short self-test stops

[algusev]

Hellow, I run short self-test and it stops. It worked normally before. There were no problems with the drive. Please write what can I do, if it will stop in next try later or in other operating system. I am especially interested in the reasons. The smart is ok.

Regards,
Alex

[hdsentinel]

Hello,

Thanks, but I do not really see bugs/problems. Everything is working as should: the self test is active and running. It does not "stop" as you can see in the Status line: "Running, no problems found".

As the Help describes:

https://www.hdsentinel.com/help/en/58_test.html

During the test, the hard disk is still usable but may be slower (and vice versa: hard disk usage may make the test much longer. It may be important for a system hard disk where the op. system or other software may cause much read/write operations).

So it is completely normal and expected that the short self test (and the extended self test too) runs MUCH longer than the estimated time.
The estimated time is provided by the manufacturer, based on the assumption that the hard disk does not perform any other background activity, just the test itself.

Any background file operation (Windows update, downloading, running virus scan, background disk defragmentation, swapfile optimization etc.) may cause that the disk test will run much longer. This is completely normal and expected: when the internal self test will advance, you'll see the response code (0xF9 now) changing: the 9 in this field shows that 90% of the test is still remaining and the test is still in progress. In some time, you may see F8, F7, etc... to indicate progress (you may not see all steps during the short self test).

The Help describes the difference and nature of the different tests, describes the limitations of the hardware self tests, when the software tests (Disk menu -> Surface test functions) may be more useful.