Tool to inspect the SMART infos of USB harddiscs (not only..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.hardware,microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB 2.0).

Is this possible at all?

Jeff

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of
>internal IDE hard discs.
> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs
> (connected through USB 2.0).
>
> Is this possible at all?
>
> Jeff
>

Tools from the manufacturer's websites will usually check SMART status.
Seagate also has an online scan, and I think you can do a generic scan of
other manufacturer's drives as well. Some of the other ones also have
generic tools, but the manufacturer ones will have more testing for their
own drives.

If you're looking for one that will monitor constantly or at power on, I
don't know if any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Nope, it is almost impossible.

USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.

"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
2.0).
>
> Is this possible at all?
>

 

[Discordia]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
<ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Nope, it is almost impossible.
>
>USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
>
>"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
>> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
>2.0).
>>
>> Is this possible at all?
>>

I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
> <ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:

>>Nope, it is almost impossible.
>>
>>USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
>>
>>"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
>>news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>>> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
>>> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
>>2.0).
>>>
>>> Is this possible at all?
>>>

> I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
> external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
> job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?

Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
extensions that allow SMART pass-through.

Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect it
internally to read smart status.

Arno

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

On 20 Aug 2005 23:33:45 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
>> On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
>> <ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>Nope, it is almost impossible.
>>>
>>>USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
>>>
>>>"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>>>> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
>>>> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
>>>2.0).
>>>>
>>>> Is this possible at all?
>>>>
>
>> I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
>> external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
>> job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?
>
>Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
>likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
>made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
>extensions that allow SMART pass-through.
>
>Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect it
>internally to read smart status.
>
>Arno
No that is not the case. The reason that the USB hard disks don't
"support SMART" is because many of the USB dongle chips have very poor
protocol conversion & drivers that don't translate the full
instruction set.

From the software perspective, a USB device makes the disk speak
"SCSI" instead of "ATA" instruction set, and their emulation is only
good enough to satisfy using the disk as a storage device, not to
support the type of diagnostic commands required to obtain and control
SMART.

 

[Discordia]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 04:49:16 -0500, David A.Lethe <david@santools.com>
wrote:

>On 20 Aug 2005 23:33:45 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
>>> <ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>Nope, it is almost impossible.
>>>>
>>>>USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
>>>>
>>>>"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>>>>> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
>>>>> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
>>>>2.0).
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this possible at all?
>>>>>
>>
>>> I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
>>> external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
>>> job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?
>>
>>Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
>>likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
>>made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
>>extensions that allow SMART pass-through.
>>
>>Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect it
>>internally to read smart status.
>>
>>Arno
>No that is not the case. The reason that the USB hard disks don't
>"support SMART" is because many of the USB dongle chips have very poor
>protocol conversion & drivers that don't translate the full
>instruction set.
>
>From the software perspective, a USB device makes the disk speak
>"SCSI" instead of "ATA" instruction set, and their emulation is only
>good enough to satisfy using the disk as a storage device, not to
>support the type of diagnostic commands required to obtain and control
>SMART.
>

The reason I wanted to use SMART was the new external drive I bought
makes noticable tick tick sounds as its seeking. Now, maybe most
drives do that anyway, but I haven't noticed such sounds since the
drives of about five years ago. Could be fan noise inside the case is
just drowning it out. I did return one of these drives, got a
replacement, and it does exactly the same thing. Sound normal?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Previously David A.Lethe <david@santools.com> wrote:
> On 20 Aug 2005 23:33:45 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>>Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
>>> On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
>>> <ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>>Nope, it is almost impossible.
>>>>
>>>>USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
>>>>
>>>>"Jeff Korn" <under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
>>>>news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
>>>>> I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
>>>>> Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB
>>>>2.0).
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this possible at all?
>>>>>
>>
>>> I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
>>> external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
>>> job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?
>>
>>Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
>>likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
>>made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
>>extensions that allow SMART pass-through.
>>
>>Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect it
>>internally to read smart status.
>>
>>Arno
> No that is not the case. The reason that the USB hard disks don't
> "support SMART" is because many of the USB dongle chips have very poor
> protocol conversion & drivers that don't translate the full
> instruction set.

