Smart hdd what to do. How to use one of the legendary hard drive diagnostic programs called Victoria! SMART hdd readings - what is it and what is it for

Today, I would like to talk in a little more detail about the SMART technology mentioned in passing in the previous article about the criteria for choosing a hard drive, and also to clarify the issue of the appearance of bad sectors when checking the surface with special programs and the exhaustion of the reserve surface for their reassignment - an issue raised in the previous article.

To begin with, as always, a brief historical excursion. The reliability of a hard drive (and any storage device in the most general case) is always given great importance. And the point is not at all in its cost, but in the value of the information that it takes with it to another world, passing away itself, and in the loss of profit associated with downtime when hard drives fail, if we are talking about business users, even if the information remains. And it’s quite natural that you want to know about such unpleasant moments in advance. Even ordinary reasoning at the everyday level suggests that monitoring the state of the device in operation can suggest such moments. All that remains is to somehow implement this observation in the hard drive.

For the first time, engineers from the blue giant (IBM, that is) thought about this problem. And in 1995, they proposed a technology that monitors several critical parameters of the drive and attempts, based on the collected data, to predict its failure - Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA). The idea was picked up by Compaq, which a little later created its own technology - IntelliSafe. Seagate, Quantum and Conner also participated in Compaq's development. The technology they created also monitored a number of disk performance characteristics, compared them with an acceptable value, and reported to the host system if there was a danger. This was a huge step forward, if not in increasing the reliability of hard drives, then at least in reducing the risk of losing information when using them. The first attempts were successful and showed the need for further development of the technology. Already in the association of all major hard drive manufacturers, S.M.A.R.T (Self Monitoring Analyzing and Reporting Technology) technology has appeared, based on IntelliSafe and PFA technologies (by the way, PFA still exists today as a set of technologies for monitoring and analyzing various subsystems of IBM servers, including including the disk subsystem, and monitoring the latter is based precisely on SMART technology).

So, SMART is a technology for internally assessing the condition of a disk, and a mechanism for predicting possible failure of a hard disk. It is important to note that the technology, in principle, does not solve emerging problems (the main ones are shown in the figure below); it can only warn about a problem that has already arisen or is expected in the near future.

At the same time, it must also be said that technology is not able to predict absolutely all possible problems and this is logical: failure of electronics as a result of a power surge, damage to heads and surfaces as a result of an impact, etc. no technology can predict. The only predictable problems are those that are associated with the gradual deterioration of any characteristics, the uniform degradation of any components.

Stages of technology development

SMART technology went through three stages in its development. In the first generation, observation of a small number of parameters was implemented. No independent actions of the drive were provided for. The launch was carried out only by commands via the interface. There is no specification completely describing the standard, and, therefore, there was and is no clear designation about which parameters should be controlled. Moreover, their definition and determination of the permissible level of their reduction was entirely left to the hard drive manufacturers (which is natural due to the fact that the manufacturer knows better what exactly should be controlled on his particular hard drive, because all hard drives are too different). And for this reason, the software, written, as a rule, by third-party companies, was not universal, and could erroneously report an upcoming failure (confusion arose due to the fact that different manufacturers stored the values ​​of different parameters under the same identifier). There were a large number of complaints that the number of cases of detection of a pre-failure state was extremely small (features of human nature: you want to get everything at once, somehow it never occurred to anyone to complain about sudden disk failures before the introduction of SAMRT). The situation was further aggravated by the fact that in most cases the minimum necessary requirements for the functioning of SMART were not met (we'll talk about this later). Statistics show that the number of predicted failures was less than 20%. The technology at this stage was far from perfect, but it was a revolutionary step forward.

Not much is known about the second stage of SMART development - SMART II. Basically the same problems were observed as with the first one. Innovations included the ability to perform a background surface check, performed automatically by the disk during downtime, and error logging; the list of controlled parameters was expanded (again, depending on the model and manufacturer). Statistics show that the number of predicted failures has reached 50%.

The current stage is represented by SMART III technology. Let’s look at it in more detail, try to understand in general terms how it works, what is needed in it and why.

