Testing Drives with Sata to USB cable

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Testing Drives with Sata to USB cable

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DS213J
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  1. Windows
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I would like to health test some WD20EFXR drives for use in a new DS418 or DS420. These drives are from 2015to 2017. I downloaded WD drive test utility on my desktop windows PC. And I have a sata to USB cable that I've used for Mac Powerbook HD upgrades to SSD. So, can I just plug these drives into the cable and Windows 10 PC should recognize them for the test? Or, would I need to connect it, and reboot? If I do that would I need to format the drive before testing it? If anyone has done this or has a link to share that would be great.

Thanks,
 
Oh, glad I asked. I guess I can just slide the lid of of a non critical PC I have and plug them in to extra sata and power cables I have in there. Rather than waiting for a powered dock. Thanks,
 
So, both drives I tested passed the S.M.A.R.T short test but FAILED the extended test. "
The S.M.A.R.T. Diagnostic Extended Test completed. One or more problems were detected.
Failed with error code: 7 ". Can someone tell me what this means? Should I go ahead and use these anyway or just get new drives?
 
Last edited:
Have run company based media checking software on Sata drives in external USB Enclosures, but in order to update firmware on the drives they usually have to be connected to onboard Sata controllers.

Have prior experiences with extensive drive tests. 215J started complaining about bad blocks on drive. WD replaced first under warranty. A year later bad blocks again, but now on both. This time replaced both with new, one at a time, so data was preserved, and took both drives to PC and tested with WD software. Just like you —one failed in an hour, second failed in 10 min. Pitched both drives.

I’m intentionally pushing limits on 2x 14 year old 1TB drives….. running them in 720+ till they die, just so I can see it happen and test v7 software recovery, because I have a 3rd 1TB drive to test recovery procedure when first one fails. 720+ has already told me: that these drives are not supported, but I used it anyway. 😱Gonna treat this as a learning experience!
 
So, both drives I tested passed the S.M.A.R.T short test but FAILED the extended test. "
The S.M.A.R.T. Diagnostic Extended Test completed. One or more problems were detected.
Failed with error code: 7 ". Can someone tell me what this means? Should I go ahead and use these anyway or just get new drives?
You should post the results of a SMART diagnosis of the drive(s) here so we can give you more detailed advice. You can get the SMART info using a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo (I'm assuming you're using WIndows) CrystalDiskInfo
Install the app on the machine with the drives, run the SMART diagnosis and post the results on here. Reallocated / pending / uncorrectable sector counts are the typical signs of a physical HDD problem.
 
Good to know. But the ebay seller of that used drive offered a refund so I don't need to test it. Getting new drives. Do you think it's necessary to test brand new WD Red Plus or Ironwolf drives with this? Or does the synology NAS have it's own internal deep testing upon setup?
 
Synology tests new added drives... generally you don't need to. However...

If you were replacing drives with larger drives, I'd def test the new drive first. Otherwise, you may pull a good drive, which degrades the volume, only to find the new drive cannot rebuild the volume, and you are now stuck for days... weeks... with a degraded volume, until a replacement drive is available.

If you are replacing an already degraded drive, it matters less.

That all said, running a basic drive test externally (not an extended test) only takes a few minutes.
 
For the 2 WD20EFXR drives I still have in my DS213J, is there a way to deep test those while they are still in the NAS? If they are good I'm going to move them into the new unit. Or do I have to power down remove them and hook them up to that other PC with the spare sata and power wires to run the WD test app again? It would be easier if a similar test was built into that NAS but it's running 6.2 and I didn't see an app in there for this. Only the general info tab gives a basic health status.
 

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