Do SMART disks make noise during self-tests?

[bob prohaska]

Should a disk running self-tests (smartctl -t /dev/sda) emit any
sounds during the test? I expected it would, but don't hear anything.
Not sure the test is actually running.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska

[VanguardLH]

bob prohaska <b...@www.zefox.net> wrote:

> Should a disk running self-tests (smartctl -t /dev/sda) emit any
> sounds during the test? I expected it would, but don't hear anything.
> Not sure the test is actually running.

I haven't used *NIX for decades, but I can do online searches. From
https://linux.die.net/man/8/smartctl, looks like your syntax is wrong.

https://linux.die.net/man/8/smartctl

Not an easy man page to decipher, but looks like you're supposed to
select which volumes on the device to test, not omit the select
parameter trying to run a test on all volumes (partitions). Perhaps if
there is only 1 partition on a drive then the 'select' argument isn't
needed.

You sure you don't need to use 'sudo' to run 'smartctl'? I found more
examples at:

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/SMART_tests_with_smartctl

From what I see of the examples, some text should get sent out to
stdout, like "=== Start of ... ===". Do you see that? If not, does the
command exit and return you immediately to the command line?

You didn't say the type of drive, like if HDD or SSD. Obviously an SSD
shouldn't be making any noise. When I've run disk tests on my HDDs, I
never heard them running; however, between multiple fans (4 case, 2 PSU,
1 CPU, and 1 GPU) and ambient noise, and me using quiet drives, I'd have
to remove the computer case side cover to put my ear against the drive
to hear anything. A stethoscope would be better to isolate sounds.

You could use an IR thermometer to gauge which drive is the hottest
assuming that's the only one getting accessed. Alternatively, there are
utilities that will let you measure the temperature of a drive as well
as tools to let you see the level of reads or writes to a drive.

[bob prohaska]

VanguardLH <V...@nguard.lh> wrote:
> bob prohaska <b...@www.zefox.net> wrote:
>
>> Should a disk running self-tests (smartctl -t /dev/sda) emit any
>> sounds during the test? I expected it would, but don't hear anything.
>> Not sure the test is actually running.
>
> I haven't used *NIX for decades, but I can do online searches. From
> https://linux.die.net/man/8/smartctl, looks like your syntax is wrong.
>
> https://linux.die.net/man/8/smartctl
>
> Not an easy man page to decipher, but looks like you're supposed to
> select which volumes on the device to test, not omit the select
> parameter trying to run a test on all volumes (partitions). Perhaps if
> there is only 1 partition on a drive then the 'select' argument isn't
> needed.

Near as I can tell the command ran, as I was querying the disk as a
whole, not the filesystems on it.

> You sure you don't need to use 'sudo' to run 'smartctl'? I found more
> examples at:
>
> https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/SMART_tests_with_smartctl
>

I was logged in as root.

> From what I see of the examples, some text should get sent out to
> stdout, like "=== Start of ... ===". Do you see that? If not, does the
> command exit and return you immediately to the command line?
>

Yes, I got the initial output, I just couldn't hear any disk activity.

> You didn't say the type of drive, like if HDD or SSD. Obviously an SSD
> shouldn't be making any noise. When I've run disk tests on my HDDs, I
> never heard them running; however, between multiple fans (4 case, 2 PSU,
> 1 CPU, and 1 GPU) and ambient noise, and me using quiet drives, I'd have
> to remove the computer case side cover to put my ear against the drive
> to hear anything. A stethoscope would be better to isolate sounds.
>

That turned out to be the key. I _did_ eventually hear the disk seeking
when it was moved to a different location that was quieter. Still the
noises were few and far between.

Thanks for writing!

bob prohaska

[Marco Moock]

Am 20.02.2023 um 17:45:03 Uhr schrieb bob prohaska:

> Should a disk running self-tests (smartctl -t /dev/sda) emit any
> sounds during the test? I expected it would, but don't hear anything.
> Not sure the test is actually running.

It runs several reading (and maybe writing?) tasks. It makes some
noise, e.g. when the head moves. Most modern disk are very silent, so
you don't hear that until you put your ear directly on the surface of
the drive.

[Ant]

The worse ones are the scratching the platters. :)
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