HDD parking click noise?

[Messerschmitt]

The mk1665gsx is exactly what I have too. Does your do the clicking sound in your laptop? And could you tell me what it's operating temperature, and your rooms temeprature?

Also, to understand, the APM (192,254) settings would only kick in when running the application at every start? In my case, with NHC, NHC should be running? It's not something that would affect the firmware of the HDD, but merely a software change?

Maybe you know if there actually would be a firmware update for the toshiba HDD to stop the clicking? I googled a bit but nothing came up.

I will uninstall NHC to get a better idea. hdparm is a program I'm presuming? I'm trying to run hdparm.exe in cmd and it says it's not a recognized internal command. Looked it up on google but couldn't find an "official" site to download it.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Messerschmitt

[GrofLuigi]

It's a laptop I rarely use and it's not with me right now. When I have a chance, I will check, but it may take a while. Room temp is currently 24C. It clicked, but I just applied QuietHDD with parameters 254 for both AAM & APM. I think I also tried 192, but *I think* it was the same or worse... I never used the laptop for a very long time to be sure. Maybe it's still clicking. But definitely not loud for me to notice and no winding noise. I checked quickly and couldn't find firmware upgrade. There rarely is, unless there is some problem.

About the firmware: That's the change I was talking about with 2,5'' Sata HDDs, they don't store the APM/AAM settings in firmware any more. It was different with IDE HDDs, but then I had most experience with desktop HDDs. So such programs are needed now.

Hdparm is here. It's a port of Linux tool. I just unpacked the .exe with Universal Extractor, but installing should also be painless.

Whichever program you use, it should be enough to just run it once and exit, the drive will keep the settings until the next reboot or sleep/suspend (of full computer or just the HDD). I mentioned NHC because I understood, maybe wrongly, that you need to keep it running to stop clicking. But it's a good thing to have running one of the two programs that can do it (NHC or QuietHDD) because computer/HDD can enter sleep/suspend mode any time and then the clicks return, otherwise my registry tweak in my first linked post should be enough. Hdparm and HDDScan can't do this without delving into some fairly complicated scripting, probably with other tools (to program to be invoked at return from sleep).

GL

The mk1665gsx is exactly what I have too. Does your do the clicking sound in your laptop? And could you tell me what it's operating temperature, and your rooms temeprature?

Also, to understand, the APM (192,254) settings would only kick in when running the application at every start? In my case, with NHC, NHC should be running? It's not something that would affect the firmware of the HDD, but merely a software change?

Maybe you know if there actually would be a firmware update for the toshiba HDD to stop the clicking? I googled a bit but nothing came up.

I will uninstall NHC to get a better idea. hdparm is a program I'm presuming? I'm trying to run hdparm.exe in cmd and it says it's not a recognized internal command. Looked it up on google but couldn't find an "official" site to download it.

[Messerschmitt]

Thank you for all your help and support.

I will continue monitoring it with NHC and quietHDD since as you said, they are 2 programs that can continue keeping the APM after boot/suspend, etc. I might try with only 1 installed at a time. There COULD be a possibility that the faint clicks I heard were normal HDD clicks?

For the parking click, how often it's suppose to happen? Every few minutes, or once every hr or so while doing word processing type of stuff (coding in notepad, etc)?

As for the temperature, even tho this laptop is only a few weeks old, I don't think Dell could do anything to elevate the high temperature of the HDD if I send it for warranty, unless there are other drives that run cooler.

I attached some pics, and the first picture is the spot that I noticed is the most hot, vs other spots on the back which are not nearly as hot. After opening it, sure enough, that's where the HDD is sitting. It's all packed tight in there, and I don't think there's any room on the other side since that's where the trackpad is. I did noticed the trackpad and surrounding is getting the warmest when I use the laptop.

Would it be correct to assume that any other HDD brands like WD would also get hot in that tight space? Unfortunately this is my first laptop, and I don't have any other 2.5" HDD's to test. And by how all tight everything is in there, I think I would be a bit afraid to try take out the HDD.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Messerschmitt

[GrofLuigi]

First of all, I don't think that your HDD temp is too high. But I'm by no means an expert, so you're welcome to seek second opinion.

All laptops get hot, some more, some less. Often, warm exterior is a good sign - it means it's transferring heat properly from the interior. The biggest danger for a laptop is if the paths of air get clogged, and that could happen very easy. What I often do is just raise the laptop some more then its legs allow, with some small objects - bottle caps, pencil erasers etc. There are also many types of "laptop coolers" (stands with fans) to be bought. Working with any laptop on a "fluffy" cloth (example - blanket or tablecloth) for a longer period of time is a big no-no.

From your pictures, everything seems fine. The hot spot is a vent and that's where the heat is coming out. The point when I'd start to worry about overheating would be when:

1. The computer is shutting down, bluescreening or throwing many errors (but I would check for viruses and/or OS errors first)

2. Any area of the laptop is so hot it's uncomfortable to touch - meaning, no matter how much you force yourself to leave your hand on it, after some (short) time you feel you can't stand it any more.

I think any other "general" (mass market) brand of HDD would behave similarly, unless it's some specialized solution or SSD, but that's expensive.

Again, I repeat, in my opinion, there's nothing to worry about the heat, especially if the laptop is that new.

About the clicking: on those laptops I experienced clicking, it was one click every 1-3 minutes. I don't think the clicks are "normal HDD noise" - if we exclude the two cases: thermal recalibration and idle head parking, it should't be happening. I don't know how to determine if the former is happening, and maybe you still haven't eliminated the latter. In any case, I want to reassure you again, both cases don't mean there's anything wrong with the drive, they are just an annoyance.

GL

Edited December 10, 2010 by GrofLuigi

[Messerschmitt]

Really appreciate all your replies

Will let you know in a few/several days how everything is going once I will have time to do some proper testing after I finish tomorrow with my last final at school.

[GrofLuigi]

Really appreciate all your replies

Will let you know in a few/several days how everything is going once I will have time to do some proper testing after I finish tomorrow with my last final at school.

You're welcome. Glad to share some of my experience

GL

[Messerschmitt]

Hi,

Just wanted to update this. I got my Toshiba HDD replaced with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue. That un-winding clank made me get a replacement.

Now no more un-winding or any weired clicks, just what I think, it's the parking click for the Western Digital, which sounds something like the file attached here.

Now I am going to try the quietHDD again on this HDD, see how that will change. But how about this suggestion? http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/168425-clicking-noise-issue-resolved-37.html#post6476125. Boot in MS-DOS and use the WD idle tool? Is that a better alternative to quietHDD? Does it do the same thing?

Thanks

WD clicking.wav

[GrofLuigi]

Hi,

Just wanted to update this. I got my Toshiba HDD replaced with a Western Digital Scorpio Blue. That un-winding clank made me get a replacement.

Now no more un-winding or any weired clicks, just what I think, it's the parking click for the Western Digital, which sounds something like the file attached here.

Now I am going to try the quietHDD again on this HDD, see how that will change. But how about this suggestion? http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell/168425-clicking-noise-issue-resolved-37.html#post6476125. Boot in MS-DOS and use the WD idle tool? Is that a better alternative to quietHDD? Does it do the same thing?

Thanks

Hi again and good luck with your new drive.

I'd say, try with whatever works. That DOS tool could be the right thing, if it works and saves the changes permanently.

It looks like it does a slightly different thing, but the end result for you should be the same - no clicking.

GL

[Messerschmitt]

Thanks. So which option would be better in your opinion? I mean considering if both will solve the main issue, the clicking, what about the other aspects (which I don't really know what they are , maybe detecting a fall?)

Which option would you pick, and why?

Cheers

[GrofLuigi]

Thanks. So which option would be better in your opinion? I mean considering if both will solve the main issue, the clicking, what about the other aspects (which I don't really know what they are , maybe detecting a fall?)

Which option would you pick, and why?

Cheers

The dos tool, of course.

- It's straigt from the manufacturer

- It will solve the problem once and for all, so there will be no need for other prorgrams

Just hope it works for your model (it should, but one never knows)...

Here it is from the WD site. I learned a new term, idle3 (probably specific to WD) for all this mess.

GL

Edited January 11, 2011 by GrofLuigi

[Messerschmitt]

Wait, on the link you give on WD site, it says "This utility is designed to upgrade the firmware of the following hard drives: WD1000FYPS-01ZKB0, WD7500AYPS-01ZKB0, WD7501AYPS-01ZKB0."

But I have WD1600BEVT-75A23T0

However, the guy on notebook review said he had a WD1200BEVE. Also the file inside the zip has a .txt showing different parameters. Yet on the WD site it says it's a plain firmware update?

"The software will scan the Serial ATA bus and automatically update the hard drive that is connected and recognized."

I don't want to brink my HDD :/

Edited January 13, 2011 by Messerschmitt

[GrofLuigi]

It's binary identical to the file from hddguru. The readme file (wdidle3.txt) is much more sane than what is written the WD page. I don't know if they're trying to scare people off or it was some mishap in copy/paste operation, but there is evidence many people used it successfully.

If it was my drive, I wouldn't hesitate a second to use it. But it's your call. Please don't send me a bill.

GL

[Messerschmitt]

It's binary identical to the file from hddguru. The readme file (wdidle3.txt) is much more sane than what is written the WD page. I don't know if they're trying to scare people off or it was some mishap in copy/paste operation, but there is evidence many people used it successfully.

If it was my drive, I wouldn't hesitate a second to use it. But it's your call. Please don't send me a bill.

GL

haha, for sure

Now, I only need to find a way to boot to DOS so I can use it. Any ideas? I kept looking into it, like freeDOS, or DOS 6.22, but I remember having problems with them when I flashed my ATI GPU.

I can't really find a DOS .iso that supports NTFS. (to read the idle3)

If you could let me know how to do that. Cheers!

[GrofLuigi]

Any boot disk will do. No need for NTFS, as far as I can see. Maybe you will need to inject the .exe into the ISO.

GL

Edited January 13, 2011 by GrofLuigi

[Messerschmitt]

Hey, good news. Disabled the idle timer (which was at 4s!!) and from what I can notice, everything is all smooth, no more parking.

So glad I found the wdidle3 file

Cheers for all the help. Until next time.