Confirming this issue:

Using Ubuntu 16.04, Kernel 4.4.0-57-generic wrong temperatures also make it into syslog:

Jan  2 20:22:27 server smartd[876]: Device: /dev/sda [SAT], SMART Usage Attribute: 194 Temperature_Celsius changed from 110 to 112
Jan  2 20:22:27 server smartd[876]: Device: /dev/sdb [SAT], SMART Usage Attribute: 194 Temperature_Celsius changed from 111 to 113

Not only is that wrong, it also tells admins that there was need to take action. Eventually, it makes it into some monitoring tool, which thereby abstracts the RAW_VALUE even further.

Note that in reality my drives have <40°C, just by reading SMART's RAW_VALUE (and touching the drive with my finger).

Also note that the device model is "In smartctl database", according to smartctl's output. That said, I'd expect smartctl to somehow "know" all variables of my drive, including their meaning.


smartctl 6.5 2016-01-24 r4214 [x86_64-linux-4.4.0-57-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital AV-GP (AF)
Device Model:     WDC WD30EURS-63SPKY0
[...]
Firmware Version: 80.00A80
User Capacity:    3.000.592.982.016 bytes [3,00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 3.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Mon Jan  2 23:27:25 2017 CET
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   200   200   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   177   176   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       6133
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       98
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   072   072   000    Old_age   Always       -       20909
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       98
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       55
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       42
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   112   101   000    Old_age   Always       -       38
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

smartctl -P show /dev/sda
smartctl 6.5 2016-01-24 r4214 [x86_64-linux-4.4.0-57-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Drive found in smartmontools Database.  Drive identity strings:
MODEL:              WDC WD30EURS-63SPKY0
FIRMWARE:           80.00A80
match smartmontools Drive Database entry:
MODEL REGEXP:       WDC WD(5000AUDX|7500AURS|10EUCX|(10|15|20|25|30)EUR[SX])-.*
FIRMWARE REGEXP:    .*
MODEL FAMILY:       Western Digital AV-GP (AF)
ATTRIBUTE OPTIONS:  None preset; no -v options are required.