On 09/28/2013 04:14 PM, David G. Miller wrote: > Steve Thompson <smt at ...> 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. > -- Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Love is in the Air) PL Computers Serbia, Europe StarOS, Mikrotik and CentOS/RHEL/Linux consultant