$ smartctl -a /dev/sdb
smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09 r3365 [i686-linux-3.2.0-31-generic-pae] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

Smartctl open device: /dev/sdb failed: Permission denied
luca@luca-desktop:/media/ext3c/mldonkey/incoming/files$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdb
smartctl 5.41 2011-06-09 r3365 [i686-linux-3.2.0-31-generic-pae] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-11 by Bruce Allen, http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Caviar SE
Device Model:     WDC WD1600JB-00GVA0
Serial Number:    WD-WCAL91665091
Firmware Version: 08.02D08
User Capacity:    160,041,885,696 bytes [160 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   6
ATA Standard is:  Exact ATA specification draft version not indicated
Local Time is:    Sun Oct  7 15:40:39 2012 CEST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Disabled

SMART Disabled. Use option -s with argument 'on' to enable it.