How to make a smart hard drive. Assessing the condition of hard drives using S. Performing built-in S.M.A.R.T tests
Modern hard drives are quite “smart” devices and, in addition to the basic properties inherent in them as data storage and processing devices, they support the technology of self-testing, state analysis, and accumulation of statistical data on the deterioration of their own characteristics S.M.A.R.T. (S elf- M monitoring A nalysis a nd R exporting T echnology). Basics of S.M.A.R.T. were developed in 1995 by joint efforts of leading hard drive (HDD) manufacturers. In subsequent years, S.M.A.R.T standards were refined in accordance with changes in technology and equipment (SMART II and SMART III) and continue to be improved at the present time.
The hard drive, starting from the moment of its manufacture, constantly monitors certain parameters of its condition and reflects them in special characteristics - attributes(Attribute) stored in a permanent storage device, as a rule, in a specially allocated part of the disk surface, accessible only to the internal firmware of the drive - service area. Attribute data can be read according to the ATA specification ( AT A ttachment) using SMART support commands (SMART READ DATA and more than a dozen more commands), which are transmitted to the drive by special software, such as utilities from equipment manufacturers or universal programs testing and monitoring the HDD status (udisks, smartctl, GSmartControl, gnome-disks, etc.). Modern ATA standards include support for the SCT (SMART Command Transport) protocol, which provides reading of device statistics logs. The device statistics log is a read-only SMART log sent by the drive when it receives a READ LOG EXT, READ LOG DMA EXT, or SMART READ LOG command.
The attribute is a characteristic of a certain state of the hard drive, which changes during operation, taking a numerical value from the maximum set at the time of manufacture of this device, to a minimum, upon reaching which the performance of the drive is not guaranteed. All attributes are identified by their numeric number, most of which are interpreted equally by hard drives different models. Some of them can only be used by a specific hardware manufacturer and supported by certain drive models. So, for example, an attribute with an identifier 7 , characterizing the number of errors in installing heads on the required track of the disk surface Seek_Error_Rate does not make sense for solid state drives (SSD) and, accordingly, is not supported by them, and the attribute with the identifier 9 , which characterizes the total operating time of the drive over its entire service life and is denoted as Power_On_Hours,Supported by both SSD and traditional HDD.
Attributes consist of several fields (most often denoted as Val, Worst, Tresh, RAW), each of which is a certain indicator characterizing the technical condition of the drive on this moment time. S.M.A.R.T. Reader Programs display the contents of attributes, usually in the form of several columns:
Pre-Failure (PF, 01h)- upon reaching the threshold value of this type attributes of the disk requires replacement. Sometimes this flag bit is denoted as Life Critical (CR) or Pre-Failure warranty (PW)
O nline test (OC, 02h) – the attribute updates the value when running off-line/on-line built-in SMART tests;
P erfomance R elated (PE or PR, 04h) – the attribute characterizes performance;
E rror R ate (ER, 08h) – the attribute reflects equipment error counters;
E vent C ounts (EC, 10h) – the attribute represents an event counter;
S elf P reserving (SP, 20h) – self-preserving attribute;
Some of the programs can interpret flags in the form of text descriptions, similar in meaning to those discussed above. One attribute can have several flag values set to one, for example, an attribute with an identifier 05
reflecting the number of sectors reassigned due to failures from the reserve area, has the SP+EC+OC flags set - self-preserving, event counter, updated when the drive is in offline and interactive mode.
To analyze the state of the drive, perhaps the most important attribute value is Value- a conditional number (usually from 0 to 100 or up to 253) specified by the manufacturer. Meaning Value initially set to maximum when the drive is manufactured and decreases if its parameters deteriorate. For each attribute there is a threshold value, upon reaching which the manufacturer does not guarantee its performance - field Threshold. If the value Value approaches or becomes less than the value Threshold, - it’s time to change the drive.
The list of attributes and their meanings are not strictly standardized and some of them can be determined by the drive manufacturer, but the main part is interpreted the same. For example, an attribute with an id 05 (Reallocated sector count) will characterize the number of disk sectors rejected and reassigned from the reserve area, both for devices manufactured by Seagate Technology and for devices manufactured by Western Digital. The set of supported attributes depends on the drive model and may vary significantly in composition for different models.
Most common software to receive S.M.A.R.T data in Linux environment, is a utility smartctl from the kit smartmontools, as a rule, included in the default installed software of any distribution. If necessary, you can update the version and download documentation in English on the project website smartmontools.org.
To work with the utility smartctl superuser rights required root.
Format command line smartctl:
smartctl device parameters
Examples of using smartctl
smartctl –help or smartctl --usage- display a hint about using the command.
Options smartctl:
-V, --version, --copyright, --license- display version, copyright and license information.
-i, --info- display identification information for the device.
-g NAME, --get=NAME- display disk settings parameters (all, aam, apm, lookahead, security, wcache, rcache, wcreorder)
-a, --all- display all SMART data of the specified drive.
-x, --xall- display all technical data for the specified disk.
--scan- search for disk devices.
-q TYPE, --quietmode=TYPE set output granularity mode for smartctl (errorsonly, silent, noserial)
-d TYPE, --device=TYPE- set the device type (ata, scsi, sat[,auto][,N][+TYPE], usbcypress[,X], usbjmicron[,p][,x][,N], usbsunplus, marvell, areca,N /E, 3ware,N, hpt,L/M/N, megaraid,N, cciss,N, auto, test) Typically, setting the device type is required in cases where the utility smartctl cannot detect it automatically.
