jaybee

Update and some questions. I have finished preclears for all three of my drives. The part where it mentions in the results about "no Smart attribultes are failing now", has NEVER failed. i.e. All of the drives during all three preclears each have always had just zeros with no reallocated sectors. So that's something. However, the smart testing sections differ somewhat. As I mentioned above, sometimes they give raw_read_error_rate numbers, and sometimes they remain at zero, and also I got the Samsung drive on the last preclear complain of a multi_zone_error_rate = 1. How are we meant to decipher all of these Smart read outs easily other than posting here and asking? I am becoming a little bit concerned that perhaps unraid involves a lot of "being paranoid" over drive reports. A quick google about any of the things smart reads and it throughs up a load of paranoia about a possibility of the drive failing and general recommendation to RMA it. I see that my drives have a varying load_cycle_count of bewteen 8 for the Hitachi drives, and 120 for the Samsung. These drives have only been on about 3 - 4 days. Should I be concerned of a load cycle count of 120 83 hours? That is 1.4 times an hour on average. That's about 12000 load cycles per year. Which would equate to it potentially failing in under 3 years if one is to assume the load cycle rating is approximately 30000 which seems to be a recommended expectation based on a quick google of other similar spec 2TB drives. So I could use some advice on the multi zone error rate, load cycle and raw_read_error rate stuff and whether to proceed with my build basically. Thanks

Thank you so much bjp999 for your continued support. I noticed on my other identical drive, it had a raw read error rate of 0 and then 0 again in both smart outputs which is why I was concerned one was different than the other. Anyway, stupidly last night I accidentally exited the remaining preclear on the Samsung drive! Doh! It was 80% in No way to resume so I will have to rerun it. I am still concerned it seems to take much longer than the Hitatchis.

Next question, my first drive has finished pre clear. I am getting the all zeros in the main bit with no reallocated sectors at all, and also "no smart attributes are failing now" message. But I am unsure the significance of the "Raw_Read_Error_Rate" line in the smart results. I highlighted them in bold below. Anyway if someone would not mind checking the entire text I got in my email report of the results below specially the smart report bits I would be grateful! Thanks ========================================================================1.11 == invoked as: ./preclear_disk.sh -m [email protected] /dev/sda == Hitachi XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX == Disk /dev/sda has been successfully precleared == with a starting sector of 64 == Ran 1 cycle == == Using :Read block size = 8225280 Bytes == Last Cycle's Pre Read Time : 6:21:01 (87 MB/s) == Last Cycle's Zeroing time : 6:18:51 (88 MB/s) == Last Cycle's Post Read Time : 11:50:21 (46 MB/s) == Last Cycle's Total Time : 24:31:36 == == Total Elapsed Time 24:31:36 == == Disk Start Temperature: 30C == == Current Disk Temperature: 28C, == ============================================================================ ** Changed attributes in files: /tmp/smart_start_sda /tmp/smart_finish_sda ATTRIBUTE NEW_VAL OLD_VAL FAILURE_THRESHOLD STATUS RAW_VALUE Temperature_Celsius = 214 200 0 ok 28 No SMART attributes are FAILING_NOW 0 sectors were pending re-allocation before the start of the preclear. 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after pre-read in cycle 1 of 1. 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after zero of disk in cycle 1 of 1. 0 sectors are pending re-allocation at the end of the preclear, the number of sectors pending re-allocation did not change. 0 sectors had been re-allocated before the start of the preclear. 0 sectors are re-allocated at the end of the preclear, the number of sectors re-allocated did not change. ============================================================================ ============================================================================ == == S.M.A.R.T Initial Report for /dev/sda == Disk: /dev/sda smartctl 5.39.1 2010-01-28 r3054 [i486-slackware-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright © 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Device Model: Hitachi HDS5C3020ALA632 Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Firmware Version: ML6OA580 User Capacity: 2,000,398,934,016 bytes Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall] ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4 Local Time is: Wed Feb 9 21:21:55 2011 Local time zone must be set--see zic m SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x80) Offline data collection activity was never started. Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled. Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: (22626) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. No 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: ( 255) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 016 Pre-fail Always - 0 2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 054 Pre-fail Offline - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 100 100 024 Pre-fail Always - 303 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail Always - 0 8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 020 Pre-fail Offline - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 30 (Lifetime Min/Max 25/32) 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t] 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. == ============================================================================ ============================================================================ == == S.M.A.R.T Final Report for /dev/sda == Disk: /dev/sda smartctl 5.39.1 2010-01-28 r3054 [i486-slackware-linux-gnu] (local build) Copyright © 2002-10 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net === START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Device Model: Hitachi HDS5C3020ALA632 Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Firmware Version: ML6OA580 User Capacity: 2,000,398,934,016 bytes Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall] ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4 Local Time is: Thu Feb 10 21:53:30 2011 Local time zone must be set--see zic m SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x84) Offline data collection activity was suspended by an interrupting command from host. Auto Offline Data Collection: Enabled. Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: (22626) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x5b) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. No 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: ( 255) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x003d) SCT Status supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 016 Pre-fail Always - 65536 2 Throughput_Performance 0x0005 100 100 054 Pre-fail Offline - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0007 100 100 024 Pre-fail Always - 303 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 005 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000b 100 100 067 Pre-fail Always - 0 8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 020 Pre-fail Offline - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 26 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 060 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 8 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0002 214 214 000 Old_age Always - 28 (Lifetime Min/Max 25/32) 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0008 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x000a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 SMART Error Log Version: 1 No Errors Logged SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t] 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. == ============================================================================

Ok thanks for the info guys about how many preclears to run. I am in the process of preclearing my first 3 HDDs on my unraid build. These are brand new 2TB drives and have never been used for anything before. I kicked them all off in the order below within minutes of each other. I couldn't help but notice that despite all three drives (2 x Hitatchi and 1 x Samsung) generally reading at around the same rate of on average 65-75 MB/s each time I have logged in and checked the sessions, the Samsung HDD is much further behind in terms of completion time than the two Hitatchis. They are very similar drives and although the Hitatchi drives are faster slightly, the read speeds stay about the same. SDA = Hitatchi 5300K 2TB - 30c - 93% - 65.1 MB/s SDB = Hitatchi 5300k 2TB- 30c - 86% - 70.0 MB/s SDC = Samsung HD203WI 2TB - 27c - 58% - 75.8 MB/s They have all been preclearing for coming up to nearly bang on 24 hours. They are all eco green slow speed 5300/5400rpm drives. any opinions on why the Samsung is behind on the preclear compared to the two Hitatchi drives? EDIT: I think the drives all appear healthy and that the difference in time must simply be that the Hitachi drives are faster than the Samsung. In benchmarks external of unraid the Samsung seems to average 80MB/s, where as the more odern Hitachi with less platters gets about 100MB/s. This fits with the results perfectly as the Samsung completed in about 30hours, compared to 25ish for Hitachi drives.

How many seperate preclear cycles are advised to run per disk? I hear of some people who do 3 per disk, surely this takes over 3 days? Why is one not enough? Can someone explain why you might want to run 2 or 3 as opposed to 1.