Got BIOS warning "SMART: BACKUP SATAx DRIVE AND REPLACE"? Not necessarily

English Hardware
1

(openSUSE 13.2 desktop box with asus mb and a lot of sata devices, but apply to other configurations.)

Got the title message as boot, drive on sata4 port would take many seconds to start. and when accessed with dolphin, dmesg typically showing:

  +4,823791] ata4.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen
  +0,000005] ata4.00: failed command: SMART
  +0,000004] ata4.00: cmd b0/da:00:00:4f:c2/00:00:00:00:00/00 tag 30
         res 40/00:00:00:00:00/00:00:00:00:00/00 Emask 0x4 (timeout)
  +0,000002] ata4.00: status: { DRDY }
  +0,000003] ata4: hard resetting link
  +0,306115] ata4: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl 320)
  +0,001590] ata4.00: configured for UDMA/133
  +0,000016] ata4: EH complete

That’s usually due to a failing HD, however fsck and smart itself - run from gparted partition magic’s liveCD, gave it a clean bill of health:

ath: /dev/sdd1
start: 2048
end: 3907028991
size: 3907026944 (1.82 TiB)
check file system on /dev/sdd1 for errors and (if possible) fix them  00:00:19    ( SUCCESS )
         
e2fsck -f -y -v -C 0 /dev/sdd1
         
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information

144121 inodes used (0.12%, out of 122101760)
866 non-contiguous files (0.6%)
69 non-contiguous directories (0.0%)
# of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 0/0/0
Extent depth histogram: 143280/833
308022051 blocks used (63.07%, out of 488378368)
0 bad blocks

So, looking more closely at the detailed smart report:

Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   198   174   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       **3083**
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       135
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   084   084   000    Old_age   Always       -       11869
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       135
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       32
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   194   194   000    Old_age   Always       -       20652
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   109   104   000    Old_age   Always       -       38
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

No read/write errors at all, but loooong spin-ups. That’s either the drive motor/controller, or the power supply.

Opening the case, OMG, a ton of dust - I’ve noticed some CPU intensive tasks were hitting more than 70°C, due to a considerable delay in my usual twice-a-year full clean-up.

Also I had a new PSU waiting, with the required 8 sata power connector.

Clean vents, coolers, reapply thermal paste, replace PSU, done. Fast boots are back, no error messages, No HD issues.

I’m reporting this here because I am (and a lot other people are) so used to associate smart errors with failing HD that I almost ordered a new one before checking further.

2

Same tasks now running 10°C cooler…

3

I would replace disk.

I had something like that happen on one computer, maybe two years ago. Spinup was slow, and getting worse. But there did not appear to be any sector errors.

I replaced the disk. Everything works a lot better now.

4

Did you check smart’s detailed report? Was spin-up tour only abnormal entry? If so, your issue could have been something as simple as a bit of oxidation or a loose power connector, that removing and reinserting cleaned up.

Well, that’s to be expected. However for me the expense of replacing a 2TB disk isn’t trivial. If you have the cash to spare, by all means then, but these things are comparatively expensive this side of the equator.

The point I’m trying to make is that “smart error” does not automatically means “replace disk”, but there’s a lot of threads around strongly implying it is.

Anyway, no errors or slowdowns here since the fix (3 days ago), running non-stop with a couple boots in between for testing. I’m keeping an eye on it, of course (smartctl spinup count hasn’t change since), but it was a relief, and I thought it worthwhile to share.

5

I didn’t keep a copy, and it is long enough ago that I don’t have a clear memory.

For years, I had occasion delays during booting, which was probably related. Then I started having the BIOS tell me that there was no operating system. It usually booted fine on a reboot. And then Windows began to have long timeouts, probably waiting for the disk. So I knew I had a problem that was worsening.

And no, it wasn’t a dirty connector.

However for me the expense of replacing a 2TB disk isn’t trivial. If you have the cash to spare, by all means then, but these things are comparatively expensive this side of the equator.

In my case, I was replacing a 320G disk. I used a 750G disk as replacement, partly because smaller disks at Amazon seemed to be refurbishes, and I preferred new.