I want to run the smartctl self tests to check the health of the drives in my RAID array (PERC 5/i). The array is on sda and comprises six drives. I can check the status using
sudo smartctl /dev/sda -d megaraid,0 -a
And I see that SMART is available and enabled on all the drives. I have tried to run self tests using
sudo smartctl /dev/sda -d megaraid,0 -t short
and
sudo smartctl /dev/sda -d megaraid,0 -t long
I have also tried it on all of the drives 0-5. No matter what I try, when I run:
sudo smartctl /dev/sda -d megaraid,0 -l selftest
I always get the same result, which seems to always report that I have never run a self test.
/dev/sda [megaraid_disk_00] [SAT]: Device open changed type from 'megaraid' to 'sat'
===START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
From what I read, I should have no problem running the short and long self tests on the array while it is mounted. Does anyone else have experience running these tests on a PERC 5/i raid array who could lend some insight into what is causing the problem?
(smartmontools release 5.40 dated 2009-12-09 at 21:00:32 UTC)
Best Answer
This is a Dell Perc 5/i hardware array controller. Let it do its thing. If you don't have red or amber lights on the disks, why are you concerned with running your own S.M.A.R.T. tests?
The array controller uses S.M.A.R.T. in addition to other features/test to determine drive health. Running your own analysis is unnecessary.