-b TYPE, --badsum=TYPE- set the reaction to error detection checksums(warn, exit, ignore)
-r TYPE, --report=TYPE- the option is intended for developers smartmontools and allows you to obtain detailed information when performing transactions of the I/O device management function ioctl(ioctl, ataioctl, scsiioctl and debug level). Details - man smartctl
-n MODE, --nocheck=MODE- prohibition mode for running tests for energy saving modes (never, sleep, standby, idle). Typically used to prevent the spindle motor from starting on a smartctl command.
-s VALUE, --smart=VALUE- disable or enable SMART (on/off)
-o VALUE, --offlineauto=VALUE- prohibition or permission of automatic execution of tests in non-interactive mode (in drive idle mode), accepted values - on/off
-S VALUE, --saveauto=VALUE autosave attributes (on/off)
-s NAME[,VALUE], --set=NAME[,VALUE]- prohibit/enable drive hardware parameters (aam,, apm,, lookahead,, security-freeze, standby,, wcache,, rcache,, wcreorder,)
-H, --health- display the drive status (SMART health status)
-c, --capabilities- display information about the supported SMART capabilities of the specified hard drive.
-A, --attributes- display SMART attributes
-f FORMAT, --format=FORMAT- set the format of the displayed SMART attributes (old, brief, hex[,id|val]). Mainly affects the format of the displayed values of attribute identifiers and the format of display of their flags:
old- attribute identifiers are displayed in decimal notation, flag values are displayed in hexadecimal and interpreted as text.
hex- the same as in the previous case, but attribute identifiers are displayed in hexadecimal notation.
brief- compact output, identifiers are displayed in decimal notation, flags are displayed as symbols with explanations at the bottom of the table:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAGS VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate POSR-- 114 100 006 - 78309029 . . . . . . 254 Free_Fall_Sensor -O--CK 100 100 000 - 0 ||||||_ K auto-keep |||||__ C event count ||||___ R error rate |||____ S speed/performance || _____ O updated online |______ P prefailure warning
-l TYPE, --log=TYPE- display the specified device log (selftest, selective, directory[,g|s], xerror[,N][,error], xselftest[,N][,selftest],background, sasphy[,reset], sataphy[,reset ], scttemp, scttempint,N[,p], scterc[,N,M], devstat[,N], ssd, gplog,N[,RANGE], smartlog,N[,RANGE]
-v N,OPTION , --vendorattribute=N,OPTION- set a parameter for a manufacturer-defined attribute with identifier N
-F TYPE, --firmwarebug=TYPE- adaptation of the program to account for errors in the drive’s hardware firmware (none, nologdir, samsung, samsung2, samsung3, xerrorlba, swapid)
-P TYPE, --presets=TYPE- preset disk parameters. By default, having detected information about the drive in its database, the utility smartctl, uses the set of parameters available for a given model. Option use- use presets for this drive, ignore- do not use, show- display presets for this disc, showall- display presets for the specified model. Examples:
smartctl –P ignore /dev/hdb- ignore presets for disk /dev/hdb;
smartctl –P show /dev/sdb- display presets for the specified disk;
smartctl –P showall ‘ST9250315AS’- - display presets for the specified disk model - ST9250315AS;
smartctl –P showall ‘ST3750515AS’ ‘SD15’- display presets for the specified disk model ST3750515AS with SD15 firmware;
-B [+]FILE, --drivedb=[+]FILE- read and modify disk model database from file FILE. The “+” sign before the file name means adding new records to the database, before existing ones.
By default, the database is stored in the file /usr/share/smartmontools/drivedb.h
DEVICE SELF-TEST OPTIONS =====
-t TEST, --test=TEST- run the test TEST Run test. TEST: offline, short, long, conveyance, force, vendor,N, select,M-N, pending,N, afterselect,
-C, --captive- performing tests in drive capture mode. Used in conjunction with the parameter -t for tests Not in mode offline. Using this option may cause the device to be busy for the duration of the test and may result in system disruption and data loss. You should not use the option -c to perform tests on drives with mounted partitions. For SCSI devices, this option means running built-in tests in the "Foreground mode".
-X, --abort- force completion of a test running without a key --captive.
Examples of using smartctrl.
smartctl --info /dev/sdb- display identification information for device /dev/sdb. Example command output:
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Device Model: ST9500620NS Serial Number: 9XF0AW8T Firmware Version: SN01 User Capacity: 500,107,862,016 bytes Device is: Not in smartctl database ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4 Local Time is: Tue Oct 28 15:05:31 2014 MSK SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled
smartctl --all /dev/hda- display all SMART data for the device /dev/hda
Example of displayed data:
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Device Model: ST9500620NS Serial Number: 9XF0AW8T Firmware Version: SN01 User Capacity: 500,107,862,016 bytes Device is: Not in smartctl database ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4 Local Time is: Tue Oct 28 15:05:45 2014 MSK SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x82) Offline data collection activity was completed without error. Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled. Self-test execution status: (0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: (634) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. Conveyance Self-test supported. Selective Self-test supported. SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering power-saving mode. Supports SMART auto save timer. Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported. General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine recommended polling time: (1) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time: (102) minutes. Conveyance self-test routine recommended polling time: (2) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x10bd) SCT Status supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 082 064 044 Pre-fail Always - 190274202 3 Spin_Up _Time 0x0003 096 096 000 Pre-fail Always - 0 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 72 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 070 060 030 Pre-fail Always - 11302732 9 Power_On_H ours 0x0032 073 073 000 Old_age Always - 24037 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 72 184 End-to-End_Error 0x0032 100 100 099 Old_age Always - 0 187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 18 8 Command_Timeout 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 081 048 045 Old_age Always - 19 191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 192 Power- Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 38 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 73 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 019 052 000 Old_age Always - 19 (0 14 0 0) 195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 118 100 000 Old_age Always - 190274202 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 10 0 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 No self-tests have been logged. SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1 SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS 1 0 0 Not_testing 2 0 0 Not_testing 3 0 0 Not_testing 4 0 0 Not_testing 5 0 0 Not_testing Selective self-test flags (0x0): After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk. If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
smartctl -A -v 9,minutes /dev/hda- display all SMART attribute data for the device /dev/hda and an attribute with an identifier 9 (on time) interpreted as an internal value specified in minutes rather than hours.
