smartd reports Currently unreadable sectors

[David Christensen]

On 2020-08-19 01:10, Christoph Kukulies wrote:

>> Am 14.08.2020 um 22:59 schrieb David Christensen <dpchrist at holgerdanske.com>:
>>
>> On 2020-08-14 00:15, Christoph Kukulies wrote:
>>> smartd reports:
>>> Aug 14 08:06:02 pc235 smartd[797]: Device: /dev/ada1, 2 Offline uncorrectable sectors
>>> Aug 14 08:36:01 pc235 smartd[797]: Device: /dev/ada1, 2 Currently unreadable (pending) sectors
>>> ada1: <WDC WD10EADS-22M2B0 01.00A01> ATA8-ACS SATA 2.x device
>>> ada1: Serial Number WD-WMAV50596027
>>> ada1: 300.000MB/s transfers (SATA 2.x, UDMA6, PIO 8192bytes)
>>> ada1: Command Queueing enabled
>>> ada1: 953869MB (1953525168 512 byte sectors)
>>> Time to replace the drive or what measures can I take?
>>> --
>>> Christoph
>>
>>
>> First, backup your data.
>>
>>
>> I maintain one machine with a Windows installation.  I would move the drive into that machine and run "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows":
>>
>>     https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en
>>
>>
>> Here is a link to an older bootable USB stick version:
>>
>>     https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=2
>>
>>
>> David

 > Thanks. I ran the quicktest in DOSDLG.EXE and it didn’t expose any 
errors.
 >
 > Will do an extensive test later, when I’ll have backed up the medium.
 >
 > —
 > Christoph

I advise that you run all available tests.


Once your data is backed up, consider running more aggressive 
diagnostics, such as "zero", "fix", etc..  I have seen drives that pass 
tests, fail to zero, and then pass everything after being fixed. 
Depending upon your tolerance for risk, a drive with known bad blocks 
that have been identified and removed from service by the drive 
controller may still be of use to you.  But eventually, every drive will 
fail.


It can be interesting to run smartctl tests/ reports before, in between, 
and after the manufacturer diagnostics, and then diff the reports to see 
what is changing.


It can be useful to mark and keep a few failed drives for testing purposes.


David