= Using smartctl with Samsung F4 !EcoGreen drives may result in bad blocks = '''WARNING: Do not use smartmontools with these drives! ''' ---- 2010-11-24, updated 2010-11-27: Here are the details as reported to us by German c't magazine: * Affected disk: SAMSUNG !SpinPoint F4 !EcoGreen 2TB {{{Device Model: SAMSUNG HD204UI}}}[[BR]] {{{Firmware Version: 1AQ10001}}} * Problem: If the system writes to this disk and {{{smartctl -a}}} (5.40) is used at the same time, write errors are reported and bad blocks appear on the disk. This was reported by a reader and could be reproduced in c't magazine lab on the following system: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate[[BR]] Core i3-560[[BR]] Intel H55 Chipset[[BR]] SATA-AHCI-Driver: Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) 9.6 * It could also be reproduced under Linux (Fedora 14) if AHCI is enabled and the following commands are run in parallel: {{{ # badblocks -svw -b 4096 /dev/sdd 4000000 # smartctl -a /dev/sdd }}} * Meantime it could '''also''' be reproduced on another System with an AMD Chipset under Windows and drivers {{{msahci.sys}}} or {{{amdsata.sys}}}. * It could also be reproduced if only {{{smartctl -i}}} is used. This command sends only one ATA command to the disk: IDENTIFY DEVICE. No SMART functionality is used then. * It could not be reproduced with the Intel Chipset if it is set to IDE mode. * It could '''not''' be reproduced on the AMD System with the following other disks: {{{SAMSUNG HD322GJ (F4)}}}[[BR]] {{{SAMSUNG HD103SJ (F3)}}}[[BR]] {{{SAMSUNG HD153WI (F3 EcoGreen)}}}[[BR]] {{{SAMSUNG HD642JJ (F1)}}}[[BR]] {{{SAMSUNG SP2504C (P120)}}}[[BR]] {{{WDC WD6400AAKS}}}[[BR]] {{{WDC WD10EADS}}} ---- 2010-11-26: The info is published on [http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/SMART-Tool-beschaedigt-Daten-auf-Samsung-Festplatte-1143120.html heise online news] (German). ---- If you have additional info, please report it to the [mailto:smartmontools-support@lists.sourceforge.net smartmontools-support mailing list].