Noise from hard disk when stressed

Hi all,
I experienced a scratching noise coming from the hard disk (?) when the computer is stressed (e.g. iWeb, Photoshop, etc.).
I checked the CPU usage and the fan rpm but the noise continues even though the fan is swirling very low and the CPU is at its minimum value so I think it is a hard disk related issue.
Has anyone already experienced (and solved) the same problem?
MacBook 2.6 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.10)

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Noise from hard disk

Hi, everyone.
I bought a new mackbook pro in this Jan. Recently, I hear some not continuously noise from hard disk, especially when i open a file in hard disk or verify the hard disk. Is something wrong with my hard disk?
Thanks

This hard disk clicking is a know problem for many laptops. If you search it on Google, you will find a lot of discussions about it in the Unbuntu Linux forums. In most cases, it is due to the Advanced Power Management (APM) feature of notebook hard drives. The default APM settings of these drives are aggressive so as to extend notebook battery life. As a consequence, the HD tries to park its actuator head to the ramp whenever it judges the system as idle. However, OS X or some third-party applications may access the hard disk quite often, resulting in a park/unpark cycle every few seconds.
Every of these cycles is counted as one load/unload cycle. Most notebook drives support up to 600,000 load/unload cycles. If a hard drive parks its head every few seconds, it may shorten its life by "using up" the cycles more quickly.
I had the same problem on my Powerbook with a Hitachi Travelstar 5K160 80GB PATA drive. I heard the frequent clicking sound right after I installed it into the laptop. The SMART status appeared to be Verified, and there was no problem with the drive itself. After searching on Google and Hitachi web site, I found the causes and solved the problem using the Hitachi Feature Tool. For other HD brands, I have no experience at all.
Basically, Travelstar 5K160 drives have three idle modes, from which a user can set one as the deepest idle state:
1) Active Idle: the actuator head is parked near the center of the disk, and power usage is 45-55% less than performance level. Recovery time to active mode is about 20ms.
2) Low Power Idle: this is usually the factory default idle mode. The head is UNLOADED to the ramp and the power consumption is 60-65% less than the performance level. Recovery time is about 300ms.
3) Low RPM idle: in this idle mode, the hard disk will spin down to a lower RPM speed. More power is saved but recovery time is much longer. (I can hear the disk spin down and spin up again a few times per minute. There is also a lag in system reaction time.)
To get rid of the hard disk clicking, you need to set Active Idle as the deepest APM idle mode. To do it on a Hitachi hard disk, you need Hitachi Feature Tool, and a Windows laptop with the same HD interface as your drive (PATA or SATA). Sadly, the feature tool is only for Windows and Linux.
You can download Hitachi Feature Tool 2.10 as an ISO image here: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#FeatureTool and burn it into a bootable CD. The userguide of the tool is available on the same page.
Then, take out your hard drive from your Macbook and install it into a Windows laptop. Boot the machine using the Feature Tool bootable CD. Choose "Change Advanced Power Mode" from the drop-down menu.
The default value is 128 (Low Power Idle). Just increase the value toward Performance, until you see the APM mode over the value bar becomes Active Idle (starting from 192). Click OK and Exit the feature tool. Switch off the Windows laptop and take out the hard disk. Install it into your Macbook. You will not hear the clicking sound again when system is idle. The lowest APM mode will be Active Idle and hence the drive will not park its head to the ramp during operions.
If your hard drive is a Hitachi Travelstar 5K160, you can find the 5K160 specifications version 1.1 from Hitachi web site. On page 69 of the document, it explains the APM idle modes. On page 145 about the register values of the APM modes.
To set Active Idle as the deepest idle mode may adversely affect battery life. (I haven't yet tested it myself) However, there seem not to be a big difference than the Low Power Idle, according to the datasheet of 5K160. For this model, power consumption of Active Idle is 0.8W, while that of Low Power Idle is 0.6W, on average.
Hope this is helpful.

Clicking noise from hard disk

Hello forum,
one more hard disk noise problem. My new MPB arrived two days ago and I immediately noticed a clicking noise that is presumably emitted by the hard disk. I've got the basic 250GB model, so it's unrelated to the 500GB noise. The sound occurs quite regularly every 20sec or so, but only when the disk is inactive. The system doesn't freeze. The noise appears regardless whether the disk power saving feature is enabled or not. Here is an amplified version of the sound without the normal background noise (fan, hard disk):
http://www.filefactory.com/file/ah25f1h/n/ClickingNoise_wav
I've learned that clicking noises are a certain sign of hard disk failure. So should I return it immediately and ask for a replacement?
Regards

MKG4 wrote:
It sounds like you've got two clicking noises happening back to back, correct? I have the new 250GB drive as well (5400 RPM) and I'm hearing a periodic click similar to the second one in your clip.
I can hear only the second click, too. Only if I mute the background noise and amplify my recording, I hear the first one. Could you perhaps take a record of the sound that your MBP makes so that we can compare the sounds?
Haven't noticed any other problems with the drive, though. Is yours a Fujitsu? Mine is, and according to their web site, "if the drive is idle it will automatically move the heads periodically to prevent lubricant migration." I'm wondering if that's what the noise is.
Interesting. Mine is a Fujitsu, too, and perhaps the two noises come from the disk head starting and parking.
Actually, it sounds a lot like the 500GB noise, except without the beep. I've seen very few, if any, issues with the 250GB drive, but I'm holding out hope that a fix may come along at some point.
I agree. Currently the sound doesn't seem to be harmful, but one never knows.

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MBP 2.5 Mac OS X (10.5.6) 4 GB

Cheering news - I was afraid this was going to be the case.
However - I have no console log - HD/Library/logs/etc. Spotlight won't find it either.
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Finder crashing and freezing each time requiring a force quit. It crashes when I press "stop copying".
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Noise from hard disk when stressed

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