In a Linux system, you can use the smartctl command to check the power-on hours of the hard drive (i.e., the usage time of the hard drive). smartctl is part of the Smartmontools package, which is used to monitor and analyze the hard drive's S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) information. Here are the steps to use smartctl to obtain the power-on hours of the hard drive:
Install Smartmontools#
First, you need to ensure that Smartmontools is installed on your system. You can install it using the following commands:
- Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install smartmontools
- CentOS/RHEL:
sudo yum install smartmontools
- Fedora:
sudo dnf install smartmontools
Check Hard Drive Power-On Hours#
Once installed, you can use the smartctl command to view the power-on hours of the hard drive. Assuming your hard drive device is /dev/sda, you can execute the following command:
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
Output Explanation#
- Power_On_Hours: This line shows the total number of hours the hard drive has been powered on since it left the factory.
Notes#
- Permissions: Superuser permissions are required to run the smartctl command, so use sudo.
- Device Name: Make sure to replace /dev/sda with the correct device name (e.g., /dev/sdb, /dev/nvme0n1, etc.).
- S.M.A.R.T Support: Not all hard drives support S.M.A.R.T. functionality. If you see a "not supported" or similar error message, you may need to check if S.M.A.R.T. is enabled in the BIOS, or the hard drive may not support this feature.
- Different Manufacturers: Different manufacturers and models of hard drives may implement these values slightly differently, so consider the information provided by the manufacturer when interpreting this data.