[X-Newbies] drive failure

[Alex]

On May 17, 2005, at 00:03, Robert wrote:

> Thanks to smart drive tech I have received notification that one of my  
> drives is failing. [...] It would really be nice if it gave a reason  
> for the drive failing.

Hey, be thankful it's not a pre-S.M.A.R.T. drive -- at least it warns  
it's feeling queasy.

>  If it was failing because of bad blocks formating the drive would  
> solve that problem.

You have to understand what S.M.A.R.T. is and what it isn't. It's not a  
comprehensive disk testing system; essentially, it's a means of asking  
the drive if its firmware thinks it's healthy. Current standards don't  
require more than a Yes/No type of answer. The firmware may be able to  
provide more data, but your software tool must know how to ask and how  
to interpret the answer.

For more details, see

<http://www.storagereview.com/guide2000/ref/hdd/perf/qual/ 
featuresSMART.html>

and for even more details, try

<http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/6983/print>

> If it a component on the logic board one would know to replace the  
> would drive or put the drive away and see if one could come up with a  
> new board.

What logic board?

<0x0192>