[arch-general] Hard disc clicks

[Isaac Dupree]

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