sudo dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/null bs=512 skip=OFFSET count=1000 status=progress
If the storage controller has engaged a software-level write protection, the HDD Low Level Format Tool will fail at the very first offset (usually offset 0). You can clear this attribute using the Windows command line. hdd low level format tool format error occurred at offset
The "Format error occurred at offset" message in the HDD Low Level Format Tool The /r switch searches for bad sectors and
Let the process finish. The /r switch searches for bad sectors and recovers readable information. 4. Re-Initialize and Standard Format via Disk Management : The most frequent cause
Intermittent connection drops can mimic write failures, causing the tool to drop the connection mid-format.
: The most frequent cause. If the drive has "hard" bad sectors (physical surface damage), the tool cannot "fix" them and will error out at those coordinates. Write Protection