smartctl --smart=on --offlineauto=on --saveauto=on /dev/hda- enable SMART for the /dev/hda drive, allow automatic execution of offline tests and self-saving of attributes. The command can be executed on a running system. In fact, this is setting standard operating parameters for a regular disk drive.
smartctl --test=long /dev/hda- run extended built-in tests for the /dev/hda disk. The command can be used on a running system. To view the results of running tests, use the command to output internal log after test completion
smartctl -l selftest /dev/hda
smartctl --attributes --log=selftest --quietmode=errorsonly /dev/had- display internal self-test log data and error attributes.
smartctl -s on -t offline /dev/hdc- enable SMART and perform an offline test for the /dev/hdc drive. If an error is detected during testing, information about it will be recorded in an internal log, which can be viewed using the parameter -l error.
smartctl -q silent -a /dev/had- check SMART data without displaying the received information. Usually used in scripts. After executing the command, the return code is checked (variable $? command shell) to determine whether the value of any attribute exceeds the limit value or whether there is an error record in the device logs.
smartctl -q errorsonly -H -l selftest /dev/had- display information only if there is an erroneous SMART status or if any of the internal tests fail.
smartctl -t select,10-100 -t select,30-300 -t afterselect,on -t pending,45 /dev/hda- perform an internal test in a specified area of LBA blocks and, after its completion, scan the rest of the disk. If the power is turned off during scanning, continue it 45 minutes after turning it on.
smartctl --all --device=3ware,0 /dev/sda- get SMART data for the first ATA disk connected to the 3ware RAID controller.
smartctl -a -d 3ware,0 /dev/twe0- get SMART data for the first ATA disk connected to the 3ware RAID 6000/7000/8000 RAID controller.
smartctl -a -d 3ware,0 /dev/twa0- get SMART data for the first ATA disk connected to the 3ware RAID 9000 RAID controller
smartctl -t short -d 3ware,3 /dev/sdb- run short internal tests for the 4th disk, the second SCSI disk device /dev/sdb
smartctl -a -d hpt,1/3 /dev/sda- obtain SMART data of the disk connected to the 3rd channel of the first HighPoint RocketRAID controller
Decoding S.M.A.R.T attributes
Attribute identifiers are indicated in the decimal number system, and in brackets they are indicated in hexadecimal.
Assessment of the technical condition of the hard drive according to S.M.A.R.T data
Set of attributes supported specific model hard drive, even if it is minimal, allows you to determine with high reliability the technical condition and prospects for the operation of the device. You can determine the time spent in the on state by the attribute value 9 , and in combination with the attribute value 12 - the number of power supply on/offs, and therefore - round-the-clock or periodic operation mode. Intensity of use, temperature conditions, negative external influences - all these facts are easily tracked using the absolute values of the corresponding attributes. In the same way, you can evaluate the level of equipment wear, the quality of the surface and the write/read path.
Minimal informative monitoring of disk status can be performed even at the BIOS level. If any attribute characterizing performance reaches a critical value when S.M.A.R.T status monitoring is enabled in BIOS settings, the loading of the operating system is suspended and the following message is displayed on the screen:
Primary Master Hard Disk: S.M.A.R.T status BAD!, Backup and Replace.
Press F1 to Resume
Thus, without installing or launching additional software, it is possible to timely determine the critical state of the drive using the Basic Input-Output System (BIOS) when turning on the computer.
The technical condition of a hard drive that has not reached a critical threshold is characterized by the absolute value of attributes reflecting counters of failures detected and corrected by the drive hardware.
Changes in the absolute values of attributes must be considered in dynamics, and in a logical relationship with each other.
Run built-in S.M.A.R.T tests
The set of built-in S.M.A.R.T tests is determined by the manufacturer and can vary significantly for different hard drive models. Basically, the built-in SMART tests are represented by short tests (short self-test) and long ones (extended sels-test). Short tests scan a small portion of the disk surface, defined by the manufacturer, and run on average in about 1 minute. Long tests scan the entire working surface of the disk and can take several hours, depending on the speed and size of the disk. Also, for modern drives, you can perform selective tests (selective self-test), the parameters of which are specified by the user, and tests after transporting the device (conveyance self-test). Tests can be aborted if the drive's capture mode is not set (captive) and the drive supports the test abort command. Regarding the drive capture mode when performing tests captive, then you need to use it carefully if the disk is being used by the system.
Examples:
smartctl --test=short /dev/sdb- run a short test. In response to the command, the following information will be displayed:
=== START OF OFFLINE IMMEDIATE AND SELF-TEST SECTION === Sending command: "Execute SMART Short self-test routine immediately in off-line mode." Drive command "Execute SMART Short self-test routine immediately in off-line mode" successful. Testing has begun (previous test aborted). Please wait 1 minutes for test to complete. Test will complete after Fri Dec 5 16:08:09 2014 Use smartctl -X to abort test.
Which means that a command was sent to the disk to perform a short test, the disk received it successfully, the test will last 1 minute, and to force it to terminate, you can use the smartctl –X command.
The result of the test can be checked by viewing the test log with the command smartctl –l selftest. Log information will be received in response selftest:
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error # 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 831 -
Journal columns: Num- record number.
Test_Description- description of the test.
