Re: [smartmontools-support] SMART problem in Win7PESE

[Christian F. <Chr...@t-...>]

Thane Sherrington wrote:
> I've been using smartctl in a BartPE/UBCD4Win environment for years,
> and it works great (provided I switch AHCI to IDE before booting to PE).
>
> Now I'm trying Win7PESE, and I'm getting random failures like the one
> below.

Are the failures actually "random"? Do different runs of smartctl return 
different results?


>    On this computer, there is no AHCI setting (so it's in IDE or
> compatible mode by default), and the tests run fine when run from
> UBCD4Win.  It's running standard Windows SATA drivers.
>
> Here is the -a results.
>
> smartctl 6.3 2014-07-26 r3976 [i686-w64-mingw32-win7-sp1] (sf-6.3-1)
> Copyright (C) 2002-14, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
>
> === START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
> Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar Black
> Device Model:     WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0
> Serial Number:    WD-WCATR4920100
> ...
>
> === START OF ENABLE/DISABLE COMMANDS SECTION ===
> SMART Enable failed: Input/output error
>
> ...
> === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
> SMART Status command failed: Input/output error
> SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
> Warning: This result is based on an Attribute check.
>
> ...
> 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     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always
>        -       0
> ...
> Read SMART Log Directory failed: Input/output error
>
> Read SMART Error Log failed: Input/output error
>
> Read SMART Self-test Log failed: Input/output error
>
> Read SMART Selective Self-test Log failed: Input/output error
>
> Even when I turn on smart with -s on or add -T permissive or
> verypermissive, I can't get it to run tests on the drive, and it
> gives me the input/output error.
>
> Any idea how I can fix this?

The above suggests that the IDE driver lacks full pass-through 
functionality (IOCTL_ATA_PASS_THROUGH). Try with -r ioctl,2 to see which 
IOCTL is used (PLEASE use attachments for sample outputs).

IOCTL_ATA_PASS_THROUGH is supported by the generic MS IDE drivers since 
XP and by the generic MS AHCI driver since Vista.

Please check in device manager which driver is used for the (which?) 
SATA controller. Switching to AHCI mode may provide better results.

I never used Win7PESE. Smartctl works as expected with both IDE and AHCI 
mode if run from a Win7 System Repair CD.

Thanks,
Christian