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------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2007-11-20T08:34:26+00:00 Andrey wrote:

TOSHIBA Satellite L30-113 notebook.
Intel Celeron 430M, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M.
Fedora 8.

== Increasing Load_Cycle_Count ==

[root@fedora ~]# smartctrl --all /dev/sda
[...]
Model Family:     Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 series
Device Model:     HTS541060G9SA00
Serial Number:    MPBCPAXMGMV6PM
Firmware Version: MB3OC60R
User Capacity:    60,011,642,880 bytes
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   7
ATA Standard is:  ATA/ATAPI-7 T13 1532D revision 1
Local Time is:    Tue Nov 20 18:03:50 2007 VLAT
[...]

[root@fedora ~]# smartctl --all /dev/sda|grep -i count
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0012   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       
-       432
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   060    Pre-fail  Always       
-       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       
-       432
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       
-       211
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0012   090   090   000    Old_age   Always       
-       103707
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       
-       1
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x000a   200   253   000    Old_age   Always       
-       0

but a hour ago Load_Cycle_Count was:   103698


== ReiserFS or ...? ==

Day ago I leave my notebook on 30 minutes, and when I came back I was heard 
that my HDD was buzzing!
[noisy like the sound of a bee; doing something hard]
I tried to do something, but Fedora don't respond.. even if I press Ctrl+Alt+F2 
or Ctrl+Alt+Del..
I wait about 10 minutes..
I was forced to press and hold PowerOff button for 5 seconds for hard-shutdown..
When I turn on my laptop, I found something strange in /var/log/messages file:

Nov 19 22:09:23 fedora yum: Installed: unrar - 3.7.8-1.lvn8.i386
Nov 19 22:43:34 fedora kernel: ReiserFS: sda6: warning: vs-8115: get_num_ver: 
not directory or indirect item
Nov 19 22:43:34 fedora kernel: ReiserFS: sda6: warning: vs-8115: get_num_ver: 
not directory or indirect item


And before this Load_Cycle_Cont was about 96###, and after - 102### ...

Reply at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-
support/+bug/59695/comments/211

------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2007-11-20T13:49:00+00:00 Andrey wrote:

I think I found solution to stop increasing Load_Cycle_Count.

]# hdparm -I /dev/sda|grep Advan
        Advanced power management level: 128 (0x80)
           *    Advanced Power Management feature set

The solution:
]# hdparm -B 255 /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 setting Advanced Power Management level to disabled

]# hdparm -I /dev/sda|grep Advan
        Advanced power management level: 254 (0xfe)
                Advanced Power Management feature set


Now Load_Cycle_Count stopped increasing!


Reply at: 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-support/+bug/59695/comments/212

------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2007-11-20T16:20:03+00:00 Phil wrote:

Reassigning this bug to the kernel component as it's a bug in that
component.

Read ya, Phil

Reply at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-
support/+bug/59695/comments/213

------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2007-11-20T20:46:27+00:00 Chuck wrote:

That value is set by the system BIOS at power-on; we never change it. (Some
other distributions do, but not Fedora.)


Reply at: 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-support/+bug/59695/comments/216

------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2008-02-05T01:38:45+00:00 Eric wrote:

Bug confirmed un a Toshiba Satellite A210-FS3

I coded the following script. Do not use without checking if the HD temperature
is  not going too high. Here is the script that you can activate through
/etc/rc.d/rc.local :

==============

#! /bin/bash
#Utility that checks whether the APM level is at 254 if not, reset it there. 

SLEEP="120"

while [ true ] ; do

STATE=`hdparm -I /dev/sda | grep "Advan" | sed "s/.* 
\([0-9][0-9][0-9]*\).*/\1/"`
ASTATE=`echo ${STATE:0:3}`

     if [[ $ASTATE != "254" ]] ; then 
           hdparm -B 254 /dev/sda
     fi 

sleep ${SLEEP}s
done

==============

It is useful since each time it comes back from suspend or hibernate the value
is set back at 128 so having such a script reset it back to 254 which prevents
the Load_Cycle_Count problem as noted above. 

Hope this help.

Eric


Reply at: 
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-support/+bug/59695/comments/365

------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 2012-09-17T09:57:58+00:00 Dimitrios wrote:

Dear all, may I request that you reopen this bug?

