On 2021-06-08 10:01 a.m., D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
| From: Chris Aitken via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
| So, sudo apt-get install smartmontools ?
Yes, but that is very technical. If you don't wish to go there, there is a GUI way. Not as clear to an experienced user, but friendlier
Run "gnome-disk-utility". The easiest way is to hit the Windows key, type "disks", and select the icon "Disks". OK, it doesn't come up after entering it at command line, but did come up with your "easiest way".
Select the drive of interest. It will show you a picture of the paritioning of that drive. And some interesting technical stats. Yes, I see.
Click on the three dots in a vertical formation to get a menu of choices. Pick "SMART data and self tests.
That will show you more statistics than you can make sense of. The right column of each entry should be "OK". Yes, everything is 'OK'.
You can decide to run a drive self test. "short" takes a few minutes. "extended" takes hours. You should still be able to use the computer while a test is going on. OK, even though it shows 'Overall assessment: Disk is OK', I ran the 'short' test, and was able to keep working on the computer.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Thanks for how-to for this utility. Chris
(For some reason that I've never understood, some things I do seem to abort a self test. No harm is done but the test is incomplete.)
(gnome-disk-utility is a useful for other disk tasks too. gparted is another gem.) --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk