On Sunday 03 February 2008, Timothy Murphy wrote: >I've been getting more and more serious warnings from smartd on a computer >(one I hardly ever use, though I do use it for backups), >eg in /var/log/messages >----------------------------------------- >Feb 3 14:59:12 blanche smartd[2624]: Device: /dev/sda, FAILED SMART >self-check. BACK UP DATA NOW! >Feb 3 14:59:12 blanche smartd[2624]: Device: /dev/sda, 2554 Currently >unreadable (pending) sectors >Feb 3 14:59:12 blanche smartd[2624]: Device: /dev/sda, 11353 Offline >uncorrectable sectors >----------------------------------------- > >The number of Offline uncorrectable sectors increases each day, >though the number of Currently unreadable sectors is more or less constant. > >smartctl has been telling me for several days >that the drive has only one more day to live ... >----------------------------------------- >SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: FAILED! >Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA. >----------------------------------------- > >The computer seems to me to be working perfectly >under Fedora-8 and Windows. >Does Smartd know better than me ...? > >As a matter of interest, could I replace this ATA/IDE disk with a SATA disk? >If the end of the world really is nigh. > >Incidentally, I see from smartctl that the drive >is almost 3 years old: >----------------------------------------- >Error 20419 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26309 hours (1096 days + 5 >hours) >----------------------------------------- >Is it mean of me to suspect that the manufacturer >tells smart to issue these messages when the warranty is running out ...? > I have drives older than that. ----------- 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 062 062 000 Old_age Always - 27922 ----------- And I'm booting from it... My instant reaction is that the drive really is about to die, and its advice to pull your data is excellent advice. Usually once a head failure starts, the disk surface is damaged also, and the remaining life can be only minutes if everything all lines up. >-- >Timothy Murphy >e-mail (<80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie >tel: +353-86-2336090, +353-1-2842366 >s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland -- Cheers, Gene "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed Howdershelt (Author) Q: What do they call the alphabet in Arkansas? A: The impossible dream.
