Public bug reported: gnome-disk-utility (show as "Disks" on the desktop environment running Unity) systematically does not acknowledge that disks have SMART capabilities when connected through a USB port; SMART capabilities are grayed. However, 'sudo smartctl -a /dev/<disk>' works fine confirming that there is no problem reading SMART data through a USB link. gnome- disk-utility acknowledge SMART capabilities if the same disk is connected through a SATA port.
Confirmed for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Thar on 2016-01-26, gnome-disk- utility 3.10.0, udisks 2.1.3 (built against 2.1.3) by Hans Deragon. This bug is the same as bug #1092900 which was reported against Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx. Following user dino99 suggestion, I opened this new bug report to follow the same problem on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Thar. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: gnome-disk-utility 3.10.0-1ubuntu3 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-76.120-generic 3.13.11-ckt30 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-76-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.19 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Sun Jan 31 11:30:03 2016 InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-11-01 (456 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140722.2) SourcePackage: gnome-disk-utility UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) ** Affects: gnome-disk-utility (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: amd64 apport-bug third-party-packages trusty -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1540110 Title: gnome-disk-utility (shown as "Disks") shows SMART option grayed for USB connect disks despite being available. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-disk-utility/+bug/1540110/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs