smartctl open device: /dev/sda failed: DELL or MegaRAID controller, please try adding -d megaraid,N
), while the physical disks are hidden behind the controller. To access a physical drive's SMART data, you must tell which specific physical disk index ( ) to query. Thomas-Krenn.AG How to Resolve the Error To successfully query your drives, follow these steps: Identify the Physical Disk Index ( You need the (DID) of the physical disk. Use one of the following tools: smartctl open device: /dev/sda failed: DELL or MegaRAID
If your controller presents multiple logical drives ( /dev/sda , /dev/sdb , /dev/sdc ), then /dev/sda may contain physical disks with IDs 0,1,2 and /dev/sdb may contain physical disks with IDs 3,4,5. The N value is , not per logical drive. So you can usually access all physical disks through any logical device, but safest is to use the logical drive that belongs to the same RAID group. When in doubt, try all N on /dev/sda . Use one of the following tools: If your
❌ Standard Request: [ smartctl ] ----> [ /dev/sda (Logical Volume) ] ----> [ RAID Controller ] --X--> [ Physical Drives ] Correct Path: [ smartctl -d megaraid,0 ] ----> [ Pass-through Command ] ----> [ Controller Enclosure ] ----> [ Physical Drive 0 ] When in doubt, try all N on /dev/sda
Run the native device discovery scan command provided by Smartmontools: sudo smartctl --scan Use code with caution.
The error message suggests that the disk drive is behind a RAID controller, which is a hardware component that manages multiple disk drives as a single logical unit. In this case, the controller is a Dell or MegaRAID device. The smartctl utility needs to communicate with the disk drive through this controller, but it doesn't know how to do so by default.