disk scanner for linux?

My dad's computer is acting up, and I think it may be the hard drive I
installed Linux on.  With WindowsXP, there is no longer a usable disk
scanner.  They even did something to make Norton Disk Doctor unusable.

I'm using Ubuntu, and went through all the default packages in add/
remove programs, and can barely find anything that even shows what
disks are in the system.  Nothing actually seems to check the disk for
defects.

Anybody know of anything?  How do I go about getting it?

I've got a couple of additional package installers, but don't know how
to use them, as they won't let me do anything without root password,
and I don't know how to run them as root.

By the way, I'm the same Todd who's been posting quite a few questions
lately, but I don't have a newsreader set up on my dad's computer, so

toddjy@gmail.com wrote:
> My dad's computer is acting up, and I think it may be the hard drive I
> installed Linux on.  With WindowsXP, there is no longer a usable disk
> scanner.  They even did something to make Norton Disk Doctor unusable.
> 
> I'm using Ubuntu, and went through all the default packages in add/
> remove programs, and can barely find anything that even shows what
> disks are in the system.  Nothing actually seems to check the disk for
> defects.
> 
> Anybody know of anything?  How do I go about getting it?
> 
> I've got a couple of additional package installers, but don't know how
> to use them, as they won't let me do anything without root password,
> and I don't know how to run them as root.
> 
> By the way, I'm the same Todd who's been posting quite a few questions
> lately, but I don't have a newsreader set up on my dad's computer, so
> Google groups seemed to be the easiest way to post my question.

Of course there is. type 'man fsck' without quotes in a terminal window.

Stands for file system check. > check and repair a Linux file system



-- 

On Mar 30, 7:20 am, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
<boobooililili...@roadrunner.com> wrote:
> tod...@gmail.com wrote:
> > My dad's computer is acting up, and I think it may be the hard drive
I
> > installed Linux on.  With WindowsXP, there is no longer a usable disk
> > scanner.  They even did something to make Norton Disk Doctor
unusable.
>
> > I'm using Ubuntu, and went through all the default packages in add/
> > remove programs, and can barely find anything that even shows what
> > disks are in the system.  Nothing actually seems to check the disk
for
> > defects.
>
> > Anybody know of anything?  How do I go about getting it?
>
> > I've got a couple of additional package installers, but don't know
how
> > to use them, as they won't let me do anything without root password,
> > and I don't know how to run them as root.
>
> > By the way, I'm the same Todd who's been posting quite a few
questions
> > lately, but I don't have a newsreader set up on my dad's computer, so
> > Google groups seemed to be the easiest way to post my question.
>
> Of course there is. type 'man fsck' without quotes in a terminal window.
>
> Stands for file system check. > check and repair a Linux file system
>
> --
> Blattus Slafaly  ? 3     :)  7/8

After looking at the manual, which was only slightly informative, I
typed fsck at the prompt.  It told me that running e2fsck on a mounted
file system can cause severe damage.  This is about as useful as
Windblows.

I installed something called linHDD; it's supposedly a front for
several disk utilities.  When I try to run it, it asks me for root
password, but nothing else ever comes up.

toddjy@gmail.com wrote:

> My dad's computer is acting up, and I think it may be the hard drive I
> installed Linux on.  With WindowsXP, there is no longer a usable disk
> scanner.  They even did something to make Norton Disk Doctor unusable.
> 
> I'm using Ubuntu, and went through all the default packages in add/
> remove programs, and can barely find anything that even shows what
> disks are in the system.  Nothing actually seems to check the disk for
> defects.
> 
> Anybody know of anything?  How do I go about getting it?
> 
> I've got a couple of additional package installers, but don't know how
> to use them, as they won't let me do anything without root password,
> and I don't know how to run them as root.
> 
> By the way, I'm the same Todd who's been posting quite a few questions
> lately, but I don't have a newsreader set up on my dad's computer, so
> Google groups seemed to be the easiest way to post my question.

As default Ubuntu has no password set for the root user. To gain root access
you have to type in your own user password. This is the password you set
for the first user while installing Ubuntu.

To manually set a password for the root user, type in the following in the
shell:
sudo passwd

After that you are asked to type in the new root password twice. Finally,
your root user has its own password.





First off, to see what partions are active in your linux box you can run
this from a command console or konsole, etc: fdisk -l

It'll list all the partitons of all connected harddrives.
Now, to fsck a partition, it must first be UNMOUNTED. You can't and don't
want to fsck an actively being used partition. If you did, it would/could
lead to serious corruption for the file system. Never "fsck -f" for
any
reason on a mounted/active partition.

True to linux fashion, there's a couple of ways of doing this...

