Testing drives with SmartCTL

Check informations about a drive

smartctl -i /dev/sdX

Get all smart data about a drive

smartctl -a /dev/sdX

Testing a drive

First, check (and ideally, take note of) how long has the drive has been powered on, this will be useful to know if the test is finished, to do that check the smart data, the information you need is is Power_On_Hours the RAW_VALUE is what you need.

Short test

smartctl -t short /dev/sdX

Long test

smartctl -t long /dev/sdX

Getting the tests results

This is where the Power_On_Hours that you noted before is useful, if there is nothing at the number of hour you noted (or after), it means the test isn't finished.

smartctl -l selftest /dev/sdX