Status- completion status (completed without errors)
Remaining- percentage of time remaining until the test is completed, if it is not yet completed (00%)
LifeTime(hours)- operating time of the drive from the start of operation.
LBA_of_first_error- number of the LBA logical block where the first error was detected during test execution. In this example, there are no errors.
To run a long test, use the command:
smartctl --test=long /dev/sdb
In response to the command, information about the start of the test is displayed:
=== START OF OFFLINE IMMEDIATE AND SELF-TEST SECTION === Sending command: "Execute SMART Extended self-test routine immediately in off-line mode." Drive command "Execute SMART Extended self-test routine immediately in off-line mode" successful. Testing has begun. Please wait 70 minutes for test to complete. Test will complete after Fri Dec 5 17:15:44 2014
As you can see, the long test for this drive model will take 70 minutes.
The execution result can be checked with the command smartctl –l selftest /dev/sda
List of ATA commands for working with S.M.A.R.T
SMART_READ_VALUES 0xd0 SMART_READ_THRESHOLDS 0xd1 SMART_AUTOSAVE 0xd2 SMART_SAVE 0xd3 SMART_IMMEDIATE_OFFLINE 0xd4 SMART_READ_LOG_SECTOR 0xd5 SMART_WRITE_LOG_SECTOR 0xd6 SMART_ENABLE 0xd8 SMART _DISABLE 0xd9 SMART_STATUS 0xda SMART_AUTO_OFFLINE 0xdb
Additional information on hardware in Linux:
A hard drive is a complex electronic-mechanical device that has its own self-diagnosis technology, which can predict the imminent failure of your hard drive. Which is usually a very sad event...
Technology S.M.A.R.T.(English) S elf M monitoring A nalyzing and R exporting T echnology ) - a technology for assessing the condition of a hard drive using built-in self-diagnosis equipment, as well as a mechanism for predicting the time of its failure.
We will not consider this technology in detail, because... This is too broad a question and each drive manufacturer has its own vision and number of monitored parameters. Let's look at the most important ones from a practical point of view.
To do this, we need a program to view the monitored parameters.
In it, on the “Data Storage->SMART” tab, select the hard drive and the window displays the monitored parameters:
01 Raw Read Error Rate- number of errors when reading. Modern disks have a very high data storage density, so they constantly read data with errors, and the information is restored using the ECC error correction code. It is these errors that this parameter counts. Seagate hard drives show these non-critical errors; other manufacturers prefer to remain discreetly silent about this. For Seagate drives, the state can be considered very good when the Raw Read Error Rate and Hardware ECC Recovered parameters are equal. This means that as many errors as there were were corrected using the correction code. If these values are not equal, then there is still no need to be afraid. This is not a critical parameter and the disk can live for many more years without any problems.
03 Spinup Time- time to spin up the disk to working condition. You should only worry if the value is less than half of the initial value. But there are still a few nuances, such as how many platters are in the hard drive. The maximum currently is 5 platters (Hitachi), of course, to promote such a package of disks it will take more time than for 1 platter. No one has canceled the force of inertia.
04 Start/Stop Count- total number of spindle starts/stops. For Seagate, the number of spindle stops when entering power saving mode.
05 Reallocated Sector Count- number of reassigned sectors. That is, when the disk detects a read/write error, it marks the sector as “remapped” and transfers the data to a specially designated spare area. In general, this is a terrible parameter; if its value is more than 10, then this at least means that it’s time to check the entire surface of the disk to understand whether this process will continue. Judging by practice, laptop disks suffer from reassigned sectors after about a year of use. Because they work in very harsh conditions. I'm not talking about blows - most are more or less protected from this. The reason is temperature. The laptop case is usually poorly ventilated and the disk overheats, then we turn off the laptop and go where? Well, that's right, onto the street! And there -10 Celsius. It is precisely the rate of heating and cooling that destroys the delicate magnetic layer on the disk plates. According to the specifications of all disk manufacturers, the so-called “temporal temperature gradient”, that is, the rate of temperature change should be no more than 20 degrees / hour - in operating condition and no more than 30 degrees / hour when switched off. This rule is always violated, but for laptops it is especially frequent and cruel.
09 Power-on Time Count (Power-on Hours)- the amount of time spent in the switched on state. Typically, modern drives measure in hours (Fujitsu uses seconds). For older Maxtor drives, not those currently produced by Seagate under this brand, but for original Maxtor drives, the time changes in minutes. This is a very useful parameter if you are buying an old disk, then you want to know how long it has worked in its life. And besides, this time usually coincides with the operating time of the computer and you can determine how much a person spends on the computer on average. As practice shows and my survey on one of the large forums dedicated to computer hardware, disks with an operating time of more than 20,000 hours (about 2.5 years of constant operation) already have some defects, for example the same “reassigned” sectors and are not so far from senile death. From the same manufacturer specifications you can find out that disks intended for desktop computers are not designed for round-the-clock operation, but are designed to work in 8/5 mode, that is, 8 hours 5 days a week. This works out to about 2400 hours per year. And it turns out that the warranty is calculated for 3 years - 7200 hours, for 5 years - 12000 hours. Not that much, considering that there are 8,760 hours in a year.
0A Spinup Retry Count- The number of repeated attempts to spin up disks to operating speed if the first attempt was unsuccessful. If the attribute value increases, then mechanical/bearing damage is likely. Very rare modern wheels They do this with hydrodynamic bearings, and if such a bearing malfunctions, it jams immediately and tightly or works happily ever after. Not so long ago, Toshiba and, to a lesser extent, Western Digital drives suffered greatly from this. Jamming occurs due to overheating.
0С Power Cycle Count- number of disk on/off cycles.
