Sudden Motion Sensor working strange in Unibody!

I got a macbook pro 15 recently and i was trying out the applications on the Net. I tried smacbook which works with the sudden motion sensor of the hard disk...
Also i tried liquidMac app.. But what i realised is, they both didnt work for me well..
when i lay down macbook through left side, the liquid must go to left for example, but nothing happens, actually when i move laptop through forward or backward they are moving..
And when i run SeisMac to see the axis of Sudden motion sensor my result is like this
Y-axis positive is left up, right down (clockwise rotation)
X-axis positive is front up, rear down
(Actually it must be reverse)
And suggestions?? Can it be broken or sth?
OR is there any way to play with this directions?
Should i send the laptop to service?

Are you saying the SMS does not respond in the same direction that you move it... or that certain axis do not function at all? The SMS is designed to protect your hard drive and nothing more. While developers have come out with some applications that can use it, there is functional benefit to which axis activates by which motion. The idea is that it detects "any" motion and locks the drive head to prevent damage. Now, if an axis is not functioning at all, you may want to look into that.

Similar Messages

Sudden Motion sensor works great!!!

Yesterday, I put my PowerBook G4 17" into a shoulder bag and was going back from university to my room on my bicycle...on the way unfortunatly, the shoulder strap gave way and the bag fell down on the road (it was a loud thud) my heart skipped a beat, since i was riding pretty fast, i thought this is it..i have lost my new 2 days old powerbook...i picked the bag, went to my room, switched on the powerbook...and surprise...it is back in business...i love my PowerBook G4....it is truly great!!!

Have some fun with your sudden motion sensors, and calibrate them too...
http://www.suitable.com/tools/seismac.html

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 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.

Sudden motion sensor not working with replacement harddisk?

I replaced the original harddisk of my Macbook pro (500 GB, 7.200 rpm, model no. HTS725050A9A362) with the retail version of the same harddisk (model no. HTS725050A9A364).
Now I'm missing the typical "click" when the sudden motion sensor parks the heads and I'm afraid it's not working - although "pmset -g" shows "sms 1".
Is there anything else I can check, e.g. enable head parking at harddisk-firmware level?
Thanks
Juls

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.

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:
1) SMART status reads "Unsupported" on the new drive and "Verified" on the old drive. OWC said this is because SMART only works on internal drives and SMART will work after I install the new drive. I just want to check the accuracy of this statement.
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
SMC Version (system): 1.28f3
Hardware UUID: 5BCEDD41-1B9B-5311-A21C-3638AEAEE5BB
Sudden Motion Sensor: State: Enabled
Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00:
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!
Much, much appreciated for any help.
Thanks very much.

Sudden Motion Sensor not active

Hello,
My new MacBook's SMS is inactive:
    Machine Name: MacBook
    Machine Model: MacBook1,1
    CPU Type: Intel Core Duo
    Number Of Cores: 2
    CPU Speed: 2 GHz
    L2 Cache (shared): 2 MB
    Memory: 1.25 GB
    Bus Speed: 667 MHz
    Boot ROM Version: MB11.005F.B00
    SMC Version: 1.4f8
    Sudden Motion Sensor:
            State: Disabled
But pmset says:
    $ sudo pmset -g
        Active Profiles:
        Battery Power -1*
        AC Power -1
        Currently in use:
         sms 1
         hibernatefile /var/vm/sleepimage
         acwake 0
         sleep 10
         autorestart 0
         halfdim 1
         hibernatemode 3
         disksleep 10
         displaysleep 3
         lidwake 1
         lessbright 1
I resetted the PMU and the PRAM but the SMS remains inactive.
Is it a hardware problem or a software one?
Thanks,
Gilles.
MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Have you notice whether or not the motion sensor
works?
Apparently not (tested with iAlertU for example and with the software from http://www.kernelthread.com/software/ams/ams.html).
Yeah I'd probably take juhs10's advice and give Apple
a call if it's not working. It's a strange
occurrence. I would assume it's a software problem
but I'm not familiar enough with it to say for sure.
Thank you, I'll call Apple tomorrow to see with them.
Thank you for your help,
Gilles.

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.

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

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.

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.

Sudden Motion Sensor on OSX 10.4.6 (iBook/PowerBook G4)

cheers!
according to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303178, there is a problem with the sudden motion sensor on my ibook g4 14'.
my questions are:
1. is the sms really not working or is it just not showing up in the system profiler?
2. what should i do to bring sms (back?)to work? install a macosx-version prior to 10.4.3?
3. did the sms on my ibook ever work? bought it with 10.4.3 on it.
thanks for the answers.

Hi Mmkay,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
I am sorry, but just to make sure; Does the Sudden Motion Sensor not show up in System Profile (Getting Information About Your Computer (System Profiler)). In System Profiler > click on the Hardware tab > Look in the main window and you should seen Sudden Motion Sensor below Serial Number. Does it say State: Enabled? If it doesn't show up, bring it to your local Apple Store. I don't think that reinstalling the system software will make a difference.
Jon
Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All), Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook, G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

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.

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.

Tilted sudden motion sensor in MacBook ?

I have download an application called "AMSVisualizer" to monitor the current reading of the sudden motion sensor. It will display a MacBook Pro/PowerBook and also display the readings of the sudden motion sensor in real time. When you move the laptop (even very slightly like typing the keyboard), it will sense and display some vibration. But my result is strange : I run the program when my MacBook is place flat on the desk and the "x" reading is flashing between 13-15, and the MacBook in the display showing that it is placing on a "non-horizontal" posture. I have to lift the left portion a little bit in order to make the "x" axis reading to 0.
Here is the photo as what I described above:
Tilt
http://copo.myphotos.cc/cody/photos/MacBook/MacBook_tilt.jpg
Flat
http://copo.myphotos.cc/cody/photos/MacBook/MacBook_flat.jpg
Can some of the MacBook owner to test on this application to check your result ? The application could be downloaded here:
http://www.osxbook.com/software/sms/amsvisualizer/
Thanks!

Agreed with Jonas Hurtig. As you can see in my photo, I have to place the MacBook battery on the left side of the MacBook in order to have the reading looks normal. That is about 10-degrees tilt, there is no measurment needed for such situation if the desk is tilt like that, yor pens, desktop will slide off.....

Sudden Motion Sensor working strange in Unibody!

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