After disk modules arrive at the stations, they should be **conditioned** before use.
Conditioning performs a read/write cycle over the set of disks and identifies and isolates bad sectors.

**__To Condition a module:__**

Place the module in Bank A **(Leave Bank B empty or unlocked)**.

On a terminal window on the ops1xx pc enter: <code>
ssh oper@mk5xx </code>
to log onto the Mark5B where xx = yg, ke or hb. Then ensure Dimino is not running by typing:<code>
Enddim </code>
Start the conditioning program:<code>
./condition "logfile" </code> where "logfile" is the output log file for SSErase - usually use the modules vsn for the logfile name. eg: **//./condition HOB+0061//**. The logfile will be placed in ./scripts/.

The program will mention this is going to take a long time (see [[hardware:mark5.conditioning.times | Conditioning times]] )
and ask you if you are sure you want to do this but it won't wait for an answer - it will start automatically.

After many seconds, you should see the program output its first line of info.

When the routine completes , it will say how many seconds it took - **note this, to write on the side of the module**. Ensure the time taken is close to normal for that size module - if it is radically different - try conditioning the module again.

If the script gets in a real tangle, you can usually ctrl-c it and then reset the Mark5 with: <code> SSReset </code> and try again.

It is a good idea to do some [[hardware:mark5.conditioning.postconchecks | post conditioning checks]]

Mark5B manual is here : http://www.haystack.mit.edu/tech/vlbi/mark5/docs/Mark%205B%20users%20manual.pdf