On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 9:15 AM, Anne Wilson <cannewilson at googlemail.com> wrote: <snip> > I assume that the hdd is failing - but I haven't seen any messages > from smartmontools. Is there any way I can check that? If it is I > don't want to waste time trying to repair it. <snip> Most hdd manufacturers have bootable CD images you can download which have utilities and thorough diagnostics. -- Jeff