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.

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http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1935
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Drive Upgrade: Sudden Motion Sensor & SMART

Greetings,
I have a couple of technical questions regarding a Hitachi HD upgrade I am planning. I purchased the 5K500.B from Other World Computing (OWC) and had some concerns with the Apple Drive Utility when I went to format it.
I also purchased an external enclosure that I can mount my old drive in after I replace it. When I went to format the new drive (in the external enclosure) with Drive Utility, I noticed some differences between the old drive and the new drive. The original drive is a Hitachi 200 GB 7200 RPM which Apple supplied as an option. I will list my MacBook Pro information after this section. My questions are:
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2) My MacBook Pro has a Sudden Motion Sensor for drop protection. Is that built into the laptop or the hard drive? Will Apple's drop protection work with the new drive?
3) Is the 5K500.B really a direct replacement with all the functionality of the original drive.
My MacBook Pro information:
System Software Overview:
System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.6 (10J567)
Boot Mode: Normal
Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled
64-bit Kernel and Extensions: No
Hardware Overview:
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 5 GB
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Capacity: 200.05 GB (200,049,647,616 bytes)
Model: Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00
Revision: DC4AC77A
Medium Type: Rotational
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Available: 18.03 GB (18,027,290,624 bytes)
File System: Journaled HFS+

I read in one of your posts that the sudden motion sensor can be easily disabled. Could you please tell me how?
I can be online, or not, and the crazy spinning colored disc starts to spin, then if I pick it up and set it back down usually it stops and the macbook (4,1) continues with it's work. I guess that it is the sudden motion sensor although I could be wrong...Just seems strange that it normally stops when i pick it up, tap it, gently, etc.
Could you please advise? It shows enabled in 'about this mac' but I can't find anyplace to dis-able it.
It's almost impossible to stream video, although that may be from something else.
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.31f1
Serial Number (system): W8833DZ00P1
Hardware UUID: DE950BF6-E26F-5ACB-984B-5BB4E50816B2
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
On front of 'about this mac' it reads Memory 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, which I hadn't noticed before. It sounds like something from my old SONY VAIO!
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Thanks very much.

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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.

Hard drive click... sudden motion sensor?

whenever i carry my macbook, the hard drive makes a clicking sound. Is this the sudden motion sensor?

Yes. Depending on what you mean by "carry", you should probably put it to sleep or turn it off when moving it.

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I was just wondering if the Sudden Motion Sensor will still work with a non-Apple hard drive.
If so,
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Nick,
oddly enough there have been reports of the SMS not working properly with some Western Digital drives, which have their own SMS system as well. I happen to have a 120G WD Scorpio, but haven't seen the problem myself yet. I'm sure OWC will replace it without problems if it crops up though-one advantage to dealing with a Mac specific dealer

Options for hard disk upgrade on my MBP 15" (late 2007 - Santa Rosa)

I suspect this is a common question here in the discussions forum, judging by the similar questions posed by other members.
I am however, half-way into my research on hard disk options for that matter and would like to ask some specific questions in order to ensure that my upgrade is not problematic (I have been quite happy with my MBP so far :-))
The model I have is the A1226 (Intel Core Duo, 2.2Ghz, 4GBs. This currently has the 111.79GB Fujitsu MHW2120BH hard disk, which is almost full now; hence, the need for an upgrade.
I quite fancy the WD Scorpio Blacks, particularly the 500GB ones, even though the 320GB ones will also do to a lesser extent. My questions on this brand/type are:
(1) Will it have an impact on the heat generated inside the Macbook (vs. my current situation)?
(2) Will it have an impact in the battery consumption (vs. my current situation)?
(3) Will there be an issue with the SATA speed? My MBP supports 1.5GB/s while this drive operates at 3GB/s.
(4) If I opt for the respective model with the free fall sensor, will this function work with my MB? (NB: Not sure if relevant, but the System Profiler reports: Suddem Motion Sensor: State = Enabled)
My aim is to clean up my current disc, upgrade it to the new bigger one and then re-install Mac OS X Leopard, upgrade to Snow Leopard and then re-install all apps. All files are backed up anyway with TimeMachine, so no issue there. If you can think of any potential issue with the upgrade and what I intend to do further after, please share it.
The machine is out of warranty - but that doesn't mean that I want to cause damage here...
Thanks.

