120GB HDD Clicking

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Hi, I just received my Acer Aspire One today (120GB HDD, Linux) and I've noticed a constant ticking sound (every 5 seconds or so) coming from the hard drive. I'm wondering if anyone else with the HDD versions have noticed this and if this is normal or a sign that the hard drive is defective and on its way out. Thanks.
 
I do not have a 120 gig version of the One, but as far as normal harddrives go that means that it is dieing. My suggestion would be to call Acer about it and see what they say.

-Syco54645
 
Your hard drive isn't dieing, it's just aggressive power management. The clicking sound you hear is the drive's head parking every five seconds, and isn't tied to the Aspire One in particular. This is why I bought the SSD version.
 
cant he then just modify the power settings to "full power" while plugged in?
 
I get that noise on mine, I don't think its a problem as it doesn't seem to be making it now, I think it could just be a routine backup or disk check or like you lot say a power save feature that's kicking in.
 
As somebody posted earlier it is a part of aggressive power management. However this is not good for your HD and shortens the life due to excessive HD parking.

Solution: Go to /etc/hdparm.conf
Add in the following lines

command_line {
hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda
}

The value '254' reduces the HDD clicking. However you might notice slight rise in the HD temperature.
Value '255' completely turns of the Power management.
 
Forgive my linux ignorance but how do i actually get into /etc/hdparm.conf to make this change? I have to confess i'm a Windows GUI man and am trying desperately not to format the machine and pu XP on it!! :D

I just bought the A150 and was about to send it back thinking the hard drive clicking was a fault. Even though i now know it's not a fault per se, it's dammned annoying and i want to stop it :D
 
You might want to check out the ide-smart utilities. They will show you exactly what's going on inside the hard drive and give a very detailed report of its health.
 
i had this clicking noise after a few hours,when mine was brand new. done the live update and it has settled down. mines 120g linpus 512ram
 
blackmamba said:
As somebody posted earlier it is a part of aggressive power management. However this is not good for your HD and shortens the life due to excessive HD parking.

Solution: Go to /etc/hdparm.conf
Add in the following lines

command_line {
hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda
}

The value '254' reduces the HDD clicking. However you might notice slight rise in the HD temperature.
Value '255' completely turns of the Power management.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Can someone explain how to do this procedure in Linux? (step by step) Like other users I experience the same " problem" and I would like to solve it asap.

Greetz,
Arjen
 
I think this wil do:

Press Alt-F2
type: sudo mousepad /etc/hdparm.conf
Editor will start with the /etc/hdparm.conf file.
Make the changes mentioned above.
Save file and exit mousepad
reboot.

That should do it.
 
Hey I have this same issue. I love my little lappy but it makes a clicking every once in a while. Here is the issue. I am not on Linux. I got the 120GB Windows Model from Micro Center and I can't reformat to linux until this class I am taking is over :(

I need to keep XP to run my forensics software.

Is there a way to do the power management in XP to get the ticking to stop?

Thanx! :geek:

**EDIT: Going to see if New Bios Update stops it but I will update if it does or not**
**UPDATE: Did not. Is there a way to do this in windows to click less?*
 
for xp, i would make sure of a couple things:
1) your AV isn't doing a constant background scan of every file you access
2) winXP isn't indexing pointlessly
3) your power management settings aren't set to the hdd to low power every couple seconds.

your drive really shouldn't be clicking all that much though. see if turning off some of your tray apps makes a difference. chances are you've got some program running that isn't letting the hard drive heads just sit like they're supposed to when idle.

also, try running a chkdsk. it'll require a reboot and a long and in-depth scan, but it's worthwhile. IDE-SMART utilities are your best bet for checking drive health.
 
chkdsk resolved nothing (like I mean it found no errors (good thing)).
Turned off indexing and now it isn't as bad for the clicking. Does it every once in a while.(alot less often)

I'll let you folks know my progress :)

**Well I solved it an easier way. I asked Microcenter if they heard of this problem and they just gave me a new one. No loud fan. No Clicking. No odd speaker noises. Just perfect
 
i have this same problem i have the aao 160 g win xp and i can listen to this clicking every 5 to 10 seconds when idle . i was getting worried about it thinking that that hdd was bad before having this aao i use the have the silvania g netbook 30g 1 g of ram with xp but the problem on those are that they get very hot on the left side of the netbook and the fan is always on , so i decide to return the sylvania g and get the acer one .. i will disable the indexing to see what happen hope that the clicking noise is less ;) i will let u know guys



AAO 160 gb winxp
white netbook
:mrgreen:
 
blackmamba said:
As somebody posted earlier it is a part of aggressive power management. However this is not good for your HD and shortens the life due to excessive HD parking.

Solution: Go to /etc/hdparm.conf
Add in the following lines

command_line {
hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda
}

The value '254' reduces the HDD clicking. However you might notice slight rise in the HD temperature.
Value '255' completely turns of the Power management.
Click to expand...

I've started looking into this and can find the file hdparm.conf

If I try running the command from a terminal I get hdparm not found.

What am I doing wrong ?

Thanks
 
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