SMART test of new TNS Server - strange results for HDDs

DigitalMinimalist · November 3, 2025, 12:09pm

Hi,

I’m in the process of setting up my TNS backup server, which I built on some low cost components.

I installed this week TNS 25.10.0 and wanted to run a manual long SMART test (as I did with older versions), but then found out that this option was taken out of TNS (not a good idea imho).

I tried to run it as a job, but didn’t really work.

Anyhow, I installed Scrutiny App and one of the disk showed as FAILED. Interestingely, this is the newest HDD in my pool, which is a 10-wide of 10x 4TB HDDs. Some of them are super old SAS drives with many hours, but the FAILED HDD is one of the newest.

It is the following model - Seagate ST4000DX001-1CE168.

I have two of them and they behave differently than the others:

I just installed TrueNAS 25.04.2.6 and ran a manual LONG test - these SSHD (it contains 8GB SSD) takes much longer than the other HDDs (super fast with no content).

Scrutiny App still shows failed, whereas the HDD passed when i connected to my Windows PC.

When I look into the detailed SMART report, it says passed, but also 3 errors were reported (see below)

Question to the experts:

Is the Scrutiny information wrong (and then the tool would be useless) and I should just set up my server, or does scrutiny just have a different threshold for disk health? Is there anything else I should do to examine the health of the HDDs.

(the other drives are old 4TB SAS drives with MANY hours, but I got them for 15 Euro each and in the end it is only a backup from my main fileserver (which runs 4x16TB as striped mirror) and it’s RAIDZ2 for that purpose.

If I would find three more cheap 4TB SATA drives, I would expand to 13 wide as RAIDZ3 with 2x spares to utilize all my HDD connectors (6x Mainboard + 8x HBA). The plan is to run the backup just once per month - kind of semi cold storage.

Not sure which version I should start with…

Thank you for any valuable advice

Alexander

etorix · November 3, 2025, 12:50pm

Please post the complete output of smartctl -x as formatted text (</> button) for better reading; no partial screenshots.

DigitalMinimalist · November 3, 2025, 1:13pm

truenas_admin@truenas[~]$ sudo smartctl -x /dev/sdj 
[sudo] password for truenas_admin: 
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.12.15-production+truenas] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Seagate Desktop SSHD
Device Model:     ST4000DX001-1CE168
Serial Number:    xxxxx
LU WWN Device Id: xxxxx
Firmware Version: CC45
User Capacity:    4,000,787,030,016 bytes [4.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    5900 rpm
Form Factor:      3.5 inches
Device is:        In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is:   ACS-2, ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 3b
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Mon Nov  3 05:09:53 2025 PST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
AAM feature is:   Unavailable
APM level is:     1 (minimum power consumption with standby)
Rd look-ahead is: Enabled
Write cache is:   Enabled
DSN feature is:   Unavailable
ATA Security is:  Disabled, frozen [SEC2]
Wt Cache Reorder: Unavailable

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal Attributes.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                                        was never started.
                                        Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      ( 247) Self-test routine in progress...
                                        70% of test remaining.
Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:                (  107) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:                    (0x73) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                                        Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                                        Suspend Offline collection upon new
                                        command.
                                        No Offline surface scan supported.
                                        Self-test supported.
                                        Conveyance Self-test supported.
                                        Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
                                        power-saving mode.
                                        Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                                        General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine 
recommended polling time:        (   1) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:        ( 508) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (   2) minutes.
SCT capabilities:              (0x1081) SCT Status supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAGS    VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     POSR--   117   099   006    -    131024056
  3 Spin_Up_Time            PO----   094   091   000    -    0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        -O--CK   100   100   020    -    667
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   PO--CK   100   100   010    -    0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         POSR--   087   060   030    -    633817155
  9 Power_On_Hours          -O--CK   080   080   000    -    17713
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        PO--C-   100   100   097    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       -O--CK   099   099   020    -    2041
183 Runtime_Bad_Block       -O--CK   096   096   000    -    4
184 End-to-End_Error        -O--CK   100   100   099    -    0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      -O--CK   097   097   000    -    3
188 Command_Timeout         -O--CK   100   089   000    -    5 14 17
189 High_Fly_Writes         -O-RCK   100   100   000    -    0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel -O---K   064   042   045    Past 36 (1 180 37 21 0)
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate      -O--CK   100   100   000    -    0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count -O--CK   100   100   000    -    77
193 Load_Cycle_Count        -O--CK   083   083   000    -    34266
194 Temperature_Celsius     -O---K   036   058   000    -    36 (0 15 0 0 0)
197 Current_Pending_Sector  -O--C-   100   100   000    -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   ----C-   100   100   000    -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    -OSRCK   200   170   000    -    680
240 Head_Flying_Hours       ------   100   253   000    -    9294h+25m+20.561s
241 Total_LBAs_Written      ------   100   253   000    -    89408445880
242 Total_LBAs_Read         ------   100   253   000    -    503485471452
                            ||||||_ K auto-keep
                            |||||__ C event count
                            ||||___ R error rate
                            |||____ S speed/performance
                            ||_____ O updated online
                            |______ P prefailure warning

