Laptop hard drive clicking

Oblong_Cheese · 2008-04-27 07:11:25

Hi guys,

I have a small problem with my Dell XPS M1330. It's my first laptop, though I've been using Arch on my desktop system for some time.

Anyway, the problem is that the hard disk in the laptop seems to click every 5-10 seconds; it's a brand new laptop, and it doesn't do this in Windows, so it's not a hardware issue.

It clicks when on AC power and battery. I thought maybe it was related to power management, so I have disabled syslog-ng and crond, thinking they were programs that regularly read/wrote to the drive, and hoping that not having them running would solve the problem. It hasn't.

The noise sounds like the noise the drive makes when it is turning off; so I think it's trying to go into a powersave mode but can't because something is keeping it alive. Any ideas what I can do to solve this?

Preferably I'd like to kill whatever is keeping it live so I can save my battery.

Thanks in advance!

Allan · 2008-04-27 07:16:27

I have this in /etc/rc.local

# hard drive scaling hack
hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda >> /dev/null

There is a big thread about this somewhere on the forum. Searching for "hdparm" should find it...

Edit: It was not obvious so here you go. http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=39258

Last edited by Allan (2008-04-27 07:17:33)

Oblong_Cheese · 2008-04-27 08:36:35

Thanks for the quick response!

That thread does go some way to explaining what's going on. I've setup laptop-mode-tools which can control this hdparm performance setting.

However, one thing I would like to know is, if the drive by default tries to spin down, why does it never seem to stay that way? What kernal/system service/userspace util is keeping it alive?

iBertus · 2008-04-27 13:57:27

Oblong_Cheese wrote:

Thanks for the quick response!
That thread does go some way to explaining what's going on. I've setup laptop-mode-tools which can control this hdparm performance setting.
However, one thing I would like to know is, if the drive by default tries to spin down, why does it never seem to stay that way? What kernal/system service/userspace util is keeping it alive?

powertop may help you figure this out.

If anyone has more info about this issue, please, post it here. I'd like to make changes on my laptop which will be used for important work and cannot have (afford) disc failures.

SqREL · 2012-01-23 11:21:29

I have the same problem and this helps me

bernarcher · 2012-01-23 13:55:53

Hello SqREL, welcome to the forums and thanks for the feedback.

However, this thread is almost four years old. It is very unlikely that the original poster (OP) will read it. Please note that we usually do not keep such old posts active. Have a look at our Forum Etiquette for this.

Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-04-27 07:11:25

Laptop hard drive clicking

#2 2008-04-27 07:16:27

Re: Laptop hard drive clicking

#3 2008-04-27 08:36:35

Re: Laptop hard drive clicking

#4 2008-04-27 13:57:27

Re: Laptop hard drive clicking

#5 2012-01-23 11:21:29

Re: Laptop hard drive clicking

#6 2012-01-23 13:55:53

Re: Laptop hard drive clicking

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