Nikos Lazaridis wrote:
(5) What other safe options are there for upgrade drives with a 500GB capacity?
For loading/unloading heads, I'm not sure one model/brand has been found to be better than another.
Can I avoid this problem if I get the Scorpio Black 500GB w/o the free fall sensor? (Model: WD5000BEKT on http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=854).
The SMS conflict, yes.
In such a case, will Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor work?
Yes.
Or to paraphrase, can SMS park the heads of a WD hard disk w/o the free fall sensor?
Yes, that is what it was developed for. Since that time, more and more HD manufacturers have incorporated it into the HD itself. There are two schools of thought on this: 1. The "SMS" built in to a HD is more properly "mated" to the HD mechanism itself, so could save a nanosecond or two engaging. 2. In the nanoseconds it takes to engage, a nanosecond here or there is not going to matter. Personally, I believe the latter. There is no need for an "SMS" enabled HD in an SMS enabled Mac. I'm sure some others believe differently.
(NB: Interesting that the issues with SMS and the WD Scorpio have been documented in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuddenMotionSensor).
Ah, good old wiki. I hadn't seen that before. Thanks for sharing.
No mention there of whether it is applicable to the drives with the free fall sensor or the ones w/o it (or even both).
It actually does state it is in reference to the "aftermarket hard drives already equipped with anti-shock features." That writeup is dated however, as I believe there are more issues reported with Seagate these days.
Message was edited by: tjk

Hard Drive Upgrade Pain and Warning.

Well,
I have recently upgraded my HD to a Western Digital 500GB (WD5000BEVT) and although it is running ok I have noticed a few issues:
-Very brief lag (1 - 2secs) on most things. For example, right click on an item to bring up a menu will result in spinning wheel for a few moments and then the menu.
-At time of lag/freeze a noticeable sound of the HD spinning up before the action will be performed
Computer boot up and shutdown time seems seem longer than with pervious "official" HD
-I also noticed when I was transferring all my music (43GB) onto the computer the system's responsiveness while using applications was much faster.
Anyone who has had these issues and solved it is more than welcome to comment (although not with the Hdapm solution as 1: I have tried this and couldn't get it to work and 2: I would rather like a permanent fix that is not software dependant) and I though I would post to warn others there is a compatibility issue with this drive. I am trying to get in contact with WD but still waiting to hear back. I do not think this a faulty drive as many other people are having the same problem with other WD hard drives all from the Scorpio Blue/Black line.
Now after all this fuss I am thinking of replacing the HD with another different 500GB. I would like to know what the official apple 500GB 2.5 SATA drive is that they use in the Macbook Pro's but have not been able to find out via the internet and was wondering if anyone here has any info? Also do apple change the firmware of the drives they use to make them work better with Apple notebooks / OSX and is this why they have an apple logo on the drives? Finally is it possible to purchase the "official" drives anywhere and is it really worth doing this?
Sorry for the long rant and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Regards,
BTD

I have a 15" MacBook Pro from 2007. Quick Specs: 2.2/2GB/10.5.8
I recently upgraded the 120 GB hard drive to the Western Digital 500GB (WD5000BEVT)
The drive appears to work fine, but there was a massive performance issue: lots of beachballs and lags in any task that required disk access. sequential read/write (copying big files) seemed to be ok. My system was very slow.
the problem was best described here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2292861
From a few other posts on this topic:
Reliable and rugged - WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. 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.
Using drives with a built in equivalent of the MacBooks Sudden Motion Sensor can cause problems. You may want to try to disable the Sudden Motion Sensor in your MacBook and see if that helps:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934
My Experience:
Disabling Sudden Motion Sensor, then resetting the PRAM (press command-option-P-R at startup) helped a huge amount. This is noticeable as a user, but also through XBench:
Before disabling sms: XBench score of 21.73. After disabling sms AND resetting PRAM: 119.88. I just did this a few hours ago, but I think that it fixed the problem.
hdapm seems to do nothing to help this problem, but there might be a different problem with 3rd party hard drives in newer MacBook Pros. There seems to be some confusion in Apple's message boards about this.
Message was edited by: areadan

Hard drive upgrade for Mac Book Pro from 11/2007 with 120GB

Hello
My hard drive is full after 2 years. I contacted an apple reseller as Apple store would not advise on it, and they told me that to avoid overheating, I should not exceed 160 GB for a new hard drive. I was surprised as a 250 GB hard rive was optional when I bought my MBP. I was more looking at 500 GB but I am worried about overheating as my laptop tends to heat up a lot with the current drive already.
How big a hard drive can my MBP accommodate (I understand 500 GB)? Will it create more heat which can not be dissipated by the MBP as Apple reseller told? Does 5400 or 7200 rpm change the heat levels (I understand not necessarily)?
Thanks for your answers, may help me avoid buying a new laptop.

