2 questions -

1. When using dd, it does not always work. Here is what I mean ->

What I want to do is clear the 1st megabyte of the hard drive. This would render it initialized. On Windows, the diskpart clean command erases the 1st and last megabyte of the drive. It is always initialized after that.

The dd command sometimes works sometimes it does not. What is the proper use of the command. (?Can you run the command from the host linux install on the host drive? or do I need to boot a recovery disk every time?)

2. How can I automatically use dd to erase 1st mb and last mb in one call? like diskpart clean. Can someone write a quick script and show how to call it.

Hi,

Can you clarify your question...
copy/paste the output of your command to see what actually happens.

When the command will work using a terminal we can then write a script.

The problem is, there is no error message. Since sometimes it works, the command is always run. When it does not work, after rebooting the OS, the OS still boots because it's there. Please excuse me, this might be silly anyway.

In Windows, the OS does not allow you to format the C:\ drive. In Linux, the OS allows you to run dd and sometimes it deletes the 1st mb. I understand it's possible that the operation of the system, protects certain areas of the drive, and so on. Too complicated for me to pursue, but since it works sometimes, I wanted to know what I was doing right or wrong. I am still interested in a script if you have one (bash?).

Also, if you have a specific sequence to initialize a drive, please let me know the best way to do it in Linux.

You need the preceding forward slash in "/dev/sda"

There is a (huge) thread here on "dd".
I find it unlikely it "sometimes" works - unless you have some "anti-virus protection" (say in the BIOS) that gets in the way.
The second MBR copy at the end of the disk is a M$oft "feature" - shouldn't affect you if you only boot Linux.

I've had no issues doing similar to you - even with Windoze on the same system/disk.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ommand-362506/

looking for a guide?
Someone has very nicely explained "dd" command