HELP! Smart has been tripped!

A couple of years ago, I bought a new 1.5TB hard disk, but wasn't sure how to replace my disks and transfer my data. With life getting in the way, it took a while. I finally did it about 6 months ago. Recently, my UPS batteries wore down and kept cutting off my computer. Now that I've got that fixed, my computer has given me the drive failure warning twice today. Seatools for Windows told me to run Seatools for DOS because the Long Test is able to fix many problems. I did this and it said to check their Bad Sector Found section of the help file. Well, the help file is only a description of what a bad sector is. I did notice a couple of messages, but without them in front of me, I can't properly convey what they said. One said the drive was not accepting commands and another said it didn't have power. Could my power supply, with one bad fan, have caused the overloads that tripped the low batteries in the UPS to cut power as an overload? Could the disk itself pull extra power to trip the overload in the UPS?

At this moment, I'm backing up my entire computer. What I'd like to know is what software I can run to check the sectors. Chkdsk is the likely program, but with what paramaters. If there is a better option, I'm open to suggestions.

What does it mean that "SMART has been tripped"? Can this condition be repaired? Oh yeah, Seatools warranty checker said it's out of warranty. :sa:

I just searched on "Smart has been tripped" and found this page:
SeaTools for DOS tutorial

Check to make sure but it looks like it is saying the drive is bad and has to go. But I just searched on the phrase. Make sure that "green text" paragraph applies to your situation.

As I said, SeaTools for Windows told me to run SeaTools for DOS. This page is the tutorial for downloading the SeaTools for DOS program image and using it. I have no clue what you mean by "green text paragraph". The program took hours to run and the first attempt quit on its own. The text on the screen was too tiny to see so I have no idea why it quit. The second attempt didn't seem to run as it gave some message I didn't understand, but said to check the Bad Sector Found section of the help file. That is why I'm looking for another utility to check the disk and maybe repair it, if possible. I know I want to run CHKDSK, but I don't know which parameters to use that will fix or mark bad sectors. Is there a way to reset S.M.A.R.T.?

When I run HDTune, the health tab for the drive shows a red bar across the line that says

(05) Reallocated Sector Count - Current: 18, Worst: 18, Threshold: 36, Data: 53776, Status: Failed

I don't know what that means. Yesterday, the values were Current: 19, Worst: 19, Threshold: 36

What does that mean? I read one post in another forum that said those numbers say how many bad sectors have been reallocated, which doesn't make sense to me because I have a Maxtor drive with an okay status with values of Current: 253, Worst: 253, Threshold: 63.

Again, what does this all mean?

I have no clue what you mean by "green text paragraph"

Click to expand...

It says "Smart has been tripped" which you said was what you got from running the test. According to it, that means the drive is dead door nail.

The console output text was green so the explanation said "green text" and what it means.

Smart isn't something that can be reset. It is a monitoring system that reports on drive issues including failures. It would help to know what code you got. There should have been something numerical.
My system reported a S.M.A.R.T. error on the drive
Error Messages that Signify Drive Failure


Unfortunately if your drive is failing there isn't anything that you can do except replace it which I would go ahead and do. I strongly recommend that you at least back up your data.

MilesAhead said:

It says "Smart has been tripped" which you said was what you got from running the test. According to it, that means the drive is dead door nail.

The console output text was green so the explanation said "green text" and what it means.

Click to expand...

You're talking about the text version of the SeaTools software. I do not have that version. The software doesn't claim the drive is dead as a door nail either. It indicates potential failure, not actual failure. That's what I'm trying to correct/diagnose/figure out.

townsbg said:

Smart isn't something that can be reset. It is a monitoring system that reports on drive issues including failures. It would help to know what code you got. There should have been something numerical.
My system reported a S.M.A.R.T. error on the drive
Error Messages that Signify Drive Failure

Unfortunately if your drive is failing there isn't anything that you can do except replace it which I would go ahead and do. I strongly recommend that you at least back up your data.

Click to expand...

There are no error codes displayed by Seagate's tools. They only use PASS or FAIL, but don't tell me which parts of the tests passed or failed. This is the log for the drive after running several tests:

