Live image. All data on the existing hard disk will be overwritten.