SMART Devices

Listing 1: Checking SMART Capability

# smartctl -i /dev/sda
smartctl 7.2 2020-07-11 r5076 [x86_64-linux-5.4.0-42-generic] (CircleCI)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Samsung based SSDs
Device Model:     Samsung SSD 840 Series
Serial Number:    S19HNSAD620520T
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 5a0050931
Firmware Version: DXT08B0Q
User Capacity:    120,034,123,776 bytes [120 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
TRIM Command:     Available, deterministic, zeroed
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2, ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Sun Aug  2 10:41:21 2020 EDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

Notice the Device is: In smartctl database … line, which indicates that this drive is in the smartctl database, so the SMART attributes and their corresponding values are known. To check on the details, use the -P show option (Listing 2).

Listing 2: Device Details

# smartctl -P show /dev/sda
smartctl 7.2 2020-07-11 r5076 [x86_64-linux-5.4.0-42-generic] (CircleCI)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
Drive found in smartmontools Database.  Drive identity strings:
MODEL:              Samsung SSD 840 Series
FIRMWARE:           DXT08B0Q
match smartmontools Drive Database entry:
MODEL REGEXP:       SAMSUNG SSD PM800 .*GB|SAMSUNG SSD PM810 .*GB
[cut due to length]
FIRMWARE REGEXP:    .*
MODEL FAMILY:       Samsung based SSDs
ATTRIBUTE OPTIONS:  170 Unused_Rsvd_Blk_Ct_Chip
                    171 Program_Fail_Count_Chip
                    172 Erase_Fail_Count_Chip
                    173 Wear_Leveling_Count
                    174 Unexpect_Power_Loss_Ct
                    187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt
                    191 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    195 ECC_Error_Rate
                    199 CRC_Error_Count
                    201 Supercap_Status
                    202 Exception_Mode_Status
                    234 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    235 POR_Recovery_Count
                    236 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    237 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    238 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    243 SATA_Downshift_Ct
                    244 Thermal_Throttle_St
                    245 Timed_Workld_Media_Wear
                    246 Timed_Workld_RdWr_Ratio
                    247 Timed_Workld_Timer
                    249 Unknown_Samsung_Attr
                    250 SATA_Iface_Downshift
                    251 NAND_Writes

Another useful smartctl option is -c (Listing 3), which only prints the generic SMART capabilities. The somewhat long output lists what SMART features are implemented and how the device will respond to some of the various SMART commands.

Related content

  • SMART storage device monitoring
    Most storage devices have SMART capability, but can it help you predict failure? We look at ways to take advantage of this built-in monitoring technology with the smartctl utility from the Linux smartmontools package.
  • S.M.A.R.T., smartmontools, and drive monitoring
    Modern drives use S.M.A.R.T. (self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology) to gather information and run self-tests. Smartmontools is a Linux tool for interacting with the S.M.A.R.T. features of drives. But is S.M.A.R.T. the best way to predict impending drive doom?
  • Predicting Drive Doom

    Modern drives use S.M.A.R.T. (self-monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology) to gather information and run self-tests. Smartmontools is a Linux tool for interacting with the S.M.A.R.T. features of drives. But is S.M.A.R.T. the best way to predict impending drive doom?

  • When I/O workloads don't perform
    Every now and then, you find yourself in a situation where you expect better performance from your data storage drives. Either they once performed very well and one day just stopped, or they came straight out of the box underperforming. We explore a few of the reasons why this might happen.
  • A closer look at hard drives
    We continue our exploration of the world of hard drives – both solid state and spinning varieties.
comments powered by Disqus