Questions[smartctl](server)

I use S.M.A.R.T. selftest to test all of my hard drives and SSDs. I run a short test daily and a long test monthly.

One of my SSD is showing odd behavior in that the lifetime hours seem to reset back to zero. Is this normal? Why would it do this? I have never seen this behavior before. Is it a cause for concern?

The command I use to initiate the tests (via a script launched by crontab) is:

smartctl --test=short $DISK

Here is a copy of the error log that shows the strange behavior:

   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%       110         -
   # 2  short offline       completed without error       00%        86         -
   # 3  short offline       completed without error       00%        62         -
   # 4  short offline       completed without error       00%        38         -
   # 5  short offline       completed without error       00%        14         -
   # 6  short offline       completed without error       00%      1166         -
   # 7  short offline       completed without error       00%      1142         -
   # 8  short offline       completed without error       00%      1117         -
   # 9  short offline       completed without error       00%      1093         -
   #10  short offline       completed without error       00%      1069         -
   #11  short offline       completed without error       00%      1045         -
   #12  short offline       completed without error       00%      1021         -
   #13  short offline       completed without error       00%       997         -
   #14  short offline       completed without error       00%       973         -
   #15  short offline       completed without error       00%       949         -
   #16  short offline       completed without error       00%       925         -
   #17  short offline       completed without error       00%       901         -
   #18  extended offline    completed without error       00%       897         -
   #19  short offline       completed without error       00%       877         -
   #20  short offline       completed without error       00%       853         -
   #21  short offline       completed without error       00%       829         -

The device is much older than 1166 hours.

Here is some specific info on the device:

smartctl -a $DISK

/dev/disk0
smartctl 7.1 2019-12-30 r5022 [Darwin 18.7.0 x86_64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-19, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Apple SD/SM/TS...E/F/G SSDs
Device Model:     APPLE SSD SM1024F
Firmware Version: UXM8JA1Q
User Capacity:    1,000,555,581,440 bytes [1.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Sat Nov  7 15:18:13 2020 EST
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:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                    was never started.
                    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:        (    0) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:            (0x5f) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Abort 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:    (  10) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 40
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   093   093   000    Old_age   Always       -       33168
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       876
169 Unknown_Apple_Attrib    0x0013   253   253   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       7105251654656
173 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0032   190   190   100    Old_age   Always       -       30084956220
174 Host_Reads_MiB          0x0022   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       77353745
175 Host_Writes_MiB         0x0022   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       58090980
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0012   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       202
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   053   053   000    Old_age   Always       -       47 (Min/Max 23/72)
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
240 Unknown_SSD_Attribute   0x0022   100   100   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%       110         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%        86         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%        62         -
# 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%        38         -
# 5  Short offline       Completed without error       00%        14         -
# 6  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1166         -
# 7  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1142         -
# 8  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1117         -
# 9  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1093         -
#10  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1069         -
#11  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1045         -
#12  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1021         -
#13  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       997         -
#14  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       973         -
#15  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       949         -
#16  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       925         -
#17  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       901         -
#18  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%       897         -
#19  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       877         -
#20  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       853         -
#21  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       829         -

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.

We have a linux server that has been in heavy use for 3 years. We're running a number of virtualized servers on it, some that have not been well behaved, and for a significant time the server's io capacity was exceeded leading to bad iowait. It's got 4 500gb Barracuda sata drives connected to a 3com raid controller. 1 Drive has the OS, and the other 3 are setup raid-5.

Now we have a debate as to the condition of the drives and whether they are actively failing.

Here's a portion of the output for 1 of the 4 disks. They all have relatively similar statistics:

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   099   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       169074425
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   095   092   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   020    Old_age   Always       -       26
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   077   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       200009354607
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   069   069   000    Old_age   Always       -       27856
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       1
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   020    Old_age   Always       -       26
184 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   100   099    Old_age   Always       -       0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
188 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
189 High_Fly_Writes         0x003a   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   071   060   045    Old_age   Always       -       29 (Lifetime Min/Max 26/37)
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   029   040   000    Old_age   Always       -       29 (0 21 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   046   033   000    Old_age   Always       -       169074425
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

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

My interpretation of this is that we have not had any bad sectors or other indications that any of the drives are actively failing.

However, the high Raw_Read_Error_Rate and Seek_Error_Rate is being pointed to as indications that the drives are dying.

I have a hard drive that's part of a Linux software raid5 array. SMART has reported that its multi_zone_error_rate was 0, then 1, then 3. So I figured I better start backing up more frequently and prepare to replace the drive. Now, today, the multi_zone_error_rate of that very same drive is back down to 1. It seems that 2 errors unhappened while I wasn't looking.

I've also seen simliar behaviour by inspecting the syslog on the server.

Jun  7 21:01:17 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sdc, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 200 to 100
Jun  7 21:01:17 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sde, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 200 to 100
Jun  7 21:01:18 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sdg, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 200 to 100
Jun  8 02:31:18 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sdg, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 100 to 200
Jun  8 03:01:17 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sdc, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 100 to 200
Jun  8 03:01:17 FS1 smartd[25593]: Device: /dev/sde, SMART Usage Attribute: 7 Seek_Error_Rate changed from 100 to 200

These are raw values, not the human-useful values that smartctl -a produces, but the behaviour is similar: error rates changing, then undoing the change. None of these are the drive that had the multi_zone weirdness. I haven't seen any problems from the RAID; its most recent scrub ( < 24 hours ago) came back totally clean. These are the only SMART values behaving strangely.

The only thing I can think of is that the SMART reporting circuitry on the drive isn't working properly all the time. The cables are in tight on the drive and board. What's going on here?

I been running smartctl -t long on a drive for about 2 days now and it seems to be stalled at 10%. short and conveyance both passed. I have to send 1 of 2 drives purchased back I found badblocks with badblocks (none on this drive and I'ts made over a pass already). I'm just wondering if I should be concerned about this.

smartctl 5.39.1 2010-01-28 r3054 [x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1
Serial Number:    WD-WMAV51582123
Firmware Version: 80.00A80
User Capacity:    1,000,204,886,016 bytes
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   8
ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:    Mon May 10 22:19:52 2010 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:      ( 241)     Self-test routine in progress...
                                    10% of test remaining.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:             (20100) 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:    ( 231) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (   5) minutes.
SCT capabilities:          (0x3031) 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       -       2
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   131   131   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       6408
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       12
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       148
 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       -       10
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       7
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       174
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   106   102   000    Old_age   Always       -       41
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      -       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  Conveyance offline  Completed without error       00%        99         -
# 2  Extended offline    Interrupted (host reset)      10%        30         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%         0         -

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.

My Linux system has started throwing SMART errors in the syslog. I tracked it down and believe the problem is a single block on the disk. How do I go about easily getting the disk to reallocate that one block? I'd like to know what file got destroyed in the process. (I'm aware that if one block fails on a disk others are likely to follow; I have a good ongoing backup and just want to try to keep this disk working.)

Searching the web leads to the Bad block HOWTO, which describes a manual process on an unmounted disk. It seems complicated and error-prone. Is there a tool to automate this process in Linux? My only other option is the manufacturer's diagnostic tool, but I presume that'll clobber the bad block without any reporting on what got destroyed. Worst case, it might be filesystem metadata.

The disk in question is the primary system partition. Using ext3fs and LVM. Here's the error log from syslog and the relevant bit from smartctl.

smartd[5226]: Device: /dev/hda, 1 Currently unreadable (pending) sectors

Error 1 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 17449 hours (727 days + 1 hours)
... Error: UNC at LBA = 0x00d39eee = 13868782

There's a full smartctl dump on pastebin.