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Is lack of s.m.a.r.t a thing to worry about?
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Is this an external USB drive? There is a driver you need to install for DriveDx to work.
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx/usb-drive-support
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx/usb-drive-support
SMART is just for fault monitoring really.
In my experience it doesn't really alert you of impending drive failure before you notice problems in any case, but is useful to confirm which drive is buggered in an array.
TLDR: you should be backing your stuff up whether you have SMART or not. I wouldn't worry about it.
In my experience it doesn't really alert you of impending drive failure before you notice problems in any case, but is useful to confirm which drive is buggered in an array.
TLDR: you should be backing your stuff up whether you have SMART or not. I wouldn't worry about it.
Thanks for the replies. I have a comprehensive backup plan, this is one of four and cloud, off site hard drive etc.
Weaselboy, I have the driver, manufacturer has confirmed it is not on this particular drive. It is an external USB3. One of my 2TB was getting a tad full so upped to a 4TB replacement as the price was right.
Probably because I have DriveDx, I liked the info too much.
It is a keeper then and forget about it.
Weaselboy, I have the driver, manufacturer has confirmed it is not on this particular drive. It is an external USB3. One of my 2TB was getting a tad full so upped to a 4TB replacement as the price was right.
Probably because I have DriveDx, I liked the info too much.
It is a keeper then and forget about it.
FWIW...Certain enclosures I have used did not play nice with DriveDX. I discarded them, because since buying DriveDX, it has accurately predicted every drive failure I have had, sometimes long before there were symptoms that I personally noticed (including instances where OS X did not alert me to a drive that was in the failing process.) Is the ability to have access to these metrics critical for data that I back up in multiple locations? Probably not. However, it's part of a layered data security plan and one that has historically worked quite well for my needs by reducing the degree of inconvenience of both HDD and SSD failures. Like several other programs I use (and much like why I use Mac in-general), I've come to rely on it to do exactly what it claims to save me some time and give me some added flexibility.
OK, thanks for the info.
Update. I now have the drive showing smart. I have been a fool. Manufacture did not help saying it was not supported on this drive but the blame lies with me.
Reason for the issue, I think, I used the makers software on a this disk to see what it did, but had not deleted all the stuff seeing it was as useful as a chocolate teapot. I had to root around to get it all. There was a conflict, came to a head this AM when the other disk of same manufacture (different enclosure) stopped showing up in DriveDx. I had a look around various forums and see I made a school boy error in using that stuff. Many apologies. Lesson learned and all that.
In my defence, previously I just reformatted a hard drive from new and got on with it and never bothered with the software.
Off to do one hundred lines, "must not install this rubbish, must not install this rubbish...."
Update. I now have the drive showing smart. I have been a fool. Manufacture did not help saying it was not supported on this drive but the blame lies with me.
Reason for the issue, I think, I used the makers software on a this disk to see what it did, but had not deleted all the stuff seeing it was as useful as a chocolate teapot. I had to root around to get it all. There was a conflict, came to a head this AM when the other disk of same manufacture (different enclosure) stopped showing up in DriveDx. I had a look around various forums and see I made a school boy error in using that stuff. Many apologies. Lesson learned and all that.
In my defence, previously I just reformatted a hard drive from new and got on with it and never bothered with the software.
Off to do one hundred lines, "must not install this rubbish, must not install this rubbish...."
In general, software made by hardware companies is, as you say, a load of rubbish! I made the mistake of installing the software that came with a mouse once, which disabled OS X's mouse acceleration (without asking) and replaced it with Windows-style movement. It didn't come with an uninstall either...Off to do one hundred lines, "must not install this rubbish, must not install this rubbish...."
SMART information may be useful, or it may not be.
Sometimes "seemingly good" drives fail without reason.
Other drives exhibit problems, yet still keep running.
I'm reminded of something a German auto engineer is reputed to have said:
"Why do you need a tachometer? The engine is either running, or it is not."
Sometimes "seemingly good" drives fail without reason.
Other drives exhibit problems, yet still keep running.
I'm reminded of something a German auto engineer is reputed to have said:
"Why do you need a tachometer? The engine is either running, or it is not."
Hear similar comments for stuff, involves temperature gauge or similar, until it goes bang..... But all points taken on board and was going to go with it sans info.
My main HD is on 752500 load cycle counts. Still works. I wouldn't know about unless I had the smart sniffer.
Whilst backing up to the new drive, a pesky folder from the problem software shot past my vision, still aint got it all yet.....
My main HD is on 752500 load cycle counts. Still works. I wouldn't know about unless I had the smart sniffer.
Whilst backing up to the new drive, a pesky folder from the problem software shot past my vision, still aint got it all yet.....
IN the past 20 years I have been dealing with computers for a living SMART info has been useful to me once.
And at that point, i'd already established that a drive was faulty in my array - the SMART info just enabled me to determine which one, by comparing the sector read failure counts.
At the end of the day whether or not SMART works, you'll likely know when the disk is failing, and the remedy is the same whether you have SMART or not - buy another disk and restore your data to it. Unless you're pro-actively monitoring SMART stats like a hawk, you'll probably notice failure symptoms whilst using the machine first.
And at that point, i'd already established that a drive was faulty in my array - the SMART info just enabled me to determine which one, by comparing the sector read failure counts.
At the end of the day whether or not SMART works, you'll likely know when the disk is failing, and the remedy is the same whether you have SMART or not - buy another disk and restore your data to it. Unless you're pro-actively monitoring SMART stats like a hawk, you'll probably notice failure symptoms whilst using the machine first.