Wear leveling count... on an HDD?

[poneman]

Hello, HDS is reporting an eminent failure on one of my hard drives, but it is citing a high wear leveling count and recommends "replacing the SSD." I thought wear leveling count was specific to SSDs, and my drive is not an ssd. The drive is a RAID5 member. I don't think it is even a hybrid. Any ideas on what is going on here? I can provide the rest of the log if needed.

Hard Disk Summary
-------------------
Hard Disk Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3
Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel RAID #2/1 [11/0]
Disk Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Chipset SATA/PCIe RST Premium Controller (RAID) [VEN: 8086, DEV: 43D6] Version: 18.36.1.1016, 7-23-2021
Disk Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bus Number 6, Target Id 2, LUN 0
Hard Disk Model ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : WDC WD1002FBYS-05A6B0
Firmware Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 00.0NS03
Hard Disk Serial Number . . . . . . . . . . . . : WD-WMATV5180753
SSD Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Samsung PM830 / PM841 / SM84x
Total Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 953869 MB
Power State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Active
Logical Drive(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : H: [RAID5 2TB] R: [SSD Backup]
Current Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 21 °C
Maximum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 46 °C, 3/17/2022 8:34:14 PM
Minimum Temperature (Ever Measured) . . . . . . : 19 °C, 3/19/2022 11:12:17 AM
Maximum Temperature (During Entire Lifespan) . . : 52 °C
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 513 days, 7 hours
Estimated Remaining Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . : 0 days
Lifetime Writes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 21.90 TB
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : -------------------- 0 % (Failure Predicted)
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : #################### 100 % (Excellent)

Failure Predicted - Attribute: 177 Wear Leveling Count
Replace SSD immediately.
It is recommended to backup immediately to prevent data loss.

ATA Information
-----------------
Hard Disk Cylinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1938021
Hard Disk Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Hard Disk Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 63
ATA Revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ATA8-ACS
Transport Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : SATA Rev 2.5
Total Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1953525168
Bytes Per Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 512
Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32767 KB
Multiple Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 16
Error Correction Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 50
Unformatted Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 953870 MB
Maximum PIO Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Maximum Multiword DMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Maximum UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/s (6)
Active UDMA Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/s (6)
Minimum Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . . . : 120 ns
Recommended Multiword DMA Transfer Time . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time Without IORDY . . . . : 120 ns
Minimum PIO Transfer Time With IORDY . . . . . . : 120 ns
ATA Control Byte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid
ATA Checksum Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Valid

Acoustic Management Configuration
-----------------------------------
Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Acoustic Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Enabled
Current Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Max performance and volume (FEh)
Recommended Acoustic Level . . . . . . . . . . . : Min performance and volume (80h)

ATA Features
--------------
Read Ahead Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Ultra DMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
S.M.A.R.T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Write Cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Host Protected Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
HPA Security Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Advanced Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Extended Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Power Up In Standby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
48-Bit LBA Addressing . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Device Configuration Overlay . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
IORDY Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Read/Write DMA Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NOP Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Trusted Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
64-Bit World Wide ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 50014EE057438B8A
Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Media Card Pass Through . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
General Purpose Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
CFA Feature Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
CFast Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Long Physical Sectors (1) . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Long Logical Sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Write-Read-Verify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Power Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NV Cache Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Free-fall Control Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Service Interrupt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
IDLE IMMEDIATE Command With UNLOAD Feature . . . : Not supported
Zoned Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
SCT Command Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
SCT Error Recovery Control . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Nominal Media Rotation Rate . . . . . . . . . . : 7200 RPM

SSD Features
--------------
Data Set Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
TRIM Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Deterministic Read After TRIM . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Read Zeroes After TRIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

S.M.A.R.T. Details
--------------------
Off-line Data Collection Status . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Self Test Execution Status . . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
Total Time To Complete Off-line Data Collection : 0 seconds
Execute Off-line Immediate . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Abort/restart Off-line By Host . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Off-line Read Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Short Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Extended Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Conveyance Self-test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Selective Self-Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Save Data Before/After Power Saving Mode . . . . : Supported
Enable/Disable Attribute Autosave . . . . . . . : Supported
Error Logging Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Short Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . . . : 2 minutes
Extended Self-test Estimated Time . . . . . . . : 85 minutes
Last Short Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . . : Successfully Completed
Last Short Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . . : 3/19/2022 12:16:28 PM
Last Short Self-test Duration . . . . . . . . . : 2 minutes
Last Extended Self-test Result . . . . . . . . . : Never Started
Last Extended Self-test Date . . . . . . . . . . : Never Started

Security Mode
---------------
Security Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 188 minutes
Security Enhanced Erase Feature . . . . . . . . : Supported
Security Enhanced Erase Time . . . . . . . . . . : 188 minutes
Security Enabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Locked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Frozen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Security Counter Expired . . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Security Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : High
Device Encrypts All User Data . . . . . . . . . : No
Sanitize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Overwrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Crypto Scramble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Block Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Sanitize Antifreeze Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
ACS-3 Commands Allowed By Sanitize . . . . . . . : No

Serial ATA Features
---------------------
S-ATA Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
S-ATA I Signaling Speed (1.5 Gps) . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA II Signaling Speed (3 Gps) . . . . . . . . : Supported
S-ATA Gen3 Signaling Speed (6 Gps) . . . . . . . : Not supported
Receipt Of Power Management Requests From Host . : Not supported
PHY Event Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Non-Zero Buffer Offsets In DMA Setup FIS . . . . : Not supported
DMA Setup Auto-Activate Optimization . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Device Initiating Interface Power Management . . : Not supported
In-Order Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Asynchronous Notification . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Software Settings Preservation . . . . . . . . . : Supported, Enabled
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) . . . . . . . . . . : Supported
Queue Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32
NCQ Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
NCQ Autosense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Automatic Partial To Slumber Translations . . . : Not supported
Rebuild Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Hybrid Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
Device Sleep (DevSleep) . . . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported
DevSleep To ReducedPwrState . . . . . . . . . . : Not supported