So, the best way to do manual maintenance on your harddrives with linux, is
to reboot your machine into "single user mode" (the maintenance
mode).
Normally you'll never HAVE to do this, but since you want to... here's how
on UBUNTU and just about every other linux distribution out there.

When you boot up UBUNTU, you have the option of editing the boot command
line from the grub prompt. From the grub prompt you will need to (E)dit the
kernel command line and add " single" at the end of the line. Press
enter
and then (B)oot... The kernel will see the "single" command at the end
of
the command line and will boot init 1... the single user mode.

You'll be asked to enter root's password for maintenance or control-d to
skip the maintenace mode and continue booting to the default runlevel. Most
times, the default runlevel is "5" for graphic/desktop usage. Once
you
enter root's password, you'll come to a command line. If you try to switch
consoles now, the only active one you'll find is the one you're booted
into. This is the reason it's called "single user mode". There's only
one
active console and no chance of other users/applications interfering with
your maintenance run... This is the PREFERRED way of performing maintenance
on harddrives and partitions on a linux box.

Now... the fsck part. 

Which drives and which partitions? 

Using "fdisk -l", determine which partition you want to fsck.

To see what drives/partitions are mounted, a simple "mount" command
will
show you. If a harddrive isn't listed via the mount command, it's not
mounted and safe to fsck.

You can fsck the unmounted ones as you see fit. Man fsck lists all the
various options and parameters. However, just for your sake, you can use:
fsck -N -r /dev/hdb1

This will go through the motions of checking the filesystem on /dev/hdb1
(second drive, 1st partition) and ask what to do each time it find a
problem... the (-N) switch means "just pretend to fix it". Once you
are
satisfied with the parameters you've chosen, drop the "-N" and fsck
the
drive.

When you come across the need to fsck "a mounted filesystem", you
first HAVE
to remount it read only... This way, the fsck application will be working
with a static partition, not one that's being used by the OS during the
fsck run... 

So, to remount a partition as read only, enter:mount -n -o remount,ro /

This particular command is the most common one you'll probably use as it
remounts the root directory "/" as read only. You can now fsck the
previously active partition without fear of screwing it up.

Once done with fsck don't forget to remount the partition read write with:
mount -n -o remount,rw /

At this point, if you're all done fscking the box, a simple exit command at
the command line will allow the init scripts to pickup rebooting into the
default init level and you're all set to run as normal.


That, my friend, is all from memory and a couple of snipa from a google
search. I really, really hope it helps you. As for the "ubuntu root
password" thing, I got that from the google search. I don't run ubuntu,
but
the process I found makes total sense, unless ofcourse you've changed the
root password and forgot what it was... In that case look at:

http://www.linuxcompatible.org/HELP._forgot_root_password_t29872.html


Cheers and welcome to Linux. Feel free to email me if you need more help.





-- 

toddjy@gmail.com wrote:
> On Mar 30, 7:20 am, Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?
> <boobooililili...@roadrunner.com> wrote:
>> tod...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> My dad's computer is acting up, and I think it may be the hard
drive I
>>> installed Linux on.  With WindowsXP, there is no longer a usable
disk
>>> scanner.  They even did something to make Norton Disk Doctor
unusable.
>>> I'm using Ubuntu, and went through all the default packages in
add/
>>> remove programs, and can barely find anything that even shows what
>>> disks are in the system.  Nothing actually seems to check the disk
for
>>> defects.
>>> Anybody know of anything?  How do I go about getting it?
>>> I've got a couple of additional package installers, but don't know
how
>>> to use them, as they won't let me do anything without root
password,
>>> and I don't know how to run them as root.
>>> By the way, I'm the same Todd who's been posting quite a few
questions
>>> lately, but I don't have a newsreader set up on my dad's computer,
so
>>> Google groups seemed to be the easiest way to post my question.
>> Of course there is. type 'man fsck' without quotes in a terminal
window.
>>
>> Stands for file system check. > check and repair a Linux file
system
>>
>> --
>> Blattus Slafaly  ? 3     :)  7/8
> 
> After looking at the manual, which was only slightly informative, I
> typed fsck at the prompt.  It told me that running e2fsck on a mounted
> file system can cause severe damage.  This is about as useful as
> Windblows.
> 
> I installed something called linHDD; it's supposedly a front for
> several disk utilities.  When I try to run it, it asks me for root
> password, but nothing else ever comes up.
> 
Just unmount the drive you want to scan then remount it. You can also 
run fsck from a boot disk at the command prompt. But why worry about it 
when the system takes care of doing it periodically all by itself. It 
also does it you first install the Linux OS. It also does it anytime it 
  thinks there is a problem or if you crash your system with a power off.



--