FUSION Drive SMART Status failing but SMART Status on both HDD and SSD are fine.

I have an iMac 2017 (5K Retina, iMac18,3), and I cannot re-install MacOS 10.15.7, saying there are SMART errors on my internal boot drive. I checked the hardware in System Information and I'm a bit confused on the SMART Status reported by the System Report:


======================

NVM Express:
Apple SSD Controller
  APPLE SSD SM0128L
  Capacity:	121.33 GB (121,332,826,112 bytes)
  TRIM Support:	Yes
  Model:	APPLE SSD SM0128L
  Revision:	CXS7CA0Q
  Serial Number:	****
  Link Width:	x4
  Link Speed:	8.0 GT/s
  Detachable Drive:	No
  BSD Name:	disk0
  Partition Map Type:	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
  Removable Media:	No
  S.M.A.R.T. status:	Verified
  Volumes:
EFI:
  Capacity:	314.6 MB (314,572,800 bytes)
  File System:	MS-DOS FAT32
  BSD Name:	disk0s1
  Content:	EFI
  Volume UUID:	E783267B-A4C3-3556-B751-DBED770EB996
disk0s2:
  Capacity:	121.02 GB (121,018,208,256 bytes)
  BSD Name:	disk0s2
  Content:	Apple_APFS

======================
SATA/SATA Express:
Intel 10 Series Chipset:
  Vendor:	Intel
  Product:	10 Series Chipset
  Link Speed:	6 Gigabit
  Negotiated Link Speed:	6 Gigabit
  Physical Interconnect:	SATA
  Description:	AHCI Version 1.31 Supported

APPLE HDD ST2000DM001:
  Capacity:	2 TB (2,000,398,934,016 bytes)
  Model:	APPLE HDD ST2000DM001                   
  Revision:	AQ03    
  Serial Number:	*****
  Native Command Queuing:	Yes
  Queue Depth:	32
  Removable Media:	No
  Detachable Drive:	No
  BSD Name:	disk1
  Rotational Rate:	7200
  Medium Type:	Rotational
  Partition Map Type:	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
  S.M.A.R.T. status:	Verified
  Volumes:
EFI:
  Capacity:	209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
  File System:	MS-DOS FAT32
  BSD Name:	disk1s1
  Content:	EFI
  Volume UUID:	0E239BC6-F960-3107-89CF-1C97F78BB46B
disk1s2:
  Capacity:	2 TB (2,000,189,177,856 bytes)
  BSD Name:	disk1s2
  Content:	Apple_APFS

======================
Storage:
Macintosh HD:
  Free:	914.85 GB (914,851,737,600 bytes)
  Capacity:	2.12 TB (2,121,207,386,112 bytes)
  Mount Point:	/
  File System:	APFS
  Writable:	No
  Ignore Ownership:	No
  BSD Name:	disk2s5
  Volume UUID:	35F549A5-3D2F-4EA8-B1D4-2048CDE44439
  Physical Drive:
  Device Name:	APPLE SSD SM0128L
  Media Name:	AppleAPFSMedia
  Medium Type:	SSD
  Protocol:	PCI-Express
  Internal:	Yes
  Partition Map Type:	Unknown
  S.M.A.R.T. Status:	Failing

Macintosh HD - Data:
  Free:	914.85 GB (914,851,737,600 bytes)
  Capacity:	2.12 TB (2,121,207,386,112 bytes)
  Mount Point:	/System/Volumes/Data
  File System:	APFS
  Writable:	Yes
  Ignore Ownership:	No
  BSD Name:	disk2s1
  Volume UUID:	81422665-2D80-3115-A417-179E36CBA97D
  Physical Drive:
  Device Name:	APPLE SSD SM0128L
  Media Name:	AppleAPFSMedia
  Medium Type:	SSD
  Protocol:	PCI-Express
  Internal:	Yes
  Partition Map Type:	Unknown
  S.M.A.R.T. Status:	Failing

============

APPLE SSD SM0128L on NVM Express: this is the SSD portion of the Fusion Drive

APPLE HDD ST2000DM001 on SATA/SATA Express: this is the HDD portion of the Fusion Drive

Individually, both items above are reporting SMART status OK.


This is now the confusing part:

Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - Data on Storage:

It's telling me that the physical drive (APPLE SSD SM0128L) has SMART status failing.


Note: When I run the First Aid, Macintosh HD returns no error, but Macintosh HD - Data has the following errors:

error: (oid 0x40000002dc3af) om: btn: invalid o_cksum (0x6c6d783f3cbfbbef)



So which one should is failing so it can be replaced: the HDD (ST2000DM001) or the SSD (SM0128L), or both?


Thanks in advance!

Posted on Dec 27, 2025 1:19 AM

Reply
2 replies

Dec 27, 2025 7:14 AM in response to waltzco

Start by making sure you have a backup of any data that is important to you. As you work through this problem there's a good chance that you may need to erase the drive(s).


Then download a copy of Drive Dx from Binary Fruit and run the diagnostics on your drives. That utility is excellent at drilling down into the particulars of your drives and can provide a clearer picture of just what is going on there.

FUSION Drive SMART Status failing but SMART Status on both HDD and SSD are fine.

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