HDD Smart Utility

[willawake]

well, i come home to boot up and get a hdd head crash by the sounds of it. Anyway it was the oldest hdd in my rig (wdd installed 07/2003). Its ok, it was 80gb of stuff i was gonna sort out later so that problem is solved, all the good stuff is on dvdr or on one of the newer hdds (getting backed up this weeked ).

anyway Chris1992 recommends me to get a hdd smart utility cos on the fails i have seen nothing shows up in event viewer. so anybody can recommend a free utility? i have already tried Chris's Speedfan utility but it doesnt play well with my system or the other monitoring utilities i have.

[Rainbow]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

smartctl from smartmontools is the best SMART utility.

[davmax]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

It depends what you want to do with the HDD. Have you used the Windows XP error checking program? Set to scan and repair the whole surface.Yes guess you have.

Does the disk make regular grating noise? Hitachi (IBM have a free util that fixes this) I have not explored all WD util opportunities.

What stage are you at now?

[Rainbow]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

SMART is THE tool to diagnose HDDs. This is an example of completely healthy drive:

root@pentium:~# smartctl -a /dev/hda
smartctl version 5.33 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is [url]http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/[/url]

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:   WDC WD300BB-00AUA1
Serial Number:  WD-WMA6W1847372
Firmware Version: 18.20D18
User Capacity:  30,020,272,128 bytes
Device is:    In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:  5
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:  Sat Feb 11 12:24:28 2006 CET
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: (0x84) Offline data collection activity
                    was suspended by an interrupting command from host.
                    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:         (1530) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:          (0x1b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    No Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    No 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.
                    No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time:    (  2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:    ( 24) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME     FLAG   VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE   UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate   0x000b  200  200  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 3 Spin_Up_Time      0x0007  104  098  021  Pre-fail Always    -    3600
 4 Start_Stop_Count    0x0032  095  095  040  Old_age  Always    -    5765
 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0032  200  200  112  Old_age  Always    -    0
 7 Seek_Error_Rate     0x000b  100  253  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 9 Power_On_Hours     0x0032  080  080  000  Old_age  Always    -    14743
 10 Spin_Retry_Count    0x0013  100  099  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0013  100  100  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count    0x0032  096  096  000  Old_age  Always    -    4414
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0012  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count  0x000a  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    20
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate  0x0009  200  200  051  Pre-fail Offline   -    0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description  Status         Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline  Completed without error    00%    99     -
# 2 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    99     -
# 3 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    941     -
# 4 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    646     -
# 5 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    568     -
# 6 Short captive    Completed without error    00%    424     -
# 7 Short captive    Completed without error    00%    410     -
# 8 Short captive    Completed without error    00%    475     -
# 9 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    267     -
#10 Short captive    Completed without error    00%    163     -
#11 Short captive    Completed without error    00%   1052     -
#12 Short captive    Interrupted (host reset)   80%   1029     -
#13 Short captive    Completed without error    00%    944     -
#14 Short captive    Completed without error    00%   1044     -

Device does not support Selective Self Tests/Logging

[Rainbow]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

And this one is completely bad:

smartctl version 5.32 Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:   WDC WD102AA
Serial Number:  WD-WTA0M1151123
Firmware Version: 05.05B05
Device is:    In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:  4
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:  Tue Feb 15 16:23:10 2005 CET
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: FAILED!
Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA.
See vendor-specific Attribute list for failed Attributes.

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:   ( 73) The previous self-test completed having
                    a test element that failed and the test
                    element that failed is not known.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:         ( 784) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:          (0x1b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    No Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    No 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.
                    No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time:    (  2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:    ( 14) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME     FLAG   VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE   UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate   0x000b  001  001  051  Pre-fail Always  FAILING_NOW 2472
 3 Spin_Up_Time      0x0006  107  100  000  Old_age  Always    -    1250
 4 Start_Stop_Count    0x0012  099  099  040  Old_age  Always    -    1867
 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0012  111  111  112  Old_age  Always  FAILING_NOW 356
 9 Power_On_Hours     0x0012  099  099  000  Old_age  Always    -    1406
 10 Spin_Retry_Count    0x0013  100  100  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0013  100  100  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count    0x0012  099  099  000  Old_age  Always    -    1629
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0012  178  178  000  Old_age  Always    -    22
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012  065  042  000  Old_age  Always    -    227
198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0012  001  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    994
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count  0x000a  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate  0x0009  001  001  051  Pre-fail Offline FAILING_NOW 885