Disk Information
------------------
Disk Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : RE3
Form Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3.5"
Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1 TB (1 x 1,000,000,000,000 bytes)
Number Of Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2
Number Of Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 4
Rotational Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 7200 RPM
Rotation Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.33 ms
Average Rotational Latency . . . . . . . . . . . : 4.17 ms
Disk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Serial-ATA/300
Buffer-Host Max. Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 300 MB/seconds
Buffer Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 32768 KB
Drive Ready Time (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . : 17 seconds
Average Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Track To Track Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Full Stroke Seek Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . : ? ms
Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 101.6 mm (4.0 inch)
Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 147.0 mm (5.8 inch)
Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 26.1 mm (1.0 inch)
Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 690 grams (1.5 pounds)
Acoustic (Idle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2.8 Bel
Acoustic (Min Performance And Volume) . . . . . : 3.0 Bel
Acoustic (Max Performance And Volume) . . . . . : 3.4 Bel
Required Power For Spinup . . . . . . . . . . . : 1,230 mA
Power Required (Seek) . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.5 W
Power Required (Idle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.5 W
Power Required (Standby) . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1.0 W
Manufacturer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : Western Digital Corporation
Manufacturer Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products

S.M.A.R.T.
------------
No. Attribute Thre.. Value Worst Data Status Flags
5 Reallocated Sectors Co.. 51 100 100 000000000000 OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical, Critical
9 Power On Time Count 21 97 97 00000000301F OK Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
12 Drive Power Cycle Count 0 98 98 00000000049B OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
177 Wear Leveling Count 140 94 94 00000000006D Pre-Failure: Data loss.. Event Count, Statistical, Critical
179 Used Reserved Block Co.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Event Count, Statistical, Critical
181 Program Fail Count (To.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
182 Erase Fail Count (Total) 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
183 Runtime Bad Block (Tot.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Event Count, Statistical, Critical
187 Uncorrectable Error Co.. 0 100 100 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
190 Temperature 0 79 48 000000000015 OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical
195 ECC Rate 0 200 200 000000000000 OK (Always passing) Event Count, Error-Rate, Statistical
199 Ultra ATA CRC Error Co.. 0 99 99 00000000000B OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Error-Rate, Performanc..
235 POR Recovery Count 0 99 99 00000000011A OK (Always passing) Event Count, Statistical
241 Total LBA Written 0 99 99 000AF3D44A6E OK (Always passing) Self Preserving, Event Count, Statistical

Transfer Rate Information
---------------------------
Total Data Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 3,412 MB, 62,833 MB since installation (1/30/2022)
Total Data Write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2,579 MB, 95,014 MB since installation
Average Reads Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1,282.31 MB
Average Writes Per Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 1,939.06 MB
Current Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Maximum Transfer Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 175620 KB/s
Current Read Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Write Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 KB/s
Current Disk Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 0 %

[hdsentinel]

Seems so weird: the Intel chipset driver seems provided the status of a different drive (probably an SSD) when the status of this specific hard disk detected.
Personally encountered similar with a very-very old Intel RAID driver (around version 10.x) and never saw similar with a recent driver of the Intel RAID chipset driver.
Please use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option as it can help to check, examine what happens exactly and how it would be possible to add extra protection against such/similar issue with the Intel driver.

[poneman]

Done. Just incase you are the one who sees those, I messed up my report comment--my system no longer detects the drive, must have died. My comments makes it seem like I can still see it, so that report unfortunately probably isn't useful.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks for the report, I examined carefully.

Yes, I see that you originally had a RAID 5 with 4 hard disk drives - but from the report, I only see 3 hard disk drives, all of them are 100% healthy.

It seems when one of the hard disk drives failed (or "just" disconnected? Maybe related to cable/connection only?) the Intel driver provided the status of your SSD (which is independent from the array but connected to the same Intel chipset controller) somehow in place of the missing drive. This caused the weird notification.

Now as the drive is no longer accessible for the controller, it is missing in Hard Disk Sentinel - and the RAID controller shows the alert due to the degraded array.

May I ask what happened with the drive? Did you see previously any message, warning, alert or "just" high temperature with it? I'd surely try to remove and check in a different system, eg. with USB adapter/dock, just to verify if it can still work or not....

As I double checked the drives, I see that they are far over their designed lifetime, the remaining 3 drives have

Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2248 days, 3 hours
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2658 days, 8 hours
Power On Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : 2481 days, 7 hours

and all of them shows "Estimated Remaining Lifetime: more than 100 days". I assume that the 4th drive also had a similar value.

Generally when drives reach the end of their designed lifetime, sudden/unforeseen failure is more common. Depending on how they used, the drives can work error-free (many times for years) - but then can fail completely without any signs.
This is why generally the Estimated Remaining Lifetime decreases in Hard Disk Sentinel and the "100 days" suggest that in a mission critical environment, it may be good idea to plan/consider replacement.

A very common complete failure situation is when 100% same drives (from same batch) configured as RAID 1 or RAID 5 - and when one of the drives reach the end of the designed lifetime, other(s) can also follow quickly (especially if they need to perform intensive transfers, eg. due to rebuilding).

Fortunately at least in your case the power on times are different. I do not say that any of the other drives will also SURELY fail soon - but I'm afraid there is very high chance for that, especially if they are still using in RAID 5 configuration. Just note that now the array is not protected, so I'd surely perform backup (eg. to external drive) first before any attempts to rebuild the array.