Momentus XT, Momentus, Momentus Thin, MobileMax, and other notebook drives

[boardingbum]

Yep.  I checked my HD out in device manager and the device instance path confirms firmware 0005SDM1

Edit: In case it's relevant, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 1520, running Win 7 Ultimate 64x retail.

Message Edited by boardingbum on 12-10-2009 10:34 AM

[Izz_SGNewUser]

Thanks for the great job man,

It works

[Izz_SGNewUser]

Pls install the PC Wizard 2009 ( it is free ) you can download it easily from the http://www.cpuid.com/

then open it and read the AAM value of the hard disk . if it is 208 then for sure the noise is fixed and u r imagining that there is a noise....

Best Regards

[Izz_SGNewUser]

Hi all , 

Hi seagull2 ,

I'll summarize the problem Momentus ST9500420AS Firmware Update in 3 Lines and I hope that the problem will be clear for all the public :

Seagate old firmware was setting the AAM "Automatic Acoustic Management" option in the Hard disk to 254 "which is the maximum option allowed".

This exhausts the hard disk making it more noisy but with Max performance But when this option is set the head of the hard disk starts making click noises and freeze.

When enabling the Option Quiet mode to the hard disk  in the Dell Bios it sets the option (AAM) to 128 which sluggish performance but with no noise..But in this new firmware 

the AAM setting is the Recommended setting which is (208) and it make the hard disk work pretty well without sacrificing in neither performance nor noise...

And this is all the story ....I hope the point is now clear for all

[seagull2]

Hi izz_sgnewuser

I also looked inside the flash.bat and see "Fdlh - m holiday -h upgrade.cfs -b -v" but this does not work. I think upgrade.cfs controls the serial number.

Then i saw the shawnbd's post at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=439941&page=5    (by the way thanks shawnbd )

his command was "FDLH -m HOLLIDAY -f 0005SDM1.LOD -i ST9500420ASG -b -v" and

i changed it to "FDLH -m HOLLIDAY -f 0005SDM1.LOD -i ST9500420AS -b -v"

So the firmware version changed to 005SDM1.

i installed  PC Wizard 2009 as izz_sgnewuser mentioned then open it and read the AAM value of the hard disk. it is 208

[Izz_SGNewUser]

I reviewed the screen shots u took .

They are like mine.(there are some meaningless differences (hrs used and total boot))

as I said the recommended setting for the AAM value is 208.(instead of 254 in old firmware)

now it is working normally and the drive will last more and more.. . . .

Best Regards

Izz.

[boardingbum]

So at least I'm not hallucinating.  My AAM is still set to 254, however PC Wizard confirms that my firmware is Revision (Firmware) :    0005SDM1.

Augh!

The really odd thing is that the clicking noise I hear (and once again, it's not a loud clicking noise) doesn't go away even when I manually change the AAM value to 208 using quietHD.  And I confirmed the setting of 208 after the change usingPC Wizard 2009.

Any thoughts?  I've attached my PC Wizard printout (pre quietHDD modifications here)

 General Information :     
SMART :    Version 1.1

 Informations Hard Disk ST9500420AS :     
Model :    ST9500420AS
Serial Number :    5VJ0S0Z1
Revision (Firmware) :    0005SDM1
Serial ATA :    Yes
Serial ATA version :    2.0  -  (SATA-300)
Support :    ATA8-ACS
Size :    500 GB
Solid State Disk (SSD) :    No
Speed :    7200 rpm
Cache :    16 384 KB
ECC Size :    4
Multiple Sector :    16
IORDY :    Yes
LBA Mode :    Yes
DMA Mode :    Yes
NCQ Mode :    Yes
SCT Mode :    Yes
DCO Mode :    Yes
NV Cache :    No
TRIM Mode :    No
TCQ Mode :    No
CFA Mode :    No
CFA Power Mode :    No
SETMAX :    Yes   -   Disabled
Multiword DMA Mode :    2
PIO Mode :    PIO 4
UDMA Mode max. :    6 (ATA-133)
UDMA Mode Enabled :    0 (ATA-33)
Transport :    Serial ATA8-AST
SMART :    Yes   -   Enabled
SMART Self-Test :    Yes
AAM :    Yes   -   Enabled
AAM Values :    254  -  (recommended 208)
Write Cache :    Yes
Streaming Mode :    No
Power Management :    Yes
APM Mode :    Yes   -   Disabled
PUIS Mode :    No
Security Mode :    No
Trusted Computing :    No
48-bit Address :    Yes
Cylinders :    969021
Heads :    16
Sectors per Track :    63

