Hello,

I get the following in one of my error logs:

Device /dev/sda, SATA disks accessed
via libata are not currently supported by smartmontools. When libata is
given an ATA
pass-thru ioctl() then an additional '-d libata' device type will be
added to smartmontools.
---------------

I found on the Internet that to get rid of the error message I would have to edit smartd.conf as follows:

/dev/sda -d ata
/dev/sdb -d ata
-------------
My manager wants to know:

1) Is there any harm leaving things as they are by not making the modifications to the smard.conf file above.
2) If the modifications must be made, what are the consequences, good and bad, of doing so?

The problem right now is that smartmon, pure and simple, isn't working -- it's not getting the data. It won't be able to give you any advance warning should your SATA drives decide to slowly go south on you.

From the sounds of the error, -d won't work for you because your version specifically states it doesn't support -d yet, and neither do your device drivers. A kernel upgrade, then an upgrade to smartmon, is needed to get smartmon back in order as I see it.