[PLUG] smartmontools test accuracy?

[Dale Snell]

On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:00:08 -0700
Scott Garman <sgarman at zenlinux.com> wrote:

> I have a server with a SATA drive in it which is filling the syslogs 
> with the following error:
> 
> [455740.180143] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Add. Sense: ATA pass through 
> information available
> [457540.199345] sd 2:0:0:0: [sda] Sense Key : Recovered Error
> [current] [descriptor]
> [457540.199360] Descriptor sense data with sense descriptors (in hex):
> [457540.199367]         72 01 00 1d 00 00 00 0e 09 0c 00 00 00 00 00
> 00 [457540.199384]         00 4f 00 c2 40 50
> 
> smartctl -a shows some enormous values for the following parameters:
> 
> Raw_Read_Error_Rate: 179400719
> Seek_Error_Rate: 7232305
> Hardware_ECC_Recovered: 179400719
> 
> However, I have just run the short and long tests from smartmontools
> and they both passed without errors.
> 
> So yes, I'm going to replace the drive immediately. But it surprised
> me that the SMART tests would pass. I'm curious if anyone else has
> run into this, and why it is the case?
> 
> Scott 

Is that a Seagate drive, by any chance?  I have a Seagate FreeAgent Go
USB drive that has similar behavior.  Nothing shows up
in /var/log/messages, but both  smartctl -a  and Palimpsest show huge
numbers for raw read error, seek, and hardware ECC correction rates.
Yet both programs give the drive a healthy status.  For the record,
here's some of the output of  smartctl -a :

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

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Seagate Momentus 5400.5 series
Device Model:     ST9320320AS
Serial Number:    5SX43J0Z
Firmware Version: BS04
User Capacity:    320,072,933,376 bytes
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   8
ATA Standard is:  ATA-8-ACS revision 4
Local Time is:    Fri Apr 30 10:44:03 2010 PDT
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
.
.
.
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   114   100   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       81947045
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   062   060   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       1636116
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   054   048   000    Old_age   Always       -       81947045

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

(Sorry for the long lines, that's what smartctl outputs.)

Since the drive is backed up, and not really vital (it's got my music
collection), I'm just going to keep using it 'til it dies.  I am
puzzled as to why it isn't flagged as dying, though.

--Dale

--
Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur