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

[Kayphoonstar]

Since it is an HP OEM drive, you should probably check with HP to see if they, like Dell are offering a firmware upgrade.  I'd probably want to verify that updating the firmware on my own (using the Dell package) didn't impact the warranty from HP as well.

I can't say why quietHDD doesn't work for you as it worked for me without issue. As far as PC Wizard, I would think you *should* have 3 partions: 1)'Win7 system reserved', 2)' HP system restore' 3)Win7 OS.  It would be strange to me if you didn't have those three.

[galactus]

Ok then those are the three partitions I see- the win 7, all the disk, and restore. But a few more things are off. And PC Wizard says drive health is 90% on a 1 week old disk. Should I believe this number and turn the computer in or I ignore this?

[Kayphoonstar]

I don't know how accurate that PC Wizard "health" reading is but I can tell you mine reads 88% on a 4 month old drive with about 700 hours on it.

[galactus]

Also... HP's BIOS update doesn't include anything for the HDD, addresses only other things. So back to square one. Is the noise only an annoyance? Or is this a suspect drive?

Any fixes? What is the most reliable diagnostics tool?

[fzabkar]

Post your SMART data. Look for Reallocated Sectors or Sectors Pending Reallocation.

[galactus]

This is what it says:

SMART Information Disk ST9500420AS :  

Health : 90% (estimated)

Performance : 87% (estimated)

Reallocated Sectors : 0

Pending Sectors : 0

Uncorrectable Sectors : 0

Total Boot : 62 x

PowerOn Count : 337 hours

Failure Prediction Supported : No

Threshold Exceeding : No

Raw Read Error Rate (01) : AA015 (Threshold : 006 - Worst : 099 - Max : 114)

Spin Up Time (03) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 097 - Max : 097)

Start/Stop Count (04) : 0003E (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Reallocated Sector Count (05) : 00000 (Threshold : 036 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Seek Error Rate (07) : 6D0A6 (Threshold : 030 - Worst : 060 - Max : 067)

Power On Hours Count (09) : 00151 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Spin Retry Count (0A) : 00000 (Threshold : 097 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Power Cycle Count (0C) : 0003E (Threshold : 020 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

(B7) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 253 - Max : 100)

(B8) : 00000 (Threshold : 097 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

(BB) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

(BC) : 00001 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 099 - Max : 100)

(BD) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Airflow (BE) : 9002D (Threshold : 045 - Worst : 035 - Max : 055)

(BF) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Power-Off Retract Count (C0) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) : 015B0 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 098 - Max : 098)

Temperature (C2) : 0002D (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 065 - Max : 045)

Hardware ECC Recovered (C3) : AA015 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 039 - Max : 051)

Reallocation Event Count (C4) : 00000 (Threshold : 036 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

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)

(FE) : 00000 (Threshold : 000 - Worst : 100 - Max : 100)

What do the codes for Hardware ECC (aa015) and seek error 6d0a6 mean?

[fzabkar]

My first observation about PC Wizard is that the author is only reporting the lower 20 bits of each attribute. Instead s/he should be displaying all 48 bits.

For example, the raw value of the Seek Error Rate attribute is 0x6D0A6, whereas I believe the actual figure should be 0x00000056D0A6.

This is telling you that the drive has encountered no errors in 0x56D0A6 (= 5,689,510) seeks. The lower 32 bits record the total number of seeks, and the upper 16 bits record the seek errors. The normalised value of 067 is logarithmic. Although counterintuitive, it is actually a perfect score.

The Raw Read Error Rate and Hardware ECC Recovered attributes count the number of reads, not the number of errors. Their respective normalised values represent error rates. In short, nothing appears to be wrong.

The only attribute that catches my attention is the Load/Unload Cycle Count value of 0x015B0 (= 5552). The PowerOn Count is 337 hours, which means there is, on average, one load/unload cycle every 3.6 minutes. If this bothers you, you could amend the power management settings.

I can't see why PC Wizard rates your HD so poorly, unless the author doesn't comprehend Seagate's peculiar attribute values. I would prefer one of the following SMART tools:

HD Sentinel (DOS / Windows/Linux):

http://www.hdsentinel.com/

HDDScan for Windows:

See this article for SMART info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.#Known_ATA_S.M.A.R.T._attributes

Here are explanations for the RRER and SER attributes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk.M.A.R.T.#Seagate_raw_Seek_Error_Rate_attribute

http://forums.seagate.com/stx/board/message?board.id=ata_drives&message.id=8700

[Arnd]

I'am using a Dell D830 Laptop with a new retail drive (ST9500420ASG). I had the same issues for months (click-clack, lag for 1 or 2 seconds, often10 times per minute).

The new Dell Firmware updated with command

    FDLH -m HOLLIDAY -f 0005SDM1.LOD -i ST9500420ASG -b -v

helped me. I wonder why Seagate doesn't provide this new firmware for all ST9500420 users :-s

Arnd

Message Edited by Arnd on 01-14-2010 06:35 AM

[jmkirsch]

FWIW, I have a MacBook Pro Core2Duo (late 2006 model) with a new retail ST9500420AS drive that was clicking and causing the OS to lag for 1-2 seconds.  I was able to perform the firmware upgrade using the Dell firmware.

I was amazed that I was able to boot using the included ISO; the Mac recognized it as a Windows CDROM and booted it fine.  It reported that it was unable to flash the drive, but gave a D prompt at which I could run the FDLH command.

It has been about a week and I have not heard the clicking and have had no negative issues whatsoever.  It does seem a little warmer, but I have no empirical evidence to prove that.  Active Hard Drive Monitor reports a health of 69%; I may try one of the tools fzabkar suggested to see if they agree.  As long as the health doesn't degrade, and I don't have clicking, I'll be happy if the health stays stable and I have no more clicking.

NOTE: I'm not sure I saw this mentioned here: You cannot install firmware on a drive you are booted from.  Use the ISO image to burn a bootable CDROM, boot from it and then run the FDLH command.  There are no OS compatibility issues with installing the firmware since Dell gives you a bootable OS to install it.  However, there could be some problems *using* the firmware though I have not seen any reported here.  Always backup your data before trying the upgrade.

I agree: Seagate NEEDS to release this firmware for all customers to fix their drives.  They don't seem to understand customer service and are providing no resolution for retail purchases.  My next issue is to get satisfaction for a 2-year old 750GB FreeAgent Pro that freezes after 5 minutes and runs at 150 degrees F even when off!  Already sent it in for warranty "repair" and now they want to replace it. I honestly don't trust it and think I'll ask for a 500GB FreeAgent Go in exchange.  But, I want to know if they use a ST9500420AS in that first   I don't see any Seagate purchases in my future...

[ceasarcipher]

Hi All, i have just got my hp dm3-1050tx that comes with ST9500420AS hard disk. Innitially, it has speaker sound cracking problem, then i updated the bios and audio driver and the issue was solved. But now, i experience an annoyance from the clicking sound of my hard drive and dont know what i should do. I have read this thread and hope that someone might able to help me solve this issue. I have downloaded PCWizard and below is the information.

 General Information : 
SMART : Version 1.1

 Informations Hard Disk ST9500420AS : 
Model : ST9500420AS
Serial Number : 5VJ2J341
Revision (Firmware) : 0006HPM1
Serial ATA : Yes
Serial ATA version : 2.0  -  (SATA-300)
Support : ATA8-ACS
Size : 500 GB
Solid State Disk (SSD) : No
Format : 2.5"
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
NV Cache Power Mode : No
Volatile Write Cache : Yes   -   Enabled
SETMAX : No
Multiword DMA Mode : 2
PIO Mode : PIO 4
UDMA Mode max. : 5 (ATA-100)
UDMA Mode Enabled : 5 (ATA-100)
Transport : Serial ATA8-AST
SMART : Yes   -   Enabled
SMART Self-Test : Yes
AAM : No
Write Cache : Yes
Streaming Mode : No
Power Management : Yes
APM Mode : Yes   -   Enabled
APM Level : 32896
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 : 91% (estimated)
Performance : 84% (estimated)
Reallocated Sectors : 0
Pending Sectors : 0
Uncorrectable Sectors : 0
Total Boot : 35 x
PowerOn Count : 55 hours
Failure Prediction Supported : No
Threshold Exceeding : No
 
Raw Read Error Rate (01) : 2FDAB (Threshold : 006   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 120)
Spin Up Time (03) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 098   -   Max : 098)
Start/Stop Count (04) : 0002D (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Reallocated Sector Count (05) : 00000 (Threshold : 036   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Seek Error Rate (07) : 529FC (Threshold : 030   -   Worst : 060   -   Max : 061)
Power On Hours Count (09) : 00037 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Spin Retry Count (0A) : 00000 (Threshold : 097   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Power Cycle Count (0C) : 00023 (Threshold : 020   -   Worst : 037   -   Max : 100)
 (B7) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 253   -   Max : 100)
 (B8) : 00000 (Threshold : 097   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
 (BB) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
 (BC) : 00004 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 097   -   Max : 100)
 (BD) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Airflow (BE) : E0026 (Threshold : 045   -   Worst : 054   -   Max : 062)
 (BF) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Power-Off Retract Count (C0) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Load/Unload Cycle Count (C1) : 00288 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
Temperature (C2) : 00026 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 046   -   Max : 038)
Hardware ECC Recovered (C3) : 2FDAB (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 048   -   Max : 051)
Reallocation Event Count (C4) : 00000 (Threshold : 036   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)
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)
 (FE) : 00000 (Threshold : 000   -   Worst : 100   -   Max : 100)

 Partitions : 
Hard Disk #1 : Partition #1 (199 GB)
Hard Disk #1 : Partition #2 (453 GB)
Hard Disk #1 : Partition #3 (11 GB)
Hard Disk #1 : Partition #4 (103 GB)

 Monitoring Information : 
ST9500420AS (Assembly) : 38 °C
ST9500420AS (Airflow) : 38 °C

I have noticed that the AAM status is : NO , so what should i do? do i need to adjust the speed to 208? how do i do that?

Please help, this laptop is just 2 days old and it is facing all these problem, i m really sick of it. =(