Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

The Linux smartmontools package contains the command line app smartctl that can read your
hdd/ssd SMART values. These values can reflect the health of the drive. Unfortunately,
manufactures do not adhere to the same standards and results are subject to interpretation
by make and model. The PPM has a gui frontend for smartctl: gsmartcontrol. It requires installing
smartmontools first. On my fossapup64 it did not run out of the box, but could be started
by running /usr/sbin/gsmartcontrol.

Smartchk is a simple alternate gui for smartctl. It is a portable app that contains both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of smartctl. Just unpack it and run LAUNCH from the smartchk directory. Smartchk will display just a few key values and also allow viewing of all the SMART data. The included HELP file will help you interpet the output.

Edit: 220422 wizards rule #4 "If you thinks it's done, it's not"
-down rev'd smartctl to v6.5, works on more Pup versions OOTB.
-added code to use the existing smartctl (smartmontools) if it has been installed from the package manager.

Tested on fossa, bionic, dpup stretch and xenial

NOTE: Drives connected by USB may not work. Otherwise, if nothing is reported your Puppy may
have conflicts with the included smartctl versions. Install smartmontools from the package manager
and try agaIn. Smartchk will automatically use that smartctl version.

wizard

Do you have a MD5 sum or other for this please?

root# ./smartctl64
./smartctl64: /lib64/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.27' not found (required by ./smartctl64)
root# ./smartctl32
./smartctl32: error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.6: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
root#

Not working at all in Xenialpup64-7.5

EDIT:
With new smartctl64 I was able to get it to run in a terminal but the GUI does not fill the values.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   084   064   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       237122426
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   097   097   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   094   094   020    Old_age   Always       -       6572
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   074   060   045    Pre-fail  Always       -       22836137
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1527 (114 228 0)
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   094   094   020    Old_age   Always       -       6252
184 End-to-End_Error        0x0032   100   100   099    Old_age   Always       -       0
187 Reported_Uncorrect      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
188 Command_Timeout         0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
189 High_Fly_Writes         0x003a   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022   060   044   040    Old_age   Always       -       40 (Min/Max 21/40)
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       13
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       379
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   092   092   000    Old_age   Always       -       17734
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   040   056   000    Old_age   Always       -       40 (0 14 0 0 0)
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
240 Head_Flying_Hours       0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       935 (177 42 0)
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       2449141575
242 Total_LBAs_Read         0x0000   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       1450096346

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

Lotta fun ...Thanks

@wizard :-

There's a reason you're having to start gsmartctl from the terminal. It's because newer builds are now set-up to check that you're running as a "normal user". The .desktop file doesn't point directly to gsmartctl; instead, it points to a modified 'sudo' script, which does whatever it needs to do in the average mainstream distro, then passes control of gsmartctl over to the "normal user". Needless to say, this doesn't work for us in Puppy!

You can get round this by modifying the .desktop file's 'Exec' line to point directly to 'gsmartctl' instead, followed by the usual 'fixmenus', etc.

I've tried your 'smartchk' portable. Unfortunately, all I get is a set of 'blank' outputs; probably caused by a conflict between your included smartctl files and my own installed stuff from the newer packages detailed below. I'm currently in 32-bit Tahrpup 606.

------------------------------------------

@April :- A few years ago, I re-built the existing gSmartCtl packages for Puppy. As part of doing so, I compiled the then newest version (v6.6) of smartmontools (the 'back-end' for all this), to which had just been added the ability to read external USB HDD/SSD drives, working via the USB 3.0 'bridge card' in use by most of them. It also adds the ability to interpret correctly the output from an SSD's controller chip, and even plays nice with the current generation of NVMe high-speed solid state drives.

'The .desktop file points directly to the gsmartctl binary in /usr/bin, and the 'sudo' script has been omitted, since it doesn't do anything in Puppy except bugger things up..!

There's a build available for Xenialpup64. Just follow the instructions in the thread.

----------------------------------------

The thread can be found over at the old Forum, here:-

https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=114535

.....and the packages are still available from my Google Drive. Hope that helps some of you.

Mike.

@mikewalsh

newer builds are now set-up to check that you're running as a "normal user".

That's what I found and did rewrite the .desktop file and made into a .sfs which works on fossapup64. The smartchk pkg is an attempt to make a portable with no deps that works on both 32/64 bit pups.