General Purpose Log Directory Version 1
SMART           Log Directory Version 1 [multi-sector log support]
Address    Access  R/W   Size  Description
0x00       GPL,SL  R/O      1  Log Directory
0x01           SL  R/O      1  Summary SMART error log
0x02           SL  R/O      5  Comprehensive SMART error log
0x03       GPL     R/O      5  Ext. Comprehensive SMART error log
0x04       GPL,SL  R/O      8  Device Statistics log
0x06           SL  R/O      1  SMART self-test log
0x07       GPL     R/O      1  Extended self-test log
0x09           SL  R/W      1  Selective self-test log
0x10       GPL     R/O      1  NCQ Command Error log
0x11       GPL     R/O      1  SATA Phy Event Counters log
0x21       GPL     R/O      1  Write stream error log
0x22       GPL     R/O      1  Read stream error log
0x30       GPL,SL  R/O      9  IDENTIFY DEVICE data log
0x80-0x9f  GPL,SL  R/W     16  Host vendor specific log
0xa1       GPL,SL  VS      20  Device vendor specific log
0xa2       GPL     VS    3900  Device vendor specific log
0xa8       GPL,SL  VS     129  Device vendor specific log
0xa9       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xab       GPL     VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xb0       GPL     VS    4580  Device vendor specific log
0xbe-0xbf  GPL     VS   65535  Device vendor specific log
0xc0       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xc1       GPL,SL  VS      10  Device vendor specific log
0xc2       GPL,SL  VS      50  Device vendor specific log
0xc4       GPL,SL  VS       5  Device vendor specific log
0xe0       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Command/Status
0xe1       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Data Transfer

SMART Extended Comprehensive Error Log Version: 1 (5 sectors)
Device Error Count: 3
        CR     = Command Register
        FEATR  = Features Register
        COUNT  = Count (was: Sector Count) Register
        LBA_48 = Upper bytes of LBA High/Mid/Low Registers ]  ATA-8
        LH     = LBA High (was: Cylinder High) Register    ]   LBA
        LM     = LBA Mid (was: Cylinder Low) Register      ] Register
        LL     = LBA Low (was: Sector Number) Register     ]
        DV     = Device (was: Device/Head) Register
        DC     = Device Control Register
        ER     = Error register
        ST     = Status register
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 3 [2] occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 16494 hours (687 days + 6 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER -- ST COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC
  -- -- -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --
  40 -- 51 00 00 00 00 bf c7 20 f0 00 00  Error: UNC at LBA = 0xbfc720f0 = 3217498352

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FEATR COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- == -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --  ---------------  --------------------
  60 00 00 00 90 00 00 e3 2c 37 70 40 00     04:18:30.407  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 07 70 00 00 e3 2c 30 00 40 00     04:18:30.407  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 e3 2c 28 00 40 00     04:18:30.357  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 e3 2c 20 00 40 00     04:18:30.357  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 e3 2c 18 00 40 00     04:18:30.357  READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 2 [1] occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 16493 hours (687 days + 5 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER -- ST COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC
  -- -- -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --
  40 -- 51 00 00 00 00 c1 af ff 20 00 00  Error: UNC at LBA = 0xc1afff20 = 3249536800

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FEATR COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- == -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --  ---------------  --------------------
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 c1 b0 28 00 40 00     04:05:03.024  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 c1 b0 20 00 40 00     04:05:02.582  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 06 e0 00 00 c1 af e8 00 40 00     04:05:01.263  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 c1 af e0 00 40 00     04:05:01.263  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 00 c1 b0 18 00 40 00     04:05:01.263  READ FPDMA QUEUED

Error 1 [0] occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 16490 hours (687 days + 2 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle.

