badscan -- Command

Build bad block list
/etc/badscan [ -v ] [ -o proto ] [ -b boot ] device size
/etc/badscan [ -v ] [ -o proto ] [ -b boot ] device xdevice

badscan scans a floppy disk or a partition of the hard disk for bad blocks.
It writes  onto the  standard output  a prototype file  that lists  all bad
blocks on the disk.

badscan recognizes the following options:

-v      Print an estimate of time needed to finish examining the device.

-o proto
        Redirect output into file proto.

-b boot Insert  a given  boot into  the proto file  as the  bootstrap.  The
        default is /conf/boot.

device names the special device to scan.

The command  line for badscan  comes in two  forms, as shown at  the top of
this article.  The first version is  for a floppy disk; size gives the size
of the device, in blocks.  The second version is for a hard-disk partition;
xdevice specifies devices /dev/at0x or /dev/at1x, which hold the partition-
table information  for the disk  in question.  badscan reads  the data from
the boot block of the drive to find the size of the device.

Examples

The first  example uses badscan to  find all bad blocks  on a high-density,
3.5-inch floppy disk in drive 1 (i.e., drive B), and writes its output into
file proto:

    /etc/badscan -v -o proto /dev/rfva1 2880

See the  article floppy disks  for a table  that gives the  device name and
number of  sectors to  be found  on the various  types of floppy  disk that
COHERENT recognizes.

The  second example  uses  badscan to  prepare  a list  of  bad blocks  for
partition 2 on hard-drive 0, which  is an IDE drive accessed via COHERENT's
at driver.  Again, the output is written into file proto:

    /etc/badscan -v -o /conf/proto.at0c /dev/rat0c /dev/at0x

See Also

at,
bad,
commands,
floppy disks,
mkfs

Notes

Because SCSI hard-disk drives maintain their own map of bad blocks, badscan
is not required for SCSI drives.   However, we recommend that you use it on
removeable-media SCSI drives.

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness