IDE controller/drive testing?

[nbodley at speakeasy.net (Nicholas Bodley)]

On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 08:20:18 -0500, Scott R Ehrlich <scott at MIT.EDU> wrote:

I want to {use} it to test the IDE controller and connected CDRW and hard  
drives.

One rather-stray thought and another:

Seems that trying some file reads/writes/compares/verifications (maybe  
with some big files) should tell something. Might be a very good idea to  
attempt a backup, soon, in case the controller mungs existing files. Will  
be interesting to read what others suggest.

One thing well worth knowing about, although its report format is somewhat  
mystifying (meaning of number cols., and how to interpret) is SMART, an  
acronym for hard drive monitoring, reporting, and self-testing. It  
functions are built into (what, imho, are any decent) modern HDs, and the  
[smartctl] command reads the stored info. from the HD. Try Googling on  
[smart hd test monitor] (better search strings likely), and try [$ apropos  
smart] from a command line. If Ubuntu Live doesn't help, you might have  
better luck with Knoppix.

Sorry for a hasty message; here's wishing you luck!

-- 
Nicholas Bodley /\ @ /\  Waltham, Mass.
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