remap-badblocks 0.9

CLI tool for remapping bad sectors on Linux disks using device-mapper

remap-badblocks

remap-badblocks is a Linux CLI tool written in Python that scans a block device for bad sectors and creates a device-mapper target that skips over them. It can also reserve extra space to dynamically remap future badblocks.

It's a simple way to extend the usefulness of slightly damaged drives, ideal for anyone who wants to avoid discarding a disk due to a few bad sectors.

Features

• Scans disks using badblocks to identify damaged sectors
• Creates a device-mapper target that avoids bad sectors
• Reserves spare sectors for dynamic remapping
• Supports using only part of a device (e.g., for hard partitioning or isolation)

Installation

From PyPI

pip install remap-badblocks

From source

git clone https://gitlab.com/Luigi-98/remap-badblocks.git
cd remap-badblocks
pip install -e .[dev]

Usage

Database

remap-badblocks relies on a single source of stateful storage: a SQLite database. By default, it is stored at /etc/remap_badblocks/devices_config.db, but you can specify an alternative location using the -P option.

Device Identification

Devices can be referenced by either:

• Name: set at creation, used as the name of the output device-mapper
• ID: an internal remap-badblocks identifier

CLI Reference

remap-badblocks --help

Example Workflow

# Add a new device
remap-badblocks add my_remapped_device --path /dev/sda

# Run a read-mode scan and initialize the mapping
#   by reserving spare space
remap-badblocks update --name my_remapped_device --mode read --spare-space 100MB

# Apply changes to generate the device-mapper
remap-badblocks apply

# Resulting device appears under /dev/mapper
ls /dev/mapper/
# /dev/mapper/my_remapped_device

Contributing

We welcome feedback, bug reports, feature ideas, code contributions, and help shaping the roadmap — or even rethinking the project from the ground up.

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then open an issue or submit a merge request to get involved.

License

GPL v3 License — see LICENSE for details.

Community

• GitLab: remap-badblocks project page
• PyPI: remap-badblocks
• Issues: remap-badblocks Gitlab issues

Acknowledgements & Related Tools

• badblocks
• device-mapper