Linux and spin down Hard Disk

[Rocker85]

Time I read that in the Linux kernel there is a bug against the aggression of energy saving and excessive work of the heads of the hard disk ...

Seeing the preferences of xfce4-power-manager, I found the option

- Slow down hard drives

is connected to this topic?

[emariz]

I do not use Xfce, but in Gnome, this feature depends on hdparm. Check if it is installed and read its manual page to test it on the command line first.

[Rocker85]

hadparm is installed by default(i have debian testing)

where is its manual page???

Thank u

[kaymre]

run "man hdparm"

or online here http://linux.die.net/man/8/hdparm

[Rocker85]

how can i understund if hdparm is connected with xfce4-power-manager?

[pcalvert]

Hi,

What I did was added the desired command to the bottom of my /etc/hdparm.conf file.

Here's the exact code that I added:

Code: Select all

# Use less aggressive power management to minimize
# wear and tear on the hard disk drive
command_line {
       hdparm -B 200 /dev/sda
}

Of course, you may need to modify that code depending on the hard disk drive(s) you want to control and how aggressive you want the power management to be.

Phil

[Rocker85]

Hi,

What I did was added the desired command to the bottom of my /etc/hdparm.conf file.

Here's the exact code that I added:

Code: Select all

# Use less aggressive power management to minimize
# wear and tear on the hard disk drive
command_line {
       hdparm -B 200 /dev/sda
}

Of course, you may need to modify that code depending on the hard disk drive(s) you want to control and how aggressive you want the power management to be.

Phil

Thank u for reply..how check if my HD now has an aggressive energy management?

[vbrummond]

Run hdparm -B /dev/devicename as root. So if your device is /dev/sda, run:

Code: Select all

hdparm -B /dev/sda

It should show a value higher than 128, generally values in the 200s do not spin down. I use 254.

[Rocker85]

Run hdparm -B /dev/devicename as root. So if your device is /dev/sda, run:

Code: Select all

hdparm -B /dev/sda

It should show a value higher than 128, generally values in the 200s do not spin down. I use 254.

say OFF

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# hdparm -B /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 APM_level	= off
root@marcus:/home/marcus# 

[vbrummond]

Then the device probably does not support power management. I am not sure.

[ComputerBob]

Then the device probably does not support power management. I am not sure.

Here's what I get from my HD, on which power management is not supported:

Code: Select all

root@pavilion:/home/computerbob# hdparm -B /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 APM_level	= not supported

[Rocker85]

i'm confuded

[pcalvert]

say OFF

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# hdparm -B /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 APM_level	= off
root@marcus:/home/marcus# 

Did you reboot first before trying that command?

Phil

[Rocker85]

say OFF

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# hdparm -B /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 APM_level	= off
root@marcus:/home/marcus# 

Did you reboot first before trying that command?

Phil

i have just on my laptop

same result

[pcalvert]

What happens if you do this (as root)?

Code: Select all

hdparm -B 200 /dev/sda
hdparm -B /dev/sda

Phil

[Rocker85]

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# hdparm -B 200 /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 setting Advanced Power Management level to 0xc8 (200)
 APM_level	= 200
root@marcus:/home/marcus# hdparm -B /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 APM_level	= 200
root@marcus:/home/marcus# 

[pcalvert]

What is the output of this command?:

Code: Select all

cat /etc/hdparm.conf

Phil

[Rocker85]

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# cat /etc/hdparm.conf
## This is the default configuration for hdparm for Debian.  It is a 
## rather simple script, so please follow the following guidelines :)
## Any line that begins with a comment is ignored - add as many as you 
## like.  Note that an in-line comment is not supported.  If a line 
## consists of whitespace only (tabs, spaces, carriage return), it will be
## ignored, so you can space control fields as you like.  ANYTHING ELSE
## IS PARSED!!  This means that lines with stray characters or lines that 
## use non # comment characters will be interpreted by the initscript.  
## This has probably minor, but potentially serious, side effects for your 
## hard drives, so please follow the guidelines.  Patches to improve 
## flexibilty welcome.  Please read /usr/share/doc/hdparm/README.Debian for 
## notes about known issues, especially if you have an MD array.
##
## Note that if the init script causes boot problems, you can pass 'nohdparm' 
## on the kernel command line, and the script will not be run.
##
## Uncommenting the options below will cause them to be added to the DEFAULT
## string which is prepended to options listed in the blocks below.
##
## If an option is listed twice, the second instance replaces the first.
##
## /sbin/hdparm is not run unless a block of the form:
##      DEV {
##         option
##         option
##         ...
##      }
## exists.  This blocks will cause /sbin/hdparm OPTIONS DEV to be run.
## Where OPTIONS is the concatenation of all options previously defined
## outside of a block and all options defined with in the block.

