It sounds like you’re encountering the classic smartctl error when trying to access a physical disk behind a Dell PERC (MegaRAID) controller. The message you're referencing is essentially telling you to use the correct device syntax: -d megaraid,N.
Before you can run the command, you need the "Device ID" or "Physical Disk Number" for each drive. You can find this using the following tools: It sounds like you’re encountering the classic smartctl
The standard smartctl command expects direct ATA/SCSI passthrough. A RAID controller intercepts these commands. Without special instructions, the controller cannot know which physical disk behind the virtual drive you want to query. You can find this using the following tools:
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If you have more than one RAID controller (e.g., /dev/sda and /dev/sdb from different PERC cards), specify the correct device: please try adding '-d megaraid
Alternatively, use the Dell/LSI tool StorCLI with the command sudo storcli /c0 /eall /sall show and look for the DID (Device ID) column. Execute the Correct Command:
For SAS/SCSI drives:sudo smartctl -a -d megaraid,12 /dev/sda
The error message "smartctl open device: /dev/sda failed: DELL or MegaRAID controller, please try adding '-d megaraid,N'" occurs because smartctl is trying to talk directly to a virtual RAID volume (e.g., /dev/sda) instead of the physical hard drives hidden behind the controller.