Changes between Version 4 and Version 5 of FAQ


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Sep 15, 2009, 8:38:18 PM (15 years ago)
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  • FAQ

    v4 v5  
    151151----
    152152
    153 == Smartmontools Database ==
    154 
    155 ----
    156 
    157 == Selftests ==
    158 
    159 ----
    160 
    161 === Where can I find manufacturer-specific disk-testing utilities? ===
    162 
    163 A good listing of such utilities can be found [http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/be_hdd2.html here].
    164 Unfortunately most of these are for MS operating systems, but most can
    165 be run from a MS-DOS boot disk.
    166 
    167 The [http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/ UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD)]
    168 includes most of these disk-testing utilities and many other useful
    169 diagnostic tools ready to boot from CD or USB memory stick.
    170 The UBCD can be customized by adding other images, like one
    171 [wiki:Download#ListofbootableCDs containing smartmontools].
    172 
    173 Note: if you do run one of these utilities, and it identifies the
    174 meanings of any SMART Attributes that are not known to smartmontools,
    175 please report them to the
    176 [https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/smartmontools-support smartmontools-support mailing list]
    177 or add the info to [wiki:TocDoc#OurCollectionOnVendorSpecificIssues our info pages on vendor specific SMART Attributes].
    178 
    179 These utilities have an important role to fill.  If your disk has
    180 bad sectors (for example, as revealed by running self-tests with
    181 smartmontools) and the disk is not able to recover the data from those
    182 sectors, then the disk will ''not'' automatically reallocate those
    183 damaged sectors from its set of spare sectors, because
    184 forcing the reallocation to take place may entail some loss of data.
    185 Because the commands that force such reallocation are
    186 ''Vendor Specific'', most manufactuers provide a utility for this
    187 purpose. It may cause data loss but can repair damaged sectors (at
    188 least, until it runs out of replacement sectors).
    189 
    190 ----
    191 
    192 == Operating System ==
    193 
    194 ----
    195 
    196 === What are the operating system requirements? ===
    197 
    198 Please see the first section of the
    199 [http://sourceforge.net/browser/trunk/smartmontools/INSTALL INSTALL] file.
    200 
    201 ----
    202 
    203 === I found in syslog: 'Can't locate module block-major-65' ===
    204 
    205 When I run {{{smartd}}}, the SYSLOG {{{/var/log/messages}}}
    206 contains messages like this:
    207 {{{
    208 smartd: Reading Device /dev/sdv
    209 modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module block-major-65
    210 }}}
    211 
    212 This is because when {{{smartd}}} starts, if there is no
    213 configuration file, it looks for all ATA and SCSI devices to monitor
    214 (matching the pattern {{{/dev/hd[a-t]}}} or
    215 {{{/dev/sd[a-z]}}}). The log messages appear because your
    216 system doesn't have most of these devices.
    217 
    218 The solution is simple: use the {{{smartd}}} configuration file
    219 {{{/etc/smartd.conf}}} to specify which devices to monitor.
    220 
    221 ----
    222 
    223 == Firmware Issues ==
    224 
    225 ----
    226 
    227 === What's the story on IBM SMART disks? ===
    228 
    229 Apparently some of the older SMART firmware on IBM disks can
    230 interfere with the regular operation of the disk. If you have this
    231 problem, here are some links to an IBM Firmware Upgrade that fixes the problem:
    232 
    233 [http://www.geocities.com/dtla_update/ Geocities Site][[BR]]
    234 [http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-42215 IBM Site #1][[BR]]
    235 [http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42215 IBM Site #2]
    236 
    237 ----
    238 
    239 == Distribution ==
    240 
    241 ----
    242 
    243 {{{
    244 #!html
    245 
    246 <!-- Check Signature -->
    247 <h3><a name="check-signature"></a>How can I check that the package hasn't been tampered with?</h3>
    248 
    249 <p>Since the <tt>smartmontools</tt> utilities run as root, you might
    250 be concerned about something harmful being embedded within
    251 them. Starting with release 5.19 of <tt>smartmontools</tt>, the .rpm
    252 files and tarball have been GPG signed. The tarball's fingerprint is
    253 given in a file on the release page with a name like
    254 <tt>smartmontools-5.32.tar.gz.asc</tt>. </p>
    255 
    256 Please verify these using the
    257 <ul>
    258 <li><a href="SmartmontoolsSigningKey_2005.txt">Smartmontools GPG Signing Key (current)</a></li>
    259 <li><a href="SmartmontoolsSigningKey.txt">Smartmontools GPG Signing Key (before 2005)</a></li>
    260 </ul>
    261 <hr />
    262 
    263 <!-- Bootable CD -->
    264 <h3><a name="bootable-cd"></a>Is there a bootable standalone CD or floppy that contains smartmontools?</h3>
    265 
    266 <p>Yes there are. Look to section <a href="http://sourceforge.net/wiki/Download#a4.RunsmartmontoolsfromLive-system">Run from Live-system</a> on the download page.</p>
    267 
    268 <hr />
    269 
    270 <h3><a name="testinghelp"></a>Smartmontools for FireWire, USB, and SATA disks/systems</h3>
    271 <p>As for USB and FireWire (IEEE 1394) disks and tape drives, the news
     153=== Can I monitor disks behind RAID controllers? ===
     154
     155Support for disks behind RAID controllers is highly dependent on both platform
     156and controller type. See our page about [wiki:Supported_RAID-Controllers smartmontools RAID controller support]
     157for the details.
     158
     159----
     160
     161=== Smartmontools for FireWire, USB, and SATA disks/systems ===
     162
     163As for USB and FireWire (IEEE 1394) disks and tape drives, the news
    272164is not good. They appear to the operating system as SCSI devices but their
    273165implementations do not usually support those SCSI commands needed by
    274 smartmontools. A consortium associated with IEEE 1394 certified <em>some</em> external enclosures
    275 (containing a ATA disk and a protocol bridge) as being compliant to the relevant
    276 standards. Even still, that compliance means that they tend to only
    277 support the bare minimum of commands
    278 needed for device operation (i.e. SMART support is an unsupported
     166smartmontools. A consortium associated with IEEE 1394 certified ''some''
     167external enclosures (containing a ATA disk and a protocol bridge)
     168as being compliant to the relevant standards. Even still, that
     169compliance means that they tend to only support the bare minimum of
     170commands needed for device operation (i.e. SMART support is an unsupported
    279171extra). Hopefully external USB and Firewire devices will support SAT in
    280172the future, see below. Some USB device based on cypress chips support a
    281173proprietary protocol (ATACB) that allow to send raw ATA commands (i.e.
    282 SMART support).</p>
    283 
    284 <p>Smartmontools should work correctly with SATA drives under both
     174SMART support).
     175
     176Smartmontools should work correctly with SATA drives under both
    285177Linux 2.4 and 2.6 kernels. Depending on which subsystem the SATA
    286 controller is in (i.e. <span class="code">drivers/ide</span>,
    287 <span  class="code">drivers/ata</span> or libata
    288 (under <span  class="code">drivers/scsi</span>) a
    289 SATA drive will appear as <span class="code">/dev/hd*</span>
    290 
    291 or <span  class="code">/dev/sd*</span>. Either way,
     178controller is in (i.e. {{{drivers/ide}}}, {{{drivers/ata}}}
     179or libata (under {{{drivers/scsi}}}) a SATA drive will
     180appear as {{{/dev/hd*}}} or {{{/dev/sd*}}}. Either way,
    292181smartmontools should be able to figure out what is going on and act
    293182accordingly. In some cases smartmontools may need a hint in the form of
    294 a '<span  class="code">-d sat</span>' or '<span
    295   class="code">-d ata</span>' option on the <tt>smartctl</tt> command line or in the
    296 <tt>/etc/smartd.conf</tt> file.
    297 There may be a hint to add one of those options in the log file when <tt>smartd</tt> is run as a daemon or on
    298 the command line with <tt>smartctl</tt>.
    299 The '<span  class="code">-d ata</span>' option means
    300 that even though the drive has a SCSI device name, treat it as an ATA
     183a '{{{-d sat}}}' or '{{{-d ata}}}' option on the {{{smartctl}}} command
     184line or in the {{{/etc/smartd.conf}}} file.
     185There may be a hint to add one of those options in the log file
     186when {{{smartd}}} is run as a daemon or on the command line with {{{smartctl}}}.
     187The '{{{-d ata}}}' option means that even though
     188the drive has a SCSI device name, treat it as an ATA
    301189disk. Unfortunately such an approach doesn't often work. The next
    302 paragraph has more information about '<span  class="code">-d sat</span>'.</p>
    303 
    304 <p>The SCSI to ATA Translation (SAT) standard (ANSI INCITS 431-2007)
     190paragraph has more information about '{{{-d sat}}}'.