On Fedora 17 I get the following on a 2 year used hdd:

# smartctl -A /dev/sda  | grep ^193
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0012   064   064   000    Old_age   Always       
-       366975


My hard disk is a Hitachi HTS545025B9A300, and as seen in the datasheet at [1] 
the expected lifetime is 600K load cycles. So I argue that this *is* a bug for 
Fedora, and the proper fix would be to "smartctl -B 254" when on AC and 
"smartctl -B 128" when on battery. I think that's the fix implemented in 
Debian/Ubuntu, see [2].

[1] http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/products/Travelstar_5K500.B
[2] http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=448673


If you are interested I can come up with a patch, it seems pretty simple, as I 
think the proper place for running hdparm would be "/etc/pm/{power,sleep}.d/, 
at least to take care of the AC/battery switching. Can someone inform me if 
these directories are appropriately scanned and executed when systemd boots the 
system, or different hooks (where?) would be needed for that case?

Reply at: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-
support/+bug/59695/comments/818


** Changed in: pm-utils (Fedora)
   Importance: Unknown => Medium

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel
Packages, which is subscribed to linux-meta in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/59695

Title:
  High frequency of load/unload cycles on some hard disks may shorten
  lifetime

Status in acpi-support:
  Invalid
Status in acpi-support package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in linux-meta package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in pm-utils package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in acpi-support source package in Hardy:
  Fix Released
Status in linux-meta source package in Hardy:
  Invalid
Status in pm-utils source package in Hardy:
  Fix Released
Status in acpi-support source package in Intrepid:
  Fix Released
Status in linux-meta source package in Intrepid:
  Invalid
Status in pm-utils source package in Intrepid:
  Fix Released
Status in acpi-support source package in Jaunty:
  Fix Released
Status in linux-meta source package in Jaunty:
  Invalid
Status in pm-utils source package in Jaunty:
  Fix Released
Status in acpi-support package in Baltix:
  Fix Released
Status in acpi-support package in Debian:
  Fix Released
Status in pm-utils package in Fedora:
  Invalid
Status in laptop-mode-tools package in Mandriva:
  Unknown
Status in Suse:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  The kernel wiki gathers info about drives with too aggressive power saving 
defaults. A script called "storage-fixup" is also available.
  
https://ata.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Known_issues#Drives_which_perform_frequent_head_unloads_under_Linux

  
  This is not a support forum.  Please do not use it as such (even though it 
has been used as such already).

  You can scan through the bug for links to the Ubuntu forums where
  many, many different questions have been asked, answered, and re-
  answered.  The temporary workaround is just below.

  See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PowerManagement for an overview about what
  is involved and for a remedy.

  SRU justification: current behavior may lead to premature disk failure
  in laptops due to excessive unnecessary drive parking.  Fix will
  disable disk cycling by default when on AC power, by correcting an
  error in the hdparm logic of acpi-support.

  For jaunty, this issue is addressed in acpi-support 0.115.

  TEST CASE:

  1. With acpi-support 0.109 (hardy) or 0.114 (intrepid) installed and 
laptop-mode *not* enabled in either /etc/default/laptop-mode or 
/etc/default/acpi-support, monitor the load cycle count of your hard drive by 
running 'sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda|grep Load_Cycle_Count' over an interval of 
several minutes, and observe that it is incrementing.  (If it does not 
increment, your hard drive's manufacturer defaults are sane and you are not 
affected by this problem.)
  2. install acpi-support from hardy-proposed or intrepid-proposed
  3. while connected to AC power, monitor 'sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda|grep 
Load_Cycle_Count' again to confirm that the number is no longer incrementing
  4. (assuming that the system is a laptop:) disconnect the system from AC 
power, and confirm that the number is incrementing again
  5. enable laptop mode by setting ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true in 
/etc/default/laptop-mode and running 'sudo /etc/init.d/laptop-mode restart'
  6. reconnect the system to AC power and confirm that the Load_Cycle_Count 
stops incrementing.
  7. suspend and resume the system and confirm that the Load_Cycle_Count is 
still not incrementing.

