One of our regular readers sends us a question: How can I test if my hard disk is going bad? I see few errors in /var/log/messages file.
I/O errors in /var/log/messages indicate that something is wrong with the hard disk and it may be failing. You can check the hard drive for errors using the smartctl command, which is control and monitor utility for SMART disks under Linux / UNIX like operating systems.
smartctl controls the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) system built into many ATA-3 and later ATA, IDE and SCSI-3 hard drives. The purpose of SMART is to monitor the reliability of the hard drive and predict drive failures, and to carry out different types of drive self-tests.
smartctl for servers
smartctl is a command line utility designed to perform SMART tasks such as printing the SMART self-test and error logs, enabling and disabling SMART automatic testing, and initiating device self-tests. First, make sure S.M.A.R.T. support is enabled in the BIOS. Next, run the following command to see if your hard disks support S.M.A.R.T technology or not:
# smartctl -i /dev/sdb
To enable SMART, run:
# smartctl -s on -d ata /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
smartctl version 5.33 [x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/ === START OF ENABLE/DISABLE COMMANDS SECTION === SMART Enabled.
Run overall-health self-assessment test, enter:
# smartctl -d ata -H /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
smartctl version 5.33 [x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/ === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
A sample output from failing hard disk:
smartctl version 5.38 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Please note the following marginal Attributes:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 044 033 045 Old_age Always FAILING_NOW 56 (96 110 58 25)The following will provide even more information about failing hard disk:
# smartctl --attributes --log=selftest /dev/sda
Sample outputs:
smartctl version 5.38 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
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 098 092 006 Pre-fail Always - 238320363
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 100 100 000 Pre-fail Always - 0
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 587
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 9
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 077 060 030 Pre-fail Always - 51672328
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 095 095 000 Old_age Always - 4805
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 586
184 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 099 Old_age Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 417
188 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 099 000 Old_age Always - 4295032833
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 094 094 000 Old_age Always - 6
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 044 033 045 Old_age Always FAILING_NOW 56 (96 122 58 25)
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 056 067 000 Old_age Always - 56 (0 23 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 043 026 000 Old_age Always - 238320363
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 49
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 49
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 172082159686339
241 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 2155546016
242 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 3048586928
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed: read failure 90% 4789 1746972641You can read more data from hard disk by typing the following command:
# smartctl -d ata -a /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
smartctl version 5.33 [x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-4 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: WDC WD2500YS-01SHB0
Serial Number: WD-WCANY1729333
Firmware Version: 20.06C03
User Capacity: 251,000,193,024 bytes
Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is: 7
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is: Wed Jul 4 15:04:38 2007 CDT
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: (7800) 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: ( 92) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 6) 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 0x000f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 190 187 021 Pre-fail Always - 5500
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 24
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 092 092 000 Old_age Always - 6382
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 23
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 127 096 000 Old_age Always - 23
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 0x0010 200 200 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
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
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
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.A note about RAID controller
To look at ATA disks behind 3ware SCSI RAID controllers, the syntax is:
# smartctl -a -d 3ware,2 /dev/sda
# smartctl -a -d 3ware,0 /dev/twe0
See how to use the smartctl command to check disk behind Adaptec RAID controllers and hard disk behind 3Ware RAID cards for more information.
Task: Extended self-test of drive
You need to begin an extended self-test of drive /dev/hdc. You can issue this command on a running system. The results can be seen in the self-test log visible with the ‘-l selftest’ option after it has completed:
# smartctl -d ata -t long /dev/sdb
Sample failing hard Disk detailed report
# smartctl -a /dev/sda
Sample outputs:
smartctl version 5.38 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model: ST31500341AS
Serial Number: 9VS0TG4B
Firmware Version: CC1H
User Capacity: 1,500,301,910,016 bytes
Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is: 8
ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4
Local Time is: Mon Oct 26 21:16:15 2009 IST
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
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal 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: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 617) 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: ( 255) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
SCT capabilities: (0x103f) 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 098 092 006 Pre-fail Always - 238338845
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 100 100 000 Pre-fail Always - 0
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 587
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 9
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 077 060 030 Pre-fail Always - 51672525
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 095 095 000 Old_age Always - 4806
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 586
184 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 099 Old_age Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 417
188 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 099 000 Old_age Always - 4295032833
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 094 094 000 Old_age Always - 6
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 044 033 045 Old_age Always FAILING_NOW 56 (96 126 58 25)
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 056 067 000 Old_age Always - 56 (0 23 0 0)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 043 026 000 Old_age Always - 238338845
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 49
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 49
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 107168023974595
241 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 2155546480
242 Unknown_Attribute 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 3048590512
SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 416 (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 416 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4786 hours (199 days + 10 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 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00 00:55:03.917 READ DMA EXT
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:55:03.818 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:55:03.798 IDENTIFY DEVICE
ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00 00:55:03.779 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:55:03.658 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
Error 415 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4786 hours (199 days + 10 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 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00 00:55:00.927 READ DMA EXT
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:55:00.837 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:55:00.817 IDENTIFY DEVICE
ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00 00:55:00.800 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:55:00.747 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
Error 414 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4786 hours (199 days + 10 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 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00 00:54:57.903 READ DMA EXT
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:57.807 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:57.787 IDENTIFY DEVICE
ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:57.757 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:57.637 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
Error 413 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4786 hours (199 days + 10 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 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00 00:54:54.862 READ DMA EXT
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:54.767 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:54.746 IDENTIFY DEVICE
ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:54.728 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:54.677 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
Error 412 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 4786 hours (199 days + 10 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 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455
Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- --------------------
25 00 08 ff ff ff ef 00 00:54:51.838 READ DMA EXT
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:51.736 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
ec 00 00 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:51.716 IDENTIFY DEVICE
ef 03 46 00 00 00 a0 00 00:54:51.685 SET FEATURES [Set transfer mode]
27 00 00 00 00 00 e0 00 00:54:51.566 READ NATIVE MAX ADDRESS EXT
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Extended offline Completed: read failure 90% 4789 1746972641
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.If you see Reallocated or Pending sectors, replace that drive ASAP.
Restore From Backup
If any one of these test reports error, replace the hard disk and restore the data from backups.
Configure smartd on server to get email based warnings if problems are detected
smartd is a daemon that monitors hard disk and it will attempt to enable SMART monitoring on hard disks. It polls hard disk health data and SCSI devices every 30 minutes (configurable option). It logs SMART errors and changes of SMART Attributes via the SYSLOG interface. The default location for these SYSLOG notifications and warnings is system-dependent (typically /var/log/messages or /var/log/syslog). In addition to logging to a file, smartd can also be configured to send email warnings if problems are detected. Depending upon the type of problem, you may want to run self-tests on the disk, back up the disk, replace the disk, or use a manufacturer’s utility to force reallocation of bad or unreadable disk sectors. See how to install and configure smartd for more information.
Gnome disk utility
Most Linux and Unix like oses such as FreeBSD or OpenBSD comes with a gui tool called Disk Utility. This will only work, if you are running gnome based desktop or laptop system. To start Disk utility visit:
Applications > System Tools > Disk Utility
Click on the hard disk:
![Linux 500 GB Hard Disk (ATA TOSHIBA MK5061GSYF) [-dev-sda] Disk Utility Failing](https://www.cyberciti.biz/media/uploads/l/tips/2007/07/500-GB-Hard-Disk-ATA-TOSHIBA-MK5061GSYF-dev-sda-Disk-Utility_014.png "Linux 500 GB Hard Disk (ATA TOSHIBA MK5061GSYF) [-dev-sda] Disk Utility Failing")
To view details click on smart data:
An example of healthy hard disk:
![Linux 500 GB Hard Disk (ATA ST9500420ASG) [-dev-sdb] — Disk Utility](https://www.cyberciti.biz/media/uploads/l/tips/2007/07/500-GB-Hard-Disk-ATA-ST9500420ASG-dev-sdb-%E2%80%94-Disk-Utility_016.png "Linux 500 GB Hard Disk (ATA ST9500420ASG) [-dev-sdb] — Disk Utility")
Say hello to GSmartControl
GSmartControl is hard disk drive health inspection tool and a graphical user interface for smartctl command. This tool has the following features:
- Automatically reports and highlights any anomalies;
- Allows enabling/disabling SMART;
- Allows enabling/disabling Automatic Offline Data Collection – a short self-check that the drive will perform automatically every four hours with no impact on performance;
- Supports configuration of global and per-drive options for smartctl;
- Performs SMART self-tests;
- Displays drive identity information, capabilities, attributes, and self-test/error logs;
- Can read in smartctl output from a saved file, interpreting it as a read-only virtual device;
- Works on most smartctl-supported operating systems like *BSD and various Linux distros;
- Has extensive help information.
