160GB - Clicking Noise

Hi guys - I picked up another Acer One for a friend and me a few days ago (both from the same Asda supermarket).

This 160GB makes a rather irritating clicking sound every few seconds - I noticed that there is a similar thread where someone has had the problem with the 120GB version, and Acer ended up swapping their system over. My friend's system is also making the same noise.

My slightly older 120GB version is completely silent in comparison.

I'm now rather worried that this 'clicking' noise is the early signs of a HDD that is already on the way out. :cry:

Should I take the two 160GB versions back and attempt to swap them over, or is there a simple 'fix' (we're both still running Linpus Linux Lite)?

 

Mines doing this too... although I never noticed it before I upgraded the RAM tonight, so not sure if its paranoia....

 

Mine is also doing this to.
There's a lot online about it and it seems to be an issue with Linux and the way it manages power management.

A link here claims to offer a solution but without knowing the code I don't know what it does -
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=531866

 

I ended up taking both of the 160GB versions back for a refund. I'm happier with my silent 120GB version.

Acer had said that I could send the two 160GB versions to their repair centre, but that sounded like too much hassle (especially after spending the last few months sending my faulty 360s to Microsoft).

 

anyone reading my post I have found it is a wd scorpio 160gb firmware issue and I'm talking to tech person from acer, wd have issues with clicking in other dell computers with similar drive. as and when a firmware update arrives I will post.

 

http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=10003&p=65827&hilit=clicking#p65992

I am in contact with acer technical, this is a firmware issue with scorpio 160gb drive, wd have quietly offered a firmware update for other drives in the range. I'm pushing to get this fixed, as and when it's done I will post upgrade details

 

So it IS the drive then ? as opposed to the OS ? Fingers crossed they release a fix - this is driving me nuts now... not had a HDD fault for years, but if you ever have... this sounds pings the "oh no" synapses :-(

 

No it's a power management fault in Linux but only certain HD Seems to be affected. It isn't believe to be a drive fault because some people who have re-installed Windows have suddenly found that the clicking noise disappears.

 

I recently acquired one of the discounted Linpus/512MB/120GB AAOs from Asda. This came with a WDC 160GB installed and after installing XP the clicking noise became apparent, moreso after resuming from sleep mode.

I have installed quietHDD and this appears to have significantly reduced the level of clicking:

http://sites.google.com/site/quiethdd/

Linux users should be able to achieve something similar using init and ACPI resume scripts to invoke hdparm.

 

The issue is that hdparm is being ignored on all parameters other than never park heads.

This affects all linux distro's including linpus.

The drive is not sold as a windows only drive and it ignoring an accepted power management method=crappy firmware.
Acer are not going to stand a 160gb Linpus system suffering premature failure, the won't want a RMA explosion or recall

with 6.5 hours use average a day the drive will exceed rated load count cycle in 1.4 years, it would normally be expected to manage 3-5 years.

As I said this is a known issue on the 60/80gb scorpio blue drives and a firmware update has been issued quietly to dell users.
I have a tech guy at Acer who is in the process of testing an affected 160gb model and then they will speak to WD.

I have also contacted WD and they are looking into it.

Basically there are two ways to solve this
1) firmware upgrade on hdd (allows dynamic on fly adjustment with hdpharm)
2) user hdd setting tool that adjusts hdd firmware (static setup by modifying current firmware and reloading it to hdd)

 

Perhaps Asda will consider doing a product recall on the Netbooks that are affected (for those that took advantage of their recent £150 offer).

 

You have 28 days to return,
Now after checking out the reasons for this fully and contacting Acer and Western Digital, both companies I have received a personal response within 24 hours and every indication they wish to resolve this ASAP.

If you look at the deal £150 is a bargain, almost giving it away as the first aspireone I bought was £239

I would wait a little first as it is possible to stop excessive load count cycle until fix is sorted just by leaving adapter connected, or I can give you a command that stops parking on battery

 

What can be done to prevent the hd clicking if you're using Limpus?

 

sudo hdparm -B 255 /dev/sda

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions ... nd-588770/

 

Thanks, I've read the link and I'm still not sure what I'm changing by entering that.

I assume I'd have to get it into startup too, how would I go about doing that and can the code be reversed if it goes wrong?

 

Thanks for your efforts so far and please do let us know what Acer and WD come up with as a resolution for this problem. It would be nice to have a corrected firmware for these drives. Mine is the WD1600BEVT model (SATA 3.0 Gbps - wasted in the Aspire One).

As a Windows user, quietHDD works for me and I won't be taking my A150 back to Asda for a refund. The standard 3-cell battery only gives just over 2 hours of runtime and I reckon it will be 2 or 3 years before the 600K load cycle limit is reached on my disk. I suspect that the 160GB disk will have been replaced with the 250GB drive out of my PS3 or a Scorpio Black 320GB drive before then.

 

This looks interesting:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg ... faqid=1414

UPDATE: This WD update utility says my WD1600BEVT is already up to date. Oh well... :roll:

 

Hi guys. I have the 120gb version, and ever since day one its been making a constant sound, and I've tried to record it here:



Like I say in the video, you'll have to wait until the end to really be able to hear it clearly.

Is this the same as what you are experiencing? Because I get this under all OS's I've tried....

 

As posted before, I'm talking to Acer (a technician and not a call centre monkey) who is very keen to sort this.

You may or may not know I provide hardware support on ubuntu as a volunteer, this issue affects windows/linpus and ubuntu.

From my digging around I have found that the scorpio series suffer from bad firmware, dell received an update which is buried on WD site, as mentioned by a previous poster it does not cover our model.
On the support site I asked about a firmware update and also said I was in contact with Acer.

After some decidedly odd responses I was told this was a defective drive issue, now after all the information and different systems that only have one similarity:- have excessive load count,.

I believe that WD have calculated that the drive will fail on light use just out of acer one year warranty WD 3 year, further to this they are offering RMA which I Believe they will swap to a slightly different model as used in xbox 360.

WD have flatly refused to offer any reference or contact I can pass to acer tech, so I gave him a link and a password to read my WD conversation, he is less than impressed and the main Acer centre in china for testing etc will be working on this, expected response/resolution time 1 week.

Hopefully Acer can get WD to recall as so far they have swept the issue under the carpet, at this point I think this is either WD getting off their butts and sorting firmware or mass recall.
When I have a further update I will keep you informed.

quanta manufacturing/ Acer make a great little netbook, WD seem to be shady characters

 

Thanks a lot for doing all this work for us, its really appreciated.

Sadly for me, I've ripped open my One and don't know if I'd be able to get it returned due to HD issues... I hold out hope though!