I kinda screwed up my earlier reporting, but, happily, not beyond redemption. Thanks for nudging me in the right direction.

First, the app joemike inquired about is SAT SMART Driver, and these are the DriveDx and Micromat pages on the subject; the DDx page includes a d/l link.

The first time I installed it I couldn't find anything to do in System Prefs, it didn't work, and I somehow got a "You're out of luck!" pop-up.

After reading your post, though, I installed it again, and again couldn't find anything to do in System Prefs, but this time it occurred to me to unmount/mount my external (DOH!), and VOILA!

Second, both of us have confused the issue a bit by posting only the complete reports that joemike and I find so cumbersome, so here are the actual GUI aspects of DDx's reports on my internal and external SSDs. (The small shots are expanded views of the collapsed General Information sections of the large shots above them.)

It now appears to me that DDx and DS are almost identical apps, although with obviously necessarily differing GUI aspects, and unless joemike sees any real down side to its functionality I'm going to buy it for $20 rather than SD for $30, not only to save myself $10, but to stick it to Micromat for what may easily be considered extreme overcharging, i.e. $50 if you haven't got a Micromat serial #.

And finally, in a different vein, it's interesting to note the difference between the DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS and IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS reported by DDx for my internal (Apple (Samsung-based) g-series SSD) and external (SanDisk Marvell-based SSD) drives:

Internal:

=== DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID | NAME | TYPE | UPDATE | RAW VALUE | VALUE | THRESHOLD | WORST | LAST MODIFIED | STATUS
1 Raw Read Error Rate Life-span online 0x0 200 0 200 - 100% OK
5 Retired Block Count Pre-fail online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
9 Power On Hours Life-span online 28,181 94 0 94 8/19/19 10:17 PM 94.0% OK
12 Power Cycle Count Life-span online 952 99 0 99 - 99.0% OK
169 Total Bad Block Count Pre-fail online 0x3390A800780 242 10 242 - 100% OK
173 Wear Leveling Count Life-span online 0x800900049 196 100 196 - 96.0% OK
174 Host Reads MiB Life-span online 17,622,696 (16.8 TB) 99 0 99 8/19/19 10:17 PM 99.0% OK
175 Host Writes MiB Life-span online 13,845,735 (13.2 TB) 99 0 99 8/19/19 10:17 PM 99.0% OK
192 Unsafe Shutdown Count Life-span online 98 99 0 99 - 99.0% OK
194 Temperature (Celsius) Life-span online 35 65 30 19 - 50.0% OK
197 Current Pending Block Count Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
199 UDMA CRC Error Count Life-span online 0 200 0 200 - 100% OK

=== IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID NAME RAW VALUE STATUS
5 Retired Block Count 0 100% OK
173 Wear Leveling Count 0x800900049 96.0% OK
175 Host Writes MiB 13,845,735 (13.2 TB) 99.0% OK
192 Unsafe Shutdown Count 98 99.0% OK
197 Current Pending Block Count 0 100% OK
199 UDMA CRC Error Count 0 100% OK

External:

=== DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID | NAME | TYPE | UPDATE | RAW VALUE | VALUE | THRESHOLD | WORST | LAST MODIFIED | STATUS
5 Retired Block Count Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
9 Power On Hours Life-span online 5,071 253 0 100 - 100% OK
12 Power Cycle Count Life-span online 638 100 0 100 - 100% OK
166 Min Write/Erase Cycle Life-span online 1 100 0 100 - 100% OK
167 Min Bad Block/Die Life-span online 53 100 0 100 - 100% OK
168 Maximum Write/Erase Cycle Count Life-span online 53 100 0 100 - 100% OK
169 Total Bad Block Count Life-span online 0x3DF 100 0 100 - 100% OK
171 Program Fail Count Total Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
172 Erase Fail Count Total Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
173 Average Write/Erase Count Life-span online 10 100 0 100 - 100% OK
174 Unexpected Power Loss Count Life-span online 298 100 0 100 - 100% OK
184 End-to-End Error Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
187 Reported Uncorrectable Errors Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
188 Command Timeout Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
194 Temperature (Celsius) Life-span online 34 66 0 50 - 66.0% OK
199 SATA CRC Error Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
212 SATA Error Count Handshake Life-span online 0 100 0 100 - 100% OK
230 Percentage Total P/E Count Life-span online 33 100 0 100 - 100% OK
232 Available Reserved Space Pre-fail online 0x64 100 4 100 - 100% OK
233 Total NAND Writes Life-span online 5,725 (5.6 TB) 100 0 100 - 100% OK
241 Lifetime Writes Life-span offline 3,307 (3.2 TB) 253 0 253 - 100% OK
242 Lifetime Reads Life-span offline 3,515 (3.4 TB) 253 0 253 - 100% OK
244 Thermal Throttle Life-span online 0x0 0 0 100 - 100% OK

=== IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID NAME RAW VALUE STATUS
5 Retired Block Count 0 100% OK
168 Maximum Write/Erase Cycle Count 53 100% OK
230 Percentage Total P/E Count 33 100% OK
232 Available Reserved Space 0x64 100% OK
233 Total NAND Writes 5,725 (5.6 TB) 100% OK
241 Lifetime Writes 3,307 (3.2 TB) 100% OK

The differences between what the two manufacturers consider important may be telling to joemike, but it's meaningless to me.

Is more actually more, or is it less? crazy


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire