S.M.A.R.T.

Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (S.M.A.R.T.)

SmartMonTools is used to access the a hard drives S.M.A.R.T. information.

smartctl 5.43 2012-06-30 r3573 [x86_64-linux-3.3.8-gentoo] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-12 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

The examples below use /dev/sdX as the first internal hard disk drive, and /dev/sdY as the external USB drive.

All the commands listed are good for both Linux and Windows unless otherwise stated.

HOWTO: INSTALL

Windows

Download and install the .exe file.

Linux

sudo aptitude install smartmontools

HOWTO:

Scan For Devices

sudo smartctl --scan

Scan For Devices And Try To Open Each Device

sudo smartctl --scan-open

Device Driver

sudo smartctl --device=test /dev/sdX

/dev/sdX: Device of type 'scsi' [SCSI] detected
/dev/sdX [SAT]: Device open changed type from 'scsi' to 'sat'
/dev/sdX [SAT]: Device of type 'sat' [ATA] opened

So, we use the sat driver for this device.

Enable SMART Feature

sudo smartctl --device=sat --smart=on /dev/sdX

Information

sudo smartctl --device=sat --all /dev/sdX

Health Check

sudo smartctl --device=sat --health /dev/sdX

Tests - Internal Drives

Self-Test: Short (internal SATA)

sudo smartctl --device=sat --test=short /dev/sdX

Self-Test: Medium (internal SATA)

sudo smartctl --device=sat --test=conveyance /dev/sdX

Self-Test: Long (internal SATA)

sudo smartctl --device=sat --test=long /dev/sdX

Tests - USB External Drives

Self-Test: Short

sudo smartctl --device=sat,16 --test=short /dev/sdY

Self-Test: Medium

sudo smartctl --device=sat,16 --test=conveyance /dev/sdY

Self-Test: Long

sudo smartctl --device=sat,16 --test=long /dev/sdY

The last long test on an external USB drive may need to be combined with this series of commands to stop the kernel from sleeping the drive:-

while true; do dd if=/dev/sdX iflag=direct count=1 of=/dev/null; sleep 60s; done

Stop Running Tests

sudo smartctl --device=sat --abort /dev/sdX

Display Test Logs

sudo smartctl --device=sat --log=selftest /dev/sdX

The output should look like the following:

smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-linux-3.16.0-31-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     62071         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     57922         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     51265         -

Display Hard Drive Details and Test Logs

sudo smartctl -i --device=sat --log=selftest /dev/sdX

The output should look like the following:

smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-linux-3.13.0-38-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar SE Serial ATA
Device Model:     WDC WD800JD-60JRA0
Serial Number:    WD-WMAMD2064823
Firmware Version: 05.01C05
User Capacity:    80,026,361,856 bytes [80.0 GB] 
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA/ATAPI-7 (minor revision not indicated)
Local Time is:    Tue Oct 14 13:06:35 2014 BST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     62071         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     57922         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     51265         -

Daily, Weekly, Monthly Checks In CRON (Linux)

# hard disk drive checks
@daily /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --all /dev/sdX && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --all /dev/sdY && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --all /dev/sdc
@weekly /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=short /dev/sdX && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=short /dev/sdY && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=short /dev/sdc
@monthly /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=long /dev/sdX && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=long /dev/sdY && /usr/sbin/smartctl --device=sat --test=long /dev/sdc

Prevent Power Management Sleep During SMART Tests

while true; 
    do dd if=/dev/sdX iflag=direct count=1 of=/dev/null; 
    sleep 60s; 
done

Thanks to SourceForge.