[arch-general] Hard disc clicks
Recently I got preoccupied with the hard disc clicking sounds I have been hearing since I installed Arch Linux on my Asus 1201N. Anyway, I remembered that there was an issue that could dramatically reduce the life of the hard disc, then I looked up on Google and found this article [1]. I ran smartctl -A and noticed that each time I heard a click, one was added to Load_Cycle_Count. Then I ran hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda, but the Arch Wiki [2] says that it is best to set a smaller value, like 128, if you move your laptop a lot. The thing is, 128 keeps the hard disc spinning down a lot. In fact, 254 is quite noiseless, but as from 253 the clicking sound returns. I read this bug page [3] but found nothing new. It is worth remembering that, sometimes, when I'm watching a movie or TV show with mplayer, it stops for less than I second, then I hear the disc spinning faster and the video continues. So, how did you guys set the power manager with hdparm in your laptops? Does anybody else have this problem? Since I move my netbook often, should I set it to 128 even if it spins down more than four times a minute? Than you all. [1] http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_hard_drive_clicking [2] http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop#Hard_drive_spin_down_problem [3] https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/pm-utils/+bug/361680 -- Rafael Beraldo http://cabaladada.org
On 09/01/10 00:25, Rafael Beraldo wrote:
The thing is, 128 keeps the hard disc spinning down a lot. In fact, 254 is quite noiseless, but as from 253 the clicking sound returns. I read this bug page [3] but found nothing new. It is worth remembering that, sometimes, when I'm watching a movie or TV show with mplayer, it stops for less than I second, then I hear the disc spinning faster and the video continues.
Some hard drives, such as yours, unfortunately don't have an intermediate setting. The hdparm -B values aren't in practice standardized.
So, how did you guys set the power manager with hdparm in your laptops? Does anybody else have this problem? Since I move my netbook often, should I set it to 128 even if it spins down more than four times a minute?
Depends whether you want your netbook to break (A) when you drop it or (B) after e.g. three years (or however long, depending on the frequency, more clicks = less lifetime). Some disks have sudden acceleration sensors that will also try to park the disk head when the disk feels itself being thrown across the room, making break-when-you-drop-it somewhat less likely. Since you have audible clicks, this might also weigh in favor of avoiding the clicks, if the noise bothers you or others... -Isaac
On 09/01/2010 10:22 PM, Isaac Dupree wrote:
On 09/01/10 00:25, Rafael Beraldo wrote:
The thing is, 128 keeps the hard disc spinning down a lot. In fact, 254 is quite noiseless, but as from 253 the clicking sound returns. I read this bug page [3] but found nothing new. It is worth remembering that, sometimes, when I'm watching a movie or TV show with mplayer, it stops for less than I second, then I hear the disc spinning faster and the video continues.
Some hard drives, such as yours, unfortunately don't have an intermediate setting. The hdparm -B values aren't in practice standardized.
So, how did you guys set the power manager with hdparm in your laptops? Does anybody else have this problem? Since I move my netbook often, should I set it to 128 even if it spins down more than four times a minute?
Depends whether you want your netbook to break (A) when you drop it or (B) after e.g. three years (or however long, depending on the frequency, more clicks = less lifetime). Some disks have sudden acceleration sensors that will also try to park the disk head when the disk feels itself being thrown across the room, making break-when-you-drop-it somewhat less likely. Since you have audible clicks, this might also weigh in favor of avoiding the clicks, if the noise bothers you or others...
-Isaac
In my experience, hard disc clicks are never good. I've run drives where the read/write head would click on occasion and continue to work, but you always know in the back of your mind that there is a issue with the drive controller sending the read/write head on excursions across the disc to either figure out where it is or to try and cage itself. Neither should occur normally (OK some drives do cage the r/w head normally on spindown) I have run drives like that for 1 year+ before the clicking finally becomes the deathnail of the drive. Backup early and often... -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com
El 02/09/2010 01:58 a.m., David C. Rankin escribió:
On 09/01/2010 10:22 PM, Isaac Dupree wrote:
On 09/01/10 00:25, Rafael Beraldo wrote:
The thing is, 128 keeps the hard disc spinning down a lot. In fact, 254 is quite noiseless, but as from 253 the clicking sound returns. I read this bug page [3] but found nothing new. It is worth remembering that, sometimes, when I'm watching a movie or TV show with mplayer, it stops for less than I second, then I hear the disc spinning faster and the video continues.
Some hard drives, such as yours, unfortunately don't have an intermediate setting. The hdparm -B values aren't in practice standardized.
So, how did you guys set the power manager with hdparm in your laptops? Does anybody else have this problem? Since I move my netbook often, should I set it to 128 even if it spins down more than four times a minute?
Depends whether you want your netbook to break (A) when you drop it or (B) after e.g. three years (or however long, depending on the frequency, more clicks = less lifetime). Some disks have sudden acceleration sensors that will also try to park the disk head when the disk feels itself being thrown across the room, making break-when-you-drop-it somewhat less likely. Since you have audible clicks, this might also weigh in favor of avoiding the clicks, if the noise bothers you or others...
-Isaac
In my experience, hard disc clicks are never good. I've run drives where the read/write head would click on occasion and continue to work, but you always know in the back of your mind that there is a issue with the drive controller sending the read/write head on excursions across the disc to either figure out where it is or to try and cage itself. Neither should occur normally (OK some drives do cage the r/w head normally on spindown) I have run drives like that for 1 year+ before the clicking finally becomes the deathnail of the drive.
Backup early and often...
I have the same netbook and the same problem. I resolved by changing a few lines in the file /etc/hdparm.conf. Adding at the end the lines: # apm setting when on battery apm_battery = 254 # -S standby (spindown) timeout for the drive spindown_time = 0 But, I don't now if this solution is the better. PD: Sorry, my english is not very good :b.
On 2 September 2010 10:46, Nicolas Bevilacqua
I have the same netbook and the same problem. I resolved by changing a few lines in the file /etc/hdparm.conf.
Adding at the end the lines:
# apm setting when on battery apm_battery = 254 # -S standby (spindown) timeout for the drive spindown_time = 0
But, I don't now if this solution is the better.
PD: Sorry, my english is not very good :b.
Nicolas, I added hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda to /etc/rc.local, but I don't know if it is a good solution either. Anyway, as Isaac Dupree said, unfortunatelly there is no intermediate setting, then it is best not to have anoying and (I think) dangerous clicks. -- Rafael Beraldo http://cabaladada.org
On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 15:54, Rafael Beraldo
I added hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda to /etc/rc.local, but I don't know if it is a good solution either. Anyway, as Isaac Dupree said, unfortunatelly there is no intermediate setting, then it is best not to have anoying and (I think) dangerous clicks.
It is dangerous. I got a new HDD killed in 3 weeks, the clicks happened more and more often and after a while, the driver started to produce read errors. I thought that the drive was faulty and got it replaced in warranty. After the replacement drive also produced the clicks I found out about the whole hdparm thing, set the value to 254 and the drive is working fine for almost 3 years now. -- ijanos
participants (5)
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David C. Rankin
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Isaac Dupree
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János Illés
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Nicolas Bevilacqua
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Rafael Beraldo