diff --git a/sm5/smartctl.8 b/sm5/smartctl.8 index 655a22a9a333537c195256679595af571c9d4c13..e9d760c480c7adcfc8c58a9961f9c608d98713db 100644 --- a/sm5/smartctl.8 +++ b/sm5/smartctl.8 @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ \# Copyright (C) 2002 Bruce Allen <smartmontools-support@lists.sourceforge.net> \# -\# $Id: smartctl.8,v 1.31 2003/01/01 08:21:00 ballen4705 Exp $ +\# $Id: smartctl.8,v 1.32 2003/01/03 06:19:55 ballen4705 Exp $ \# \# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it \# under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free @@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ \# Research Center), Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of \# California, Santa Cruz. http://ssrc.soe.ucsc.edu/ \# -.TH SMARTCTL 8 "$Date: 2003/01/01 08:21:00 $" "smartmontools-5.0" +.TH SMARTCTL 8 "$Date: 2003/01/03 06:19:55 $" "smartmontools-5.0" .SH NAME smartctl \- S.M.A.R.T. control and monitor utility .SH SYNOPSIS @@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ is a command line utility designed to perform S.M.A.R.T. tasks such as printing the S.M.A.R.T. self-test and error logs, and enabling and disabling S.M.A.R.T. automatic testing. Note: if the user issues a S.M.A.R.T. command that is (apparently) not implemented by the device, -we print a warning message but issue the command anyway. This should +.B smartctl +will print a warning message but issue the command anyway. This should not cause problems: unimplemented S.M.A.R.T. commands issued to a drive are ignored and return an error. @@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ drive are ignored and return an error. also provides limited TapeAlerts support for some SCSI tape drives and changers. -The user must specify the device to be controlled or interrogated as an +The user must specify the device to be controlled or interrogated as the final argument to .B smartctl. ATA devices use the form "/dev/hd*" and SCSI devices use the form "/dev/sd*". @@ -55,14 +56,22 @@ For SCSI Tape Drives and Changers with TapeAlerts support use the devices will attempt to guess the device type, but the '\-d' option can be used to specify a device type of ATA or SCSI if required. +Note that the printed output of +.B smartctl +displays most numerical values in base 10 (decimal), but some values +are displayed in base 16 (hexidecimal). To distinguish them, the base +16 values are always displayed with a leading +.B "0x" +for example: "0xff". This convention is also followed in this man +page. .PP .SH OPTIONS .PP The options are grouped below into several categories. .B smartctl -will execute these in the order: INFORMATION, ENABLE/DISABLE, DISPLAY -DATA, RUN/ABORT TESTS. +will execute the corresponding commands in the order: INFORMATION, +ENABLE/DISABLE, DISPLAY DATA, RUN/ABORT TESTS. SCSI devices only accept the options .B \-h, \-?, \-V, \-i, \-a, \-d, \-s, \-H, \-t, \-C @@ -74,7 +83,7 @@ and .B \-H. Long options are not supported on all systems. Use -.B 'smartd \-h' +.B 'smartctl \-h' to see the available options. .TP @@ -308,35 +317,52 @@ by this option. Prints only the vendor specific S.M.A.R.T. attributes. The attributes are numbered from 1 to 253 and have specific names. For example attribute 12 is 'power cycle count': how many times has the -disk been powered up. Each attribute has a 'Raw' value, printed under -the heading 'Raw Value', and a 'Normalized' value printed under the -heading 'Value'. [Note: +disk been powered up. + +Each attribute has a 'Raw' value, printed under the heading 'RAW_VALUE', +and a 'Normalized' value printed under the heading 'VALUE'. [Note: .B smartctl prints these values in base-10.] -Each vendor uses their own magic to convert the Raw -value to a Normalized value. If the Normalized value is +In the example just given, the 'Raw Value' for attribute 12 would be the actual +number of times that the disk has been power-cycled, for example 365 if the disk +has been turned on once per day for exactly one year. +Each vendor uses their own magic to convert this Raw +value to a Normalized value in the range from 1 to 254. + +Note that the conversion from 'Raw' value to a