"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2013-06-15, Jim Wilkins wrote:

Here is a good start for you.
http://code.duffy.jp/hard-drive-benchmark-for-linux/

Ouch! Linux 10.54, and I'm running 6.6.?, which appears to be
the last version to escape for the UltraSPARC 64-bit CPUs. This
means
that I have to get a PCI interface FC-AL card to talk to the drives
with
something newer.

But then, I'm not sure that a benchmark program would be much
help, anyway.

A graph of read speed is the best free quick test I've found to
determine the quality of used hard drives, or sample CDs and DVDs
before buying a big spindle. Any problem slows it down; it's like a
Check Engine light. I save the initial graphs to check for
deterioration later.

Rubtsov's HDD Scan program goes further and records the access time
and block number if it's over 50mS. That's good for serious repair
such as partitioning around a crash site, but the simpler HDTune type
is easier to use otherwise.
jsw