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[Reddok]

So my DNS-320 has been giving me notifications that one of my two drives in my RAID-1 array is failing the SMART test.  So I bought another drive (Same model number) and swapped it in.  It will not let me rebuild the array.  It lists a Volume_2 instead of a volume_1.  I tried formatting with only the new drive installed in the 320 and it formatted it as Volume_1.  Then when I power on with 2 drives in it lists both as Volume_1 and neither as a RAID array. 

Does the RAID array have to be degraded before I swap the drive?  It is currently just failing the SMART test and the array is not degraded.

[ivan]

Replace the old drive back in the unit if you haven't already done so and restart the unit.

If it works without saying that the RAID array is degraded go to the webUI and run the Extended SMART test from the 'Disk Diagnostic' page (select the correct disk and remember that it can take a loooong time).  Set it up to e-mail you the results.  Hopefully it will tell you what attribute it is failing on then you will be able to know if you need to be concerned or not (very few of the SMART test attributes are critical and most of them can be ignored for all practical purposes (I have one of the drives in my main workstation that has several of the non critical attributes that have zeroed out long ago without any problems appearing).

With all your disk changing make sure that you have a full backup of your data (remember Murphy).

[Reddok]

The SMART tests are a joke.  "The Result Of The Test Is: Fail".  For both the quick and extended test. 

[ivan]

I agree it would be helpful if they actually gave the list of attributes and pointed out which was failing.

Maybe if the information was presented like this,
       
       
it would actually be useful.

[FurryNutz]

Any status on this? 

The SMART tests are a joke.  "The Result Of The Test Is: Fail".  For both the quick and extended test.

[Reddok]

Nothing has changed.  I still have a NAS that tells me my hard drive has failed a smart test and I still can't put a replacement drive in and rebuild the array.

[FurryNutz]

Hope Ivan and help you further...

[ivan]

Unless you get a message that the RAID array is degraded ignore the SMART message if you can still access your data on the network.  I say that because the bulk of the SMART parameters are non critical as far as the disk firmware is concerned so the drive continues working without problems.  There are some parameters that are critical and cause the disk firmware to flag the drive as defective which causes the software RAID to flag the array as degraded and ask for a replacement drive to rebuild the array.

To find out exactly what the SMART status is (except projected failure times) you need a few tools.
First you need a USB/SATA adapter with an external power supply.
Next you need to download the disk manufacturers disk tools.

Then attach the drive to the adapter, install the disk tools on your computer, plug the adapter into a USB port and run the disk tools against that port/drive.  Work your way through the tools menu (be careful of anything that writes to the disk) and you will end up knowing more about your disk than you need to know.

If you look at the second screen grab I posted you will see that Attribute 9 is supposed to time out this month - the drive is still working without problems.