Thanks
wizard

@April

Hi April,
Not a checksum issue, I tested on fossa, bionic and dpup stretch. Just tested on xenial and got the same errors, they are the old c compiler gotchas. Extract the attached file, put it in the smartchk directory and that should fix it for xenial 64. Will test some more tomorrow and upload a rev, so check back. Thanks for your help.

wizard

@mikewalsh

conflict between your included smartctl files

Sure your right since I didn't test on anything that old. Look in /usr/sbin, see if you have smartctl, if you do, copy it into the smartchk directory and rename as smartctl32. Alternately you can try downloading smartmontools from the ppm and extract smartctl from there. If you try, let me know if it works.

Thanks
wizard

@wizard :-

wizard wrote: Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:59 am

@mikewalsh

conflict between your included smartctl files

Sure your right since I didn't test on anything that old. Look in /usr/sbin, see if you have smartctl, if you do, copy it into the smartchk directory and rename as smartctl32. Alternately you can try downloading smartmontools from the ppm and extract smartctl from there. If you try, let me know if it works.

Thanks
wizard

Well, I've done a bit of testing, mate.

In Tahr32 6.0.6 :-

- Tried your suggestion - swapping-in the smartctl from /usr/sbin & re-naming - no joy. (This is my own, compiled v6.6 upgrade.)
- Tried it again with the original from smartmontools via the PPM. Still no joy.

As downloaded from the repos, smartctl is a shared library. As compiled from the smartmontools source code, it comes out as a binary. I thought that might be making the difference, which is why I tried both methods.......but, as you can see, no change.

In Quirky64 'April' 7.0.1 :-

I've had the older gsmartctl-v0.8.5 package installed here. This is a re-packaged Tahr64 build, since Quirky 'April' is essentially Tahrpup-era; the way Barry did these, the devX was only ever a .pet package - I've re-built it as an SFS - and a kernel-source/headers package never existed. It came with a 3-series kernel; these are useless for me on this HP rig, since the audio chip didn't even exist until the early 4-series kernels came out.....which is why most of my Pups are running with substantially newer kernels.

Quirky's currently running Fossapup's k5.4.53 kernel (with fdrv for firmware), so although using the original devX, she now makes use of the Fossapup kernel headers package.

The older v0.8.5 doesn't interpret SSD data correctly, so there's a load of red 'error' entries on the 'Attributes' tab. I had a go at compiling the v6.6 smartmontools source code for it this morning, since this particular Puppy is such a mongrel a package wouldn't really be applicable for any other Pup.

It compiled out very nicely, so I can now read my primary drive's S.M.A.R.T data properly in Quirky..!

Having done this, I tried using the smartctl binary from /usr/sbin in your SmartChk portable.....unfortunately, it's still a no-go.

Question:- What's all that "9P / 5R / 197C" stuff in the launcher? Just curious..!

Mike.

rev.220422 available in the first post, will now work on more Pups

Thanks
wizard

@mikewalsh

Hi Mike, thanks for the feedback and all the testing. Here's what I've tested with rev.220422
-download tahr 6.0.5 32bit (couldn't find 6.0.6)
-run smartchk = fails
-installed smartmontools from PPM
-run smartchk = OK

New code picks smartctl installed with smartmontools first. This feature should let smartchk work with Pups that conflict with the included smartctl v6.5.

Question:- What's all that "9P / 5R / 197C" stuff in the launcher? Just curious..!

An attempt to compensate for the manufactures (mostly ssd) not adhering to any standards. Smartctl queries the SMART data in the drive and part of it looks like this:

But, because there are no standards the ID#, ATTRIBUTE_NAME, and even the data format can be different for different drives. UGH!

#197 Current_Pending_Sector
cps=$($smartctlx -a /dev/$mydrv | awk '/197 C/ {print $NF}')

In this example the first part "$smartctlx -a /dev/$mydrv |" grabs all the data available and sends it to the awk command. Awk looks for the string between the /, in this case, "197 C". So the trick is don't use to little, like just "197" in case the attribute is totally different and don't use to much in case they changed part of the name. The last part "{print $NF}" tells awk to use the last value in the line.

And that my friend is why they need standards. As a result, anything you create will be imperfect.

Thanks
wizard

wizard wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 4:31 pm

The Linux smartmontools package contains the command line app smartctl that can read your
hdd/ssd SMART values. These values can reflect the health of the drive. Unfortunately,
manufactures do not adhere to the same standards and results are subject to interpretation
by make and model. The PPM has a gui frontend for smartctl: gsmartcontrol. It requires installing
smartmontools first. On my fossapup64 it did not run out of the box, but could be started
by running /usr/sbin/gsmartcontrol.

Smartchk is a simple alternate gui for smartctl. It is a portable app that contains both 32 bit and 64 bit versions of smartctl. Just unpack it and run LAUNCH from the smartchk directory. Smartchk will display just a few key values and also allow viewing of all the SMART data. The included HELP file will help you interpet the output.

