Maybe it is due to the fact (https://www.smartmontools.org/wiki /Supported_USB-Devices) that USB connected disks usually need a '-d' option to enable S.M.A.R.T. support.
In fact, for the same disk, trying first: $ sudo smartctl -d scsi -H -i -A -l error -l selftest '/dev/sdb' gives "SMART support is: Unavailable - device lacks SMART capability.", whereas: $ sudo smartctl -d scsi -d sat -H -i -A -l error -l selftest '/dev/sdb' gives "SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.//SMART support is: Enabled", and the full output expected. And also in GSmartControl I have to add the "-d sat" option to Preferences/Drives to enable S.M.A.R.T. support and view attributes. The difficulty to include this in gnome-disk-utility is that each disk needs a different "-d" option... -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-disk-utility in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1540110 Title: gnome-disk-utility (shown as "Disks") shows SMART option grayed for USB connect disks despite being available. Status in gnome-disk-utility package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: gnome-disk-utility (show as "Disks" on the desktop environment running Unity) systematically does not acknowledge that disks have SMART capabilities when connected through a USB port; SMART capabilities are grayed. However, 'sudo smartctl -a /dev/<disk>' works fine confirming that there is no problem reading SMART data through a USB link. gnome- disk-utility acknowledge SMART capabilities if the same disk is connected through a SATA port. Confirmed for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr on 2016-01-26, gnome-disk- utility 3.10.0, udisks 2.1.3 (built against 2.1.3) by Hans Deragon. This bug is the same as bug #1092900 which was reported against Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx. Following user dino99 suggestion, I opened this new bug report to follow the same problem on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: gnome-disk-utility 3.10.0-1ubuntu3 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-76.120-generic 3.13.11-ckt30 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-76-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.19 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Sun Jan 31 11:30:03 2016 InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-11-01 (456 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2) SourcePackage: gnome-disk-utility UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-disk-utility/+bug/1540110/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
