Question about reading S.M.A.R.T information on a WD drive

For some reason I cannot read my WD EADS greendrive's S.M.A.R.T. information. Using Data LifeGuard Diagnostics I can even read my external WD drive's S.M.A.R.T. but just get a "Not Available" for my internal drive.

The controller is operating under RAID mode by default (but not running any arrays)(AMD raid controller), I thought about switching to a non-RAID mode to see if that was the problem but I have read that switching modes could possibly lead to OS boot issues, even if I switched back to RAID mode.

Find more posts tagged with

SAVE $250 on Your Boot Camp — Use Code "EXAM26"

Exclusively for TechExams members for Infosec Boot Camps starting before April 30, 2026

View Boot Camps

Comments

tiersten

You generally need to use the tools provided by the RAID controller manufacturer to access the drives directly to see the SMART counters.

exampasser

tiersten wrote: »

You generally need to use the tools provided by the RAID controller manufacturer to access the drives directly to see the SMART counters.

I tried that, used RaidXpert, but S.M.A.R.T. information did not show up their either, will reboot with it set to start automatically and try again (Started RaidXpert after the system was booted, dunno if it needs to run at boot time).

tiersten

exampasser wrote: »

I tried that, used RaidXpert, but S.M.A.R.T. information did not show up their either, will reboot with it set to start automatically and try again (Started RaidXpert after the system was booted, dunno if it needs to run at boot time).

It may just not be able to show you it. The RAID controller needs to support SMART and also allow you to query the individual drives for their status and counters.

I've never found SMART to be amazingly useful anyway. I've had broken drives that were still listed as okay according to SMART because none of the thresholds had been exceeded.