What is the Amiga equivalent of MSDOS ScanDisk/CheckDisk?

[Hyperspeed]

I have my Quantum Fireball 2.1g prepped with Phase5 SCSIConfig v1.27
and formatted with FFS in Workbench.

However when I use the PD SCSI utility ProbeScsi v0.08 it tells me
that my drive has 7 known defects, 1 grown defect.

If my Amiga drive deterioates what program do I use to show me a
graphical image of the surface like with PC ScanDisk so that bad
blocks can be avoided by the OS?

If I run HDToolBox's Verify option would that be dangerous in
conjunction with an RDB formatted with SCSIConfig v1.27? Would the bad
blocks be automatically sorted or do I have to map them manually.

Also - what is the latest revision of HDToolBox that will work on
Workbench 3.0?

(Yeah, I know I need to upgrade ROM&OS but 3.1ROM gives you ages of
extra boot seek-time).

[TjLaZer]

DiskSalv from Dave Haynie.

[Hyperspeed]

I use DiskSalv 2 (r11.32) 1991-1994 but it doesn't look like it can
spot a surface defect and tell the filesystem to avoid it.

Like if the platter had some material damaged on it, ScanDisk would
skip around it!

I'd like to get DiskSalv 4 though, where would I get this?

Also, does DiskSalv 4 actually DO the purification process? DiskSalv 2
sorta leaves the deleted files on the disk which can get messy when
you go to salvage something and all the old junk is there.

I wish it would do an MSDOS style Defrag too, ReOrg 3.11 (patched) is
horribly unreliable and has destroyed my files on many an occasion!

[zipper]

> Also, does DiskSalv 4 actually DO the purification process?

I think so...
Once I tried with an about 2 Gig partition and it whirred constantly about 14 hours and then crashed, probably the HD overheated. That's it, I didn't try again.

[Brian]

DiskSalv4's CleanUp should remove all deleted files yes. I love it's salvage capabilities... once I repartisioned and formatted a drive just to still be able to recover most files from the different partisions on it.

For diskettes there are "BadFormat" but for harddrives I don't know... I seem to recall QuarterBack having something for this but I can't remember what or if it was just for backup purposes.

But IF a disk have errors it's time to can it... when an error first occure it seem to rappidly multiply over the disk. I once had just this problem and format would complain about one block... went into HDtoolbox and partisioned around this just to find more on previously working blocks... In a timespan of about 4hours I found more and more of this to I ended up with 15partisions on my 2Gb drive and gave up on it. :/

[Speelgoedmannetje]

:-?
I thought DiskDoctor wich comes standard with Workbench (at least, with my wb1.3 that is) would do kinda the same as scandisk.

man, checkdisk.. THAT is long ago :-)

[miles]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
:-?
I thought DiskDoctor wich comes standard with Workbench (at least, with my wb1.3 that is) would do kinda the same as scandisk.

man, checkdisk.. THAT is long ago :-)

Don't use diskdoctor, there is a reason the later Workbenches did not have it...diskdoctor is no good at all (unless you want to destroy your disks)!

[miles]

If I run HDToolBox's Verify option would that be dangerous in conjunction with an RDB formatted with SCSIConfig v1.27? Would the badblocks be automatically sorted or do I have to map them manually.

It is not a good idea to use two different programes like that, you risk data loss.

Does Workbench report errors on the drive?

SFS (Smart File System) is better to use than FFS, no more invalid hard drives!

[elendil]

Hyperspeed wrote:

I wish it would do an MSDOS style Defrag too, ReOrg 3.11 (patched) is
horribly unreliable and has destroyed my files on many an occasion!

I know you're only joking, so I'll let you get away with that attempt of pure blasphemy.

Sincerely,

-Kenneth Straarup.

[drwho]

Although, I haven't seen it mentioned here, which makes me kind of nervous, I use Quarterback Tools Deluxe. I have always had good luck with it. I have used DiskSalv as well, and that is a very good tool likewise.

- Mike

[Hyperspeed]

I've heard about Quarterback Tools, I think I might have tried it once
but it must have wanted a registration fee or something that I
couldn't afford.

DiskSalv really is good stuff but my version says it's doing the
`purification' but doesn't actually clean the dead files away.

What I liked about ReOrg 3.11 was that it showed you a graphical
sector display which gave you a better idea of where on the disk
things went wrong or where fragmentation was occuring.

I think DiskSalv should have had a graphical display of each block
rather than a progress meter and a list whizzing down the page.

That's why I liked the MSDOS ScanDisk because it would show little
circles and squares and automatically map out surface trouble such as
bad blocks.

We could do with an all-in-one first aid kit for disks that would
encompass salvage, bad-block mapping, defragging and conversion. Like
Win '98 onwards has.

I don't use any file system other than Fast File System because
DiskSalv only works with FFS. How could you possibly live without
DiskSalv?

:-D :-D

[ltstanfo]

The ONLY programs worth using to analyze / repair / optimize AMIGA hard drives are either DiskSalv 4 (Dave Haynie) or Quarterback Tools Deluxe (don't recall the version numer ATM but it came out in late 1994).

NOTE - THESE PROGRAMS ONLY WORK WITH OS3.1 and earlier!  They are not for use with OS3.9 (OS3.5?) due to the change in drive parameters and updated FFS (working with drives greater then 4GB).  If you are using OS3.9, look for a similar program on Aminet, etc...

I have used both programs and they essentially do the same thing (although QBD also lets you back up your AMIGA).  Which one is better is a matter of preference.

Regards,
ltstanfo

[elendil]

I think I'll go against the grain and say that I never liked disksalv. I don't think it's very intuitive or actually very working.

Quarterback tools have always been my favorite. Helped me lots and lots and lots of times.

Sincerely,

-Kenneth Straarup.

[zipper]

> Quarterback tools have always been my favorite. Helped me lots and lots and lots of times.

Which block sizes does it support?

[Brian]

If it didn't work you didn't do it right cause for me it have worked everytime. But QB work too so it's a question of taste I belive... we all have our own favourites.