badblocks, badblocks_timeout, badblocks_tmp_fail

  • Published on May 23, 2025
  • 1 minute(s) read
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The troubleshooting information about the following system statuses are covered in this topic:

  • badblocks

  • badblocks_timeout

  • badblocks_tmp_fail

Performs a file system check using badblocks to identify and isolate bad sectors on multiple SSD partitions. Check for bad sectors that cause disk I/O timeouts.

Bad blocks are usually not critical and the disk’s firmware and filesystem are able to work around it in most cases. If problem indications persist, it may be an early indicator of disk quality degradation. Check other indicators for filesystem or disk issues.

If serious problems are confirmed by other indicators, consider backing up important data stored in the filesystem. If the issues are critical, a full reinstall of the system through USB with the “format partitions” option will rebuild the filesystems (and wipe all existing data)

Command Executed

badblocks -v /dev/sda[n] , where n is in {1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8}.

Example

badblocks -v /dev/sda3

Example of Clean Output (expected):

Checking blocks 0 to 98632
Checking for bad blocks (read-only test): done
Pass completed, 0 bad blocks found. (0/0/0 errors)

Example of Errors Output (Contain Issues):

Checking blocks 0 to 98632
Checking for bad blocks (read-only test): done
Pass completed, 4 bad blocks found. (0/0/0 errors)

Issue Identification

  1. Navigate to Tracking :: System :: System Check and look for badblocks events.

    Summary Message:   Bad Blocks.

    Summary Message:   Bad Blocks Timeout.
    Summary Message:   Can't write TMP file.

  2. Drill down into the system check the entry on the System Check Summary Table or click Last Check.

  3. Check for badblocks, badblocks_timeout, or badblocks_tmp_faily error count in the Command Table.

Issues Covered

  • badblocks(<partition>): badblocks found: <count>. - Total number of detected bad sectors. Their corresponding block addresses are available in the full output log.

  • badblocks interrupted by timeout - Could not complete badblocks check in the timewindow of 3600seconds.

  • badblocks error while writing in tmp file - Failed to write temporary output file while running badblocks check command