How often are S.M.A.R.T. error messages ever given by mistake, when there is nothing wrong with a hard disk?
I had a WD which, according to the owner, had given a "failure is imminent" warning on boot once. It scared em, so I had to look at it. I ran both WD's quick and extensive tests without any sign of trouble. Plus I rebooted the thing a dozen times without getting any sign of a SMART error.
I saw another system once that gave a one time warning, but just like my last example I could not find a problem and the drive is still running strong. I think I may have swapped the cable on this one for the hell of it.
I would hate to be one of those idiots who RMA good components...but on the other hand it is not easy to explain that the drive is good to someone who has just seen a message telling them that failure is imminent, back up your data and replace your hard drive.
Funny how when I do have to replace a dead HD though, there was never any report of a SMART warning beforehand...hmmm
I had a WD which, according to the owner, had given a "failure is imminent" warning on boot once. It scared em, so I had to look at it. I ran both WD's quick and extensive tests without any sign of trouble. Plus I rebooted the thing a dozen times without getting any sign of a SMART error.
I saw another system once that gave a one time warning, but just like my last example I could not find a problem and the drive is still running strong. I think I may have swapped the cable on this one for the hell of it.
I would hate to be one of those idiots who RMA good components...but on the other hand it is not easy to explain that the drive is good to someone who has just seen a message telling them that failure is imminent, back up your data and replace your hard drive.
Funny how when I do have to replace a dead HD though, there was never any report of a SMART warning beforehand...hmmm