  REGRESSION POTENTIAL:

  As this patch causes "hdparm -B 128" and "hdparm -B 254" to be invoked
  automatically on systems where it was not being run before, there is
  some risk that this change will have a measurable impact on the disk
  throughput, power consumption, and temperature of some hard drives.
  Nevertheless, it is believed that these APM power settings are the
  sensible default settings for the vast majority of hard drives and
  that the current behavior poses a significant risk to the longevity of
  hard drives used in a wide range of laptop models, so this update
  should only be blocked if it results in confirmed hardware damage that
  can be expected to apply to a similar range of configurations.

  Following is a summary of the issue:
  It is confirmed that some systems are seeing an unusually high number of 
load/unload cycles on their hard disks, as evidenced by smartctl.

  It was originally surmised that this was related to laptop-mode being
  enabled, but this especially affects systems where laptop-mode is
  disabled.  In fact, aggressive APM is not a bad idea while a system is
  not on AC, as that system is much more likely to encounter a physical
  impact.

  This is due to disk APM settings that let the heads park or disk spin
  down after an idle period that is shorter than the regular disk access
  patterns of the OS.

  Then, the heads are only parked for a very short period of time and
  almost imediately loaded again. Making impact protection much
  ineffective and wearing out the drive.

  It can happen when the disk asumes aggressive APM settings (like many
  laptop disks) and the OS does not take care to set the APM settings
  accordingly to its current disk access pattern.

  This problem has been confirmed in Ubuntu as well as in other
  distributions and on MacOS X and Windows.

  Symptoms of this bug are:
  * Frequent HD clicks  -- more than one per 3 minutes while idle, louder than 
the typical access sounds.  Often more than twice per minute.  On some disks, 
the click is very quiet
  * Rapidly Increasing Load_Cycle_Count as displayed in the final number in 
"sudo smartctl -a /dev/hda | grep Load_Cycle_Count" (where /dev/hda is replaced 
with your own hard disk device)

  The problem is only present due to the existence of *all four* of the 
following factors:
  * Hardware is set (default or otherwise) to aggressive power management, 
causing heads to park.  (default behaviour of many drives and often the only 
user available type of power management)
  * Disk is touched often, causing heads to unpark. (default behaviour of many 
distributions)
  * Drives are spec'd to a limited number of these cycles.  (600,000 is the 
most common, although some may be spec'd higher or lower).
  * The OS not setting disk APM variables according to current disk access 
pattern.

  Reasonable Limits / Criteria for a fix:
  * There should be fewer than ~15 load cycles per hour, except during heavy 
usage while on battery.
  * This provides a life expectancy of over four years, which is reasonable for 
a hard disk.

  Temporary Workaround:
  * Follow the above link.

  Some hardware with this issue:
  WD1200VE -- http://www.wdc.com/en/library/portable/2879-001121.pdf -- This 
aggressive parking is a feature of this disk, but that feature relies on 
behaviour that allows for significant amounts of (truly) idle time without the 
disk being touched. Notice the "Load/unload cycles" of 600,000.

  Example Load_Cycle_Counts:
  * Thinkpad Z60m/Hitachi HTS541080G9SA00 with well over 7000 load cycles in 
only 100 hours.  That's >70 per hour.
  * Gateway MT6451/Western Digital WD1200VE with 164762 load cycles in 3747 
hours (156 days) of uptime.  That's ~43 per hour -- except that the system was 
patched during the initial third of its life, which puts it at ~63/hour since 
Gutsy was installed (and wasn't patched, as I had done with feisty).
  * Dell Inspiron 8600/Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 with 200 to 280 load cycles per 
hour

  Please see for yourself how often your drive is load cycling:
  smartctl -d ata -a /dev/sda
  (This command is for an SATA drive; you'll need to install the smartmontools 
package first.)

  You can get the average per hour by the following division:
  Load_Cycle_Count / Power_On_Hours

  Old workaround for 7.10 (not working in 8.04):   
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/acpi-support/+bug/59695/comments/14
  A more extensive description of the workaround: 
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=591503

  You may need to use '254', or a bit lower, as opposed to '255'.  If HD 
temperature gets high, you may want to set it all the way "down" to 200 or so.  
~1 click every 2.5-3 minutes is fine.
  Note:  Some disks are unresponsive to having their APM changed by hdparm, and 
therefore the workaround doesn't work.  It would be a good idea, in such cases, 
to disable APM in the BIOS if possible.

  See also http://paul.luon.net/journal/hacking/BrokenHDDs.html for a
  rather dramatic account of the effects the current default values may
  have.

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