Yes and you need to.
From LiveUSB:
sudo apt install smartmontools
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
1 Like
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.14.0-37-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family: Apple SD/SM/TS...E/F/G SSDs
Device Model: APPLE SSD SM0256G
Serial Number: S2Z5NY0HB06137
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 900000000
Firmware Version: BXZ13A0Q
User Capacity: 251,000,193,024 bytes [251 GB]
Sector Sizes: 512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
TRIM Command: Available
Device is: In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is: ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is: SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is: Sat Apr 4 21:54:52 2026 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity
was never started.
Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed
without error or no self-test has ever
been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: ( 0) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.
Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
Suspend Offline collection upon new
command.
No Offline surface scan supported.
Self-test supported.
No Conveyance Self-test supported.
Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
power-saving mode.
Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported.
General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: ( 10) minutes.
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x001a 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0
5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 000 Pre-fail Always - 0
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 098 098 000 Old_age Always - 9812
12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 041 041 000 Old_age Always - 59161
169 Unknown_Apple_Attrib 0x0013 253 253 010 Pre-fail Always - 1481839215552
173 Wear_Leveling_Count 0x0032 176 176 100 Old_age Always - 2177596588603
174 Host_Reads_MiB 0x0022 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 66239019
175 Host_Writes_MiB 0x0022 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 49922245
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0012 099 099 000 Old_age Always - 139
194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 070 028 000 Old_age Always - 30 (Min/Max 13/72)
197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0022 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x001a 200 199 000 Old_age Always - 0
SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]
Warning! SMART Selective Self-Test Log Structure error: invalid SMART checksum.
SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
1 0 0 Not_testing
2 0 0 Not_testing
3 0 0 Not_testing
4 0 0 Not_testing
5 0 0 Not_testing
255 0 65535 Read_scanning was never started
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.
The above only provides legacy SMART information - try 'smartctl -x' for more
I realize that S.M.A.R.T determined a PASS, but it actually did not pass all tests.
What the test shows us is that there are no NAND failures or Bad Blocks/Sectors.
In that regard, it passed. But, everything else shows really bad Firmware errors.
And this count is extremely high. It should be in the range of maybe 4,000, not nearly 60,000:
I definitely think this is the drive.
1 Like
So I have to find another SSD then. I hope they're easy to change on a macbook.
Edit : I found a tutorial from iFixIt : Remplacement du SSD du MacBook Pro 15" Retina mi-2015 SSD - Tutoriel de réparation iFixit
I just have to find a compatible SSD because it seems there is a proprietary connector.
Are you able to avoid:
The drive itself is proprietary.
What do you mean ? If I find an SSD with this connector, then it will be compatible, won't it ?
I do not know off the top of my head... But the connector itself may be used across a variety of Apple drives.
Whereas the Drive Model Number:
APPLE SSD SM0256G is known to not work with Linux combined with the firmware.
I just installed Mint, and I was able to install things and use the disk as usual. But after two reboots I'm back to the initramfs invite.
Yes, I really think it is the drive after that S.M.A.R.T. result above. Those were pretty abnormal readings.
1 Like
Thanks for the time you've put into this.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.