.\" -*- nroff -*-
.TH BADBLOCKS 8 "@E2FSPROGS_MONTH@ @E2FSPROGS_YEAR@" "E2fsprogs version @E2FSPROGS_VERSION@"
.SH NAME
badblocks \- search a device for bad blocks
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B badblocks
[
.B \-b
block-size
]
[
.B \-o
output_file
]
[
.B \-s
]
[
.B \-v
]
[
.B \-w
]
device
blocks-count [ start-block ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B badblocks
is used to search for bad blocks on a device (usually a disk partition).
.br
.I device
is the special file corresponding to the device (e.g /dev/hdXX).
.br
.I blocks-count
is the number of blocks on the device.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.I -b block-size
Specify the size of blocks in bytes.
.TP
.I -o output_file
Write the list of bad blocks to the specified file. Without this option,
.B badblocks
displays the list on its standard output.  The format of this file is suitable
for use by the -l option in 
.BR e2fsck (8)
or
.BR mke2fs (8).
.TP
.I -s
Show the progress of the scan by writing out the block numbers as they
are checked.
.TP
.I -v
Verbose mode.
.TP
.I -w
Use write-mode test. With this option,
.B badblocks
scans for bad blocks by writing some patterns (0xaa, 0x55, 0xff, 0x00) on
every block of the device, reading every block and comparing the contents.
.SH WARNING
Never use the `-w' option on an device containing an existing file system.
This option erases data!
.SH AUTHOR
.B badblocks
was written by Remy Card <card@masi.ibp.fr>, the developer and maintainer
of the ext2 fs.
.SH BUGS
I had no chance to make real tests of this program since I use IDE drives,
which remap bad blocks. I only made some tests on floppies.
.SH AVAILABILITY
.B badblocks
is part of the e2fsprogs package and is available for anonymous 
ftp from tsx-11.mit.edu in /pub/linux/packages/ext2fs.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR e2fsck (8),
.BR mke2fs (8)