Changes between Version 44 and Version 45 of FAQ

Timestamp:

Apr 30, 2014, 8:24:09 PM (10 years ago)

Author:

Christian Franke

Comment:

Note that BIOS SMART setting may be missing

FAQ

@@ -416 +416 @@
 === BIOS has a SMART enable/disable setting.  What does it do, and how should I set it? ===
 
-Some type of BIOS can check the SMART health status of a disk at bootup: the equivalent of '{{{smartctl -H /dev/hd?}}}'.  This one-time check on bootup is done if the BIOS SMART setting is set to {{{ENABLE}}}, and is not done if the setting is set to {{{DISABLE}}}.
+Some type of BIOS can check the SMART health status of a disk at bootup: the equivalent of '{{{smartctl [-s on] -H /dev/sd?}}}'.
+This one-time check on bootup is done if the BIOS SMART setting is set to {{{ENABLE}}}, and is not done if the setting is set to {{{DISABLE}}}.
 
 If this one-time check is done, and the disk's health status is found to be {{{FAILED}}}, then typically the BIOS will display an error message and refuse to boot the machine.
 
 For the proper functioning of smartmontools, either BIOS setting may be used.
+
+A BIOS may perform the SMART health check even if it does not provide a corresponding setting.
+The check cannot be disabled in this case.
 
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