You can install it as follows on Debian or Ubuntu based systems using the apt-get command:
$ sudo apt-get install gsmartcontrol
If you aree using RHEL or CentOS Linux use the yum command as follows to install the same:
# yum install gsmartcontrol
Sample outputs:
Click on the hard disk to see more information:
Click on Attributes tab:
Click on Perform test tab to execute short or long hard disk test:
References:
40 Linux Server Hardening Security Tips [2019 edition]
30 Best Sources For Linux / *BSD / Unix Documentation On the Web
Linux 25 PHP Security Best Practices For Sys Admins
30 Linux System Monitoring Tools Every SysAdmin Should Know
21 Examples To Make Sure Unix / Linux Configuration Files Are Free From Syntax Errors
The Novice Guide To Buying A Linux Laptop- Top 25 Nginx Web Server Best Security Practices
Don’t expect too much from SMART : Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population https://www.usenix.org/events/fast07/tech/full_papers/pinheiro/pinheiro.pdf
We present data collected from detailed observations of a large disk drive population in a production Internet services deployment
… models based on SMART parameters alone are unlikely to be useful for predicting individual drive failures. …
Bruno,
Yes, no tool is perfect; admin must use on his/her experience while diagnosing a problem. I’m downloading and reading PDF.
Appreciate your post.
Really Thanks a lot for such usefull information. Thanks for sharing that.
Cheers..!!
The
badblocksutility, part of the e2fs suite of tools, is good way to test a drive. It is probably more through than the on-drive smart diagnostics, when run in write mode. The down side of write mode is that it destroys any existing data — although this can be an advantage if you wish to throughly remove all data from a drive.badblocksworks on non-smart capable drives as well.Badblocks has both “non-destructive” and “destructive” modes of testing (write vs read).
read the man page to avoid data loss. (I learnt the hard way:)
Thank you for your post! It was of great help while compiling my view on things, while testing capabilities of SMART to monitor my drives and if it is of any help to predict when a drive will die.
Pardon my ignorance, but is your output that of a failing drive or a healthy drive? I have very similar output, after just dealing with filesystem problems fixed with e2fsck. My output Thanks!
a healthy drive
Also pardon my ignorace, but could you check I have four drives there and I suspect one may-be two are faulty (no possible repair).
how do you get it out of read only?
Bruno, SMART data is definitely worth paying attention to. Any one of 4 of the categories of errors listed needs only 1 error to increase the chance of a disk failure by 10 or more in the next 60 days. So, bad SMART data will certainly indicate that a drive should be replaced. However, drives can also fail without any warning too.
I think my drive may have crapped. I saw a “Read only file system” trying to log some things. Logged in a s root and still no luck writing to the disk. Then forced a fcsk with a reboot – still no luck. A ‘df’ does not even show that drive now. Any thoughts/ideas?
touch /forcefsck && /sbin/reboot
OR
/sbin/shutdown -rF now
Thanks for your advice on badblocks Karl! I was looking and looking for a way to test an old, non SMART-capable HDD about which the kernel is saying “rejecting I/O to dead device”.
How could that 500GB ATA power up for 15 years…
I wonder how much is that 15 years ago….
My dying hard disk…
How do I use the right linux to check bad hard drive ? I use a lot of way to check bad hard drive but I can not found bad hard drive. Can you show me use the right way to check bad hard drive.