Again running smartctl after all is said and done:
smartctl --all /dev/sda
ddrescue-smartctl-after-rescue.png ddrescue-smartctl-2.png
Yet an old drive in itself, I run the wheels off of them, and monitor regularly as anyone should.
Create random binary text file:
< /dev/urandom tr -dc "0101" | head -c10000 > file.txt
Example:
We can do the same with any number of text caricatures.
Create a file with any character available including tabs and new lines:
< /dev/urandom tr -dc "[:space:][:print:]" | head -c100000 > file10.txt
Example:
Just for fun, output this file using the od command, or Octal Dump:
od -a file10.txt
There is a lot that can be done with these few commands and the many variables to these commands, have fun!