Edit: 220422 wizards rule #4 "If you thinks it's done, it's not"
-down rev'd smartctl to v6.5, works on more Pup versions OOTB.
-added code to use the existing smartctl (smartmontools) that has been installed from the package manager.

Tested on fossa, bionic, dpup stretch and xenial

NOTE: Drives connected by USB may not work. Otherwise, if nothing is reported your Puppy may
have conflicts with the included smartctl versions. Install smartmontools from the package manager
and try agaIn. Smartchk will automatically use that smartctl version.
smartchk220422.tar.xz
wizard
smartchkssd.png

it worked like a charm on my xenialpup64, but is don't shows remaining life

smartctl 6.6 2017-11-05 r4594 [x86_64-linux-4.9.58] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-17, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Hitachi/HGST Travelstar Z7K500
Device Model:     HGST HTS725050A7E630
Serial Number:    TF655AWJ3KYEPT
LU WWN Device Id: 5 000cca 7c5f26f57
Firmware Version: GH2OA560
User Capacity:    500.107.862.016 bytes [500 GB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    7200 rpm
Form Factor:      2.5 inches
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 6
SATA Version is:  SATA 2.6, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Fri Apr 22 23:19:56 2022 CEST
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:  (0x00)	Offline data collection activity
					was never started.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
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: 		(   45) 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: 	 (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (  88) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x003d)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control 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   062    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  2 Throughput_Performance  0x0004   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0007   222   222   033    Pre-fail  Always       -       1
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       1369
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   005    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000a   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  8 Seek_Time_Performance   0x0004   100   100   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0012   083   083   000    Old_age   Always       -       7661
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       1343
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate      0x000a   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       3211300
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0012   053   053   000    Old_age   Always       -       478427
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0002   214   214   000    Old_age   Always       -       28 (Min/Max 11/50)
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
223 Load_Retry_Count        0x000a   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
240 Head_Flying_Hours       0x0032   087   087   000    Old_age   Always       -       6131
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       19270156721
242 Total_LBAs_Read         0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       34760339488
254 Free_Fall_Sensor        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%         0         -

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.

@Dingo

but is don't shows remaining life

2022-04-22-230724_277x53_scrot.png

Based on my limited drive samples remaining life is reported by ID# 177, 202, or 231. Your drive doesn't report those, not surprising since HDD's don't have a life limitation based on write/erase cycles. SSD's on the other hand, have a limited life and each mfg has a spec on Total Terabytes Written, but that is just an estimate. For instance my Micron 960gb ssd's spec says 75 TBW and it currrently has 135 TBW, so not very scientific in that case.

Great job on the feedback, Thanks.

wizard

@wizard
Usually when you distribute something like this you firstly make an MD5sum ,or SHA etc, of the file and include it to ensure nobody fiddles with it and adds a file in place of it .

I'm sure you know this .
Can I get an md5sum for it please?

@April

Here it is for smartchk220422.tar.xz

md5sum - 3d27733a2e87891d36aa8df1e292c340

wizard

MM. You have done this before yes?

root# md5sum smartchk220422.tar.xz smartchk220422.tar.xz.md5
3d27733a2e87891d36aa8df1e292c340  smartchk220422.tar.xz
485a3a4a5b18bad36f4feefadc51109a  smartchk220422.tar.xz.md5
root# 

@April

A least once

Just downloaded and checked against my original, this is output, looks good to me.

root# md5sum smartchk220422.tar.xz
3d27733a2e87891d36aa8df1e292c340  smartchk220422.tar.xz

md5sum smartchk220422.tar.xz smartchk220422.tar.xz.md5

That line from your code is asking for the md5sum for two different files, smartchk220422.tar.xz and also smartchk220422.tar.xz.md5.
The checksum shown for smartchk220422.tar.xz is correct.

Thanks
wizard

Yes ,me in blind confusion at times these days . I think it is the " Russians are coming" pressure.

I used both GUIs on my old HDD:
Smartchk - said that it's failing.
gsmartcontrol - said that it passed.

How do you interpret that?

Since I did not author gsmartcontrol I can't tell you what they use as criteria. It may just be a difference in interpretation. Smartchk does give you the option to view the full smart output, you can then look up the parameters on the web and draw your own conclusion.

Thanks
wizard

@wizard - I don't think I'll understand any of it . The fact it says it's failing ― I think says it all :-J. But I already got a new, much bigger HDD, because I knew it was old(2013); and will buy another for backup.
Thanks.