SMARTie

This is a pure-python, 0-dependency library for getting basic disk information such as model, serial number, disk health, temperature, and SMART data. It supports both SCSI/ATA and NVMe devices.

It provides a high-level abstraction to enumerate devices and retrieve basic details, a low-level interface for sending raw SCSI/ATA commands, and a command-line tool for quickly getting information about your disks.

Usage

API Usage

High-level usage is simple:

from smartie.device import get_all_devices

for device in get_all_devices():
    # open the device first
    with device as d:
        print(d.path)
        print(d.model)
        print(d.serial)
        print(d.temperature)

        for attribute in d.smart_table.values():
            print(attribute.name, attribute.current_value)

Drop down a level if you want and send raw SCSI commands, such as an INQUIRY:

import ctypes

from smartie.scsi import structures
from smartie.device import get_device

with get_device('\\.\PhysicalDrive0') as device:
    # The structure that will be populated with the response.
    inquiry = structures.InquiryResponse()
  
    sense = device.issue_command(
        structures.Direction.FROM,
        structures.InquiryCommand(
            operation_code=structures.OperationCode.INQUIRY,
            allocation_length=ctypes.sizeof(inquiry)
        ),
        inquiry
    )
  
    print(inquiry.product_identification)

Or send an NVME IDENTIFY command:

import ctypes

from smartie.nvme import structures
from smartie.device import get_device

with get_device('/dev/nvme0') as device:
    # The structure that will be populated with the response.
    data = structures.NVMEIdentifyResponse()
    device.issue_admin_command(
        structures.NVMEAdminCommand(
            opcode=structures.NVMEAdminCommands.IDENTIFY,
            addr=ctypes.addressof(data),
            data_len=ctypes.sizeof(data),
            cdw10=1
        )
    )
    print(data.model_number)

Command Line Usage

Want to get JSON output to use with other programs? Use the command-line tools under smartie api, such as list to enumerate devices:

> sudo smartie api list
[
    {
        "model": "WD_BLACK SN770 2TB",
        "path": "/dev/nvme0n1",
        "serial": "<redacted>",
        "temperature": 52
    },
    {
        "model": "Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB",
        "path": "/dev/sdb",
        "serial": "<redacted>",
        "temperature": 27
    },
    {
        "model": "Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB",
        "path": "/dev/sdc",
        "serial": "<redacted>",
        "temperature": 28
    },
    {
        "model": "WD_BLACK SN770 2TB",
        "path": "/dev/nvme1n1",
        "serial": "<redacted>",
        "temperature": 46
    },
    {
        "model": "Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB",
        "path": "/dev/sda",
        "serial": "<redacted>",
        "temperature": 26
    }
]

Are you a human and just want to see your disk details? Take a look at smartie enumerate and smartie details:

How about a developer trying to build a tool? You can use smartie dump to get access to raw responses from the disk as a table or binary:

Support

OS	SCSI/ATA Supported	NVME Supported	Notes
Linux	Yes	Yes	SG_IO v3 (Linux 2.6+)
Windows	Yes	In-progress
OS X	In-progress*	N/A	*IDENTITY and SMART-related commands only.

OS X explicitly denies access to SCSI/ATA pass-through, except for IDENTITY and some SMART-related commands, so this is all we can support. Work for OS X is currently in-progress.

Installation

SMARTie currently requires Python 3.8 or greater.

pip install smartie

If you want the command line tools, you'll also want to do:

pip install smartie[cli]

FAQ

This library isn't returning any of my drives?

The APIs this library uses to communicate with devices typically require root (on Linux) or administrator (on Windows) access to work.

My drive doesn't work with this library?

Support for drives that don't follow modern standards is still a work in progress. Open an issue.

Library Y does X, can I copy that code?

It depends. This library is available under the MIT license and is a fun side project. I want anyone to be able to use it. Many existing projects are GPL or LGPL, so you need to avoid them when contributing to this project. Instead:

• Use the specifications or vendor documentation whenever possible.
• Use the SG_IO documentation by Danny (https://sg.danny.cz/sg/).
• Use the conversations in mailing lists and bug trackers, while avoiding the code.

Does this library support RAID controllers?

Untested. It hasn't been thoroughly tested with RAID controllers, as the target audience for the main program that uses this library is consumer desktops. Patches happily accepted if you have one to test with!

ATA, ATAPI, SCSI, NVMe, what?

Acronyms, acronyms everywhere! What does any of this mean?

• ATA: Advanced Technology Attachment.
• ATAPI: AT Attachment Packet Interface.
• SCSI: Small Computer System Interface.
• NVMe: Non-Volatile Memory Express. The standard for connecting "modern" solid-state drives to a computer, typically through PCI-e.
• SATA: Serial ATA.
• PATA: Parallel ATA.
• S.M.A.R.T: Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. A standard for hard drives and solid-state drives to report their health and status.