On 09/28/2013 04:14 PM, David G. Miller wrote:
Steve Thompson <smt@...> writes:
On Thu, 26 Sep 2013, Bret Taylor wrote:
A fairly simple solution is dd if=/dev/zero (or urandom) of=/dev/(device)
I usually hit the disk with a hammer. Satisfying
-s
I run badblocks in write mode on the drive. badblbocks does four passes (all zeroes, alternating ones and zeroes both ways and all ones). This is sufficient to keep all but a high-end forensics lab from getting anything useful off of the disk and even such a lab will have a hard time. For the OP's question, this lets him know that the disk is both clean and is still good to use.
How about using strong magnet on the drive :)
For me, if badblocks says the disk is good, it goes on the shelf as a spare until it is hopelessly obsolete. Otherwise, the disk gets used for target practice. Also, very satisfying.