HDD spins down then up then down again when halting the system

auxsvr · 02-14-2007, 07:29 PM

My hardware configuration is: P4 2.4GHz, asus P4PE M/B with a promise tx2 SATA controller, one SATA (WD, 120GB) and one PATA (WD, 80GB) disk on the promise controller, 1GB RAM. There was an old kernel version on which this wouldn't occur (about 2.6.4?); all newer kernels have this problem on my system. From google and my limited kernel knowledge this may be related to the power management subsystem.

Thanks in advance.

St.Jimmy · 02-14-2007, 09:24 PM

and this is a problem why?, exactly? it's most likely syncing the write buffer to the disk

auxsvr · 02-15-2007, 06:09 AM

I've never seen another PC have this behaviour, which causes unnecessary wear and tear to the HDD. By the way, windows xp shuts down the normal way (all disks spin down normally), which was also linux' behaviour until some years ago.

St.Jimmy · 02-15-2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auxsvr

I've never seen another PC have this behaviour, which causes unnecessary wear and tear to the HDD. By the way, windows xp shuts down the normal way (all disks spin down normally), which was also linux' behaviour until some years ago.

Not really, this came up in a maximumpc one time, simply put, write access appens all the time in windows, but Linux saves to a buffer, when the system dies, or the buffer is full, it writes.

auxsvr · 02-16-2007, 05:11 AM

Could you please explain why write access as you put it causes the disk to spin down then spin up then spin down again? Is this a hardware deficiency? If so, using windows can cause data loss? Is this hardware deficiency only demonstrated on my PC, as others I have tested don't show this behaviour? Do you happen to have a link to the relevant LKML thread? Thanks in advance.

St.Jimmy · 02-16-2007, 09:59 PM

Even if it is a defect, it makes things better; windows xp constantly writes to the disk, but linux writes to memory then to the disk, causing it to spin-up-and-down.
notez: if any weired noise (ie: clicking) occurs, or the disk is near 5 years old, start making weekly backups and budget for a new HDD.