how to interpit the smartctl results?

[duanedesign]

I just recently installed the smartmontools package contains two utility programs (smartctl and smartd) to control and monitor storage systems using the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (SMART) built into most modern ATA and SCSI harddisks. In many cases, these utilities will provide advanced warning of disk degradation and failure.

However after running the test I have no idea what the results mean. In several columns the result is "old-age" but the computer is only a couple of weeks old. Also some lines say "Pre-Fail". Does anyone have, or know where to get definitions for these descriptors.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
2 Throughput_Performance 0x0007 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 100 100 002 Pre-fail Always - 1588
4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 71
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 010 Pre-fail Always - 0
7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 100 050 Pre-fail Always - 0
8 Seek_Time_Performance 0x0005 100 100 050 Pre-fail Offline - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 274
10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 101 100 030 Pre-fail Always - 0
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 70
184 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 100 001 Old_age Always - 0
187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
188 Unknown_Attribute 0x0032 100 099 000 Old_age Always - 2
189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 001 Old_age Always - 0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 071 049 045 Old_age Always - 29 (Lifetime Min/Max 21/29)
191 G-Sense_Error_Rate 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 3
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 6062
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 29 (Lifetime Min/Max 21/51)
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
220 Disk_Shift 0x0002 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 46
222 Loaded_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 230
223 Load_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
224 Load_Friction 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
226 Load-in_Time 0x0026 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 346
240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0001 100 100 001 Pre-fail Offline - 0

[CP1256]

You should look at 'Raw value'.

Spin up time is the time your hdd needs to spin up (in milliseconds).
Spin retry count is how much times it failed to spin up the hdd, the lower the better.
Load hours is the how much hours your hard drive has been working under load (writing something for example).

That's all I can remember now, more information can is on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Mo....T._attributes