We already know that SMART monitors the main characteristics of the drive. These parameters are called attributes. The parameters required for monitoring are determined by the manufacturer. Each attribute has some value - Value. Typically ranging from 0 to 100 (although it can be in the range up to 200 or up to 255), its value is the reliability of a particular attribute relative to some reference value (defined by the manufacturer). A high value indicates no change in this parameter or, depending on the value, its slow deterioration. A low value indicates rapid degradation or a possible imminent failure, i.e. the higher the Value of the attribute, the better. Some monitoring programs display the value Raw or Raw Value - this is the value of the attribute in the internal format (which is also different for disks of different models and different manufacturers), in the one in which it is stored in the drive. For a simple user it is not very informative; the Value calculated from it is of greater interest. For each attribute, the manufacturer determines the minimum possible value at which trouble-free operation of the drive is guaranteed - Threshold. If the attribute value is below the Threshold value, malfunction or complete failure is very likely. It remains only to add that attributes can be critical and non-critical. If a critical parameter goes beyond Threshold, it actually means failure; going beyond the permissible values ​​of a non-critical parameter indicates a problem, but the disk can maintain its functionality (albeit, perhaps with some deterioration in some characteristics: performance, for example).

The most commonly observed critical characteristics include: Raw Read Error Rate - the frequency of errors when reading data from a disk, the origin of which is determined by the disk hardware.

Spin Up Time- time to spin up a package of disks from a resting state to operating speed. When calculating the normalized value (Value), the practical time is compared with some reference value set at the factory. A non-deteriorating non-maximum value with Spin Up Retry Count Value = max (Raw equal to 0) does not indicate anything bad. The difference in time from the reference one can be caused by a number of reasons, for example, the power supply has failed.

Spin Up Retry Count- the number of repeated attempts to spin up disks to operating speed, if the first attempt was unsuccessful. A non-zero Raw value (and therefore a non-maximum Value) indicates problems in the mechanical part of the drive.

Seek Error Rate- frequency of errors when positioning the head block. A high Raw value indicates the presence of problems, which may include damage to the servo marks, excessive thermal expansion of the disks, mechanical problems in the positioning unit, etc. A constant high Value indicates that everything is fine.

Reallocated Sector Count- number of sector reassignment operations. SMART in modern ones is capable of analyzing a sector for stability “on the fly” and, if it is recognized as faulty, reassigning it. Below we will talk about this in more detail.

Of the non-critical, so to speak, information attributes, the following are usually monitored:

All modern drives of recent years from absolutely any manufacturer have a SMART system (self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology - warning, analysis and self-test technology) of the hard drive, which is very closely related to the operation of the drive.

Modern SMART technologies carry out: monitoring various parameters of the disk condition, scanning the surface of the hard disk with further automatic replacement of unreadable sectors and recording them in the error-log, the so-called. a list where the numbers of these sectors are stored in the form of a table, periodic rescanning of “unreliable” sectors from the error-log and, if the system determines that this sector is healthy, it excludes it from this list and it becomes available on the surface for user information (but is also marked for further re-checking during the next scanning of the surface), or if the sector is not read several times in a row and is not rewritten, then it is sent to the next defect list, which is named differently by different manufacturers, but has the same purpose - this sheet is like would be an intermediary between the error-log table and the final G-list, where the defect will already be entered into the G-list forever and will be displayed in SMART, in the line current pending sectors/offline UNC sectors.

From the current pending status, after the next re-check for survivability, the damaged sector, if read/write fails, is finally sent to the reassigned status and remains there. The disk no longer uses it in further operation and does not retest it for reading/writing.

In the reallocated sector count line the value changes from N to N+1.

If the drive already has serious damage, then when you boot the computer, the following message may appear: “smart status bad backup and replace.” This means that the SMART status of the hard drive has changed from the GOOD state to the BAD state, the disk has at least BAD blocks, and the disk condition continues to deteriorate. The user is recommended to save his data if it is still readable and replace the hard drive with a new one.

SMART LOOKS LIKE THIS:
Displayed as a table with the following columns:

ID – PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION NUMBER

Name – parameter name displayed by the program

VAL – NORMALIZED PARAMETER VALUE (NORMALIZED MEANS, IN THIS CASE, THAT THE INTERNAL (RAW) PARAMETER VALUE IS CONVERTED BY A SPECIFIC ALGORITHM FOR A MORE CONVENIENT AND UNDERSTANDABLE VIEWING OF THE VALUE. E.G. THIS PARAMETER ALWAYS INCREASES AND CAN ACCEPT A VALUE OF SEVERAL THOUSAND UNITS, AND THE DISPLAYED VALUE CHANGES FROM 100 TO 0 AND DISPLAYS THE INTERNAL PARAMETER CHANGE RANGE TO THE DISPLAYED RANGE AND THERE IS, IN THIS CASE, NORMALIZATION)

Wrst – worst parameter value for a period of time

Thresh – threshold value, upon reaching which it is recommended to replace the disk

LET'S CONSIDER WHAT PARAMETERS THERE ARE IN THE SMART SYSTEM. THE SET OF PARAMETERS TO BE MONITORED DEPENDS ON THE DISK MANUFACTURER AND NOT ALL OF THE LISTED WILL BE PRESENT IN YOUR CASE.

SMART attributes:

1 Raw read error rate - number of errors when reading sectors from plates.

2 Throughput Performance - overall disk performance in relative units.

3 Spin-up time - time to spin the plates from zero to the nominal rotation speed in milliseconds

4 Number of spin-up times - number of spin-up/stop cycles of the plates; reflects the mechanical life of the drive due to the limited number of start/stop cycles.

5 Reallocated sector count - the parameter reflects the number of spare sectors; when the disk finds a read/write/verify error, it reassigns the bad sector to a good sector from the spare area; the normalized value of the attribute decreases as spare sectors decrease; The RAW value shows the number of allocated sectors, which should normally be zero; on SSDRAW the value shows the number of bad flash memory blocks.

6 Read Channel Margin - this attribute is not used in modern drives.

7 Seek error rate - number of magnetic head positioning errors.

8 Seek Time Performance - average speed of magnetic head drive positioning to the specified sector; in SSD this parameter is not used

9 Power-on time - the expected lifetime of the disk, based on the time spent in the power-on state; the normalized value decreases from 100 to 0, related to disk resource; a decrease in this parameter indirectly indicates the state of the disk mechanics

10 Spin-up retries - the number of attempts to spin the plates, provided that the first attempt was unsuccessful; is counted from the moment of use; not used on SSD

12 Start/stop count - expected lifetime based on the number of starts/stops of the plates; each disk has a limited number of starts/stops, the parameter is reduced from 100 to 0; RAW value shows the number of on/off switches

13 Soft Read Error Rate - some manufacturers describe this parameter as indicating the number of errors not recovered by ECC, while others, on the contrary, are recovered

100 Erase/Program Cycles - the total number of read/write cycles for the entire flash memory over its entire service life; SSD has a limit on the number of read/write cycles, the specific value depends on the type and manufacturer of flash memory chips

103 Translation Table Rebuild - number of events to rebuild the internal table of block addresses when it is damaged and restored; RAW value shows the current amount of event data

170 Reserved Block Count - describes the state of the reserve block pool in the SSD, shows the percentage of remaining blocks; The RAW value sometimes shows the number of reserved blocks used

171 Program Fail Count - number of times a flash memory block failed to be written

172 Erase Fail Count - number of times a flash memory block erase operation failed

173 Wear Leveller Worst Case Erase Count - maximum number of erase operations performed on a flash memory block

178 Used Reserved Block Count - describes the state of the reserve block pool in the SSD, shows the percentage of remaining blocks; The RAW value sometimes shows the number of reserved blocks used

180 Unused Reserved Block Count - describes the state of the reserve block pool in the SSD, shows the percentage of remaining blocks; The RAW value sometimes shows the number of unused reserve blocks

183 SATA Downshifts - shows how often it was necessary to reduce the SATA transfer speed (from 6Gb/s to 3Gb/s or 1.5Gb/s) for successful data transfer; when the attribute value decreases, the cable should be replaced

184 End-to-End error - number of errors that occurred in the disk buffer; part of HP SMART IV technology; may indicate a faulty disk RAM buffer