--------------- SeaTools for Windows v1.4.0.2 ---------------
8/27/2015 6:43:38 AM
Model Number: ST1500DL003-9VT16L
Serial Number: 5YD73L4Z
Firmware Revision: CC3C
Short DST - Started 8/27/2015 6:43:38 AM
Short DST - FAIL 8/27/2015 6:44:29 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD0EA
SMART - Started 8/27/2015 6:55:25 AM
SMART - FAIL 8/27/2015 6:55:31 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Short DST - Started 8/27/2015 6:56:54 AM
Short DST - FAIL 8/27/2015 7:00:10 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD0EA
Identify - Started 8/27/2015 7:06:56 AM
Short Generic - Started 8/27/2015 7:07:35 AM
Short Generic - Pass 8/27/2015 7:12:28 AM
Long Generic - Started 8/27/2015 7:15:38 AM
Long Generic - Started 8/27/2015 7:46:12 AM
SMART - Started 8/27/2015 1:56:02 PM
SMART - FAIL 8/27/2015 1:56:08 PM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Short Generic - Started 8/27/2015 2:43:35 PM
Short Generic - Pass 8/27/2015 2:47:52 PM
SMART - Started 8/29/2015 12:10:58 AM
SMART - FAIL 8/29/2015 12:11:04 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Short DST - Started 8/29/2015 8:12:03 AM
Short DST - FAIL 8/29/2015 8:12:10 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD0EA
SMART - Started 8/29/2015 8:17:47 AM
SMART - FAIL 8/29/2015 8:17:53 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Identify - Started 8/29/2015 8:18:06 AM
Short Generic - Started 8/29/2015 8:21:31 AM
Short Generic - Pass 8/29/2015 8:23:36 AM
Long Generic - Started 8/29/2015 8:25:46 AM
Long Generic - Pass 8/29/2015 1:47:51 PM
SMART - Started 8/29/2015 4:48:36 PM
SMART - FAIL 8/29/2015 4:48:41 PM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Short DST - Started 8/29/2015 4:49:33 PM
Short DST - FAIL 8/29/2015 4:49:40 PM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD0EA
SMART - Started 8/30/2015 8:41:18 AM
SMART - FAIL 8/30/2015 8:41:24 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD04A
Short DST - Started 8/30/2015 8:44:12 AM
Short DST - FAIL 8/30/2015 8:44:20 AM
SeaTools Test Code: AFADD0EA


Unfortunately, the SeaTools for DOS program doesn't really leave me any options to save results logs, but they don't provide any more information than above. I ran a CHKDSK and fixed errors. It fixed around 1600 indexes according to the event log (which I accidentally erased). The Event Viewer System Log from 8/25/15, Event ID: 7, Source: disk, says "The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block." There are two of those errors followed by daily errors that the device is reporting imminent failure.

The current temperature is 46 degrees celsius. Is that too hot? Power on hours are 3567, which is about 5 months. Unfortunately, those pages you linked offer as little information as the results log offers clues to the problem. According to those pages, Pass or Fail is enough for Seagate to determine if you should buy another one of their drives.

Do you have any ideas that would help me determine what the ACTUAL problem could be?

You're talking about the text version of the SeaTools software. I do not have that version. The software doesn't claim the drive is dead as a door nail either. It indicates potential failure, not actual failure. That's what I'm trying to correct/diagnose/figure out.

Click to expand...

If actual failure is a drive that does not function at all then it would not be possible to run a diagnostic. Anyway, I think I see no point in carrying on here. Good luck with it.

There isn't anything to my knowledge that you can do to prevent failure if the diagnostic tools are telling you that there is an imminent failure. There are a number of possibilities from a bad platter to a dying motor and trying to fix the drive would probably ruin it. Drives really don't cost that much anymore. The short of it is there really isn't anything that you can do except replace it. Repairing drives is so cost inefficient that no one does it. Back up your data now while the drive is still functional enough to access the data.

I guess I was at least hoping for some diagnostic tool to tell me what exactly is tripping SMART. Then I could gauge whether its really going bad or if something like the power problem, which is over, did something to it. I've had no symptoms of a problem and this is a new drive. It's had only 5 months of service and another new 1.5TB or higher drive is not exactly cheap; less expensive than they used to be, but not cheap.

I have had a drive fried by power so yes it is possible. Looking at Newegg I am seeing 2 tb hard drives starting at $60. These are internal drives for a desktop. You didn't specify if they are internal or external or the size. Computer Hardware, Hard Drives, Internal Hard Drives, All Desktop Hard Drives, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 12TB, 2.5TB, 3TB, 1.8TB, 1.5TB, 2TB, New - Newegg.com

Wow. I knew they came down, but I didn't know they came down that far. In looking at these drives, the $60 one says it's for a CCTV DVR. I don't know if that makes a difference. But I see many that say 3Gb/s or 6GB/s SATA. How can I tell what speed my computer will support? Is that a motherboard specification?

In regard to imminent failure, that's the normal state of magnetic media anyway. Is there a utility that will actually give me a count of bad sectors? I'm wondering if the drive is really getting worse or if a sudden burst of bad sectors caused by the power problem tripped SMART. If I could monitor its state, I could get a better idea if I can make do with what I have for now. I understand all the warnings you've been giving me. I have backups done and set to continue. I'd just rather not waste the drive if I don't have to.

CCTV DVR is a possible application. As for your other question I don't know of any monitoring tools. As long as you have a sata computer it should work although you might not get the listed speed.