INTERFACE COMMANDS

S.M.A.R.T. CommandSet

Execute S.M.A.R.T.

The Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) command has been implemented to improve the data integrity and data availability of hard disk drives. In some cases, a S.M.A.R.T. capable device will predict an impending failure with sufficient time to allow users to backup their data and replace the drive before data loss or loss of service.

The S.M.A.R.T. sub-commands (listed below) comprise the ATA S.M.A.R.T. feature set that provide access to S.M.A.R.T. attribute values, attribute thresholds and other logging and reporting information.

Prior to writing a S.M.A.R.T. command to the device’s command register, key values must be written by the host into the device’s Cylinder Low and Cylinder High registers, or the command will be aborted. For any S.M.A.R.T. sub-command, if a device register is not specified as being written with a value by the host, then the value in that register is undefined and will be ignored by the device. The key values are:

Key

Register

4Fh

Cylinder Low (1F4h)

C2h

Cylinder High (1F5h)

The S.M.A.R.T. sub-commands use a single command code (B0h) and are differentiated from one another by the value placed in the Features register. In order to issue a command, the host must write the sub- command-specific code to the device’s Features register before writing the command code to the command register. The sub-commands and their respective codes are:

D0h

S.M.A.R.T. Read Attribute Value

 

This feature returns 512 bytes of attribute information to the host.

D1h

S.M.A.R.T. Read Attribute Thresholds

 

This feature returns 512 bytes of warranty failure thresholds to the host.

D2h

Enable/Disable Autosave

 

To enable this feature, set the sector count register to F1h (enable) or 0 (disable). Attribute values

 

are automatically saved to non-volatile storage on the device after five minutes of idle time and

 

before entering idle, sleep or standby modes. This feature is defaulted to “enabled” when

 

S.M.A.R.T. is enabled via the S.M.A.R.T. Enable Operations commands. The autosave feature

 

will not impact host system performance and does not need to be disabled.

D3h

S.M.A.R.T. Save Attribute Value

 

This feature saves the current attribute values to non-volatile storage.

D4h

Perform Off-Line Data Collection

 

Data is collected from random seeks, timed pattern seek times and head margin tests.

D8h

Enable S.M.A.R.T.

D9h

Disable S.M.A.R.T.

DAh

S.M.A.R.T. Return Status

 

This feature allows the host to assess the status of a S.M.A.R.T. capable device by comparing all

 

saved attribute values with their corresponding warranty failure thresholds. If no thresholds are

 

exceeded, the drive is declared to have a positive health status. If any warranty failure threshold is

 

exceeded, the drive is declared to have a negative health status. Executing this sub-command

 

results in all attribute values being saved to non-volatile storage on the device.

DBh

Enable/Disable Automatic Off-Line

 

To enable this feature, set the Sector Count register to F1h or 0 to disable.

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Maxtor 54098U8, 51024U2, 52049U4, 51536U3, 53073U6 specifications A.R.T. CommandSet, Key Register
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51536U3, 53073U6, 52049U4, 54098U8, 51024U2 specifications

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