Recovery Mode: Retrieving Information
Sometimes it is useful to retrieve internal technical data about computer, operating system, or application version in recovery mode. This is possible by using the menus Show Computer Information and About TinkerTool System for Recovery Mode.
Hardware and OS Information
Hardware data about computer, processor, and memory equipment, as well as the currently running recovery operating system can be displayed as follows:
- In the main menu, click on Show Computer Information.
- Make sure the tab item Hardware Overview is selected.
This corresponds with a simplified version of the feature Info > Mac in TinkerTool System.
S.M.A.R.T. Status of Hard Drives
All modern hard drives use a diagnostics technique complying with an industry standard which is called S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology). This standard has been introduced in 1992 to react earlier on hard disk failures. A hard drive supporting the S.M.A.R.T. standard monitors itself with its own micro processor and allows the operating system to request readouts that indicate whether operational parameters have changed in such a way that the hard disk might become defective in the near future. In this case, the hard disk can be replaced before any data is lost. The diagnostic processor of the hard drive summarizes the internal readouts into a simple yes/no value, the so-called S.M.A.R.T. Status. It can have the following two values:
- Verified: Based on the observed data, the diagnostic processor in the drive assesses that the drive will survive the near future.
- Failing: The measured values indicate that the drive has exceeded its expected lifetime. It should be replaced as soon as possible to avoid loss of data.
Note that the S.M.A.R.T. Status does not indicate whether the drive is currently OK, or has a defect. It is not a test result in the strict sense. The S.M.A.R.T. Status is a recommendation only which assesses how the hard drive might behave in the near future. This assessment is based on the monitored technical data and the experience of the respective hard drive manufacturer.
Use the following steps to show the S.M.A.R.T. Status values of the attached hard drives:
- In the main menu, click on Show Computer Information.
- Make sure the tab item S.M.A.R.T. Status is selected.
Most external hard drives are connected via a bridge chip which “translates” all transferred data between the SATA standard and the standard of the connection being used (e.g. USB or FireWire). Due to technical limitations, these bridge chips are not capable of transferring S.M.A.R.T. data. For this reason, the S.M.A.R.T. Status of hard disks can only be retrieved from drives which are directly connected to the computer by a SATA bus or via NVMe. A Thunderbolt connection can link these components neutrally in between. It does not block the transfer of diagnostic data.
Version Information of TinkerTool System for Recovery Mode
The version number of the utility and legal notes can be shown by selecting the menu item ttsfrm > About TinkerTool System for Recovery Mode.