[Cialug] PC diagnostics

[kristau]

I've not found a comprehensive benchmark/burn-in Linux live CD yet, so
here's what I usually do if I want to torture test a system:
1) Boot to a Live CD (System Rescue CD works well, but Ubuntu or
Knoppix should also work).
2) Switch to the first virtual console (vc) and kick off the following
(replace {hard drive} with the designation for the drive you wish to
torture):
    while sleep 3; do dd if=/dev/{hard drive} of=/dev/null bs=4k
conv=sync,noerror; done
3) Wait a few minutes, then switch to the second vc and kick off
another instance of the above.  These two together will tourture the
drive by making it seek back and forth across the whole drive.  Add a
third in if you want to introduce more randomness ;)
4) In the remaining vc's, launch various stressful applications such
as multiple instances of folding at home, memtest or other memory and CPU
stressors.
5) Let all that run for 48 hours or more.  Check on it from time to
time to make sure it hasn't melted a hole through the floor.
-- 
Tired programmer
Coding late into the night
The core dump follows