2011 MBP - HD in Optibay - Sudden Motion Sensor?

2011 15" MacBook Pro with BTO Apple SSD.
Optibay with WD 750GB Scorpio Black.
What is the correct setting regarding the Sudden Motion Sensor?
There is conflicting information that this drive does or does not have a SMS - according to WD's website it does have "ShockGuard"
There are several that have had trouble with motion sensor in a hard drive, in the optibay and in the Mac software. Some have not... and it seems to depend on drive.
What is the correct setting - should one turn OFF Sudden Motion Sensor in the operating system? or leave it on?
and either way, does SMS or "Shockguard" work properly when in an optibay?

Jim,
I have a similar setup to yours. SSD in main MBP drive bay, and WD 750GB Scorpio Black in the optibay.
Ok, so we know that:
SMS doesn't work in the optibay.
Having the boot drive in the optibay causes hibernation issues, which could be "solved" by disabling hibernation and its creation of the /var/vm/sleepimage file.
WD has something called ShockGuard on their Scorpio Black drives:
"WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation. WD’s SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear and improved non-operational shock tolerance." [http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701275.pdf]
I'm wondering if, after a few months with your setup, you still consider the WD ShockGuard to be a sufficient reason for leaving the WD Scorpio Black in the optibay.
My initial instinct is that ShockGuard may not be as effective as SMS. I wonder, in part because whenever the Scorpio Black is accessed (via spotlight usage or what have you), it stays spinning for quite a while before eventually spinning down. Do you experience this? Do you have any more advice from your experience?
Thanks.

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Sudden Motion Sensor crash in MBP with SSD

Hi. I replaced my 2011 17" MBP's internal HD with one, then another SSD from OWC, going from 240 to 480.
As indicated in OWC's instructions, the Sudden Motion Sensor no longer applies and should be disabled with this command from the terminal:
$ sudo pmset -a sms 0
And using this command, we can see that the SMS is off:
$ sudo pmset -g
Active Profiles:
Battery Power                    -1
AC Power                    -1*
Currently in use:
womp                    1
halfdim          1
sms                    0
What happens all too often though is that my Mac issues an SMS crash while asleep if I am driving home and hit a bump in my car. Just Monday, I was driving with my Mac open and on, the car hit a bump and I got to watch the Gray Screen of Death as the Mac issued a kernel panic from the Sudden Motion Sensor.
But it's off.
FYI, I turned it off to try and stop this behaviour

Download an run memtest to check your RAM.
http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/03/memtest-mac-ram-test/
www.memtestosx.org/downloads/memtest422/Users_Guide.rtf
Don Montalvo was preventing the crashes by turning off SMS. However, replacing bad RAM was the ultimate solution.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3013824?start=0&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3013824?start=45&tstart=0

Hard drive upgrade on 13" MBP sudden motion sensor compatibility

Hello,
I'm planning on upgrading the hard drive in my 13" MBP (aluminium unibody) and I've read a lot of posts regarding the sudden motion sensor conflicts with OS X 10.6.2. I'd like to know if the Western Digital 500GB Scorpio Blue here (http://www.dabs.com/products/western-digital-500gb-scorpio-blue-5400rpm-sata-300 -8mb-58P6.html) would suffer from the conflict (I'm not sure if "Shock Guard" = sudden motion sensor). I don't know if its a simple yes/no or whether its drive / mac specific.
If it would be a problem does anyone have a suggestion for a guaranteed compatible 500Gb hard drive (5400 rpm is fine)?
Any thoughts are much appreciated, thanks for your help!

Western Digital Lists their drive features as:
* IntelliSeek™ - IntelliSeek technology calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
* SecurePark™ - WD's SecurePark technology parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear, and improved shock tolerance.
* ShockGuard™ - WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation.
* Free-fall Sensor - As an added layer of protection, if the drive (or the system it's in) is dropped while in use, WD's free-fall sensor detects that the drive is falling and, in less than 200 milliseconds, parks the head off the disks to help prevent damage and data loss.
* WhisperDrive™ - WD's exclusive WhisperDrive technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms that result in one of the quietest 2.5-inch drives on the market.
The Free Fall Sensor is the equivalent of the Sudden Motion Sensor. Looking at the specs for the drive you linked to... they list the following features:
Shock Guard, WhisperDrive, SecurePark
As they do not list Free Fall Sensor, I'm guessing this model does not have one so it should not conflict with the internal Sudden Motion Sensor in your MacBook.

Can't enable "Sudden Motion Sensor" in 13" MBP

My brand new MacBook Pro's "Sudden Motion Sensor" won't seem to enable. I've done the Terminal commands listed on Apple's support page and I get a "1" instead of a "0" next to the results, implying that the system thinks it's turned on, yet under "System Profiler" it says "Disabled." Obviously, either Terminal or System Profiler is wrong, but I can't figure out which one.
I'm not sure if this would influence it but, I do have a WD500GB Scorpio Blue drive inside and was/am suffering from the "Beach ball of death" issues associated with the 3rd party HDD's, so I downgraded from the 1.7 EFI Firmware to the 1.6 EFI. Anyone experienced this issue or have any recommendations?

