hard disk clicking

[T6]

just tested smartctl -H /dev/sda

and it returned a passed status

then i tested gsmartcontrol, very impressive tool!  wow, i'm amazed with this thing!

it made the two minutes test and says that all is well

also there is no error log of any form, it says that all is ok

i think that the problem is that in the beginning i never used this netbook in a very silent room without music or anything

this unit is mostly a big plastic case, nothing to isolate the sound coming from a ata hard disk so i hear everything all the time

i am almost 100% sure that is a power saving option, very annoying option

[AS]

You can see result(s) by typing the following command:

smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda

EDIT: some harddisk powersaving option are set up form laptop mode: /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf

AS

[T6]

thank you, that worked well

smartctl -l selftest /dev/sda
smartctl version 5.38 [i586-mandriva-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-8 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1162         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1162         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1162         -
# 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%      1162         -


those same results could be seen in gsmartcontrol but that tool gave me more info and a explanation of most elements, will test it later in the desktop machine, thank you guys

still, time will tell if i am hearing only hard disk entering in powersave or what it was in reality

[smcs_steve]

T6,
Could it be the a64 kernel strikes again!   
Did you think to run on a LiveOS session to see if the clicking continues under different kernel conditions?
>Steve    (seriously)

[T6]

i was thinking that, this is a atom netbook after all

i will install a bfs kernel to compare results

[uncleV]

Could you boot to another OS or to the LiveCD to see if that is a software/OS problem?

[smcs_steve]

Is there an echo in the room?
Oh!  It's you uncleV...   

[uncleV]

Hey, sorry for repeating your suggestion, _steve!

I read only the first sentence of your post

[smcs_steve]

Hey, sorry for repeating your suggestion, _steve!

I read only the first sentence of your post

Hey, uncleV -- that's more than most read! 
Watch out!  There is no sandbox immunity here!   Back to the clicking thingy topic....
>Steve

[T6]

i just noticed that the sound can't be heard in the day

i think i am paying too much attention

in xp can be heard too, it seems that if i put audacious to play the hard disk doesn't enter in powersave mode, also in battery

i don't have perfect proof but it seems that is doing that slowdowns to save battery

[uncleV]

T6 being too nervous
 

[T6]

yes 

between other many bad things 

[T6]

while doing more tests i ran the gsmartcontrol in my desktop, it has two hard disk, one ide and the other sata, both old hard disks

both reported a bunch of errors!  specially the sata, can't remember the code of the stored in the log errors, many, it says that it stores only 5 so i think it should have many many more, i have used this hard disk since 2004 or 2005 so it is time to change it, will buy a 320 or 500 gb hard disk, i don't need more, in fact, never filled the whole 150 gbs on this hard disk

i used the tool 2 minutes test and both sounded like a machinegun firing!   

anyway, both have always loud, specially the sata one

this tool and this gui are both impressive

doing more tests on the netbook running xp i discovered a annoying noise in the speaker and in the headphones, it seems to be that the sound card transmits most of the noises made by the heads moving in the hard disk and the motor to the headphones...

this defect doesn't happen in linux(another point for linux!), this is why i never noticed this problem

i don't use windows enough to join one thing to the other but the noise has always been there but since it doesn't happen on linux i took it as a a odd detail on the unit

the hard disk usage on linux is far inferior so the hard disk ends disabled more time and then noise can't be heard because the hard disk is disabled most of the time(noise form hard disk, not in headphones or speaker, it doesn't happen on linux)

[T6]

a update, the system when on battery abuses the hard disk parking capabilities

i was using kernel 2.6.38.2 and was listening music while on battery for the first time on many weeks

songs kept breaking, i noticed with the headphones that a sudden hard disk activity accompanied each interruption

when connected this can't be replicated

the excessive noise is the system forcing hard disk to park too soon creating the noise i identified previously

what should i do to configure this time to maybe 5 minutes or something like that?  what is the procedure here?