Too S.M.A.R.T.
in [Dell]
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From: Ben Myers on 16 May 2010 08:19 On 5/16/2010 12:26 AM, RnR wrote: > On Sat, 15 May 2010 15:04:28 -0400, Ben Myers<ben_myers(a)charter.net> > wrote: > >> On 5/15/2010 1:56 PM, Christopher Muto wrote: >>> Ben Myers wrote: >>>> Tested a pair of Hitachi 80GB 2.5" PATA drives recently, so I might >>>> possibly use them in a refurb laptop. First, I ran HDAT2, which told >>>> me that although the drives had zero reallocated sectors, there were a >>>> number of sectors (8 and 2, respectively) PENDING reallocation. This >>>> says that the sectors were corrupt, but that SMART was turned off in >>>> the computer where they last ran. >>>> >>>> Next, I ran Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (DFT). Sure enough, it said >>>> that the drive had corrupted sectors in need of repair. So I did the >>>> repair function of DFT, and it was successful. >>>> >>>> Last, I ran HDAT2 again, and it told me that there were ZERO (!!!!) >>>> reallocated sectors and none pending reallocation. But another SMART >>>> value told me that there were some reallocation events. >>>> >>>> So the questions are: >>>> Does DFT intentionally mislead by keeping the reallocated sector count >>>> zero? >>>> Does DFT actually reformat the corrupt sectors and reuse them, rather >>>> than replacing them with spares? >>>> >>>> DFT is too S.M.A.R.T. for its own good. >>>> >>>> Now I am uncertain whether I should use the drives in laptops, or >>>> whether there is too much risk in doing so. >>>> >>>> Altho of general interest, this is on topic for Dell, which uses >>>> Hitachi drives when it can get them at a better price than other >>>> manufacturers sell drives for... Ben Myers >>> >>> smart is known for giving false positives, overreacting to err on the >>> side of caution. dft is more through and more acurate. if dft says it is >>> ok then i would believe it and use the drive. >>> http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/technolo/dft/dft.htm >> >> Thanks for the thoughts. I get paranoid about hard drives, because it >> seems like the only computers that come back to me under warranty end up >> with hard drive problems. After all, all the warranty in the world will >> not recover someone's valuable data... Ben > > > As I've said before, I've had unreliable SMART findings so I don't put > 100% faith in them. I can't explain nor remember what drives these > bad findings were in as it's been years but I think it was William > that said to try SPINRITE and I agree. Of course you know this > already. S.M.A.R.T. is one of those so-called industry standards that manufacturers kind of sort of follow. Whether this is engineering ineptitude on the part of the firmware writers or intentional by the marketing people, it casts the reliability of the data and the drives themselves in doubt. Fujitsu was a major offender in not following the standard, but the Fujitsu drive operation was acquired by Toshiba (UGH!), the worst laptop drives IMHO... Ben
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