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My 2013 MacBook Pro with 500GB HDD was operating extremely slow after having some user login error issues. I backed it up, erased, and reinstalled Mavericks. Now I am getting this SMART data. How serious does this appear to be? Proceed with caution or replace ASAP? I should add it seems to working like new at the moment.
Thanks!
Elliot
Posted 2018-01-29T21:09:00.447
Reputation: 21
4
Short Answer:
Backup this drive and replace immediately.
Long Answer:
A company called Backblaze has collected data on hard drive failures. It has released that data in company blogs, highlighting which manufacturer's drives failed more often than others.
In a recent blog it published data indicating exactly which 5 SMART attributes indicate imminent drive failure:
From experience, we have found the following 5 SMART metrics indicate impending disk drive failure:
- SMART 5 – Reallocated_Sector_Count.
- SMART 187 – Reported_Uncorrectable_Errors.
- SMART 188 – Command_Timeout.
- SMART 197 – Current_Pending_Sector_Count.
- SMART 198 – Offline_Uncorrectable.
We chose these 5 stats based on our experience and input from others in the industry because they are consistent across manufacturers and they are good predictors of failure.
The article goes on to suggest:
SMART 5: Reallocated_Sector_Count
1-4 keep an eye on it, more than 4 replace
SMART 187: Reported_Uncorrect
1 or more replace
SMART 188: Command_Timeout
1-13 keep an eye on it, more than 13 replace
SMART 197: Current_Pending_Sector_Count
1 or more replace
SMART 198: Offline_Uncorrectable
1 or more replace
In your case Smart 5 (raw value 109) is a sign that it should be immediately replaced.
DavidPostill
Posted 2018-01-29T21:09:00.447
Reputation: 118 938
But you are not addressing the message “FAILING NOW.” What exactly does that mean? – JakeGould – 2018-01-29T21:15:12.177
1@JakeGould That the disk is failing? It doesn't matter what the exact message is (that depends on who wrote the software used). The important thing is the numbers reported. – DavidPostill – 2018-01-29T21:16:33.633
I should add that it seems to be working perfectly right now. But if the numbers do mean trouble, I'll get on a replacement solution immediately. Thank you! – Elliot – 2018-01-29T21:19:40.393
1@Elliot - It works "perfectly" when it's not reading the bad sectors. – Ramhound – 2018-01-29T21:26:25.207
ok that makes sense. So this means there are 109 bad sectors? What percentage of a 500GB drive is that? – Elliot – 2018-01-29T21:29:46.197
@Elliot No idea. It depends on the disk geometry. I would back up that disk right away. – DavidPostill – 2018-01-29T21:37:24.757
1@Elliot Sorry to sound sarcastic, but if a low level diagnostic like SMART states, “FAILING NOW” I would take that seriously. The fact that you have backed up data is really better than 95% of the people out there so you did some good preventative work. But the drive—at this point—should only be considered a scrap drive; something good for testing and not at all for production use. – JakeGould – 2018-01-29T22:08:33.443
@JakeGould , understand that SMART data from the drive is really only what you see under ‘RAW Value’. everything else you see in the display was added by the developer of the program you’re using to read it. In other words, your disc does not say ‘failing now’, the developer decided to write that there. Only he could tell you what exactly he means with it – Aganju – 2018-01-30T01:55:44.713
1It says “FAILING NOW” in all caps with red text. Seems like this is urgent. If you have your data backed up, then that is great. Get a new replacement drive installed ASAP if you want to continue using your MacBook Pro. – JakeGould – 2018-01-29T21:13:45.483