testing S.M.A.R.T status on new disk with an external enclosure?

[DanL]

I have a S.M.A.R.T error on my iMac Seagate ST3500418ASQ disk, so I purchased a replacement -- ST500DM002. I am told by OWC that this is a fully compliant replacement, that supports the original thermal sensor pinouts.

OK, so I want to test the new drive out. I put it in an external enclosure, reformat, and look at it in Disk Utility. Everything is fine BUT it tells me that S.M.A.R.T status is "unsupported". Huh? If I'm going to replace a disk that has a S.M.A.R.T error, I sure want to know that the S.M.A.R.T status of the replacement disk is OK. The Seagate spec document says this disk has S.M.A.R.T. So what's going on?

I'm wondering if it is my cheap SATA disk enclosure that just doesn't support S.M.A.R.T, and once I put it in my Mac it will report that status. Is this correct?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

Disk Utility only supports S.M.A.R.T. status on internal drives, not external drives connected via USB/FireWire/Thunderbolt. There are some third-party apps that can check the status, usually with the help of a third-party driver extension that needs to be installed. DriveDX is such an app, which is available from the Apple App Store, or their website in the link.

C

 

[DanL]

Ah, excellent. Thank you. I did not know that. Now, the OS *knows* that this drive isn't internal. Why can't it tell me the S.M.A.R.T status is unsupported by the Mac and not the disk?? The word "unsupported" covers a load of sins.

Also that you very much for the recommendation of DriveDX. That helps a lot in understanding what the issue is in my present internal disk.

 

[DanL]

... and just for the record, here is how you test S.M.A.R.T status on external drives.
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx/usb-drive-support

FWIW, it sounds like only some enclosures support this.

 

[honestone]

... and just for the record, here is how you test S.M.A.R.T status on external drives.
https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx/usb-drive-support

FWIW, it sounds like only some enclosures support this.

By the way, that stand alone driver (via the App Store) also works with the S.M.A.R.T status checking feature available in TechTool Pro. I just verified that with two external drives that I have (Seagate mechanisms inside; I use OS 10.11.5, the latest version of El Capitan).