Hi, got the same problem on a 15" MBP running 10.6.1. Apple support referred me to these discussions for a solution.

10.6.8 update and sudden motion sensor

I have MBP 8,1, 2011 base model i5. Since i updated to 10.6.8 it seems like sudden motion sensor got a lot more sensitive. Never seen it work before, now if i lift the mbp from desk even i can hear the hdd clicking home. I have disabled the sensor and it stops even i move the computer around very fast. So it is not just the drive doing, sensor is triggering that.
I was wondering if anyone knows if sensivity of this sensor changed on last mac os update? or if anyone else noticed it too?
Thx
Ozzy

Hi Ozzy,
I have not noticed any difference on my MBP.
You can try an SMC Reset, which can resolve SMS issues: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

Sudden Motion sensor active in Boot Camp using Win7 with lid closed

My quesrtion to the community is:
W/ an i7 MBP,
faster 500Gb drive,
running Windows 7 via Boot Camp,
OS running,
Is the Sudden Motion Sensor operational when the lid is closed with Win7 running?

Download an run memtest to check your RAM.
http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/03/memtest-mac-ram-test/
www.memtestosx.org/downloads/memtest422/Users_Guide.rtf
Don Montalvo was preventing the crashes by turning off SMS. However, replacing bad RAM was the ultimate solution.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3013824?start=0&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3013824?start=45&tstart=0

Second Hard Drive, Sudden Motion Sensor

Back in the fall I put a SSD in my 2007 MacBook Pro. It's working perfectly. I found the "OptiBay" product, which basically replaces your optical drive with an adapter for another hard drive. I haven't received it yet, but when I do I plan on installing it with a traditional hard drive. My question regards the sudden motion sensor (SMS). I disabled it because it's not needed for the SSD, but I was planning on re-enabling it for my secondary that I will be installing. I'm still going to boot off the SSD, though. Is there a way, or terminal code, to assign the SMS to a certain disk? I'm assuming it will just disable the root drive in the event of "sudden motion," but would this affect a secondary drive?
I'd love for there to be an option to change the identifier, from disk0s2 to disk0s3, but I have a feeling it isn't possible or would be infinitely more difficult... thanks.

Most drives are available with the equivalent of an internal SMS. You just have to check the specs. Drive manufacturers often offer two versions of their drives... one with and one without a SMS. If you get a drive with the SMS built in, you can just leave the MacBook's internal one disabled.
Here is an example of one of the most popular drives:
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/momentus/momentus5400.6g/
Seagate's SMS technology is referred to as G-Force. Note the product number: 5400.6_g. The "g" denotes the drive has a "G-Force" sensor.

Where is Sudden Motion Sensor data stored?

Background:
I replaced my superdrive with an optibay + ssd (OS is stored here) and I left the stock HD (home folder) in it's place.
Problem:
I guess I triggered the SMS the other day and now I can't access my HD (basically just hangs / takes forever to load anything) unless I disable SMS. Where would I clear the data / tell it that my HD is safe to use again. Restarted pram and reinstalled OS, but it didn't help.

Thanks for the responses. Yes, as JoeyR stated, I replaced my superdrive with an SSD and the hard drive is in it's original place so I wanted to re-enable the sudden motion sensor. Thank you for clarifying how the SMS works. I wasn't sure if there was a state that was saved somewhere.
Well the original issue was that my OS would boot (SSD), but I couldn't get into my login (HD). I have a temporary user on the SSD so I was able to use that to troubleshoot. I swapped my HD with another one and it worked (STOCK HD). Then I tried putting the HD into an external closure and that worked as well. I had a feeling it was the connector, but I did not have spare parts to test this theory. I would swap the HDs back and forth and sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. It was a hit or miss situation. It worked when I disabled the SMS, but when I enabled / disabled it again it didn't work. Ran diagnostics on the HDs, both drives seem fine and in perfect condition. Tried to format the hard drivers and do various combinations of swapping drives and in the end the problem still persisted so it had to be a connector issue. I brought it into repair and they replaced the SATA cable for me and all is good now.
Thanks for the help.

Driving and watching a DVD - sudden motion sensor

Just out of curiousity, I was on a road trip and brought the MBP with and watched a DVD. The ride was somewhat bumpy. My question is do you think the hard drive is being used slightly during the playback of the DVD? AND does this pose any issue or possible damage from the "Sudden Motion Sensor" working indefinitely?
What do you guys think

I would doubt it. The sudden motion sensor is only going to engage if there is a major change in G-forces on that machine -- i.e. it flies out of a seat. The normal vibrations associated with driving shouldn't activate the sensor and your machine ought to handle them... Of course, there is the issue of whether or not you ought to be watching movies whilst driving, but that's another matter altogether...

Sudden Motion Sensor

Hey all,
I'm contemplating upgrading my HD in my MBP and am wondering if the Sudden Motion Sensor is a Hard Drive feature, or a MBP feature.
In other words, do I need a "special" hd for the SMS to keep working?
Thanks,
Blue

It's functionality that's provided by your MBP. There's nothing to choose from in particular, however, do NOT use a Western Digital Scorpio. There's similar functionality in these drives that causes crashing or hanging.

Sudden Motion Sensor - Anyone else hearing it?

Recently got a new 15" Macbook Pro with the 320gb 7200 rpm hard drive.
Something that's a bit worrying is that I can hear the sudden motion sensor activating. In my previous MBP, which is about 2 years old, I couldn't hear it activate at all.
Also, I've got the new MBP on a stand to raise it up. However almost every time I knock the desk it's on, the SMS activates. Sometimes it doesn't need much force to activate at all.
I'm wondering if this is likely to decrease the life of the hard drive as it's parking the head unnecessarily so often?
Thanks
Chris

My MacBook Pro's Hitachi 320GB 7200 rpm drive also clicks when it parks. I don't worry about it. Hitachi's web site claims a MTBF of 600,000 load/unload cycles (or over 160 load/unload cycles per day, every day, for 10 years).
The noise itself doesn't bug me at all - my old G4 powerbook used to cycle the optical drive every time it woke up, but it never failed (4.5 years of near daily use). So a servo or some do-hicky clicks when it does what it's supposed to do?
If it fails, I'll have AppleCare replace the drive for me, and I'll simply restore from my TimeMachine backup or from one of my SuperDuper clones. I'd rather have the motion sensor parking the drives when the machine moves then NOT doing so and having a HD head crash when I carry the machine from one room to another.

Sudden Motion Sensor Issues

To start this off, recently, when I slightly move or touch my MacBook Pro Late 2011 15 inch, it shuts down. It has only been like this for about a week. I disabled the SMS through the terminal using "sudo pmset -a sms 0". This seemed to fix the issue, but I no longer have a sudden motion sensor. Now, when I push down on a certain area on the bottom left of the computer, it shuts down. Is this something I should worry about? What should I do about the SMS? Should I take my mac to the Apple Store? Thanks for the help!

andrew845
Now, when I push down on a certain area on the bottom left of the computer, it shuts down.
top down, the bottom left of the computer is the battery, not the HD. Indications are a fault of the battery to logic connector in such a case.
The SMS sensor is no worry, on or off.

HT1935 In sudden motion sensor terminal it will not let put in my password...can any one help me?

While recording music was prompt...
Disk is too slow or System Overload.
(-10008)
The Sudden Motion Sensor may have parked the hard drive head, or the disk performance is not sufficient to read or write all audio tracks, or the system was not able to process all data in time
hard drive to slow...
followed direction but it would not let me enter password. No keys will work on keypad when trying

It's normal to see no characters on screen when entering the password for sudo - they're still recognised.
As Apple say at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4103
When typing the user's password after the "Password:" prompt appears, you will not see anything appear in the Terminal window. Just type in the password and press Return. If the password is entered incorrectly, you will see the message "Sorry, try again" and be given another chance to enter the password correctly.

Why would I get a Sudden Motion Sensor error on a Mac Pro (not a laptop)??

Get this error all the time since upgrading to Logic 9.1.4. Thing is, I have a Mac Pro, not a laptop.
Apple sends me to this page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934
Should I disable sudden motion sensor? Seems silly. I am recording woth headphones, there's no movement from the computer. And again, didn't have this error for 3 years and suddenly I get it after upgrading to 9.1.4?

9.1.4 seems a bit shaky...
That said, you might try disabling "Sleep" for the drive.
As I recall, it's a generic error meaning the computer either isn't getting a response from the drive or that it can't pull data off fast enough.
pancenter-

Sudden Motion Sensor not working after upgrade to WD5000BEKT HDD

Hi everyone, I just upgraded the hard drive on my Macbook Pro (2010) and I am very pleased with the performance of this 7200rpm drive, I have seen reads around 105MB/s and a pretty good boot time at 23s. But I used to be able to hear the hard drive stop when I moved the computer around before due to the Sudden Motion Sensor technology and since I have the new hard drive in it doesn't seem to work anymore. I have tried switching SMS off and on and it didn't change anything, also the drive is a Western Digital Scorpio Black without Free Fall sensor (I took that version on purpose so it wouldn't conflict with the SMS). Do you have any ideas on how to make it work again? Because I really like this feature on my Mac (I have dropped a laptop before so just in case it happens again). Thanks a lot for your help.
Scott

For future reference, here are a couple of kb articles on the sudden motion sensor:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934
As has been said, Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor is not actually built into the hard drive. In fact, some hard drives with their own version of a sudden motion sensor like Seagate's G-Force Protection actually will set up a conflict with Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor.
I installed the same WD in my Mac as you did, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have been enjoying mine.

2011 MBP - HD in Optibay - Sudden Motion Sensor?

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