How to Use GNOME Disks to Check SSD Drive Health

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are now a standard part of most computing devices due to their speed and durability. However, like any piece of technology, SSDs can wear out over time, especially depending on how often they’re used and how much data is written to them. It’s important to keep an eye on their health to avoid unexpected failures and data loss. Fortunately, if you’re using a Linux system with the GNOME desktop environment, GNOME Disks offers an easy way to check your SSD’s health and keep it in top shape.

In this quick guide, we’ll walk you through how to use GNOME Disks to check the health of your SSD.

Why Check SSD Health?

SSDs wear out over time due to the limited number of write cycles each memory cell can endure. Keeping track of SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) data helps you spot early signs of wear and tear, such as increasing numbers of bad sectors, temperature issues, or worn-out flash cells. Regular monitoring can help you catch potential issues before they lead to failure, allowing you to back up your data.

Steps to Check SSD Health Using GNOME Disks

1. Open GNOME Disks
   • Press Super (Windows key) and search for Disks, or launch it from the applications menu.
2. Select Your SSD
   • In the GNOME Disks interface, you’ll see a list of storage devices on the left. Select the SSD you want to check from the list.
3. View SMART Data
   • Once you’ve selected your SSD, click on the hamburger menu (three vertical dots) in the top-right corner of the window.
   • From the dropdown, select SMART Data & Self-Tests.
4. Review the SMART Data
   • A new window will appear with a variety of information about the health of your SSD. The most important sections to focus on are:
     • Health Status: The overall condition of the SSD. If it says “PASSED”, the SSD is in good health. If there are problems, it will show an error or warning.
     • Wear Leveling Count: This indicates the current state of wear on the SSD’s cells. Higher values are better, and the number usually starts high and slowly decreases as the drive is used.
     • Normalized Values: These are scores out of 100 that provide a snapshot of the drive’s health. A score above 90 is generally good, and a score of 100 is ideal.
5. Run Self-Tests (Optional)
   • GNOME Disks also allows you to run a short or long self-test on the SSD. This can give you a deeper look into its health.
     • To run a test, simply click Start Self-Test, choose the type of test, and let it complete.

Glossary of Important Terms

• SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology): A system built into hard drives and SSDs to monitor and report on the drive’s health, including temperature, read/write errors, and wear.
• Health Status: This shows the overall health of the drive. “PASSED” indicates no immediate issues, while warnings or failures mean the drive may have serious problems.
• Wear Leveling Count: A measure of how much the SSD’s memory cells have been used. Lower values suggest higher wear and more data has been written to the drive. The higher the count, the better.
• Normalized Value: A value between 0 and 100 that indicates the drive’s overall health, with 100 being optimal. Anything below 90 may indicate emerging issues.
• Self-Test: A diagnostic test that checks for issues like physical damage or errors that might not be visible through SMART attributes alone.

Conclusion

Regularly checking the health of your SSD is crucial to ensuring it performs well and your data remains safe. With GNOME Disks, it’s easy to check your SSD’s health in just a few clicks. By understanding the key SMART data metrics, you can spot issues early and take action before it’s too late.

Remember, backups are essential—always make sure your important data is backed up regularly to avoid data loss due to unexpected drive failure. If you’re running virtual machines, consider backing up your VM data as well, as these often contain critical configurations and files that you don’t want to lose.