     191
     192The SCSI to ATA Translation (SAT) standard (ANSI INCITS 431-2007)
    305193may solve many problems in this area. It defines how SCSI commands will
    306194be translated to the corresponding ATA commands and defines a
    … …  
    322210problems with ATA disks, no matter which transport is involved. As
    323211always, it helps to know a little of what is happening under the
    324 covers. The '<span class="code">-d sat</span>'
    325 option instructs <tt>smartctl</tt>
    326 and <tt>smartd</tt> to assume a
    327 SATL is in place and act accordingly. The <tt>smartctl</tt> command can often
    328 detect a SATL and autoconfigure while in smartmontools version 5.37 <tt>smartd</tt> often needs a hint.</p>
    329 
    330 <p>The current USB mass storage specification is based on a version of SCSI
     212covers. The '{{{-d sat}}}' option instructs {{{smartctl}}}
     213and {{{smartd}}} to assume a SATL is in place and act accordingly.
     214The {{{smartctl}}} command can often detect a SATL and autoconfigure
     215while in smartmontools version 5.37 {{{smartd}}} often needs a hint.
     216
     217The current USB mass storage specification is based on a version of SCSI
    331218(SPC-2) that can't support SAT. But some chips manufacturers implement
    332219proprietary SCSI commands that allow ATA pass through (similiar like for SAT).
    333220Well known is the cypress chipset, that contains an ATACB proprietary pass through
    334221(for ATA commands passed through SCSI commands) for which
    335 <a href="http://download.cypress.com.edgesuite.net/design_resources/datasheets/contents/cy7c68300c_8.pdf" target="_blank">
    336 <img src="pics/linkext.gif" width="11" height="11" border="0" alt="extLink: " />some
    337 information is publicly available <img src="pics/datei16x16-pdf01.gif" width="16" height="16" border="0" alt="PDF" /></a>.
    338 Smartmontools SVN version support
    339 these cypress chips via the '<tt>-d usbcypress</tt>' option on the smartctl
    340 command line. There is no autodetection at the moment. If you want to know,
     222[http://download.cypress.com.edgesuite.net/design_resources/datasheets/contents/cy7c68300c_8.pdf some information is publicly available].
     223Smartmontools SVN version support these cypress chips via
     224the '{{{-d usbcypress}}}' option on the smartctl command line.
     225There is no autodetection at the moment. If you want to know,
    341226wether your device supports it, check your device usb id (most
    342 cypress usb ata bridge got <tt>vid=0x04b4</tt>, <tt>pid=0x6830</tt>) or to try to call <tt>smartctl</tt>
    343 with option '<tt>-d usbcypress</tt>'. If the usb device doesn't support ATACB, smartmontools will abort.</p>
    344 
    345 <hr />
    346 
    347 <h3><a name="scsi"></a>Smartmontools for SCSI disks and tapes (TapeAlert)</h3>
    348 
    349 <p>Smartmontools for SCSI disks and tapes (including medium changers) is
    350 discussed on a separate <a href="smartmontools_scsi.html" target="_blank">page</a>.</p>
    351 <hr />
    352 
    353 <!-- Disks behind RAID-Controllers -->
    354 <h3><a name="FAQ-RAID"></a>Can I monitor disks behind RAID controllers?</h3>
    355 
    356 <p>Support for disks behind RAID controllers is highly dependent on both platform
    357 and controller type. See our page about <a href="docs/raid-controller_support.html">smartmontools RAID controller support</a>
    358 
    359 for the details.</p>
    360 <hr />
     227cypress usb ata bridge got {{{vid=0x04b4}}}, {{{pid=0x6830}}})
     228or to try to call {{{smartctl}}} with option
     229'{{{-d usbcypress}}}'. If the usb device doesn't support
     230ATACB, smartmontools will abort.
     231
     232----
     233
     234=== Smartmontools for SCSI disks and tapes (TapeAlert) ===
     235
     236Smartmontools for SCSI disks and tapes (including medium changers) is
     237discussed on a separate [http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/smartmontools_scsi.html page].
     238
     239----
     240
     241== Smartmontools Database ==
     242
     243----
     244
     245== Selftests ==
     246
     247----
     248
     249=== Where can I find manufacturer-specific disk-testing utilities? ===
     250
     251A good listing of such utilities can be found [http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/be_hdd2.html here].
