Can someone explain the difference between the Long Drive Test vs Long Generic Test in SeaTools?
Seagate’s manual only caused more confusion. It lists all of the tests in a table:
Short Self Test | Tests all aspects of the drive. Does not test the flash media. Completes in 60 seconds or less. |
---|---|
Short Generic Test | Performs random read tests on random blocks of the media. |
Long Drive Self Test | Tests all aspects of the drive. Performs limited testing of the drive media blocks. Completes in several minutes depending on drive. |
Long Generic Test | Performs read and write test on all blocks of the flash media. |
2-minute Generic Test | Performs read and write tests on random blocks of the media. Completes in two minutes. |
Fix All Short | Back up your data. Fix All reads data blocks; repairs and replaces bad blocks. Recovery results can vary. Fix All short is a fast test, completing in minutes. |
Fix All Long | Back up your data. Defrags the full disk. Reads and writes all data blocks; finds and replaces bad blocks. Recovery results can vary. This test can take as long at 1 hour per TB, and cannot be interrupted. |
Why does the language keep switching between “media” and “flash media”? Are some of these tests only for SSDs? Trying to test 10TB IronWolf Pro.
Later, in the Extended Tests section, it covers Long Self Test:
The Long Self Test tests all aspects of the drive. Performs limited testing of the drive media blocks. Completes in several minutes depending on the drive.
…but doesn’t say a word about Long Generic Test.
I started the Long Drive Self Test (“completes in several minutes”) and the progress bar hasn’t moved from 10% in almost an hour.
Are any of these tests the same thing as what people are calling “extended SMART tests” on this forum?