quantity with physical +units is not specified by the S.M.A.R.T. standard. In most cases, the +values printed by +.B smartctl +are sensible. For example the temperature attribute generally has its +raw value equal to the temperature in Celsius. However in some cases +vendors use unusual conventions. For example the Hitachi disk on my +laptop reports its power-on hours in minutes, not hours. Some IBM +disks track three temperatures rather than one, in their raw values. +And so on. + +Each attribute also has a Threshold value (whose range is 0 to 255) +which is printed under the heading 'THRESH'. If the Normalized value +is .B less than or equal to -the value given under the 'Threshold' column, then disk failure -is imminent. The column labeled 'Worst' shows the lowest (closest to -failure) value that the disk has recorded at any time during its -lifetime when S.M.A.R.T. was enabled. +the Threshold value, then disk failure +is imminent. + +Each attribute also has a 'Worst' value shown under the heading 'WORST'. +This is the smallest (closest to failure) value that the +disk has recorded at any time during its lifetime when S.M.A.R.T. was +enabled. [Note however that some vendors will have firmware which will +.B increase +the 'Worst' value for some "rate-type" attributes.] -Note that the conversion from 'Raw' value to physical units is not -specified by the S.M.A.R.T. standard. In most cases, the values printed by +The attribute table printed out by .B smartctl -are sensible. However in some cases a vendor uses unusual -conventions. For example the Hitachi disk on my laptop reports its -power-on hours in minutes, not hours. Some IBM disks track three -temperatures rather than one, in their raw values. And so on. - -The table printed out by this option also shows the 'Type' of the -attribute. Pre-failure attributes are ones which, if less than or -equal to their threshold values, indicate pending disk failure. Old -age, or usage attributes, are ones which indicate end-of-product life -from old-age or normal aging and wearout, if the attribute value is -less than or equal to the threshold. - -If the attribute's current value is <= threshold, then the 'Ever +also shows the 'Type' of the attribute. Pre-failure attributes are +ones which, if less than or equal to their threshold values, indicate +pending disk failure. Old age, or usage attributes, are ones which +indicate end-of-product life from old-age or normal aging and wearout, +if the attribute value is less than or equal to the threshold. + +If the attribute's current Normalized value is <= threshold, then the 'Ever failed' column will display 'FAILED NOW!'. If not, but the worst recorded value is <= threshold, then this column will display 'In the past'. @@ -344,7 +370,7 @@ past'. Note that starting with ATA/ATAPI-4, revision 4, the meaning of these attribute fields has been made entirely vendor-specific. However most ATA/ATAPI-5 disks seem to respect their meaning, so we have retained -this option. +the option of printing the attribute values. .TP .B \-l TYPE, \-\-log=TYPE Prints either the S.M.A.R.T. error log or the S.M.A.R.T. self-test log. The @@ -381,7 +407,8 @@ one valid argument to this option: .I 9,minutes \- the disk stores Raw Attribute number 9 (power on time) in -minutes rather than hours, so divide by 60 before displaying it. +minutes rather than hours, so display it in the form 'X h + Y m', +where X is hours and Y is minutes. .TP .B S.M.A.R.T. RUN/ABORT OFFLINE TEST AND SELF-TEST OPTIONS: @@ -437,7 +464,7 @@ With '\-t short' or '\-t long', runs the self-test in captive mode. This has no effect with '\-t offline' or if the '\-t' option is not used. .B WARNING: Tests run in captive mode may busy out the drive for the length -.B of the test. Only run this on drives without any mounted partitions. +.B of the test. Only run captive tests on drives without any mounted partitions! .TP .B \-X, \-\-abort @@ -621,4 +648,4 @@ Please let us know if there is an on\-line source for this document. .SH CVS ID OF THIS PAGE: -$Id: smartctl.8,v 1.31 2003/01/01 08:21:00 ballen4705 Exp $ +$Id: smartctl.8,v 1.32 2003/01/03 06:19:55 ballen4705 Exp $