     252Unfortunately most of these are for MS operating systems, but most can
     253be run from a MS-DOS boot disk.
     254
     255The [http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/ UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD)]
     256includes most of these disk-testing utilities and many other useful
     257diagnostic tools ready to boot from CD or USB memory stick.
     258The UBCD can be customized by adding other images, like one
     259[wiki:Download#ListofbootableCDs containing smartmontools].
     260
     261Note: if you do run one of these utilities, and it identifies the
     262meanings of any SMART Attributes that are not known to smartmontools,
     263please report them to the
     264[https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/smartmontools-support smartmontools-support mailing list]
     265or add the info to [wiki:TocDoc#OurCollectionOnVendorSpecificIssues our info pages on vendor specific SMART Attributes].
     266
     267These utilities have an important role to fill.  If your disk has
     268bad sectors (for example, as revealed by running self-tests with
     269smartmontools) and the disk is not able to recover the data from those
     270sectors, then the disk will ''not'' automatically reallocate those
     271damaged sectors from its set of spare sectors, because
     272forcing the reallocation to take place may entail some loss of data.
     273Because the commands that force such reallocation are
     274''Vendor Specific'', most manufactuers provide a utility for this
     275purpose. It may cause data loss but can repair damaged sectors (at
     276least, until it runs out of replacement sectors).
     277
     278----
     279
     280== Operating System ==
     281
     282----
     283
     284=== What are the operating system requirements? ===
     285
     286Please see the first section of the
     287[http://sourceforge.net/browser/trunk/smartmontools/INSTALL INSTALL] file.
     288
     289----
     290
     291=== I found in syslog: 'Can't locate module block-major-65' ===
     292
     293When I run {{{smartd}}}, the SYSLOG {{{/var/log/messages}}}
     294contains messages like this:
     295{{{
     296smartd: Reading Device /dev/sdv
     297modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module block-major-65
     298}}}
     299
     300This is because when {{{smartd}}} starts, if there is no
     301configuration file, it looks for all ATA and SCSI devices to monitor
     302(matching the pattern {{{/dev/hd[a-t]}}} or
     303{{{/dev/sd[a-z]}}}). The log messages appear because your
     304system doesn't have most of these devices.
     305
     306The solution is simple: use the {{{smartd}}} configuration file
     307{{{/etc/smartd.conf}}} to specify which devices to monitor.
     308
     309----
     310
     311== Firmware Issues ==
     312
     313----
     314
     315=== What's the story on IBM SMART disks? ===
     316
     317Apparently some of the older SMART firmware on IBM disks can
     318interfere with the regular operation of the disk. If you have this
     319problem, here are some links to an IBM Firmware Upgrade that fixes the problem:
     320
     321[http://www.geocities.com/dtla_update/ Geocities Site][[BR]]
     322[http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-42215 IBM Site #1][[BR]]
     323[http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=psg1MIGR-42215 IBM Site #2]
     324
     325----
     326
     327== Distribution ==
     328
     329----
     330
     331=== Is there a bootable standalone CD or floppy that contains smartmontools? ===
     332
     333Yes there are. Look to section [http://sourceforge.net/wiki/Download#a4.RunsmartmontoolsfromLive-system Run from Live-system] on the download page.
     334
     335----
     336
     337
     338
     339{{{
     340#!html
    361341
    362342<!-- Windows -->
    … …  
    614594this call was added 2006-04-27 and is included in smartmontools
    615595release 5.37.</p>
     596<!-- Check Signature -->
     597<h3><a name="check-signature"></a>How can I check that the package hasn't been tampered with?</h3>
     598
     599<p>Since the <tt>smartmontools</tt> utilities run as root, you might
     600be concerned about something harmful being embedded within
     601them. Starting with release 5.19 of <tt>smartmontools</tt>, the .rpm
     602files and tarball have been GPG signed. The tarball's fingerprint is
     603given in a file on the release page with a name like
     604<tt>smartmontools-5.32.tar.gz.asc</tt>. </p>
     605
     606Please verify these using the
     607<ul>
     608<li><a href="SmartmontoolsSigningKey_2005.txt">Smartmontools GPG Signing Key (current)</a></li>
     609<li><a href="SmartmontoolsSigningKey.txt">Smartmontools GPG Signing Key (before 2005)</a></li>
     610</ul>
     611<hr />
     612
    616613
    617614}}}