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 2851 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
    CR = Command Register [HEX]
    FR = Features Register [HEX]
    SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
    SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
    CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
    CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
    DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
    DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
    ER = Error register [HEX]
    ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 2851 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 313 hours (13 days + 1 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 01 32 df 01 a0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0001df32 = 122674

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 c4 00 01 32 df 01 a0 00   04:55:05.250 READ MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 31 df 01 a0 00   04:55:05.250 READ MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 30 df 01 a0 00   04:55:05.250 READ MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2f df 01 a0 00   04:55:05.250 READ MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2e df 01 a0 00   04:55:05.250 READ MULTIPLE

Error 2850 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 313 hours (13 days + 1 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 01 2c df 01 a0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0001df2c = 122668

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:55:00.050 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:55:00.050 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:55:00.050 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:55:00.000 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:54.950 READ MULTIPLE

Error 2849 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 313 hours (13 days + 1 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 01 2c df 01 a0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0001df2c = 122668

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:54.950 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:54.950 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:54.950 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:54.950 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:49.950 READ MULTIPLE

Error 2848 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 313 hours (13 days + 1 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 01 2c df 01 a0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0001df2c = 122668

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:49.950 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:49.950 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:49.950 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:49.900 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:44.650 READ MULTIPLE

Error 2847 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 313 hours (13 days + 1 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 01 2c df 01 a0 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0001df2c = 122668

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:44.650 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:44.650 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2b df 01 a0 00   04:54:44.600 READ MULTIPLE
 c5 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:44.600 WRITE MULTIPLE
 c4 00 01 2c df 01 a0 00   04:54:39.800 READ MULTIPLE

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description  Status         Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline    Completed: unknown failure  90%    313     4294902115
# 2 Short offline    Completed: unknown failure  90%    306     4294902115
# 3 Extended offline  Completed: unknown failure  90%    305     4294902115
# 4 Short offline    Completed: unknown failure  90%    305     4294902115

Device does not support Selective Self Tests/Logging

[willawake]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

yeah it looks to be a great program. i will get it installed later today. Atm i am using Active Smart but it is shareware. They have also a network version so you can monitor all hdds on the LAN which would be cool for the office.

congratulations on finding the [code] tag btw

Dave : I am looking for software for pre-failure warning. Regarding the conditionn of the HDD it sounds like the head is scraping on the platter. I will see what i can do but looks bad.

edit : nope, i cant even get wd diagnostics running with this drive attached.

[Chris1992]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

btw, I didn't write Speedfan. Alfredo Milani Comparetti did. It's one of the few monitoring utilities still being updated.

[Rainbow]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

Be aware that speedfan's interpretation of SMART data is bogus. It shows icons next to each SMART attribute which are chosen by bad algorithm and it also shows two completely made up gauges called "fitness" and "performance".

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

How does this HDD look? It's a Maxtor 30 GB 7,200 RPM slimline HDD.

smartctl version 5.33 [i386-pc-mingw32] Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:   Maxtor 6E030L0
Serial Number:  E191EG1E
Firmware Version: NAR61590
User Capacity:  30,750,031,872 bytes
Device is:    In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:  7
ATA Standard is: ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D revision 0
Local Time is:  Fri Mar 03 19:39:55 2006 Eastern Standard Time
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Disabled