 SMART Information Disk ST9500420AS :     
Health :    90% (estimated)
Performance :    82% (estimated)
Reallocated Sectors :    0
Pending Sectors :    0
Uncorrectable Sectors :    0
Total Boot :    28 x
PowerOn Count :    41 hours
Failure Prediction Supported :    No
Threshold Exceeding :    No
 
Raw Read Error Rate (01) :    48E11    (Threshold : 006   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 119)
Spin Up Time (03) :    00000    (Threshold : 085   -   Worst : 097   -   Max : 098)
Start/Stop Count (04) :    0001D    (Threshold : 020   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Reallocated Sector Count (05) :    00000    (Threshold : 036   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Seek Error Rate (07) :    F51CC    (Threshold : 030   -   Worst : 060   -   Max : 060)
Power On Hours Count (09) :    00029    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Spin Retry Count (0A) :    00000    (Threshold : 097   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Power Cycle Count (0C) :    0001C    (Threshold : 020   -   Worst : 037   -   Max : 100)
 (B8) :    00000    (Threshold : 099   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
 (BB) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
 (BC) :    00013    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 099   -   Max : 100)
 (BD) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
 (BE) :    8001B    (Threshold : 045   -   Worst : 059   -   Max : 073)
 (BF) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Power-Off Retract Count (C0) :    00001    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) :    000BC    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Temperature (C2) :    0001B    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 041   -   Max : 027)
Hardware ECC Recovered (C3) :    48E11    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 048   -   Max : 049)
Current Pending Sector Count (C5) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Cou...    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Ultra ATA CRC Error Rate (C7) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 200   -   Max : 200)
Head Flying Hours (F0) :    0002A    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 253   -   Max : 100)
 (F1) :    6C7AE    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 253   -   Max : 100)
 (F2) :    BE66C    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 253   -   Max : 100)
 (FE) :    00000    (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)

 Partitions :     
Hard Disk #1 :    Partition #1
Hard Disk #1 :    Partition #2 (465 GB)

 Monitoring Information :     
ST9500420AS         :    27 °C
 

Message Edited by boardingbum on 12-11-2009 04:42 PM

[Izz_SGNewUser]

Hi boardingbum ,

I'll explain to you what happened with you :

there is an option in the BIOS called HDD accoustic mode :

there are 3 options :

1) Quiet  will make the setting of the AAM ( 128 ) ) (slower performance)

2) Bypass: (will leave the setting of  AAM  as it is from the manufacturer )

3)Performance: (will force the setting of the AAM to (254)) Max performance and louder noise )

and you selected the 3rd option

so, the AAM will stay 254..

pls restart your PC and choose the Bypass setting which will leave the AAM value to its default firmware (208)

Best Regards

Izz

[Kayphoonstar]

Hey,

Thanks to everyone who is helping to provide support for this annoying issue. I used PC Wizard and quietHDD to confirm that my HD (ST9500420AS) was coming out of sleep mode with the AAM value set at 254 rather than 208. This is indeed what is happening with my retail (Best Buy) 500gb that I put into a new Sony Vaio running Win7 64 bit.

Is it just me or does this issue seem to be isolated to Windows 7 (or 7 and Vista - or 64 bit or . . .?)  My HD * boots* with the AAM value at 208 until entering sleep mode when it resets to 254.  I haven't actually checked the settings in Ubuntu 9.10 (dual boot) but I have not had the issue surface at all in Ubuntu (that may be because I have other issues with sleep mode in Ubuntu, I suppose).  I also had this hard drive in my HP running WinXP for a couple of months until that Laptop died (second MB failure in 3 years - but that's another issue) and I never had any problem with the clicking (that I recall at least).

Anyway, I got the generic e-mail today:

When a hard drive makes unusual noises (such as clicks, grinding, beeping, whirring, etc), then it's a physically failed hard drive. At that point, there are no trouble shooting steps to take and firmware won't fix it. The drive needs to be replaced, which you can do via our website here: 

 but I see no reason to send the HD in to seagate with a generic RMA number and have them try to charge me shipping costs after they claim there isn't a problem.  Which there is - just not one that Seatools can recognize. I re-opened the case and asked for a better reply.  We'll see, I guess.  If I can't get something solid from them, it seems like the only options are to keep runnning quietHDD, or apply the Dell firmware. . .  That's crazy!

[boardingbum]

Hey Izz,

I actually tried that as well.  Even after changing the settings between Bypass and Performance I get no difference.  The AAM remains at 254 in both modes.

This is obscenely annoying.

Best Regards.