Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

[rfakhrai]

This HDD is only 5 years old.

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:   Western Digital Caviar SE family
Device Model:   WDC WD1600JB-22REA0
Serial Number:  WD-WCANMH102276
Firmware Version: 20.00K20
User Capacity:  160,041,885,696 bytes
Device is:    In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:  7
ATA Standard is: Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:  Sat Oct 2 18:11:20 2010 MST
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

ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME     FLAG   VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE   UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate   0x000f  200  200  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 3 Spin_Up_Time      0x0003  184  176  021  Pre-fail Always    -    3800
 4 Start_Stop_Count    0x0032  100  100  000  Old_age  Always    -    632
 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct  0x0033  200  200  140  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 7 Seek_Error_Rate     0x000f  200  200  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 9 Power_On_Hours     0x0032  079  079  000  Old_age  Always    -    15676
 10 Spin_Retry_Count    0x0013  100  100  051  Pre-fail Always    -    0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0012  100  100  051  Old_age  Always    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count    0x0032  100  100  000  Old_age  Always    -    620
194 Temperature_Celsius   0x0022  109  095  000  Old_age  Always    -    38
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable  0x0010  200  200  000  Old_age  Offline   -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count  0x003e  200  200  000  Old_age  Always    -    0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate  0x0009  200  200  051  Pre-fail Offline   -    0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

So how do I know when this thing is going to die? And am I stupid for expecting a non-SSD to last this long?

[Snowhog]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

What option are you giving to sudo smartctl? As to how long a HD will last? A lot of factors come into play, the top two being the quality of the HD, and how often it is power cycled (on/off cycles). If it's a quality HD and not powered off routinely (as is the case with many users Desktop PCs), it can last quite literally, many years.

[Snowhog]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

According to WDC own specs for the WD1600JB EIDE 160 GB HD, the number of start/stop cycles (controlled) is 50,000 minimum.

See WD Cavier SE Desktop Hard Drives

[rfakhrai]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

Thanks for the info, Snowhog. I'm issuing sudo smartctl -a. I assume that it runs the self-checks on its own?

And these cycles refer to when machine is physically turned off right?

I think I need to save up for a new drive. just in case.

edit: oddly enough, my 320GB backup drive of the same manufacturer though 2 years newer is giving me similar S.M.A.R.T. results. I must be beating these things to death!

[verndog]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

Regarding the power cycle. I'm still using an old hard drive that I have power cycled at least 12 times a day for the past 6 years. No signs of wear. In fact a still have several that went through the same procedure. I just kept getting larger hard drives. The old ones stail work. The one I have that is in trouble is one I pulled from a server that was in constant use and never turned off. Another one I had that failed, failed within the first year of life.

I never leave my computer, monitor, or anything else left on for any extended period of time.

[rfakhrai]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

The one I have that is in trouble is one I pulled from a server that was in constant use and never turned off.

This idea seems more intuitive to me. It makes sense that the more time a hard drive spends spinning the more quickly it'll degrade. Then again, with certain components like PSUs I've heard that the less cycling they're subjected to the better. I like to think I hang out in the middle somewhere; my average uptime is about 2.5 days.

Can anyone support the idea of data read/write contributing to the hastened degradation of a hard drive? I do a lot of torrenting on this computer so there's a ton of read/write on my hard drive.

[Rog131]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

Kubuntu Forums How To's > How to Test Your Hard Drive with Smartmontools

Ubuntu docs > Smartmontools


Here the oldest drive (IBM/Hitachi Deskstar):

Start_Stop_Count 10052
Power_On_Hours 25230

[rfakhrai]

Re: Please tell me S.M.A.R.T is lying

Sorry I didn't search. Thanks for the info. My question was answered: I won't panic until I get some errors.