> From the software perspective, a USB device makes the disk speak
> "SCSI" instead of "ATA" instruction set, and their emulation is only
> good enough to satisfy using the disk as a storage device, not to
> support the type of diagnostic commands required to obtain and control
> SMART.

You do know that IDE and SCSI SMART is different?

Arno

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:3mrllsF17v9qqU2@individual.net
> Previously David A.Lethe <david@santools.com> wrote:
> > On 20 Aug 2005 23:33:45 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> > > Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
> > > > On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin" <ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > > Nope, it is almost impossible.
> > > > >
> > > > > USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
> > > > >
> > > > > "Jeff Korn" under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
> > > > > > I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
> > > > > > Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external USB harddiscs (connected through USB 2.0).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Is this possible at all?
> > > > > >
> > >
> > > > I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on an
> > > > external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as good a
> > > > job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?
> > >
> > > Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
> > > likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
> > > made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
> > > extensions that allow SMART pass-through.
> > >
> > > Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect it
> > > internally to read smart status.
> > >
> > > Arno
>
> > No that is not the case. The reason that the USB hard disks don't
> > "support SMART" is because many of the USB dongle chips have very poor
> > protocol conversion & drivers that don't translate the full
> > instruction set.
>
> > From the software perspective, a USB device makes the disk speak
> > "SCSI" instead of "ATA" instruction set, and their emulation is only
> > good enough to satisfy using the disk as a storage device, not to
> > support the type of diagnostic commands required to obtain and control
> > SMART.
>
> You do know that IDE and SCSI SMART is different?

No. Really? Who would have thought that, eh?

Hey babblemouth, do you know David Lethe?

>
> Arno

 

[joeP]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Folkert Rienstra" <see_reply-to@myweb.nl> wrote in message
news:430cfe2a$1$34319$892e7fe2@authen.white.readfreenews.net...
> "Arno Wagner" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:3mrllsF17v9qqU2@individual.net
> > Previously David A.Lethe <david@santools.com> wrote:
> > > On 20 Aug 2005 23:33:45 GMT, Arno Wagner <me@privacy.net> wrote:
> > > > Previously Discordia <goaway@you.net> wrote:
> > > > > On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 19:57:25 -0700, "Eric Gisin"
<ericgisin@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > > Nope, it is almost impossible.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > USB uses SCSI commands, which don't have IDE SMART features.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "Jeff Korn" under@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message
news:42ee9c4d$0$6990$9b4e6d93@newsread2.arcor-online.net...
> > > > > > > I have seen some tools which inform me about the SMART
data/status of internal IDE hard discs.
> > > > > > > Unfortunately these tools do not offer the same for external
USB harddiscs (connected through USB 2.0).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Is this possible at all?
> > > > > > >
> > > >
> > > > > I was about to ask this same question. So, if SMART won't work on
an
> > > > > external drive, will the manufactures drive test programs do as
good a
> > > > > job as SMART in determining the health of the drive?
> > > >
> > > > Today many of these just read the SMART status. That means they will
> > > > likely not work on external drives unless the USB interface was
> > > > made by the same manufactuere and they put in some vendor-specific
> > > > extensions that allow SMART pass-through.
> > > >
> > > > Best option IMO: Remove the external drive from its case and connect
it
> > > > internally to read smart status.
> > > >
> > > > Arno
> >
> > > No that is not the case. The reason that the USB hard disks don't
> > > "support SMART" is because many of the USB dongle chips have very poor
> > > protocol conversion & drivers that don't translate the full
> > > instruction set.
> >
> > > From the software perspective, a USB device makes the disk speak
> > > "SCSI" instead of "ATA" instruction set, and their emulation is only
> > > good enough to satisfy using the disk as a storage device, not to
> > > support the type of diagnostic commands required to obtain and control
> > > SMART.
> >
> > You do know that IDE and SCSI SMART is different?
>
> No. Really? Who would have thought that, eh?
>
> Hey babblemouth, do you know David Lethe?
>

Hi Folkert!

--
Joepie