Problem with hard drive clicking - Revision history

Hmh: /* Possible solutions (Linux) */ mention idle3-utils, thanks to greenfreedom10 for the hint

2012-04-14T03:39:31Z

‎Possible solutions (Linux): mention idle3-utils, thanks to greenfreedom10 for the hint

Hmh: /* Possible cause and speculation */ mention WD idle3

2012-04-14T03:36:08Z

‎Possible cause and speculation: mention WD idle3

Hmh: Remove SPAM (if you want to advertise on thinkwiki, contact Akw and help with the server costs!)

2012-04-14T02:15:43Z

Remove SPAM (if you want to advertise on thinkwiki, contact Akw and help with the server costs!)

Rezonatix3: /* Start-up settings */

2012-03-05T15:28:45Z

‎Start-up settings

Rezonatix3: /* Start-up settings */

2012-03-05T15:28:34Z

‎Start-up settings

Rezonatix3: /* Start-up settings */

2012-03-05T15:28:01Z

‎Start-up settings

Rezonatix3: /* Start-up settings */

2012-03-05T15:26:59Z

‎Start-up settings

Rezonatix3 at 10:57, 21 October 2011

2011-10-21T10:57:56Z

Rezonatix3 at 17:26, 20 October 2011

2011-10-20T17:26:42Z

Rezonatix3: /* Tracking down the cause of the clicks */

2011-10-20T16:33:21Z

‎Tracking down the cause of the clicks

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:39, 14 April 2012
Line 143:		Line 143:

	Edit <tt>/etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf</tt>, set <tt>CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT=1</tt> and ensure that <tt>hdparm</tt> sets <tt>-B 255</tt>.		Edit <tt>/etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf</tt>, set <tt>CONTROL_HD_POWERMGMT=1</tt> and ensure that <tt>hdparm</tt> sets <tt>-B 255</tt>.
		+
		+	==== Disable WD Intellipark ====
		+
		+	On WD Green drives where Intellipark might be causing the problem, you can try to use the [http://idle3-tools.sourceforge.net/ idle3-tools] utility to disable Intellipark.

	=== Possible solution (Windows) ===		=== Possible solution (Windows) ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:36, 14 April 2012
Line 18:		Line 18:

	Do not confuse this with regular activity. Many daemons poll (config) files every few seconds. Despite files being cached, POSIX compliant filesystems like ext2 or ext3 must update (= write) the last access time. More details and a workaround in [[How to reduce power consumption#Hard_Drives]].		Do not confuse this with regular activity. Many daemons poll (config) files every few seconds. Despite files being cached, POSIX compliant filesystems like ext2 or ext3 must update (= write) the last access time. More details and a workaround in [[How to reduce power consumption#Hard_Drives]].
		+
		+	Some vendors have extra power-saving timers that might be causing issues, such as the '''idle3''' timer of some WD Green drives that controls the WD Intellipark feature.

	=== Tracking down the cause of the clicks ===		=== Tracking down the cause of the clicks ===

@@ Line 264: / Line 264: @@
 IBM, when notified about this occurrence, may replace the drive with a Fujitsu 5k 80GB hard drive, as to them the sound is indicative of a potential hard drive failure.
 == External links ==
@@ Line 280: / Line 276: @@
 * [http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28538&whichpage=1 Thread on tabletpcbuzz.com]
 * [http://thinkpad-forum.de/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2255 German Thread on thinkpad-forum.de (Containing an interesting remark about a possible problem with the Cache)]
 [[Category:T40]]

@@ Line 80: / Line 80: @@
 Alternatively, you can override the <tt>95hdparm-apm</tt> script by creating an empty file with the same name in <tt>/etc/pm/power.d</tt>:
-: {{cmdroot|touch /etc/pm/power.d/95hdparm-apm}}.
+: {{cmdroot|touch /etc/pm/power.d/95hdparm-apm}}
 On [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop#Hard_drive_spin_down_problem Arch Linux], edit <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt> instead and add:

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
+  }
-Alternatively, you can override the <tt>95hdparm-apm</tt> script by creating an empty file with the same name in <tt>/etc/pm/power.d</tt>, i.e., {{cmdroot|touch /etc/pm/power.d/95hdparm-apm}}.
+Alternatively, you can override the <tt>95hdparm-apm</tt> script by creating an empty file with the same name in <tt>/etc/pm/power.d</tt>:
 On [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop#Hard_drive_spin_down_problem Arch Linux], edit <tt>/etc/rc.local</tt> instead and add:

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 : {{cmdroot|update-rc.d hdparm defaults}}
-On Ubuntu 11.04, the script <tt>/usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/95hdparm-apm</tt> (part of the <tt>hdparm</tt> package) sets the APM level to 128 when on battery. (<tt>95hdparm-apm</tt> calls the <tt>hdparm_options()</tt> function from <tt>/lib/hdparm/hdparm-functions</tt>, which by default sets the APM level to 128 and 254 for battery and AC, respectively.) This may be overridden in <tt>hdparm.conf</tt> with the custom setting <tt>apm_battery</tt>:
+On Ubuntu 11.04, the script <tt>/usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/95hdparm-apm</tt> (part of the <tt>hdparm</tt> package) sets the APM level to 128 when on battery and 254 otherwise (these defaults are part of the <tt>hdparm_options()</tt> function in <tt>/lib/hdparm/hdparm-functions</tt>). This may be overridden in <tt>hdparm.conf</tt> with the custom setting <tt>apm_battery</tt>:
   /dev/sda {

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Many users have reported a '''problem with hard drive clicking''', sometimes described as a repeating '''tick tick tick''' type of ticking sound, or a '''faint beep''' at random intervals.
-The click sound is caused by the drive '''parking its head'''. There are multiple causes for that, including ''power management'' and ''shock detection'' (see below for fixes). However, it may also mean that your drive is about to ''die'' (the dreaded "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death click of death]"); check <tt>/var/log/messages</tt> (or <tt>/var/log/syslog</tt>) for suspicious errors, and remember to backup!
+The click sound is usually caused by the drive '''parking its head'''. There are multiple causes for that, including power management and shock detection (see below for fixes). However, it may also mean that your drive is about to ''die'' (the dreaded "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_of_death click of death]"); check <tt>/var/log/messages</tt> (or <tt>/var/log/syslog</tt>) for suspicious errors, and remember to backup!
 The [[Hitachi Travelstar 5K80]] series, which shipped with many T series Thinkpads, is reported to suffer from this problem in particular. The clicks occur rapidly, and are quiet but noticeable. While in use in a quiet environment, the clicks can be relatively loud and annoying. The clicks seem to happen when the drive is idle and the power has been on for a significant period of time. Western Digital drives (like the Scorpio series) are also known to exhibit pronounced clicks. The clicking is also reported on other vendors' laptop hard drives, and is therefore almost certainly hard drive related rather than laptop chassis related.
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 Using "'''<tt>smartctl -A</tt>'''" (part of the the <tt>[http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartmontools/wiki smartmontools]</tt> package), it is possible to check if any of the drive's attributes related to platter spin-up/down or head unload are increasing when a click is heard. That can help pinpointing the cause of the clicks.
-A shell script like this may help to see if the '''Load Cycle Count''' is affected:
+A shell script like this may help to see if the '''Load Cycle Count''' is affected (indicating head unloading):
 <pre>#!/bin/bash