{
  "slug": "error-recovery-control",
  "term": "Error recovery control",
  "aliases": [
    "SCT Error Recovery Control",
    "SCT ERC",
    "ERC",
    "Time-Limited Error Recovery",
    "TLER",
    "CCTL (recovery control)"
  ],
  "definition": "Error recovery control configures read and write recovery time limits for applicable ATA commands.",
  "note": "SCT ERC controls drive-side recovery, not the host command timer. One SATA drive-family specification excludes streaming and out-of-order queued commands from its general recovery timer, so the applicable command class matters. The CCTL alias here refers to recovery control, not the separate command-completion limit used by ATA streaming commands. [c1] [c2]\n\nIn smartctl 7.5, -l scterc queries current values; -l scterc,p queries power-on-persistent values. Read/write arguments use deciseconds, and zero disables the feature. Adding those arguments changes settings. Persistent/reset extensions require device support for ACS-4 or later. [c2]\n\nAn ERC setting is not a measured latency bound for an application. Recovery, queueing and host error handling remain separate parts of the path. [c3]",
  "related": [
    "io-timeout",
    "command-duration-limit",
    "sata",
    "scsi",
    "raid"
  ],
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "c1",
      "title": "Western Digital: Ultrastar DC HC670 SATA manual, rev. 1.1 (2023), section 10.17.3.2 and Read Stream DMA Ext.",
      "url": "https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/product/data-center-drives/ultrastar-dc-hc600-series/product-manual-ultrastar-dc-hc670-26TB25TB-sata-spec.pdf",
      "accessed": "2026-10-16"
    },
    {
      "id": "c2",
      "title": "smartmontools 7.5: smartctl(8), SCT Error Recovery Control query, units and persistence.",
      "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/smartmontools/smartmontools/RELEASE_7_5/smartmontools/smartctl.8.in",
      "accessed": "2026-10-16"
    },
    {
      "id": "c3",
      "title": "Hesela: Storage timeouts and uncertain completion",
      "url": "https://hesela.com/analyses/storage-timeouts-uncertain-completion/",
      "accessed": "2026-10-16"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": [
    "The HC670 manual is a drive-family example, not a universal ATA recovery contract. [c1]",
    "Command syntax follows smartmontools 7.5; no disk settings were changed or latency measurements performed."
  ],
  "status": "shipping",
  "advantages": [],
  "limitations": [],
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "updated": "2026-10-16"
}