185 Head Stability - there is no reliable information on the attribute

186 Induced Op-Vibration Detection - there is no reliable information on the attribute

187 Reported UNC error - number of uncorrected read errors

188 Command timeout - number of commands not executed by the disk due to timeout

189 High Fly writes - number of write errors caused by incorrect flight height of the magnetic head above the surface

190 Airflow temperature - air temperature inside the HDD hermetic block

191 G-Sense Errors - indicates how many times the drive interrupted operation due to shock or vibration

192 power-off retract cycles - the number of unexpected power outages when it was lost before the command to turn off the disk was received; HDD service life during unexpected shutdown is significantly shorter than during normal shutdown; SSDs have a risk of losing the internal state table if there is an unexpected power loss

193 load/unload cycles - number of BMG movements between the parking zone and the data zone; the value decreases from 100 to 0, raw contains the current number of movements

194 hda temperature - temperature of the magnetic head unit

195 hardware ecc recovered - number of read errors corrected by error correction code

196 reallocation events - the total number of sector reassignments, includes both off-line scanning and normal work

197 current pending sectors - number of unstable sectors awaiting recheck and possibly reassignment

198 offline scan unc sectors - the number of bad sectors found by the disk during background self-scanning; deterioration of this parameter indicates rapid degradation of the surface

199 ultra dma crc errors - the number of errors when transferring data between the disk and the motherboard; if this parameter deteriorates, it is worth replacing the cable

200 write error rate - frequency of errors when writing

202 data address mark errors - number of errors when searching for the requested sector

203 run out cancel - number of errors caused by an incorrect checksum when trying to correct an error

204 soft ecc corrections - number of errors corrected by correction code

206 flying height - deviation of the flight height of the head above the surface relative to the optimal value; if the head is too low it can damage the surface, if too high it increases the number of reading errors

207 spin high current - the amount of current required to spin the plates

209 offline seek performance - performance of the search subsystem when performing off-line scanning

220 disk shift - the distance by which the plate pack has shifted relative to the theoretical position as a result of mechanical damage or overheating

227 torque amplification count - shows how many times it was necessary to apply increased current to spin up the plates

230 gmr head amplitude - vibration amplitude of the bmg heads

233 media wearout indicator - remaining memory resource in ssd

240 head flying hours - time spent by the heads in the user data zone; the value decreases, usually from 100 to 0

241 total lbas written - the number of 512-byte blocks written over the entire life of the device

242 total lbas read - the number of 512-byte blocks read over the entire life of the device

250 read error retry rate

The difficulty in interpreting smart values ​​is that there is no single standard for the quantity, type, values, or units of measurement of the monitored parameters. Therefore, the implementation of smart always depends on the specific manufacturer. Everyone does normalization of raw values ​​into attribute indicators in their own way, and the result is a check status of smart good or bad. therefore, a reliable conclusion about the condition of the disk can only be made by checking its surface with some diagnostic program. but if you need to quickly assess the condition of the disk and possible problems, you need to pay attention to several basic, most informative attributes.

The most important attributes of smart:

5 reallocated sectors count - number of reassigned sectors; an increase in the value of this attribute indicates a deterioration in the condition of the disk surface

Letter. Hello admin! Please answer me this question. I downloaded the HDDScan program to test the condition of my almost new hard drive, this program has a tool showing the S.M.A.R.T of my hard drive, the most important parameter in it Reallocated Sector Count (indicating the number of reassigned bad sectors) shows the current value Value 100. Threshold value, that is, the value below which you cannot go below 36. Tell the admin, what is the condition of this disk and is it worth using it? Doesn’t this threaten me with data loss?

Here is another disk, but most likely it needs to be changed, is that right?

HDDScan

Friends, the article you are reading now is a continuation of another, and if I were you, I would first read it - in it we looked at the numerous reasons for the formation of various bad blocks (bad sectors) on a hard drive and why some of them are fixable, but others don’t, we also learned how information is applied to the ferromagnetic plates of a hard drive, what a sector is and much more.

In this article we will work in the program HDDScan with its help we will learn everything about the state of our hard drive, check it with various tests, find out the S.M.A.R.T indicators of this hard drive, detect 63 logical bad sectors and fix them.

What is S.M.A.R.T?

For a long time now, the well-known company IBM, in 1992, developed a technology that monitors all critical parameters of a hard drive and at the very beginning it was called Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA). Then, in 1992, Compaq, Seagate, Quantum, and Conner invented and proposed a more advanced IntelliSafe technology. It was only in 1995 that the largest hard drive manufacturers developed an improved technology that is still used today and is called S.M.A.R.T (from the English self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology - self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology).
Hard drives that support S.M.A.R.T technology have a built-in processor that counts the operating hours of the hard drive, and also determines the number of bad sectors (bad blocks), temperature and much more, read in detail below.
To find out everything that S.M.A.R.T can tell us, we just need to run a program that can read all these indicators. There are quite a lot of similar programs and I want to say that at one time I tried them all. I also used HDDScan, it’s convenient, simple, reliable and free, it works without installation, so you can carry it with you on a flash drive. Go to the manufacturer's website

There are many free hard drive testing tools that can help you determine what's going on with your hard drive when you suspect there's a problem with it.

An operating system like Windows already includes tools such as checking the disk for errors and the command chkdsk, but there are other tools below that are available for free from hard drive manufacturers and other developers.

Important: Depending on the problem found, you may need to replace the hard drive if it fails any of the given hard drive tests. To do this, you need to follow the tips given in the program.

Seagate SeaTools is a free hard drive testing program available to users in one of two options:

• SeaTools for DOS Supports Seagate or Maxtor drives and works regardless of your operating system, running directly from a CD or USB drive, making this program very reliable.
• SeaTools for Windows is a program that needs to be installed on the Windows operating system. With its help, you can perform basic and advanced testing of any drive from any manufacturer - both internal and external.

Those users who access SeaTools Desktop, SeaTools Online, or PowerMax from Maxtor should note that the above program replaces all three of these programs. Today, Seagate is the owner of the Maxtor trademark.

SeaTools from Seagate are the best in their segment. They are used to check hard drives in professional computer services, but any user can easily use them.

The Windows version of SeaTools runs on operating systems from Windows 10 to Windows XP.

HDDScan is a free program for checking all types of disks, regardless of their manufacturer.

HDDScan includes several tools, including SMART testing and surface inspection.

The program is very easy to use, does not require installation, supports almost all drive interfaces, and seems to be updated regularly.

HDDScan can be used on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP, as well as Windows Server 2003.

DiskCheckup is a free hard drive checker that works with most drives.

The program displays SMART information such as the number of read errors, the time it takes for the wafer pack to spin up from rest to operating speed, the frequency of errors when positioning the magnetic head unit, and temperature. In addition, it can perform a quick and advanced disk scan.

You can configure the program so that SMART section information is sent by email or displayed when the disk parameters exceed the threshold values ​​​​recommended by the manufacturer.

Hard drives that have a SCSI connection or implement hardware RAID are not supported by DiskCheckup.

DiskCheckup runs on Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server 2008/2003 operating systems.

GSmartControl can perform a variety of hard drive tests, providing detailed results and an overall assessment of the drive's health.

To troubleshoot a drive, GSmartControl can perform three self-tests:

• Quick check: takes about 2 minutes and is used to identify a seriously damaged hard drive.
• Extended check: Takes about 70 minutes and will scan the entire surface of the hard drive to detect failures.
• Transportation check: This test takes 5 minutes and is designed to look for damage that may have occurred while the drive was in transit.

GSmartControl can be downloaded for Windows either as a portable version or as an installable program. It works on system versions from Windows 10 to Windows XP. You can also get a version of the program for Linux and Mac operating systems and programs in LiveCD/LiveUSB format.

Windows Drive Fitness Test is a free hard drive diagnostic software that can work on most drives available today.

Unfortunately, Windows Drive Fitness Test can only test USB drives and other internal drives.

WinDFT can be installed on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP operating systems.

Samsung HUTIL is a free utility for diagnosing Samsung hard drives. Sometimes HUTIL is called ES-Tool.

The Samsung HUTIL program is available as an ISO image for subsequent recording on a CD or USB flash drive. This approach makes HUTIL independent of the operating system and, in general, a more convenient tool for testing than programs developed for the Windows operating system. You can also run HUTIL from a boot diskette.

Comment: The HUTIL program will only check Samsung hard drives. It will boot and find non-Samsung discs, but no diagnostics can be performed on such discs.

Since the Samsung HUTIL program runs from a boot disk, it will require a functioning hard drive and an operating system to burn it to a CD or USB flash drive.

