Confusing output by smartctl

Question

I saw SmartMonTools: How can I know if there is any smartctl test running on my hard disk? and ran -

$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdb | grep "progress" -i -A 1
# 3  Extended captive    Self-test routine in progress 90%       216         -
# 4  Offline             Interrupted (host reset)      60%       215         -
# 5  Short captive       Self-test routine in progress 60%       215         -
# 6  Offline             Interrupted (host reset)      60%       215         -
# 7  Short captive       Self-test routine in progress 60%       215         -
# 8  Short offline       Completed without error       00%       215         

I was running a long extended test.

Now It is very tricky to find out what the state is because the 1st one I interrupted as well but it still it shows the above -

and running it as -

$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdb | tail
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Aborted_by_host [90% left] (0-65535)
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

So does it mean that no tests are running atm or what ?

Another query is how do I make sure that no test is running at all, before running a test.

There is supposed to be -

$ sudo smartctl -X /dev/sdb

Need some way to confirm the same that no test is running in the background.

Answer 1

All your self-test log data structure entries are either "Not testing" or "Aborted", so there is no self-test running (or rather, there was no self-test running when you ran smartctl). That is how you verify that no test is running. In your output, the information for span 1 matches log entry #3, both indicate there was 90% of the test left to run when it was aborted. Log entries #1 and #2 might have more information...

As you point out, smartctl -X can be used to abort non-captive (background) self-tests.

In practice I find the easiest way of dealing with all this is simply to use smartd and have it run background tests regularly; then there's no need to worry about stopping tests or find out whether any background tests are running. Obviously if you're looking for captive test results quickly on a new drive, that doesn't apply!

Answer 2

For offline testing still running you might have in the -a output

Offline data collection status:  (0x03)   Offline data collection activity
                                          is in progress.

and

Total time to complete Offline 
data collection:               (   35) seconds.