> On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 1:11 PM, Mike Bushroe wrote: >> my old desktop system, which has several hardrives of various sizes >> and ages, has int he last week or two started making on odd sound [...] >> It is clearly not affecting the drive I am running off of, but I do >> not know of any tool or system monitor that would help me isolate which >> drive is going. /usr/sbin/smartctl -a /dev/sda , repeat for all other disks connected, then look at the output for anything that looks flaky? It's a place to start at the very least. It might not give you useful output, but it should already be installed and shouldn't take that long to run. From: Stephen > usually there are diagnostic tools provided by the manufacturer of the > drive, i would investigate those. While this may work, it'll take longer, and they're usually manufacturer-specific if not drive-model specific. Also, you'll have to reboot, which is annoying. Try smartctl first, go for manufacturer diags if smartctl reports stuff in failure/prefailure on a disk. > and in a fit of paranoia make a backup of all data i care about. Having recent backups isn't paranoia, it's a perfectly logical and valid response to the Universe being out to stomp on all the stuff you really care about! :-) -- Matt G / Dances With Crows The Crow202 Blog: http://crow202.org/wordpress/ There is no Darkness in Eternity/But only Light too dim for us to see --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss