[LAU] Special Consideration for WD Green HDDs

[Ralf Mardorf]

Thanks to everybody,

I tested it with different Linux installs and I also sent a request to
different lists.

> It might be the commit interval of the ext4 journal. To test, try 
> remounting with option commit=60.

I add several partitions to the drive, including some ext4 partitions,
but the issue occurs also when no partition is mounted, so no need to
try this.

> I'm more curious about the installer (or a bare bones Arch install)
> than sitting in the BIOS. That makes it easier to differentiate Xfce
> problems from problems in base packages or the kernel itself.

When booting Ubuntu in recovery mode, it doesn't start Xfce, but
finished startup with a root prompt. The energy saving mode does work
perfectly then, in the same way as when sitting in the BIOS.

> If the action is different in xfce than gnome or unity, then tumblerd
> would likely be the cause

Perhaps tumblerd for Xfce on Arch and Ubuntu and something similar for
GNOME2 on Suse, but it seemingly isn't the kernel. Assumed it would be
the cause, then it wouldn't be a solution to stop/remove tumblerd. I
want to use averaged desktop environments, so a bug report might or
might not be useful, but as long is it isn't fixed I need to
- disable energy saving or if it should be impossible to do it
- touch the drive by a script or perhaps using the commit option for
  ext4 to keep the drive awake. AV Lnux with Xfce already keeps the
  drive awake by default.

> Ok 1. Buy Seagate drives in future. Good guarantees and built
> properly. By comparison WD drives are made from sheep sh** and mud!
> 
> You can test your drive by setting it as a slave drive (secondary)
> drive in your machine. It's easy enough to set it as such in the bios.
> Then, open 'Gparted' and run a benchmark test. It comes packaged with
> studio. If it's not working, do everything, format it, erase
> partitions, change the filesystem to ext4....  You name it! If it's
> bust what have you got to lose? Might as well learn how to use
> Gparted.
> 
> I've never rescued a bust drive yet. I tend to find they are
> mechanically sound or they are not.
> 
> Have fun but avoid hammers... they are very bad for hard drives ;) p

WD drives might be less good, I had all kinds of drive internal my
machine and the only drives that last very long, still in my machine for
>= 5 years, are Samsung drives, not available anymore. Seagate, Maxtor
didn't last very long, just around 2 years. However the external WD
drive is brand new and has got 2 years of warranty. Energy saving for
external drive is forced by EU Directive, so it will be an issue with
Xfce and drives from all vendors. To avoid it, I would buy a case with
USB controller and a drive instead of an already build USB drive in the
future.

The vendor A is better than vendor B claims should be, model X revision
Z of vendor A is better than model Q revision P of vendor B ;). Don't
expect that the rule "a drive from vendor A is better than a drive from
vendor B" is a valid rule.

An off topic tip, if your drive should fail with click click noise and
shouldn't spin up, than use a soft hammer, I'm not kidding, use a hammer
to release the heads. I did it once and could copy data from a broken
drive. However, this drive isn't broken.

To disable the energy saving mode, it could be, that I need to connect
the drive to a SATA port. I've got the knowledge to use gparted and even
to repair a board. I also know how to handle gear that is sealed,
without losing warranty. Unfortunately this case isn't sealed, it's
plugged together so no seal and screws. I've got no idea how to open it,
without damaging it.

It might be, that I can't disable energy saving, without opening the
drive :(.

I'm uncertain if I should disable energy saving right now or if I should
try to find out, what exactly does touch the drive, to file a bug or at
least a feature request.

FWIW my perception regarding to time was a little bit disturbed.
Unlikely that the drive does spin down and up several times an hour. It
might be 3 times in 2 hours or something like that, since the drive
spins down after 30 minutes, it at least does for my last test with
Ubuntu in recovery mode. 

Again, thanks to everybody. I'll report back, if it's possible to
disable energy saving without opening the drive.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Advanced_Format#Disable_via_changing_firmware_value_.28persistent.29

Regards,
Ralf