WARNINGS

   1 $Id: WARNINGS 2844 2009-07-18 12:59:21Z chrfranke $
   2
   3 The most recent version of this file can be found here:
   4 http://smartmontools.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/smartmontools/trunk/smartmontools/WARNINGS?view=markup
   5
   6 The following are reports of serious problems (eg system lockup) which
   7 were due to smartmontools.  There are DARWIN, LINUX, FREEBSD, SOLARIS
   8 and WINDOWS sections below.
   9
  10
  11 LINUX
  12 -----
  13
  14 You may also wish to search the linux-kernel mailing list for problem
  15 reports concerning smartmontools.  Here is the URL:
  16 http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=smartmontools&safe=images&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&as_ugroup=linux.kernel&lr=&num=100&hl=en
  17
  18 SYSTEM:   Any system with USB ports and USB storage devices
  19 PROBLEM:  Using smartd/smartctl on USB "SCSI" storage devices can cause kernel hang
  20 REPORTER: see link below
  21 LINK:     https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=107615
  22 NOTE:     USB storage devices are handled as SCSI devices by the kernel. But many of these
  23           devices do not comply with SCSI specs, and can cause the kernel to hang.
  24           Avoid using smartd/smartctl on these devices (they don't do SMART anyway).
  25           In particular, the use of smartd DEVICESCAN in /etc/smartd.conf can cause
  26           these devices (typically represented by /dev/sda or /dev/sdb) to hang, and
  27           the kernel to lock up.
  28 FIXED:    This problem should be fixed in smartmontools-5.25 and greater.
  29
  30
  31 SYSTEM:   Intel 875WP1-E motherboard with SATA drives on motherboard's SATA ports
  32 PROBLEM:  smartd makes NTP time drift
  33 REPORTER: nohez@cmie.com
  34 LINK:     http://groups.google.de/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=Pine.LNX.4.33.0310111545530.1047-100000%40venus.cmie.ernet.in.lucky.linux.kernel
  35 NOTE:     When using SATA disks, linux kernel k_smp-2.4.21-108 (SMP because
  36           of hyper-threading) and xntp-4.1.1-177, the server time went
  37           out of sync with system time.  Problem goes away when SATA
  38           disks removed.
  39
  40
  41 SYSTEM:   Dell servers using AACRAID (SCSI)
  42 PROBLEM:  Locked up, needed to be rebooted
  43 REPORTER: drew@eastvan.bc.ca
  44 LINK:     http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=1311313&forum_id=12495
  45
  46
  47 SYSTEM:   Box with Promise 20265 IDE-controller (pdc202xx-driver) and > 2.4.18 kernel with ide-taskfile support
  48 PROBLEM:  Smartctl locks system solid when used on /dev/hd[ef].
  49 REPORTER: Georg Acher <acher@in.tum.de>
  50 LINK:     http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=1457979&forum_id=12495
  51 NOTE:     Lockup doesn't happen with 2.4.18 kernel, and doesn't affect /dev/hd[a-d]
  52           This appears to be a problem with the pdc202xx-driver and has been reported
  53           to the pdcx maintainers.  If you enable the Promise-BIOS (ATA100-BIOS) then
  54           everything will work fine.  But if you disable it, then the machine will hang.
  55
  56
  57 SYSTEM:   Box with Promise 20262 IDE-controller
  58 PROBLEM:  Smartctl locks system solid
  59 REPORTER: Ben Low <ben@bdlow.net>
  60 LINK:     http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=5074201
  61 NOTE:     Similar to previous report: Promise Ultra66 2-port card (20262) which, with
  62           linux 2.4.20, suffers from the lockups reported above.  But it was
  63           impossible to enable the Promiste BIOS.  A kernel patch is referenced
  64           to fix the problem.
  65
  66
  67 SYSTEM:   Promise 20265 IDE-controller
  68 PROBLEM:  Smartctl locks system solid when used on CDROM/DVD device
  69 REPORTER: see link below
  70 LINK:     http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=208964
  71 NOTE:     Problem seems to affect kernel 2.4.21 only.
  72
  73
  74 SYSTEM:   Promise IDE-controllers and perhaps others also
  75 PROBLEM:  System freezes under heavy load, perhaps when running SMART commands
  76 REPORTER: Mario 'BitKoenig' Holbe Mario.Holbe@RZ.TU-Ilmenau.DE
  77 LINK:     http://groups.google.de/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=1wUXW-2FA-9%40gated-at.bofh.it
  78 NOTE:     Before freezing, SYSLOG shows the following message(s)
  79           kernel: hdf: dma timer expiry: dma status == 0xXX
  80           where XX is two hexidecimal digits. This may be a kernel bug
  81           or an underlying hardware problem.  It's not clear if
  82           smartmontools plays a role in provoking this problem.  FINAL
  83           NOTE: Problem was COMPLETELY resolved by replacing the power
  84           supply.  See URL above, entry on May 29, 2004 by Holbe.  Other
  85           things to try are exchanging cables, and cleaning PCI slots.
  86
  87 FREEBSD
  88 -------
  89
  90 [No problem reports yet.]
  91
  92
  93 SOLARIS
  94 -------
  95
  96 [No problem reports yet.]
  97
  98
  99 CYGWIN and WINDOWS
 100 ------------------
 101
 102 [No problem reports yet.]
 103
 104
 105 DARWIN
 106 ------
 107
 108 SYSTEM:   Any system before Tiger
 109 PROBLEM:  Can't switch off SMART, can't switch off auto-save, can't run
 110           short tests.
 111 REPORTER: Geoff Keating <geoffk@geoffk.org>
 112 NOTE:     There's a bug in the system library: when you ask it to
 113           do any of these things, it does the inverse (switches on,
 114           runs extended tests).  Radar 3727283.
 115
 116 SYSTEM:   All known systems
 117 PROBLEM:  When drive is asleep, SMART commands fail
 118 REPORTER: Geoff Keating <geoffk@geoffk.org>
 119 NOTE:     You can prevent the drive from sleeping by saying
 120           pmset -a disksleep 0
 121           or by unchecking the 'Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible'
 122           checkbox in the Energy Saver preferences.  Radar 4094403.