С2 Temperature- disk temperature. Unfortunately, temperature sensors are located in different places on disks from different manufacturers, so there are overestimations and underestimations of the actual temperature. But on average, as a recent Google study showed, the optimal operating temperature ranges from 35 to 45 degrees. Operation above 50 degrees is highly not recommended, but such temperatures and even higher can often be seen in laptops.
Number of sectors that are candidates for replacement. They have not yet been defined as bad, but reading from them differs from reading a stable sector; these are the so-called suspicious or unstable sectors. If the subsequent reading of the sector is successful, it is excluded from the list of candidates. If there are repeated erroneous reads, the drive attempts to recover it and performs a remapping operation. A non-zero value usually occurs if the disk already has remapped sectors. If this is so, then with a high probability we can say that the disk is actively “crumbling”, that is, the magnetic layer of the hard disk platters is being destroyed.
The number of uncorrected errors, that is, serious damage to the disk surface. Such errors appear when the space in the reserve area of the disk for reassigning sectors runs out. They can also appear during a sudden power outage while the disk is writing data - these are the so-called “software bad blocks”. If there are one or two of them, and the other parameters relating to the disk surface are normal, then there is no need to worry. If it is large, then the data must be saved and the body must be prepared for takeaway. :)
C7 Ultra ATA CRC Error Rate- number of errors during transmission in the external interface. Usually the cable or poor contact of the cable with the connectors is to blame, especially on SATA drives. It occurs quite often.
C8 Write Error Rate- errors when writing to disk. Rarely seen. Usually on very old disks. If there are errors, this means physical wear and tear on the hard disk drive. Or in case of serious damage to the disk surface. (when the number of reassigned sectors and uncorrected errors exceeds all reasonable values).
So we briefly reviewed the main parameters of the hard drive self-diagnosis system. If you want to know more about this, you can refer to the Wikipedia materials:
Unfortunately, SMART cannot always predict disk death. As a study by the same Google showed, about 50% of disks die suddenly and without visible reasons. But this technology is definitely useful in one way. Using it you can quickly find out the condition of the disk surface, that is, the parameters:
05 Reallocated Sector Count
C5 Current Pending Sector Count
С6 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count
And it is very useful to know the time that the disk has worked in its life in order to roughly guess what can be expected from it.
And now a little about the future. A sufficient number of offers of truly “hard drives” have already appeared on sale. They are made on flash-type solid-state memory chips and are much more reliable both in terms of mechanical stress and temperature. However, manufacturers have not yet agreed on a self-diagnosis system standard for this type of drive. But it will be much simpler than for the good old electromechanical disks. And most importantly, it will predict the possibility of failure with a much higher probability! Flash memory is more predictable in this sense. Well, let's wait for this bright future!
What is S.M.A.R.T.? Why do SMART errors occur and what does it mean? Below we will describe in detail the causes and methods for eliminating such problems.
Means S.M.A.R.T., showing hard mistakes drive (HDD or SSD) is a signal that some problems have occurred with the drive that affect the stability and operation of the computer.
In addition, such an error is a serious reason to think about safety of your important data, since due to a problematic drive you can simply lose all the information that almost impossible to restore.
What is SMART and what does it show?
"S.M.A.R.T." stands for "self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology", which translated means “technology of self-diagnosis, analysis and reporting”.
Every HDD, connected via a SATA or ATA interface, has a built-in S.M.A.R.T. system that allows you to perform the following functions:
- Conduct analysis drive.
- Correct software Problems from HDD.
- Scan surface hard drive.
- Conduct program correction, cleaning or replacement damaged blocks.
- Give ratings vital characteristics of the disk.
- Keep reports about all hard drive parameters.
System S.M.A.R.T. allows you to provide the user with complete information about physical condition of the hard drive a scoring method that can be used to calculate the approximate time of HDD failure. You can personally familiarize yourself with this system using the Victoria program or other analogues.
You can find out how to work, check and correct hard drive errors in the Victoria program in the article “”.
S.M.A.R.T. errors
As a rule, in a normally operating drive, the S.M.A.R.T. does not produce any errors even with low scores. This is due to the fact that the occurrence of errors is a signal of possible imminent disk failure.
S.M.A.R.T. errors always indicate some kind of malfunction or that some elements of the disk are practically have exhausted their resource. If the user begins to see such messages, you should think about the safety of your data, since now they can disappear at any moment!
Examples of SMART errors
Error "SMART failure predicted"
In this case, S.M.A.R.T. notifies the user about imminent disk failure. Important: if you see such a message on your computer, copy it urgently all important information and files to another medium, since this hard drive may become unusable at any time!
Error "S.M.A.R.T. status BAD"
This error indicates that some parameters of the hard drive are in poor condition (they have practically exhausted their resource). As in the first case, you should immediately make a backup of important data.
Error “the smart hard disk check has detected”
As with the previous two errors, the S.M.A.R.T. talking about imminent HDD failure.
Error codes and names may vary depending on different hard disks, motherboards or BIOS versions, however, each of them is a signal to do backup copy your files.
How to fix SMART error?
S.M.A.R.T. errors indicate imminent hard drive failure, therefore, error correction, as a rule, does not bring the desired result, and the error remains. In addition to critical errors, there are other problems that can cause these types of messages. One such problem is elevated carrier temperature.
It can be viewed in the Victoria program in the SMART tab under the item 190 "Airflow temperature" for HDD. Or under the item 194 "Controller temperature" for SDD. 
If this indicator is overestimated, measures should be taken to cooling the system unit:
- Check cooler performance.
- Clear dust.
- Put additional cooler for better ventilation.
Another way to fix SMART errors is checking the drive for errors.
This can be done by going to the folder "My computer", by clicking right mouse button by disk or partition by selecting "Service" and running the check.
