GSmartControl says all my hard drives have pre-failure or old age attributes?

billdotson

Junior Member
Mar 29, 2011
17
0
0
I have a Maxtor 300GB IDE drive that I pulled out of an external casing, a month old Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB and a 250GB Seagate drive. I haven't had any problems with any of them except for the Maxtor, who's USB interface in the external case failed (no computer would even recognize the drive in the BIOS). It seems to be working plugged in directly with IDE though.

Anyway, so I downloaded smartmontools and GSmartControl and looked at the attributes of each drive.

All drives passed a short self test.

Here are the results:

Western Digital

Code:
smartctl 5.40 2010-03-16 r3077 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net  === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Black family Device Model:     WDC WD5001AALS-00E3A0 Serial Number:    WD-WCATR3319077 Firmware Version: 05.01D05 User Capacity:    500,107,862,016 bytes Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show] ATA Version is:   8 ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated Local Time is:    Sun Mar 27 02:49:14 2011 EDT 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:          (8760) 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:      (   2) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time:      ( 104) minutes. Conveyance self-test routine recommended polling time:      (   5) minutes. SCT capabilities:            (0x3037)    SCT Status supported.                     SCT Feature Control supported.                     SCT Data Table supported.  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     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0   3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   189   173   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       3533   4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       54   5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0   7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0   9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       485  10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0  11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0  12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       47 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       7 193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       46 194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   120   114   000    Old_age   Always       -       27 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       1  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  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       485         -  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.
Code:
smartctl 5.40 2010-03-16 r3077 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net  === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Model Family:     Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 family Device Model:     ST3250620AS Serial Number:    5QE0TRPR Firmware Version: 3.AAC User Capacity:    250,059,350,016 bytes Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show] ATA Version is:   7 ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated Local Time is:    Sun Mar 27 02:48:27 2011 EDT 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:          ( 430) 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.                     General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine  recommended polling time:      (   1) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time:      (  92) minutes.  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   118   094   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       193307306   3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   097   095   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0   4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   020    Old_age   Always       -       1931   5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       0   7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   086   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       456088840   9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   085   085   000    Old_age   Always       -       13983  10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0  12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   099   099   020    Old_age   Always       -       1907 187 Reported_Uncorrect      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   071   059   045    Old_age   Always       -       29 (Lifetime Min/Max 28/29) 194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   029   041   000    Old_age   Always       -       29 (0 16 0 0) 195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   063   057   000    Old_age   Always       -       201012873 197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   100   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       -       0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0 202 Data_Address_Mark_Errs  0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       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  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     13983         - # 2  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     13494         - # 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      2240         - # 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      2239         - # 5  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      2239         - # 6  Extended offline    Aborted by host               80%      2239         -  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.
Code:
smartctl 5.40 2010-03-16 r3077 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net  === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Model Family:     Maxtor DiamondMax 10 family (ATA/133 and SATA/150) Device Model:     Maxtor 6L300R0 Serial Number:    L61B4MGG Firmware Version: BAJ41G20 User Capacity:    300,090,728,448 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:    Sun Mar 27 02:48:03 2011 EDT 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:  (0x02)    Offline data collection activity                     was completed without error.                     Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled. 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:          (2343) 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.                     General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine  recommended polling time:      (   2) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time:      ( 118) minutes. SCT capabilities:            (0x0021)    SCT Status supported.                     SCT Data Table supported.  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   183   180   063    Pre-fail  Always       -       21765   4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   245   245   000    Old_age   Always       -       15879   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   250   243   187    Pre-fail  Always       -       51910   9 Power_On_Minutes        0x0032   199   199   000    Old_age   Always       -       422h+18m  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   253   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       135 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   253   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   253   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0032   038   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       30 195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       3721 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   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 202 Data_Address_Mark_Errs  0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 203 Run_Out_Cancel          0x000b   253   252   180    Pre-fail  Always       -       0 204 Soft_ECC_Correction     0x000a   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 205 Thermal_Asperity_Rate   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   239   239   000    Old_age   Offline      -       170 210 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 211 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       0 212 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   253   252   000    Old_age   Always       -       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  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     18990         -  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.
The manpage says that just because an attribute have a pre-fail type doesn't mean the drive is about to fail. However, that doesn't make sense to me. If "pre-failure" doesn't mean anything why does it say it?

I find it very difficult to believe that S.M.A.R.T. is working correctly if it says all three of my drives have all old age attributes and at least 3 or 4 pre-failure attributes.

Thanks.

I found GSmartControl when looking for open source hardware diagnostic utilities.

EDIT: Just look at this thread here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1715500
The code blocks here just put all the pastes on one line
 

alaricljs

Golden Member
May 11, 2005
1,221
1
76
What smartctl is telling you is that the information provided about that particular attribute indicates whether or not you are in a pre-failure condition. If you read the smartctl man page then you will know that the RAW value is "reality" and that VALUE is what the HDD vendor represents the value as on a scale of 0-255 where 255 is *good* and being below threshold is *bad* and at worst is the same as your drive having utterly died. The attribute type is merely an attempt at telling you what the value tells you about the disk. Tons of power on hours are "old_age" (big surprise) old age can kill a drive, but there's no way of knowing when. A rising reallocated sector count could happen at any time so it's not indicative of old age, but definitely shows that you may be nearing failure, hence it's being a 'pre-fail' attribute.

Now of course, value/worst/threshold are all firmware calculated values and the fw/vendor could have their head up their ass. Pay attention to the raw value if you are worried about anything.