# -q be quiet
quiet 
# -a sector count for filesystem read-ahead
#read_ahead_sect = 12
# -A disable/enable the IDE drive's read-lookahead feature
#lookahead = on
# -b bus state
#bus = on
# -B apm setting
#apm = 255
# -B apm setting when on battery
#apm_battery = 127
# -c enable (E)IDE 32-bit I/O support - can be any of 0,1,3
#io32_support = 1
# -d disable/enable the "using_dma" flag for this drive
#dma = off
# -D enable/disable the on-drive defect management
#defect_mana = off
# -E cdrom speed
#cd_speed = 16
# -k disable/enable the "keep_settings_over_reset" flag for this drive
#keep_settings_over_reset = off
# -K disable/enable the drive's "keep_features_over_reset" flag
#keep_features_over_reset = on
# -m sector count for multiple sector I/O
#mult_sect_io = 32
# -P maximum sector count for the drive's internal prefetch mechanism
#prefetch_sect = 12
# -r read-only flag for device
#read_only = off
# -s Turn on/off power on in standby mode
# poweron_standby = off
# -S standby (spindown) timeout for the drive
#spindown_time = 24
# -u interrupt-unmask flag for the drive
#interrupt_unmask = on
# -W Disable/enable the IDE drive's write-caching feature
#write_cache = off
# -X IDE transfer mode for newer (E)IDE/ATA2 drives
#transfer_mode = 34
# -y force to immediately enter the standby mode
#standby
# -Y force to immediately enter the sleep mode
#sleep
# -Z Disable the power-saving function of certain Seagate drives
#disable_seagate
# -M Set the acoustic management properties of a drive
#acoustic_management
# -p Set the chipset PIO mode
# chipset_pio_mode
# --security-freeze Freeze the drive's security status
# security_freeze
# --security-unlock Unlock the drive's security
# security_unlock = PWD
# --security-set-pass Set security password
# security_pass = password
# --security-disable Disable drive locking
# security_disable
# --user-master Select password to use
# user-master = u
# --security-mode Set the security mode
# security_mode = h

# Root file systems.  Please see README.Debian for details
# ROOTFS = /dev/hda

## New note - you can use straight hdparm commands in this config file 
## as well - the set up is ugly, but it keeps backwards compatibility
## Additionally, it should be noted that any blocks that begin with 
## the keyword 'command_line' are not run until after the root filesystem
## is mounted.  This is done to avoid running blocks twice.  If you need 
## to run hdparm to set parameters for your root disk, please use the 
## standard format.

#Samples follow:
#First three are good for devfs systems, fourth one for systems that do 
#not use devfs.  The fifth example uses straight hdparm command line
#syntax.  Any of the blocks that use command line syntax must begin with
#the keyword 'command_line', and no attempt is made to validate syntax.  
#It is provided for those more comfortable with hdparm syntax. 

#/dev/discs/disc0/disc {
#	mult_sect_io = 16
#	write_cache = off
#	spindown_time = 240
#}

#/dev/discs/disc1/disc {
#	mult_sect_io = 32
#	spindown_time = 36
#	write_cache = off
#}

#/dev/cdroms/cdrom0 {
#	dma = on		   
#	interrupt_unmask = on
#	io32_support = 0
#}

#/dev/hda {
#	mult_sect_io = 16
#	write_cache = off
#	dma = on
root@marcus:/home/marcus# 

[pcalvert]

Copy the text in the box below and save it as a text file called hdparm-addon.txt
Use a text editor such as gedit, kate, leafpad, mousepad, etc.
Save the file wherever you want.

Code: Select all

# Use less aggressive power management to minimize
# wear and tear on the hard disk drive
command_line {
       hdparm -B 200 /dev/sda
}

#

Now, making sure that you are in the same directory as hdparm-addon.txt,
run these commands as root:

Code: Select all

cp -p /etc/hdparm.conf /etc/hdparm.conf.bak.20130617
cat hdparm-addon.txt >> /etc/hdparm.conf

Reboot and then run this command (as root):

Code: Select all

hdparm -B /dev/sda

Phil

[Rocker85]

Code: Select all

root@marcus:/home/marcus# cp -p /etc/hdparm.conf /etc/hdparm.conf.bak.20130617
root@marcus:/home/marcus# cat hdparm-addon.txt >> /etc/hdparm.conf
cat: hdparm-addon.txt: File o directory non esistente
root@marcus:/home/marcus#