Jump to content
  • 0

Help with SMART errors


fazza

Question

Hi,

 

Installed scanner a few weeks ago and have given my systems a little while to settle down. I am now seeing a couple of SMART errors thrown by scanner and would appreciate any insight on whether I should be jumping up and down or not.

 

Error 1 is on the boot disk (250gb seagate 2.5") of my newly built NAS - scanner is flagging up 2 'recalibration retries', both times when the system restarts. I would not be concerned but it is a brand new drive, and none of the other 10+ drives monitored by scanner have a value above 0. 

 

Error 2 is on a data drive (3tb seagate) in  a different machine. The reallocated sector count has jumped from 10 to 25000+ in a few hours, and the drive has been disappearing from windows. This is seems obviously serious and a good candidate for replacement.

 

From my imperfect research, the drive showing error 2 is clearly going bad - but should I be worried about error 1?

 

Lastly, if there is a resource i should be referring to that would help me interpret the SMART results without cluttering up the forum please point me towards it!

 

Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Wikipedia is a pretty good resource for this information actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.#Known_ATA_S.M.A.R.T._attributes

 

However, for the Recalibration Retry Count, that generally indicates a problem with the mechanical system of the drive. If the drive is brand new, I'd recommend exchanging it for another. Especially if it's important.

 

Reallocated Sector Count indicates a serious issue usually, While these may occur over the course of usage, jumping up like that suddenly indicates damage to the disk platters usually. Also, the more reallocated sectors you have, the more significant hit to performance you'll see from the drive, as previously sequential sectors are no longer (reallocated).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Many thanks, decided to get them both replaced based on what you've said. I'm guessing this sort of return decision will become easier to gauge with experience - at the moment, even with technical explanations of the errors, it feels like I'm flying blind. Anyway...

 

So in less than a month scanner has prevented significant data loss on one system and the potentially the complete failure of the boot drive on another. Impressed!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Well, I'm glad that you're impressed and that StableBit Scanner is paying for itself! :)

 

And yeah, it definitely becomes easier to judge with experience. However, the descriptions in Scanner's SMART data section should give a clear idicantion of when the value indicates a mechanical issue. Those are usually much more serious, especially if the values keep on climbing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...