If the error was not corrected during the check, you should resort to disk defragmentation.
To do this while in properties disk, press the button "Optimize", select the required drive and press "Optimize".
If the error does not go away after this, most likely the disk has simply exhausted its resource, and soon he will become unreadable, and the user will only have to purchase a new HDD or SSD.
How to disable SMART check?
Disc with S.M.A.R.T error Maybe fail at any time, but this does not mean that you cannot continue to use it.
It is worth understanding that using such a disk should not imply storing any valuable information on it. Knowing this, you can carry out reset smart settings who will help disguise annoying errors.
For this:
Step 1. Go to BIOS or UEFI(F2 or Delete button during loading), go to item "Advanced", select the line "IDE Configuration" and press Enter. To navigate, use the arrows on your keyboard.
Step 2. On the screen that opens, you should find your drive and press Enter(hard drives are labeled “Hard Disc”).
Step 3. Scroll down the list and select an option SMART, press Enter and select the item "Disabled".
Step 4. Exit BIOS, applying and saving settings.
It is worth noting that on some systems this procedure may be performed slightly differently, but the principle of shutdown itself remains the same.
After disabling SMART errors will stop appearing, and the system will boot normally until until the HDD completely fails. In some situations, errors may appear in the OS itself, then it is enough to reject them several times, after which the "Don't show again" button.
What to do if the data was lost?
In case of accidental formatting, deletion by viruses or loss of any important data, you should quickly return the lost information using the most effective method.
One such method is a data recovery program. RS Partition Recovery. This utility can quickly return remote photos, video files, audio tracks, Pictures, documentation and any other files, which disappeared from the drive for various reasons. has an advanced system for scanning and searching for deleted information, which allows you to find and restore even those files that were deleted quite a long time ago. More details about the capabilities and main features RS Partition Recovery can be found on the official website of the manufacturer
There are many free hard drive testing tools that can help you determine what's going on with your hard drive when you suspect there's a problem with it.
An operating system like Windows already includes tools such as checking the disk for errors and the command chkdsk, but there are other tools below that are available for free from hard drive manufacturers and other developers.
Important: Depending on the problem found, you may need to replace the hard drive if it fails any of the given hard drive tests. To do this, you need to follow the tips given in the program.
Seagate SeaTools is a free hard drive testing program available to users in one of two options:
- SeaTools for DOS Supports Seagate or Maxtor drives and works regardless of your operating system, running directly from a CD or USB drive, making this program very reliable.
- SeaTools for Windows is a program that needs to be installed on the Windows operating system. With its help, you can perform basic and advanced testing of any drives from any manufacturers - both internal and external.
Those users who access SeaTools Desktop, SeaTools Online, or PowerMax from Maxtor should note that the above program replaces all three of these programs. Today, Seagate is the owner of the Maxtor trademark.
SeaTools from Seagate are the best in their segment. They are used to check hard drives in professional computer services, but any user can easily use them.
The Windows version of SeaTools runs on operating systems from Windows 10 to Windows XP.
HDDScan is a free program for checking all types of disks, regardless of their manufacturer.
HDDScan includes several tools, including SMART testing and surface inspection.
The program is very easy to use, does not require installation, supports almost all drive interfaces, and seems to be updated regularly.
HDDScan can be used on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP, as well as Windows Server 2003.
DiskCheckup is a free hard drive checker that works with most drives.
The program displays SMART information such as the number of read errors, the time it takes for the wafer pack to spin up from rest to operating speed, the frequency of errors when positioning the magnetic head unit, and temperature. In addition, it can perform a quick and advanced disk scan.
You can configure the program so that SMART section information is sent by email or displayed when the disk parameters exceed the threshold values recommended by the manufacturer.
Hard drives that have a SCSI connection or implement hardware RAID are not supported by DiskCheckup.
DiskCheckup runs on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003 operating systems.
GSmartControl can perform a variety of hard drive tests, providing detailed results and an overall assessment of the drive's health.
GSmartControl can perform three self-tests to troubleshoot a drive:
- Quick check: takes about 2 minutes and is used to identify a seriously damaged hard drive.
- Extended check: Takes about 70 minutes and will scan the entire surface of the hard drive to detect failures.
- Transportation check: This test takes 5 minutes and is designed to look for damage that may have occurred while the drive was in transit.
GSmartControl can be downloaded for Windows either as a portable version or as an installable program. It works on system versions from Windows 10 to Windows XP. You can also get a version of the program for Linux and Mac operating systems and programs in LiveCD/LiveUSB format.
Windows Drive Fitness Test is free software for diagnosing hard drives, capable of working on most drives available today.
Unfortunately, when Windows help Drive Fitness Test can only test USB drives and other internal drives.
WinDFT can be installed on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP operating systems.
Samsung HUTIL is a free utility for diagnosing Samsung hard drives. Sometimes HUTIL is called ES-Tool.
The Samsung HUTIL program is available as an ISO image for subsequent recording on a CD or USB flash drive. This approach makes HUTIL independent of the operating system and, in general, a more convenient tool for testing than programs developed for the Windows operating system. You can also run HUTIL from a boot diskette.
Comment: The HUTIL program will only check Samsung hard drives. It will boot and find non-Samsung discs, but no diagnostics can be performed on such discs.
Since the Samsung HUTIL program runs from a boot disk, it will require a functioning hard drive and an operating system to burn it to a CD or USB flash drive.
The free Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic (DLGDIAG) program is designed to test only Western Digital branded hard drives.
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic can be downloaded as a portable version for Windows, or as an ISO file with an image for recording on boot disk, and performs a series of checks on the hard drive. Detailed instructions Installation instructions from Western Digital can be found at the link below.
Comment: The DOS version of DLGDIAG diagnoses only Western Digital drives, while the Windows version of this program also works with drives from other manufacturers.
The Windows version of the program works on operating systems from Windows 10 to Windows XP
Bart's Stuff Test
Bart's Stuff Test is free program for Windows, performing load tests on hard drives.
The program does not provide as many features and does not conduct as thorough testing of the hard drive as other programs on this list.
All things considered, Bart's Stuff Test is a good addition to your disk testing arsenal, especially if you have difficulty testing with ISO image-based tools and want to take advantage of something other than the default tools provided Windows.
Bart's Stuff Test, as stated, only works on operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 95. However, we tested its performance on the most latest versions systems (Windows 10 and Windows 8) and did not find any problems.
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is a free hard drive diagnostic tool designed specifically for Fujitsu hard drives.
The Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool (FJDT) is available in a Windows version and a DOS version using a boot diskette. Unfortunately, the DOS version is focused on using floppy disks - images that will run from CD or USB are not available.
Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool provides two tests: a “quick test” (lasting about 3 minutes) and an “all third party test”, the execution time of which will depend on the size of the hard drive).
Comment: Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool performs hard drive testing only for drives manufactured by Fujitsu. If you have a disk from another manufacturer, then you should try to use the manufacturer-independent programs listed at the beginning of the list.
Version for Windows programs Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool should work on all operating systems, from Windows 10 to Windows 2000.
HD Tune performs hard drive checks while running Windows. It can work with any internal or external drives, SSD drives or memory cards.
With HD Tune you can perform a performance test, check the health of the drive using Self-Monitoring Analysis mode and Drive Activity Reporting Technology (SMART). In addition, the program can scan the disk for errors.
It supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000, although HD Tune has been tested to work correctly on Windows 10 and Windows 8.
The Free EASIS Drive Check program, designed to check hard drives, has two built-in checking utilities - checking sectors and reading SMART attribute values.
Checking SMART attributes allows you to create a list containing more than 40 parameters describing work hard drive and sector check will check the media surface for read errors.
A report on the execution of any of these tests can be seen directly in the program after its completion. In addition, you can configure the program so that the report is sent to email or printed.
According to the description, EASIS Drive Check works on operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows 7, but its performance has also been tested on Windows 8 and 10.
The error checking program is sometimes called the scandisk program. This is a hard drive scan tool included with the Windows operating system that allows you to search for a variety of errors on your hard drive.
This tool may also try to fix a number of hard drive-related problems.
Macrorit Disk Scanner is very simple program, which checks for bad sectors on the hard drive. It is easy to use, installs quickly, and is also available in a portable version.
The main part of its window is used to visually represent the scanning process and clearly indicate the location of damage.
Especially well implemented in Macrorit Disk Scanner is the visual display of how much time is left until the end of the scan, because Some hard drive checking programs do not show this. Alternatively, you can select the option automatic shutdown computer upon completion of the scan.
Operating systems that Macrorit Disk Scanner can run on are: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Windows Home Server, and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003.
Ariolic Disk Scanner is very similar to Macrorit Disk Scanner in that it uses read-only to find bad disk sectors. This program has a minimal interface with a single button, and using it, it is easy to understand which parts of the disk contain “bad” sectors.
The program only has portable version, and its size is slightly more than 1 MB.
The only thing that distinguishes this program from Macrorit Disk Scanner is that Ariolic Disk Scanner shows files that have read errors.
We only tested Ariolic Disk Scanner on Windows 10 and XP, but it should also work on other versions of Windows.
Many PC users hardly think about checking the status of their HDD. Checking the hard drive is, first of all, necessary for early detection of errors in it.
If you manage to identify problems with your hard drive in advance, you will be able to save all the important information stored on it until it finally fails.
In this material we will describe specific examples the procedure for checking the status of the HDD, and we will also tell you what to do in a situation if your hard drive is faulty.
How to check the status of your hard drive
You can check the status of your hard drive using various utilities that read the status of your hard drive from its self-diagnosis system SMART. SMART technology is now installed on every hard drive produced. SMART technology was developed back in 1992 and is still being improved to this day. The main goal of SMART is logging the hard drive aging process. That is, information such as the number of HDD starts, the number of spindle rotations and many others is collected. More SMART watches for errors"screw", both software and mechanical and, to the extent possible corrects them. During the monitoring process, SMART performs various short and long tests to identify those same faults. In this material we will look at such programs that can read information from SMART:
- Ashampoo HDD Control 3;
- Defraggler;
- HDDlife;
- Victoria.
Each program on the list, in addition to reading SMART readings, offers a number of functions and tests that, to one degree or another, extend the life of the hard drive. But the most interesting is the program Victoria. The Victoria program, in addition to determining the HDD state, can also produce REMAP of bad sectors. That is, she can hide bad sectors by replacing them with spare ones, if available. Essentially, the REMAP procedure can completely restore the hard drive. It is also worth noting the possibility of fixing the hard drive thanks to the console application “ chkdsk». Console program"chkdsk" can fix file system errors, allowing you to avoid reinstalling Windows.
Ashampoo HDD Control 3
First we will look at the program Ashampoo HDD Control 3. Let's run this utility on a computer running Windows 10.
The Ashampoo HDD Control 3 window displays the message “ ✓ OK", as well as the inscription " This hard drive has no problems" This information means that the hard drive in question is in perfect order. If when opening the program you see the message “ Error", as well as the inscription " This hard drive has a problem", this means that it has bad sectors or is overheating. To view complete information about the health of the “screw” taken from the smart, you need to click on the footnote “” located in the central block.
In addition to viewing information from the smart device, Ashampoo HDD Control 3 can launch self test S.M.A.R.T. And surface inspection test. You can test these tests in the "" block.
