[smartmontools-support]what does "not capable of SMART self-check" mean?

[Jesse H. <jes...@pe...>]

We are receiving the following error message on our host with several
SMART hard drives.  Most of this are in a RAID configuration using the md
driver.  /dev/hdg is consistently giving us the follow error message:

System Events
=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-=3D-Dec 19 10:49:56 <hostname> kernel: hdg: drive_cmd=
: error=3D0x04 {
DriveStatusError }
Dec 19 10:49:56 <hostname> kernel: hdg: drive_cmd: status=3D0x61 { DriveR=
eady
DeviceFault Error }
Dec 19 10:49:56 <hostname> smartd[6538]: Device: /dev/hdg, not capable of
SMART
self-check

Is the drive about to die?  Are their other tests we can run to get more
information?

In a related problem, we seem to be getting hard drive failures fairly
often on our server (one ever few months).  We just buy these drives and
stick them in our server box.  Is there an FAQ or HOWTO somewhere that
explains things to check for in order to extend the life of 24x7 hard
drives?  E.g. maybe we need a better line conditioner?

Thanks,
-Jesse