=== 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: 		 (1021) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					No 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.
					No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time: 	 (  2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 17) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME     FLAG   VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE   UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
 3 Spin_Up_Time      0x0027  223  222  063  Pre-fail Always    -    7985
 4 Start_Stop_Count    0x0032  253  253  000  Old_age  Always    -    363
 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0033  253  253  063  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 6 Read_Channel_Margin   0x0001  253  253  100  Pre-fail Offline   -    0
 7 Seek_Error_Rate     0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
 8 Seek_Time_Performance  0x0027  251  239  187  Pre-fail Always    -    35686
 9 Power_On_Minutes    0x0032  249  249  000  Old_age  Always    -    625h+11m
 10 Spin_Retry_Count    0x002b  253  252  157  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x002b  253  252  223  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count    0x0032  252  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    420
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032  253  253  000  Old_age  Always    -    330
193 Load_Cycle_Count    0x0032  253  253  000  Old_age  Always    -    1295
194 Temperature_Celsius   0x0032  253  253  000  Old_age  Always    -    37
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    240
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0008  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0008  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0008  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count  0x0008  199  199  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate  0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
201 Soft_Read_Error_Rate  0x000a  253  223  000  Old_age  Always    -    7
202 TA_Increase_Count    0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
203 Run_Out_Cancel     0x000b  253  252  180  Pre-fail Always    -    0
204 Shock_Count_Write_Opern 0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
205 Shock_Rate_Write_Opern 0x000a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
207 Spin_High_Current    0x002a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
208 Spin_Buzz        0x002a  253  252  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
209 Offline_Seek_Performnce 0x0024  190  188  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
 99 Unknown_Attribute    0x0004  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
100 Unknown_Attribute    0x0004  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
101 Unknown_Attribute    0x0004  253  253  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 1
	CR = Command Register [HEX]
	FR = Features Register [HEX]
	SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
	SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
	CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
	CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
	DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
	DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
	ER = Error register [HEX]
	ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 1 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 1606 hours (66 days + 22 hours)
 When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was in an unknown state.

 After command completion occurred, registers were:
 ER ST SC SN CL CH DH
 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 40 51 0b 00 3e 14 e1 Error: UNC at LBA = 0x01143e00 = 18103808

 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
 CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC  Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
 41 ff 00 00 3e 14 e1 00   00:09:22.048 READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) [OBS-5]
 41 ff 00 00 3d 14 e1 00   00:09:22.048 READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) [OBS-5]
 41 ff 00 00 3c 14 e1 00   00:09:22.048 READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) [OBS-5]
 41 ff 00 00 3b 14 e1 00   00:09:22.048 READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) [OBS-5]
 41 ff 00 00 3a 14 e1 00   00:09:22.048 READ VERIFY SECTOR(S) [OBS-5]

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description  Status         Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline  Completed without error    00%   1609     -
# 2 Short offline    Completed without error    00%   1606     -
# 3 Extended offline  Completed without error    00%   1491     -
# 4 Extended offline  Completed without error    00%   1491     -
# 5 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    927     -
# 6 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    437     -
# 7 Short offline    Completed without error    00%    301     -

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.

[dood]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

I wouldn't trust ANY of those Maxtor slimline HDs. Seen way too many of them fail.

[Rainbow]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

The drive seems to be OK according to SMART.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

I wouldn't trust ANY of those Maxtor slimline HDs. Seen way too many of them fail.

I find the Maxtor slimline HDD guilty! Because the HDD was acting up, despite SMART not reporting an imminent HDD failure, I noticed it pausing when writing zeroes to the HDD with Powermax, I would see the numbers stop then start when it's scanning the HDD and Powermax has gave me an error message before when doing the full scan test!

I wonder if the platter warps easily with those HDDs, even when the reported temperature was OK?

I took it offline.

I find this hard to believe!

The Maxtor HDDs made in 1999 and 2000 appear to be tough HDDs. I have a 13 GB 7,200 RPM UDMA 66 HDD. That one was purchased back in November, 1999.

That HDD has no signs of being anywhere near failure! No bad sectors and the SMART is at almost 100 percent!

That's despite the HDD has been through a lot, been working hard and through blackouts and brownouts.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

That's despite being through blackouts and brownouts.

Sorry. The message board wont let me edit the above post anymore!

It's a 10 minute limit, NOT a 10 edit limit!

[willawake]

Re: HDD Smart Utility

heres another free one

http://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup.htm