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Troubleshooting

SMART unavailable / "Unknown USB bridge"​

Many USB-SATA adapters do not pass SMART through automatically. Test manually:

smartctl -a -d sat /dev/sdX
smartctl -a -d sat,12 /dev/sdX     # alternative
smartctl -a -d scsi /dev/sdX
smartctl --scan

If a device type works, smartctl needs it for this drive (-d sat). For USB adapters the tester tries -d sat automatically and remembers the type that works. Some bridges do not support SMART at all; then only a different adapter or a direct SATA connection helps. Without SMART the verdict is "Unknown"; badblocks tests still work.

Drive does not appear (hotplug)​

Check lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,SERIAL,MODEL and dmesg | tail. If the drive does not show up there, the cause is the cable, adapter or port, not the tester.

  • For internal SATA ports, hotplug must be enabled in the BIOS. If the kernel reports SStatus 4, the port is disabled (see Installation).
  • The tester queries lsblk at the hotplug poll interval (default: 3 seconds, adjustable under Settings). New drives therefore appear with a slight delay.
  • Pseudo devices (loop, RAM disk, network, zvol) are deliberately hidden.

Drive "frozen"​

On some drives the BIOS or kernel blocks the ATA security commands ("frozen"). ATA Secure Erase is then not possible. Re-plug the drive while running (hotplug) or put the machine into standby and wake it up again. See also Erasing.

Virtual drives (VM)​

QEMU SATA drives report SMART including self-tests; virtio/SCSI drives without a serial number can be limited.

Service does not start​

journalctl -u disk-tester -e

Check that port 3000 is free and that the symlink /appdata/disk-tester/app points to an existing version under releases/. After a failed update, sudo /appdata/disk-tester/app/deploy/update.sh --rollback helps (see Updates). Live logs: journalctl -u disk-tester -f.

smartctl reports "Permission denied"​

The app must run as root. The systemd service does that; the header and the notice banner report when the process is not running as root or smartctl, badblocks or lsblk are missing. Install missing packages, e.g. apt install smartmontools e2fsprogs util-linux. For secure erasing, hdparm and nvme-cli are needed as well.

"No access protection" warning​

The interface warns as long as DISK_TESTER_AUTH is not set. Either set DISK_TESTER_AUTH=user:password or, in an internal network, deliberately set DISK_TESTER_ALLOW_NO_AUTH=1 (see Installation).

Drive missing on the dashboard​

Drives that carry the running system are hidden by default. Enable the Show system disks toggle or look in the Archive.

Auto mode does not start​

Auto mode only acts on newly plugged-in drives that are neither system drives nor in use and have no job. Check: auto mode enabled, test plan chosen, "Only untested drives" satisfied, and for destructive plans "Allow destructive plans" (see Auto mode).

Mails do not arrive​

Under Settings, check whether the mail server is shown as configured, then Send test mail. The error message comes directly from the mail server. See Notifications.