Index for Section 8

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badsect(8)
NAME
  badsect - Creates files to contain bad sectors

SYNOPSIS
  /usr/sbin/badsect bbdir sector...

DESCRIPTION
  The badsect command makes a file to contain a bad sector.  Normally, bad
  sectors are made inaccessible by the standard formatter, which provides a
  forwarding table for bad sectors to the driver. If a driver supports the
  bad blocking standard, it is preferable to use that method to isolate bad
  blocks because the bad block forwarding makes the disk appear perfect, and
  such disks can then be copied with dd(1). The technique used by badsect is
  also less general than bad block forwarding, as badsect cannot make amends
  for bad blocks in the i-list of file systems or in swap areas.

  On some disks, adding a sector that is suddenly bad to the bad sector table
  currently requires the running of the standard formatter.  Thus, to deal
  with a newly bad block or on disks where the drivers do not support the
  bad-blocking standard, badsect can be used to good effect.

  Use the badsect command on a quiet file system in the following way:

   1.  Mount the file system and change to its root directory.

   2.  Make a directory BAD there.

   3.  Run badsect, giving as argument the BAD directory followed by all the
       bad sectors you wish to add.  (The sector numbers must be relative to
       the beginning of the file system, as reported in console error
       messages.)

   4.  Change back to the root directory, unmount the file system, and run
       fsck(8) on the file system.  The bad sectors should show up in two
       files or in the bad sector files and the free list.  Have fsck remove
       files containing the offending bad sectors, but do not have it remove
       the BAD/nnnnn files.  This operation will leave the bad sectors in
       only the BAD files.

  The badsect command works by giving the specified sector numbers in a
  mknod(2) system call, creating an illegal file whose first block address is
  the block containing bad sector and whose name is the bad sector number.
  When fsck discovers the file, it will ask "HOLD BAD BLOCK?"  An affirmative
  response will cause fsck to convert the inode to a regular file containing
  the bad block.

RESTRICTIONS
  If more than one of the sectors comprised by a file system fragment are
  bad, you should specify only one to badsect, as the blocks in the bad
  sector files cover all the sectors in a file system fragment.

ERRORS
  The badsect command refuses to attach a block that resides in a critical
  area or is out of range of the file system.  A warning is issued if the
  block is already in use.

SEE ALSO
  Commands: fsck(8)

Index for Section 8

Alphabetical listing for B

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