Apple Hardware Test error on hard drive

The hard drive is both worn out and actually beginning to fail. The "Load Cycle" count is nearing the maximum expected by the manufacturer and when this happens a drive can become slow and act oddly (worn out). Plus the drive is showing three bad sectors that are waiting to be relocated so when the data in those three sectors are accessed, it will slow down the performance of the computer (failing). Once sectors start going bad on a hard drive, it usually means a lot more sectors will also soon go bad making the drive even slower and less reliable.

This drive has also suffered severe impacts since the "G-Sense Error Rate" is beyond manufacturer expectations.

This drive should not be used.

There is a 'trial-use' drive health diagnostic utility, DriveDX:

• How to use DriveDx - Apple Community (user tip)

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250004005

• DriveDx - most advanced drive health diagnostic monitoring utility | binaryfruit

https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx

You may use this utility free a few times, for more info(?)

(In addition to free EtreCheck, MalwareBytes/mac, etc.)

Good luck & happy computing! ☺︎

If you have Find Any File (T. Tempelmann) utility to use and find each part of such items

within Mac drive. It may help decide how to deal with what it finds. I've some alternative

search utilities including Easy Find from DEVONtechnologies. [EasyFind free/link]

Issues with artifacts discovered in EtreCheck info or MalwareBytes/Mac (DL/link)

can be further addressed at another level with these search devices. ~ Sometimes

the latter named products (with their free version) can remove problematic bits.

Perhaps another bit of DriveDX, hiding in plain sight; might need removal?

Anyway DriveDX very well may also conclude your drive likely is going out.

DriveDX is a great enough program to ration carefully; each trial run-time.

And I used EtreCheck too, when came time to figure what else was up.

[Then still have several free trial-runs left!]

Were you able to totally remove all bits of DriveDX; then re-start in Safe

mode; and start up normally after about 20 min. idle; w/o shift key held?

That would be the time to see if you could re-install DriveDX. After use

of Find Any File ~ to hunt down any related bits n' pieces of DriveDX.

Sometimes the error messages relate to an issue with format. A need

to fully erase the volume and start over anew. Maybe even reformat

as a formality; as you then replace questionable drive, with new one.

Should the need persist to use certain utilities past a 'gratis run-time'

perhaps invest in the maker's effort and purchase a license to use it.

Anyway, I've plenty offline to try & resolve, to include plumbing, auto-

mechanics; and other nearby things. As I went to get parts!

If you have the DriveDx app, then open the Terminal app and begin typing "sudo " followed by dragging and dropping the DriveDx app onto the open Terminal window to auto fill the path to the DriveDx app (make sure to leave at least one space after the "o"). Then press the "Backspace" key to remove the trailing space at the end of the path to the DriveDx app. Type "/Contents/Resourses/smartctl -a -s on /dev/disk0 > ~/Desktop/ssd_health_report.txt" so that the line looks something like this:

sudo  /Users/hwtech/Downloads/DriveDx.app/Contents/Resources/smartctl  -a  -s  on  /dev/disk0  >>  ~/Desktop/ssd_health_report.txt

Press the "Return" key at the end of the line to execute the command. You will be prompted for your admin password. You will not see anything on the screen as you type the password. Press the "Return" key to submit the password. This command will create a new file on the Desktop named "ssd_health_report.txt" if one does not already exist, otherwise it will append the health report to the existing file (I'm doing this so if you just happen to have a file with this name that it won't completely destroy the file -- at least in theory). I'm also assuming that there is only one drive and it is identified as "disk0". You can use Disk Utility or System Profiler to confirm the drive identifier of the physical drive.

Copy and paste the contents of the health report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper.

It is also possible to run the SSD's internal self diagnostic, by running the following command (again assuming the SSD's drive identifier is "disk0"):

sudo  /Users/hwtech/Downloads/DriveDx.app/Contents/Resources/smartctl  -t  long   /dev/disk0

The output of the command will provide an estimate of how long it will take the diagnostic to run assuming the SSD is not being heavily used, otherwise it will take much longer for the self diagnostic to run. You can use the following command to retrieve the results of the self diagnostic. If you need to run the command again because the diagnostic is not finished, then you can use the up arrow to show the previous line so you don't have to type it again assuming it was typed correctly (you can use the left & right arrows to navigate the line to correct any typographical errors). Press the "Return" key again to execute the command.

sudo  /Users/hwtech/Downloads/DriveDx.app/Contents/Resources/smartctl  -l selftest   /dev/disk0

You can perform the steps I outlined even though the DriveDx trial has expired since DriveDx is just a GUI wrapper around the open source utility "smartctl" which does not have an expiration. I have personally used those commands after a DriveDx trial has expired so I know they will work.

FYI, DriveDx does not require "installation" as it is a self contained GUI app and can even be run from the Downloads folder (except when the Trial period has expired of course). The command line access to the core open source utility does not have the same trial period restriction as the GUI portion of the app.

Sometimes the Apple Diagnostics can produce a false failure when a third party drive is installed. Plus not all SMART failures are created equal. Some SSD SMART failures may not be fatal, but this requires manually reading and interpreting the health information (aka "attributes") and it does take a little practice and understanding.

Which drive are you using? Test the drive you are actually using.