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Question

SMART Status false positive?

  • July 21, 2014
  • 4 replies
  • 39 views
P
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Yes, that subject line is scary, but hear me out...

Yesterday, one of our clients reported in with the SMART status "Failing." Of course, I went defcon-1 and immediately insured that I had a good backup in anticipation of the worst. However, upon reaching the client and verifying the disk through Disk Utility, the SMART status reports as "Verified," not "Failing." I ran recon and the client in question was removed from the "SMART status FAILING" smart group, with the JSS now showing the client's SMART status as "Verified." So, cautiously I've lowered my alert to Defcon-3.

Has anyone seen this type of behavior? I've never known SMART status to be anything but a one way street. This isn't like it had an external connected, but it was the actual on-board HD that the JSS reported as "Failing" when, evidently, it was not.

    4 replies

    scottb
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    • scottb
    • Valued Contributor
    • July 21, 2014

    FWIW, I've seen SMART report bad/OK on a device over time. I don't think it's a great way to truly detect failing devices, but when I get one, I tell the client and make sure they are backing up. It's up to the Business Unit whether to replace a cheap HDD (or not so cheap SSD) that is failing. I usually recommend that a backup/low level format is done and then tests. Most of the time, the business will buy a new drive. If it's under warranty, then it goes to Apple or a service contractor.

    P
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    • pearlin
    • Author
    • Contributor
    • July 22, 2014

    Thanks for the info. The conundrum is that even though the JSS thinks it is failing (though not presently), Disk Utility shows it as "Verified." So, even though it is still under warranty, so it is highly unlikely Apple would replace the SSD without firm, diagnostic proof.

    D
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    • dferrara
    • Contributor
    • February 10, 2016

    It's 2016 now, but the JSS is still reporting false positives. I just visited 2 systems which were supposedly failing, but had a status of Verified. Running 

    sudo jamf recon

    in the Terminal immediately cleared the Failing status and the computer left the Smart Group. @pearlin, now that you're at JAMF can you figure this out for us?

    Cheers!

    D
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    • dferrara
    • Contributor
    • February 11, 2016

    If anyone finds this thread, the super awesome folks at JAMF reached out to me. It's a known behavior. If all drives are not Verified it will report the false positive.

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