SMART Utility
Version 3.1.1
Copyright 2013, Volitans Software
March 5, 2012

http://www.volitans-software.com
To contact Voilitans Software, email info@volitans-software.com
For sales information, email sales@volitans-software.com
To report bugs, email bugs@volitans-software.com
For support questions, email support@volitans-software.com

About SMART Utility

Thank you for downloading SMART Utility. SMART Utility is an application to scan the hardware diagnostics system of hard drives. SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is a system built into hard drives by their manufacturers to report on various measurements(called attributes) of a hard drive's operation. The attributes can be used to detect when a hard drive is having mechanical or electrical problems, and can indicate when the hard drive is dying. This allows time to hopefully backup, and then replace the drive. 

Each manufacturer implements a different number of attributes, but most implement some common ones. They include temperature and bad sectors (bad areas on the drive). There are thresholds for each of these attributes, and if the measurement drops below the threshold, the overall SMART status will indicate failure. However, some of these attributes, such as bad sectors, can indicated a failing hard drive before the threshold is reached. Unlike Disk Utility, and other drive utilities, which only check the overall SMART status, SMART Utility checks the individual attributes and indicates when a drive is failing. 

SMART Utility is based on the command line "smartmontools", an open source software package that does the actual scanning of SMART attributes. SMART Utility only parses the data that smartmontools outputs, and it would not exist without it. It is available at http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/ . It is also available from the author up to three years from the date of this document.

SMART Utility also can use the OSX SAT SMART Driver to enable reading from some external drives. SMART Utility can install the driver for users. The source code is available here: https://github.com/kasbert/OS-X-SAT-SMART-Driver . It is released under the Apple Public Source License, which is available here: http://www.publicsource.apple.com/license/apsl/ . 

SMART Utility requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, and is compatible with 10.6-10.8

Installing SMART Utility

Copy "SMART Utility.app" to the /Applications folder. To uninstall, drag the application to the trash.

Using SMART Utility

Launch SMART Utility by double-cliking on "SMART Utility.app". It will automatically find any attached drives, and display them in the left box. SMART Utility displays the UNIX name in the drive display. Click on the triangle next to the UNIX name, and all the volume names will appear. Click on a UNIX name, and the right side of the window will update with all the SMART attributes. SMART Utility will evaluate all of the attributes and display the status of the drive in the lower right corner. 

If it is green and says PASSED, the drive should be okay. If it is yellow and says FAILING, the drive will most likely fail soon. If it is red and says FAILED, the drive will fail soon. (In either case, failing or failed, back up all data and get the drive replaced. The failing attributes are highlighted to help understand why the drive is being reported as FAILING or FAILED.) Also, the "Show All" buttons will be highlighted when there the window it opens has a failing condition. Finally, if it is blue and says UNSUPPORTED, SMART data cannot be read from the drive. Some drives are not supported- firewire drives, for example.

To rescan drives, choose Drives from the menu bar, then select Rescan Drives (or press Apple-R). This can be useful if a drive does not show up the first time. To update the drives in the list, choose Drives from the menu bar, then select Update SMART info (or press Apple-U). This can be useful to check the status of a drive after performing some action on the drive (such as copying.)

To see more detailed information on a drive, there are four buttons on the right side of the main window. The top one will display the capabilities of the drive. The second one will display all the attributes, and it will also highlight any failing attributes. The third one will display the last five errors that occurred.The last one will show the last 21 tests the drive has run. 

To save a drive report, select the drive you would like to save, choose Save As from the File menu, and choose a place to save it. You can also open up this report by choosing Open from the File menu or double clicking on the file.

To change preferences, choose SMART Utility from the menu bar, then select Preferences (or press Apple-comma). There are a variety of preferences here. 

To activate the menu extra, go into Preferences and select "Show Menu Extra in Menu Bar" under General. This menu extra will update at the same frequency as the preferences in SMART Utility. It will also use the notifications settings to alert to issues, as well as change the icon color if there is  problem found.

To setup notifications, select the Notifications tab. Here email and Growl settings can be changed. To set up the email, make sure to set the server information under the Email Options button, and make sure to test it with the Test Email button. A message will pop up if it is not successful.

To install the external drive driver, choose SMART Utility from the menu bar, then select Install SAT SMART Driver. This will launch an installer. Follow the instructions to install it. Then rescan for drives and the external drives should show up.

About Volitans Software

Volitans Software was founded on February 22, 2007, by Matthew Butch, to sell SMART Utility. The name Volitans comes from the scientific name of the Red Lionfish. Matthew is an Apple Certified Portable Technician, an Apple Certified Desktop Technician, and an Apple Certified Technical Coordinator. He conceived of the idea of SMART Utility because he wanted a better way to test hard drives in his job as an on-site Macintosh Technician.