By performing these tests, you can also identify problems with the HDD. In addition to taking readings from smart devices and tests, Ashampoo HDD Control 3 can:
- Perform defragmentation;
- Clean the system of debris;
- Find and delete duplicate files;
- Securely erase files from the HDD, without the possibility of recovery.
The presence of such functionality of Ashampoo HDD Control 3 in monitoring the health of the drive and additional functions puts the utility in first place.
Defraggler
Utility Defraggler primarily intended for defragmentation, but besides this she can read SMART readings. The utility is free and any user can download it from the website www.piriform.com. After launching the utility, you need to go to the “ State».
In the window you can see that the utility displays a message about the status of the screw, like “ GOOD" - this means that he is completely fine. If you see the message " Error" in status, this will mean that the hard drive has bad sectors and it’s time to change it. The utility is quite simple and is suitable primarily for novice PC users who want to monitor the health of the HDD and defragment it. I would also like to note that the utility supports all current operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 10.
How to check your hard drive using HDDlife
Utility HDDlife It has a nice interface and immediately provides the information we need, which is responsible for the serviceability and breakdown of the screw.
From the image above you can see that in the health block there is " OK!", which means that everything is fine with the HDD. To view smart details, you just need to click on the link “ click to view S.M.A.R.T. attributes».
If you see a message in the health block " DANGER!", this means that your HDD will soon become unusable.
In this case, you need to replace the old hard drive with a new one. The HDDlife utility is, first of all, suitable for novice PC users, since its simplicity will make it easy to monitor the health of the “screw”. In addition to the standard utility, the developer also releases HDDlife for Notebooks, which is designed for laptops. The laptop version has the same functionality as the standard version, but can also perform HDD noise level control. It is also worth noting that the program supports all current operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 10.
Victoria
Program Victoria is being developed in a version for DOS and by Windows. For our example, we will use the Windows version of Victoria, which can be downloaded from http://hdd-911.com. Victoria is currently available in version 4.47. By launching the Victoria utility, we will be taken to such a window.
Victoria does not have a beautiful interface, as in previous utilities and is written in such old languages as Delphi And Assembler.
In the first tab of the quiz " Standard"is all information about installed hard drives to the computer.
Second tab " SMART» needed for smart reading. To display smart results, you must click the Get SMART button, after which the results will be displayed.
In the hard drive in question, Victoria discovered 1212 bad sectors. This number of BAD sectors is critical, so in this case it is necessary to full backup all data from the HDD. To repair a hard drive using the REMAP test in Victoria, you need to go to the “ Tests" and select the mode " Remap" After these steps, you can begin the procedure of reassigning bad sectors to backup ones with the Start button.
The REMAP test in Victoria can take a very long time. The test time depends on the number of BAD sectors. This test of the Victoria utility does not always help, since there may not be any spare sectors left in the screw.
Please note that using Victoria tests, you can damage the serviceability of the HDD and the information on it.
How to check if a disk is healthy using “chkdsk”
It may happen that by checking the S.M.A.R.T. values. Using the utilities described above, you did not find any problems, but the system still behaves unstable. Instability may manifest itself blue screens death, freezes in programs. This behavior of the Windows operating system is caused by file system errors. In this case it will help us console command « chkdsk" By running the "chkdsk" command, you can fully restore functionality Windows OS. For this example, we will take a computer with a new operating system Windows system 10. First of all, open the console in Windows 10 as an administrator. This can be easily done by right-clicking on the “ Start» and selecting the item we need.
In the running console, execute the following command CHKDSK F: /F /R After checking using the command application “chkdsk”, the result of the check will be displayed in the console.
Now let's look at the command " CHKDSK F: /F /R» more details. Immediately after the command “chkdsk” comes the letter “ F" - this letter local disk , where we correct errors. Keys " /F" And " /R» fix errors in the file system, and fix bad sectors. These keys are almost always used, unlike the others. You can view the remaining keys with the command chkdsk /?
It is also worth noting that in Windows 10 the capabilities of the chkdsk application have been significantly expanded thanks to new keys.
How to check your hard drive's health using DST
Abbreviation DST deciphered Disk Self Test, that is self test disk. Manufacturers specifically integrate this method into the HDD, so that later, using special software, they can perform DST self-diagnosis, which will identify problems. By testing the “screw” using DST you can get information about possible hard drive failure. It is especially convenient to use DST on servers and computers of enterprises, where reliable storage of information plays an important role. Now let's look at using DST using HP laptops as an example. For new HP laptops with support UEFI BIOS There is a special diagnostic menu " Startup Menu" This menu is launched using combination of power key and key ESC.
To run system tests, press the F2 button.
In the window that appears, DST is called Hard Disk Test. After selecting it, a self-test will start.
Other manufacturers also have a DST method, only the launch on a PC from other manufacturers differs from that discussed above.
Checking your hard drive in Linux
For example, let's take a computer based on the operating system Ubuntu systems 16.04. To do this, let's launch a terminal in Ubuntu. In the terminal, type the following command: sudo apt-get install smartmontools This command should install
If you don't like working in console mode, you can install a graphical utility Gnome-disk-utility. In it you can see everything you need about the HDD and its condition.
Let's sum it up
In the article reviewed, we described how you can monitor the status of the HDD, as well as how to fix its sectors and file system, if possible. From the material it becomes clear that monitoring the status of hard drives is very important, as it allows anticipate HDD failure.
If you have discovered that your hard drive is problematic, then do not put off replacing it until later. The problematic “screw” can fail at any moment, and you will lose all the information stored on the computer.
We hope our material will be useful to our readers and will completely help solve the problem of checking a hard drive.
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