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
I have the 17" MBP from September 2007, and I ordered mine with the optional 250 GB drive, which is a Fujitsu 4200 RPM model. My Mac runs perfectly well on this drive, and it never gets hot.
Since so many people have successfully put 500 GB drives in their Macs, I think the Apple reseller is misinformed. There may be a decrease in battery life for the 7200 RPM models, but I have read many posts where people report that the drives work perfectly well and that there was no heat problem.
I replaced the 30 GB drive in my iBook with a Western Digital 120 GB drive, and have had no issues with it. The drive does make a slightly different and louder whirring noise if you listen carefully. My only regret is that I did not install a 250 GB drive instead of the 120 GB.
Western Digital and Seagate both make 500 GB drives that should work perfectly well in your machine. Some people have reported problems with the 640 GB Western Digital spinning up and down too much, so you may want to avoid that one. If you go with the 500 GB Seagate, be sure to select one without the G-Force feature, as it is a built in type of sudden motion sensor which can conflict with Apple's built in Sudden Motion Sensor.
Good luck!

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?

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.

Hard drive upgrade for a MacBook 2.0 GZ 160HD 4GB RAM Unibody

Hello I would like to upgrade my hard drive could some one tell me if this is a good choice Seagate Momentus 7200.4 Item # ST9320423AS ? I see there is a 7200.3 but the 7200.4 seems more green and has SMART status.
I want performance (Fast) Reliability, Quiet, Storage, battery life, I want it all. Any sugestions or recomendations also what is OEM mean on the newegg website is this used referbed ?? also where to buy???
Message was edited by: ERH1962

ERH1962 wrote:
I have a choice of a seagate 320GB 7200.4 or a 320GB 7200.3 drive which is better? does it matter ?also can you put a 7200 rpm drive in a macbook? every time I try to find the momentus 320 gb 7200.4 rpm drive I come up with the 7200.3 drive.. the 7200.4 has SMART status does that matter?
In general the later versions are more advanced. They tend to be faster because they pack more data into the same area, which means more data "swept" by the heads in a single revolution. They also tend towards more advanced electronics and better power management.
7200 RPM is very possible.
S.M.A.R.T. status has some limited uses. There would be no reason why you would need to avoid it.
The one thing I think you probably want to avoid is any built-in antishock features. Some people have been having nothing but trouble since they conflict with Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor. It's possible to turn off the SMS, which would be OK if the drive already has its own system.
Once I get the drive can I just pop it in start comp with disc that came with macbook and fresh install then the apps disc. do I have to erase new drive? I have all my data on dvd discs.thanks
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Hard drive noises on new MBP

Hi everyone,
I just got my new macbook pro a few days ago and I'm loving it!
But unfortunately, the harddrive seems to be making some odd noises in response to movement.
For example, while my laptop is on my lap and I remove my hands (causing the machine to move upward) and then put my hands back down on the machine again, sometimes I hear a clicking coming out from the (I presume) harddrive.
From the best that I can tell, it seems the noise is coming from the right half by the trackpad, which further fuels my belief that it's the harddrive.
Now, I'm not sure if it's a bad thing or not. It's not a constant noise, but it's in response to movements. My guess is it might just be the sudden motion detector playing it safe, but I'm not sure.
Has anyone else come across this? I just want to make sure it's not a problem I have to worry about.
Thanks,
Matt

That is the sudden motion sensor, which parks the hard drive if it detects a potential fall.
That is a good thing, and it means that your computer is working perfectly!

How do I reinstall my operating system after hard drive upgrade on MacBook pro? I have Snow Leopard install disc

How do I reinstall my operating system (Snow Leopard) after a hard drive upgrade. I did a Time Machine backup before the new hard drive was installed. I put in the Snow Leopard install disc and don't get the icon I'm supposed to double click to install Snow Leopard and then the backup.
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