On Thu, Apr 23, 2020, 18:09 David Christensen <dpchr...@holgerdanske.com> wrote:
> On 2020-04-22 13:52, Default User wrote: > > Hey, > > > > A recent thread got me to thinking. So I checked my primary (only > > installed) ssd: > > > > sudo smartctl --test=long /dev/sda > > > > which promised to run the tests, but returned to a command prompt, > > with no further messages. > > So after the promised test end time I did: > > > > sudo smartctl --all /dev/sda > > > > which gave this: > > > SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED > > I pay attention to this item. > > > > General SMART Values: > > Offline data collection status: (0x02) Offline data collection activity > > was completed without error. > > > Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine > completed > > without error or no self-test has ever > > been run. > > I pay attention to these items. > > > > SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10 > > Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: > > ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE > > UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE > > 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x0032 095 095 050 Old_age > > Always - 0/5466601 > > 5 Retired_Block_Count 0x0033 100 100 003 Pre-fail > > Always - 0 > > 9 Power_On_Hours_and_Msec 0x0032 091 091 000 Old_age > > Always - 8197h+53m+29.020s > > I ignore the "old age" and "pre-fail" notations. > > > > SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 > > Num Test_Description Status Remaining > > LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error > > # 1 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 8197 > - > > # 2 Short offline Completed without error 00% 8196 > - > > # 3 Short offline Completed without error 00% 7883 > - > > # 4 Short offline Completed without error 00% 7883 > - > > # 5 Short offline Completed without error 00% 7883 > - > > # 6 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 7003 > - > > # 7 Extended offline Completed without error 00% 7002 > - > > # 8 Short offline Completed without error 00% 6999 > - > > I pay attention to these items. > > > > Since, I recall, that ssd drives do tend to fail quickly and without > > notice, is it time to get a new drive and reinstall from scratch? > > I have seen lots of HDD failures and a few USB flash drive failures, but > no SSD failures (yet). The USB flash drive failures do tend towards > all-or-nothing or all-or-very-slow, sometimes accompanied with the smell > of roasting electronics. > > > > If so, recommendations? > > I prefer Intel and Samsung, but any major brand should do. > > > > I think I want to continue to use an ssd, because even though it can > > fail without warning, this would be in a laptop, and I want to avoid > > shock damage to a mechanical drive at all costs. > > The only HDD's I buy are large capacity 3.5" SATA enterprise HDD's for > storage and backups. > > > > I an currently running Debian Unstable, on a 5-year-old laptop (Dell > > Inspiron 3000 series, 8Gb ram, Intel i3 processor, traditional BIOS > > booting). It has space for only one, 2.5-inch drive. > > > > lsblk: > > NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT > > sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk > > ├─sda1 8:1 0 28G 0 part / > > ├─sda2 8:2 0 1K 0 part > > ├─sda5 8:5 0 7.9G 0 part [SWAP] > > └─sda6 8:6 0 76G 0 part /home > > sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom > > > > The 120Gb ssd is "adequate"; root partition is 38% full, and home > > partition is 45% full. > > Swap partition is rarely if ever used; not sure i it is really necessary. > > A ~10.6 GB root is in the ballpark for a Debian graphical workstation. > > > I put my bulk data on a Samba server. > > > I tried running without swap -- those systems crashed. Now I do 1-2 GB. > > > > User case is conventional, nothing taxing. No video editing, gaming, etc. > > > > And yes, I do back up, home partition only, using rsync to an external > > usb drive: > > > > sudo rsync -avvzHAXPish --delete /home/default > > /media/default/USBHD005/Backup_of_home_directory_of_Dell_Debian_dimwit > > You should get two more -- keep one on-site, keep one near-site, keep > one off-site, and rotate them periodically (weekly, bi-monthly, etc.). > > > > I suppose I could [learn to] do a full system backup and restore to a > > new drive, if I had to. > > I have never done an old-school dump(8)/ restore(8). I keep my system > images small enough to fit on "16 GB" devices. I take and restore > images with dd(1), which is available in the Debian installer rescue > shell (but preferably with a USB live drive and a Perl script I wrote). > As other readers have mentioned, Clonezilla is an option. > > > > And if I do need to try to copy my current install to a new drive > > (instead of a fresh install), what is the EASIEST way to do that? > > Building up a blank disk into a working system drive requires many > tedious steps -- you have to move the partition table(s), bootloader, > all partitions, and the contents of those partitions (e.g. swap, > filesystems, whatever). Things get harder if you add encryption, LVM, > or non-standard filesystems like ZFS. The installer takes care of many > of those details for you. I believe Clonezilla also does so. > > > A raw binary copy with dd(1) bypasses all of those messy details except > for relocating the backup GPT partition table if the device size has > changed. That is one reason why I still use MBR. > > > David > Hi. Thanks to all for the information. I may just stay with what I have, for now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it? BTW, aside from neglecting to put a subject line in the original post, l should have mentioned that both the root and home partitions are regular ext4 (no lvm or encryption). And by BIOS booting, I meant using a traditional mbr, not gpt. And I use grub2, not lilo or anything else. May I ask one additional question? I back up my home partition only, because: 1) I figure that I always reinstall the system from scratch, and either re-attach the home partition, or add back the data from it bit by bit if re-attaching the home partition doesn't work (well). 2) Years ago, I tried to back up my whole system using rsync. That created a bizarre, seemingly recursive monstrosity which ended only when the entire drive was filled. I never forgot that. Note: years later, I did read something on the Arch wiki about excluding something when backing up a system using rsync, to avoid that recursive loop problem. But I have no desire to stick my hand back into the hornet's nest again. So, in backing up my home partition, is use: sudo rsync -avvzHAXPish --delete /home/default /media/default/USBHD005/Backup_of_home_directory_of_Dell_Debian_dimwit to backup my home directory to an external (local) usb hdd. I just sort of came up with that process (and the command syntax) on my own. Good? Bad? Indifferent? Comments welcome. Especially on the rsync command syntax.
