Re: Recurrent disk activity every minute

[mlelstv%serpens.de@localhost (Michael van Elst)]

mayuresh%acm.org@localhost (Mayuresh) writes:

>In a couple of laptops in last 2 years I faced this problem (irrespective
>of OS):

>The disk makes a recurrent noise, I guess, of the head being parked nearly
>every 1 minute, unless of course it's busy with some disk heavy activity
>like compilation.

If the load cycle count increases, then the hard drive is probably
configured for power saving. This is a bad choice for a disk with
read-write mounted filesystems. NetBSD doesn't configure the drive
by itself, but the BIOS may.

If the load cycle does not increase, maybe the start/stop count or
the number of calibration retries does?

The NetBSD atactl command can read SMART data, you don't need smartmontools
just for that.

-- 
-- 
                                Michael van Elst
Internet: mlelstv%serpens.de@localhost
                                "A potential Snark may lurk in every tree."