The free Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic (DLGDIAG) program is designed to test only Western Digital branded hard drives.

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic can be downloaded as a portable version for Windows or as an ISO file with an image to burn to a bootable disk, and performs a number of tests on the hard drive. Detailed installation instructions from Western Digital can be found at the link below.

Comment: The DOS version of DLGDIAG diagnoses only Western Digital drives, while the Windows version of this program also works with drives from other manufacturers.

The Windows version of the program works on operating systems from Windows 10 to Windows XP

Bart's Stuff Test

Bart's Stuff Test is a free program for Windows that performs stress tests on hard drives.

The program does not provide as many features and does not conduct as thorough testing of the hard drive as other programs on this list.

All things considered, Bart's Stuff Test is a good addition to your disk testing arsenal, especially if you have difficulty testing with ISO image-based tools and want to take advantage of something other than the default tools provided Windows.

Bart's Stuff Test, as stated, only works on operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 95. However, we checked its performance on the latest versions of the system (Windows 10 and Windows 8) and did not find any problems.

Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool is a free hard drive diagnostic tool designed specifically for Fujitsu hard drives.

The Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool (FJDT) is available in a Windows version and a DOS version using a boot diskette. Unfortunately, the DOS version is focused on using floppy disks - images that will run from CD or USB are not available.

Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool provides two tests: a “quick test” (lasting about 3 minutes) and an “all third party test”, the execution time of which will depend on the size of the hard drive).

Comment: Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool performs hard drive testing only for drives manufactured by Fujitsu. If you have a disk from another manufacturer, then you should try to use the manufacturer-independent programs listed at the beginning of the list.

The Windows version of the Fujitsu Diagnostic Tool should work on all operating systems, from Windows 10 to Windows 2000.

HD Tune performs hard drive checks while running Windows. It can work with any internal or external drives, SSD drives or memory cards.

With HD Tune you can perform a performance test, check the health of the drive using Self-Monitoring Analysis mode and Drive Activity Reporting Technology (SMART). In addition, the program can scan the disk for errors.

It supports Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000, although HD Tune has been tested to work correctly on Windows 10 and Windows 8.

The Free EASIS Drive Check program, designed to check hard drives, has two built-in checking utilities - checking sectors and reading SMART attribute values.

The SMART attribute check allows you to create a list of more than 40 parameters that describe the operation of the hard drive, and the sector check will check the surface of the media for read errors.

A report on the execution of any of these tests can be seen directly in the program after its completion. In addition, you can configure the program so that the report is sent by email or printed.

According to the description, EASIS Drive Check works on operating systems from Windows 2000 to Windows 7, but its performance has also been tested on Windows 8 and 10.

The error checking program is sometimes called the scandisk program. This is a hard drive scan tool included with the Windows operating system that allows you to search for a variety of errors on your hard drive.

This tool may also try to fix a number of hard drive-related problems.

Macrorit Disk Scanner is a very simple program that checks for bad sectors on your hard drive. It is easy to use, installs quickly, and is also available in a portable version.

The main part of its window is used to visually represent the scanning process and clearly indicate the location of damage.

Especially well implemented in Macrorit Disk Scanner is the visual display of how much time is left until the end of the scan, because Some hard drive checking programs do not show this. In addition, you can select the option to automatically turn off the computer when the scan is completed.

Operating systems that Macrorit Disk Scanner can run on are: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Windows Home Server, and Windows Server 2012/2008/2003.

Ariolic Disk Scanner is very similar to Macrorit Disk Scanner in that it uses read-only to find bad disk sectors. This program has a minimal interface with a single button, and using it, it is easy to understand which parts of the disk contain “bad” sectors.

The program has only a portable version, and its size is slightly more than 1 MB.

The only thing that distinguishes this program from Macrorit Disk Scanner is that Ariolic Disk Scanner shows files that have read errors.

We only tested Ariolic Disk Scanner on Windows 10 and XP, but it should work on other versions of Windows as well.

The latest drives are represented by intelligent devices that can analyze their status and promptly inform the user about problems. To achieve this, the hardware includes the original S.M.A.R.T.

Purpose of SMART technology.

The lion's share of disk drives in recent years operates using S.M.A.R.T. technology. The combination stands for self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology , which in Russian sounds like a mechanism of self-control, analysis and reporting. Its first developments were released in 1995 and since then the technology has been constantly improved.

