Need to test open box hard drives purchased recently.

alohascott

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2011
425
0
18,790
I need a program that can do a very comprehensive test of hard drives to make sure they are fully functional.
I don't want a quick test but something that can tell me for sure there is no problem with a drive and that it is performing as it should in all aspects.
 

pnorman

Distinguished
May 20, 2010
30
0
18,540
Check the SMART status. Run the SMART long and short tests. Most distros will have smartmontools, and I believe it's also available for Windows.

Read from the drive - I use dd to read to /dev/null. Format the drive and write to it.

Run the SMART tests again.

It's not really worth doing any more then that - if a drive is going to fail from infant mortality or other unusual problems it tends to do it right away.
 

alohascott

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2011
425
0
18,790
well i don't really trust smart.
I have dead drives that report smart status as good.

also it would be very nice if i could get a some sort of report on the drives status.

does anybody else have any suggestions?
 

Paperdoc

Polypheme
Ambassador
Some HDD makers have very good diagnostic test utilities available for free download on their website. In most cases, though, these tools will ONLY test a HDD made by that company. Two I know of are Seagate's Seatools, and WD's DataGuard. In each of those there are some simpler quick tests and some long complete tests. Some of the tests and some of the repair tools they include are destructive to existing data, but they warn you and ask for confirmation before proceeding. In your case, I'd guess there are no data you want to protect anyway. They also may include a zero-fill utility which is a very good way to ensure the HDD has no old data on it and, more importantly, that every disk sector is tested and all poor sectors are replaced with good ones before you use the HDD.
 

pnorman

Distinguished
May 20, 2010
30
0
18,540
SMART has its limitations, but it'd be foolish to ignore any warnings from it.

Are you after drives where you have more assurance they work then for a drive that you've owned for the same amount of time as the drive you purchased?
 

alohascott

Distinguished
Jul 10, 2011
425
0
18,790
not ignoring warnings
i said i never get warnings from smart
even on dead drives

Sorry I do not understand the question. please read my original question again to clarify what i am looking for. I like paperdoc's answer
i just need to check if all manufactures have a program like this since the drives i purchased are from 5 different manufactures.