Palimsest in Fedora 16 reports a disk (MAXTOR STM3320620AS) as
failing: "DISK HAS MANY BAD SECTORS" etc.
SMART: 197 Current pending Sector Count Value -4 sectors.
Palimsest in Fedora 17 beta reports the same disk (MAXTOR STM3320620AS) as
"OK"
SMART: 197 Current pending Sector Count 0 sectors OK.
Obviously one is incorrect, which one?
They're both incorrect. The Fedora 16 "Value -4" (that is, "-4"
==> 0xFFFFFFFC)
probably is a bug [although _where_ is unknown: could be palimsest, could be the
interface hardware, could be drive microcode, ...]. The Fedora 17 "OK" is
suspect.
Also check with "hdparm" and other tools, even on other OS.
How old is the drive? That model number says 3-platter, 320MB, SATA.
If it's three or more years old, then just replace it. A new drive
is $90 or less in US, and 500GB is available for the same price
and same other specs (size, power, heat, performance, ...).
The data is worth far more than that.
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