[smartmontools-support] Conflicting messages from smartctl - please help

[Phil Hughes]

Hello from the UK.

I'm new to smartctl, but have been using computers very successfully for
over 40 years.

I checked the status of my Toshiba Linux system hdd (with -i) and is
reports SMART is available and enabled.

However, when I try a short self-test it reports "Self-test functions
not supported".

Why?

The other identical hdd on the system is happy to allow testing.

Does this indicate a firmware difference between the two hard drives?

Is it possible to get /dev/sdb to allow testing?

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards, Philip Hughes