Hard Disk Monitoring

I ran a short and extended SMART test on a brand new hard disk and both came back perfect.

I then ran a surface test (read) but it immediately started giving me error 1117 “the request could not be performed because of an i/o device error”.

I cancelled the test and restarted the computer and the hard disk. When I performed the surface test again, the error no longer appears and is now showing good blocks.

I’m just worried whether the initial surface test meant anything or was the error caused because the hard drive was in a sleep state? For context, the extended smart test completed much earlier than expected and the hard drive was left idled for over 8 hours.

Not sure, but there is good chance that the drive is somehow removed from the system, yes, likely because of power management function (sleep state).
There is good chance that something "between" the OS and the disk drive (chipset / disk controller or its driver, USB adapter/dock/enclosure if used) did not manage the situation well and this caused the error.

If you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, it is possible to check the actual situation, it may give some ideas, thoughts about what happened - and if there is anything to improve (for example update/replace a driver or so) to avoid similar.