From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Robert Hancock Subject: Re: Frequent Head Unload Problem Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:01:58 -0600 Message-ID: <49E67576.8070704@gmail.com> References: <49E4BF3E.9040105@gavsworld.net> <49E537F4.8000807@gmail.com> <49E666B2.6090708@gavsworld.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Return-path: Received: from fg-out-1718.google.com ([72.14.220.159]:37400 "EHLO fg-out-1718.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752097AbZDPACG (ORCPT ); Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:02:06 -0400 Received: by fg-out-1718.google.com with SMTP id e12so48806fga.17 for ; Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:02:03 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <49E666B2.6090708@gavsworld.net> Sender: linux-ide-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: linux-ide@vger.kernel.org To: Gavin Cameron Cc: Tejun Heo , linux-ide@vger.kernel.org Gavin Cameron wrote: > Hi Robert, > > Thanks for the quick reply ... comments below. > > Robert Hancock wrote: >> Gavin Cameron wrote: >>> Hi, >>> >>> It's been a while since I've been in touch. I previously had 2 problems: >>> 1. PATA DVD writer not working >>> 2. Frequent HDD head unloads >>> >>> I eventually caved in and replaced the PATA DVD drive with a SATA and >>> that works perfectly. However, this head unloading is really annoying >>> primarily because the noise the drives makes just doens't sound >>> healthy - it's a high pitch squeal and then a couple of clicks. >> >> Can you tell which drive is doing it? I'm assuming it's not both.. If >> you can figure out which one you can try some different APM values to >> see if that helps anything. You could also try disabling the standby >> timer in case that's doing it, with "hdparm -S 0". >> >> If none of those help, there may not be a lot else you can do about >> it. The OS really has no control over when the drive decides to >> unload, other than those settings.. > > I can't be sure which drive is making the noise - it may be hard to find > out as one drive is the root file system and the other is /home so both > are normally needed (unless I do a bit of hacking). The noise is the > same every time, so it may be just one of them. As it happens, /dev/sdb > (the drive allocated to /home) is the older of the two drives. > > The unloading itself is very predominant within the first 15 minutes of > the PC being powered - happening between 1 and 3 times a minute. > However, eventually it decreases to perhaps once every half hour. It > often happens twice in succession too. Can you try doing smartctl -a on both drives before and after you hear the noise and see if it seems to match up with any of the counters changing? > > I've tried the following with no success: > sudo hdparm -S 0 /dev/sda > sudo hdparm -S 0 /dev/sdb > sudo /sbin/hdparm -B 253 /dev/sda > sudo /sbin/hdparm -B 253 /dev/sdb > sudo /sbin/hdparm -B 128 /dev/sda > sudo /sbin/hdparm -B 128 /dev/sdb > ( as well as 254 and 255) > > I know you're saying that there's not much else can be done from an OS > point of view, however ... this particular PC didn't make this noise > until kernel 2.6.19 (I think it was) that started using libata. Also, > it's a dual boot machine (although I hate admitting that to people - but > still need it for gadget firmware updates) ... and when it runs XP, the > drives never make a noise. Not that I'm trying to say that Windows is > any good for anything ... it's just an observation. > > There was also the previous problem with the PATA DVD drive not working. > So I still believe that the libata kernel module has some problems with > this chip set (perhaps combined with particular drive usage, I'm not sure). > > Hopefully, there may be some other file or command output that I can > provide to you that will help to diagnose this. If so, please let me > know and I'll gladly provide it :-) > > Best regards, > Gavin. > >> >>> >>> Anyway, a reminder of the basic system: >>> * ASUS M2V M/B (VIA K8T890 / VIA VT8237A chipset) >>> * AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ >>> * SATA LiteOn DVD RAM/RW >>> * Ubuntu 9.04 (Beta) - kernel 2.6.28-11-generic >>> >>> Since I last was in touch, I've converted the system to Ubuntu (I was >>> hoping that it was a Fedora quirk) with no change in head unloads >>> with either 8.10 or 9.04. >>> >>> I've tried the following in /etc/rc.local : >>> /sbin/hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda >>> /sbin/hdparm -B 254 /dev/sdb >>> >>> Which makes no difference at all. Also, I tried setting 255, but that >>> also had no affect. >>> >>> I've included all of the normal files that I think you may need: >>> >>> sudo dmidecode > dmidecode.txt >>> sudo hdparm -I /dev/sda > hdparm-sda.txt >>> sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdb > hdparm-sdb.txt >>> sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda > smartctl-sda.txt >>> sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdb > smartctl-sdb.txt >>> lsmod > lsmod.txt >>> >>> Hopefully you can find the root of the problem. >>> >>> Best regards, >>> Gavin. >>> >> >> >