1: $Id: WARNINGS,v 1.1.1.2 2013/10/14 07:54:04 misho Exp $
2:
3: The most recent version of this file can be found here:
4: http://sourceforge.net/p/smartmontools/code/HEAD/tree/trunk/smartmontools/WARNINGS
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.
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