Does SMART know best?

[Michael Eager]

Timothy Murphy wrote:
> I've been getting more and more serious warnings from smartd on a computer
> (one I hardly ever use, though I do use it for backups), 
> eg in /var/log/messages

> As a matter of interest, could I replace this ATA/IDE disk with a SATA disk?

There are SATA/IDE and IDE/SATA adapters available, but it might
be easier to just replace the failing drive with an IDE drive.

> Incidentally, I see from smartctl that the drive 
> is almost 3 years old:
> -----------------------------------------
> Error 20419 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 26309 hours (1096 days + 5
> hours)
> -----------------------------------------
> Is it mean of me to suspect that the manufacturer
> tells smart to issue these messages when the warranty is running out ...?

Most folks don't get a warning before their hard drive starts
failing and then dies completely.  You've gotten several.

You suspect that it's just planned obsolescence, that all the
warnings are a ruse to get you to buy a new drive.  Perhaps.
But don't act all surprised when you discover that the backups
on the drive are unreadable.

-- 
Michael Eager	 eager at eagercon.com
1960 Park Blvd., Palo Alto, CA 94306  650-325-8077