  After command completion occurred, registers were:
  ER -- ST COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC
  -- -- -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --
  40 -- 51 00 00 00 00 c1 5e 5f 20 00 00  Error: UNC at LBA = 0xc15e5f20 = 3244187424

  Commands leading to the command that caused the error were:
  CR FEATR COUNT  LBA_48  LH LM LL DV DC  Powered_Up_Time  Command/Feature_Name
  -- == -- == -- == == == -- -- -- -- --  ---------------  --------------------
  60 00 00 08 00 00 01 7e 09 28 00 40 00     01:03:54.673  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 01 7e 09 20 00 40 00     01:03:54.536  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 02 00 00 00 c1 5e 5e 00 40 00     01:03:54.097  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 01 7e 09 18 00 40 00     01:03:54.097  READ FPDMA QUEUED
  60 00 00 08 00 00 01 7e 09 10 00 40 00     01:03:54.097  READ FPDMA QUEUED

SMART Extended Self-test Log Version: 1 (1 sectors)
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Self-test routine in progress 70%     17713         -
# 2  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     17708         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17700         -
# 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17689         -
# 5  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17688         -
# 6  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17688         -
# 7  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17688         -
# 8  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17688         -
# 9  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17558         -
#10  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17551         -
#11  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     17255         -
#12  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17246         -
#13  Short offline       Interrupted (host reset)      00%     17246         -
#14  Extended offline    Interrupted (host reset)      00%     17195         -
#15  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17192         -
#16  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     17177         -
#17  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17168         -
#18  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     17153         -
#19  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     17144         -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

SCT Status Version:                  3
SCT Version (vendor specific):       522 (0x020a)
Device State:                        Active (0)
Current Temperature:                    36 Celsius
Power Cycle Min/Max Temperature:     21/37 Celsius
Lifetime    Min/Max Temperature:     15/58 Celsius
Under/Over Temperature Limit Count:   0/0

SCT Data Table command not supported

SCT Error Recovery Control command not supported

Device Statistics (GP Log 0x04)
Page  Offset Size        Value Flags Description
0x01  =====  =               =  ===  == General Statistics (rev 2) ==
0x01  0x008  4            2041  ---  Lifetime Power-On Resets
0x01  0x010  4           17713  ---  Power-on Hours
0x01  0x018  6     92051719867  ---  Logical Sectors Written
0x01  0x020  6       295774871  ---  Number of Write Commands
0x01  0x028  6    358278223085  ---  Logical Sectors Read
0x01  0x030  6      4802798269  ---  Number of Read Commands
0x01  0x038  6               -  ---  Date and Time TimeStamp
0x03  =====  =               =  ===  == Rotating Media Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x03  0x008  4           39489  N--  Spindle Motor Power-on Hours
0x03  0x010  4           39310  N--  Head Flying Hours
0x03  0x018  4           34266  ---  Head Load Events
0x03  0x020  4               0  ---  Number of Reallocated Logical Sectors
0x03  0x028  4               0  ---  Read Recovery Attempts
0x03  0x030  4               0  ---  Number of Mechanical Start Failures
0x04  =====  =               =  ===  == General Errors Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x04  0x008  4               0  ---  Number of Reported Uncorrectable Errors
0x04  0x010  4              17  ---  Resets Between Cmd Acceptance and Completion
0x07  =====  =               =  ===  == Solid State Device Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x07  0x008  1               0  ---  Percentage Used Endurance Indicator
                                |||_ C monitored condition met
                                ||__ D supports DSN
                                |___ N normalized value

Pending Defects log (GP Log 0x0c) not supported

SATA Phy Event Counters (GP Log 0x11)
ID      Size     Value  Description
0x000a  2            6  Device-to-host register FISes sent due to a COMRESET
0x0001  2            0  Command failed due to ICRC error
0x0003  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host data FIS
0x0004  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS
0x0006  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host non-data FIS
0x0007  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS

etorix · November 3, 2025, 1:26pm

3 errors indeed, and a lot of CRC errors which could be cabling issues, so check that.
You may try a different cable, or switch cable with another drive and see whether further errors follow the drive or the cable.

joeschmuck · November 3, 2025, 1:39pm

I agree, I looked the SMART report over and I see you have a lot of UDMA CRC Errors. For this value, watch it. Does it increase? if it does, replace the data cable or reseatg it. If it remains the same, don’t touch it as it is working. Those errors could have happened when you first installed the drive, a long time ago.

You did have 3 reported uncorrectable errors, over 1500 hours ago. This kind of thing happens. My advice here, watch the value. If it starts to climb, run a SMART Long test.

This drive may be under warranty, if it is, you should be able to RMA the drive, if you desire. That is completely up to you however since the drive is passed Long/Extended tests, and that problem occurred a long time ago, I do not see it being urgent, not at this point in time.

DigitalMinimalist · November 3, 2025, 1:54pm

Thank you both for looking into it.

I will try another SATA cable. The drive was lying in a box for a few years after I upgraded my main workstation.

I don’t show you the hours of the old SAS drives… 80K +

RAIDZ2 and also being just a backup server make me believe that it is an acceptable risk.

Interestingly, scrutiny defines these errors as FAILED, whereas SMART says PASSED

joeschmuck · November 3, 2025, 2:49pm

Do not trust the words “PASSED” in a SMART report. It is misleading. It doesn’t mean what you think it means. All it means is that the drive passed the POST, not that the drive is good. You need to look at all the data to determine if a drive is good or not.