From the moment of production, the disk drive begins to read its current state, defining it using special parameters or attributes. They are located, accessible only by the built-in program. You can view the parameters using separate software, most often represented by utilities from the developers of a specific hard drive. Through them, inputs are sent to the drive, after which information about the current state of the disk will appear in the statistics log.

During the operation of the drive, the data presented within the parameters of the values ​​are constantly changing. The parameters go from maximum values, guaranteeing high performance and efficiency, to minimum values, associated with a high probability of drive failure.

All attributes presented within the framework of S.M.A.R.T technology have a digital identifier. As a rule, it is common for drives of different versions, but there are exceptions. In this regard, the number 7 stands out, demonstrating errors in the placement of heads on the disk surface. The digital ID is not relevant. Unlike 7, the number 9, which shows the total period of direct operation of the drive over the period of use, is supported by all types of HDD and SSD drives.

The structure of the parameters is represented by several fields demonstrating the state of the disk and its partitions during a specific period. Utilities designed for reading information display the following parameters on the screen:

• ID – identification number
• name – attribute name
• VAL – its current state
• Wrst – the worst indicator for the period of operation
• Thresh – minimum performance threshold

S.M.A.R.T indicators

There are several most common parameters. With rare exceptions, they combine drives from most manufacturers, so:

• Raw Read Error Rate – indicator of the number of reading errors
• Throughput Performance - operational efficiency. Its decrease indicates the need for replacement
• Spin Up Time – period of deployment of the drive into working state. An increase in the parameter indicates wear and tear or lack of nutrition
• Start/Stop Count – an indicator of the number of times the disk deploys, which is initially limited by its mechanical structure
• Reallocated Sectors Count – the attribute reflects the number of spare sectors. Information is redirected there in case of problems. Ideally, the number of such actions should be 0
• Read Channel Margin – channel reserve. Nowadays, drives do without it
• Seek Error Rate – Reflects the mechanical condition of the drive, including, among other things, demonstrating excessive vibration and overheating
• Seek Time Performance – level of operational capabilities, relevant only for HDDs
• Power-on Time – forecast of the duration of operation of the drive based on the period of operation. The maximum indicators are 100 and decrease to 0 over time
• Spin-Up Retry Count – number of duplicate launch operations. Their increase indicates errors in the mechanical structure

These and other attributes with a red background indicate that the drive is in critical condition, which suggests an imminent failure. There is no specific standard that combines parameter indicators from different manufacturers. In each case, normal values ​​are individual, reflected in the form of a background or status, where

• Good - good indicator
• Bad is a bad indicator.

Along with the attributes already mentioned, attention should be paid to such parameters as:

• Recalibration Retries – number of takes during recalibration. Their increase indicates a mechanical problem
• End-to-End error – Disadvantages of exchange operations
• Reported UNC Errors - problems that can be resolved using hardware
• G-sense error rate – the number of mechanical impacts on the disk. Detects inaccurate installation, collisions
• Reallocation Event Count – a general indicator of information redirection operations. Records successful and unsuccessful operations
• Current Pending Sector Count – number of potential drive sections to be replaced
• Uncorrectable Sector Count – number of bad sectors that cannot be restored
• UltraDMA CRC Error Count – problems with data redirection between the drive and PC

S.M.A.R.T check

S.M.A.R.T parameters are checked using special utilities from hard drive manufacturers. There are also universal programs for testing and checking disks. Among them are udisks, smartctl, hddscan, CrystalDiskInfo, Victoria, using which the user can assess the condition of the hard drive. In some cases, namely when working with RAID controllers, it is almost impossible to obtain disk attributes.

The minimum level of diagnostics is supported at the BIOS level. If the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostic mode is enabled, then if there are critical attribute values, the BIOS will not allow the operating system to boot.

So, when testing the condition of the hard drive, first of all, attention is paid to the specified S.M.A.R.T parameters. The main purpose of the technology is to predict the failure of a hard drive. If indicators deviate dangerously from the norm, it makes sense to transfer important information to other media.

And, most importantly, even if S.MA.R.T. there are no errors and everything is fine, this is not a guarantee that the disk will not break, so .