WD Scorpio - Clicking issue still not fixed?

IdontexistM8 · Post by **IdontexistM8** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:26 am

As I was finding my new Samsung 2.5" 80gb drive a tad whiney at the top end I decided to buy a Western Digital WD800VE as well and choose between the two to use in my laptop and keep the other as a cloneable backup.

Now I'd thought WD had resolved that clunk/clciking issue caused by power management/parking by firmware updates (either user end by using that Dell one or from the firm itself). Seemingly not as the drive I received exhibited the issue. It was manufactured on the 8th Oct and had the latest WD firmware installed which meant when you tried the Dell 'fix' the dos app tells you there's nothing to update.

So I took this to WD's European support...spoke to James there, who is obviously aware of the issue. He confirmed it was the latest firmware and had hoped it would have been fully fixed by now. There's a chance this is a faulty drive but my suspicions are that it's not that.

Anyway, he suggested to RMA it as faulty through the supplier first rather than go through them. Then get another one and if it does the same, go back to him and he'll escalate it.

So it's being RMA-ed, I haven't decided whether to try another one as I'm guessing if I order from the same place (Misco) ATM it's highly likely I'll get another one from the same batch.

I thought it was worth flagging here just in case anyone was considering a Scorpio currently but I'd be interested to hear if anyone has bought one recently and had no trouble at all.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:09 am

I'd thought WD had resolved that clunk/clciking issue caused by power management/parking by firmware updates (either user end by using that Dell one or from the firm itself). Seemingly not as the drive I received exhibited the issue.

I was under the impression that a downloadable utility from Hitachi's website called 'Power Booster' eliminated the clicking noise:

SPCR Thread About WD Clicking Noise

Utility Thread Including Hitachi Power Booster

FIRMWARE UPDATE
for Western Digital Scorpio 80GB 5400rpm Mobile HDD (2,5")

applies to the following models:
40G - X7571 - WD400VE-75HDT0
60G - C8579 - WD600VE-75HDT0
80G - W7962 - WD800VE-75HDT0

FIXES:
Western Digital Utility patch corrects an intermittent clicking noise issue.

NEW FIRMWARE VERSION:
v09.07D09

DOWNLOAD:
[link] for updating from HardDisk
[link] for updating from FloppyDisk or BootableCD

Utility Thread

This is HiTACHi (IBM) "PowerBooster2K" v1.30 for HiTACHi/IBM drives only:

What it does
------------
Power Booster is a small Windows utility which lets the user control the
power saving features of his or her mobile disk drive. The program is
designed to work with Hitachi Travelstar 2.5" disks but will work with any
ATA disk drive that implements the Advanced Power Management control set.

The Advanced Power Management commands are new in the ATAPI-4 standard
for ATA disk drives. Although Travelstar drives have incorporated a
technology called Adaptive Battery Life Extender for several years, the
settings have been hidden from the user. This program lets users set
the level of power saving they want, giving a range of settings from very
aggressive power saving to full-on performance.

Release notes and system requirements
-------------------------------------
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP are tested and supported. There is
no Windows NT support.
You need the following Microsoft MFC and Windows libraries installed:
MSVCRT.dll, MFC42.dll, KERNEL32.dll, USER32.dll
(They will already be installed on most machines.)
The program is set for a 5 second AC and slider polling interval.
If the program is exited, the drive will remain in the last mode set.

filesize: 283K

PowerBooster2K.exe
Number of downloads: 1515
File Size: 282.48KB
Last Updated: 28.09.2005, 17:45.

It says that it only works for Hitachi/IBM hard drives but this is not true. It works for any ATA drive with APM implemented, including the WD.

IdontexistM8 · Post by **IdontexistM8** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 8:20 am

Looked into those previously, Power Booster couldn't see the drive...why I couldn't tell you...it wasn't like it was running externally.

That firmware is the latest and the one which was on the drive. That's why it could not be patched with the updating utility Dell's site.

It's probably a 50/50 toss up between the issue still being there and a straight faulty drive. Only way I'll find out is buying another one I guess.

Useful utility page though

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:03 am

So none of the Dell patches worked?

Dell Patch

R99039 BR99039.exe|R99039.EXE Western Digital Utility patch corrects an intermittent clicking noise issue on the following models: 40G - X7571 - WD400VE-75HDT0 60G - C8579 - WD600VE-75HDT0 80G - W7962 - WD800VE-75HDT0

R99039

Maybe a Hitachi patch might work?

Hitachi Patch

R82021 BR82021.exe|R82021.EXE Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 firmware (rev. A6EA) corrects an intermittent clicking noise issue on the following models: HTS726060M9AT00 (60GB - P/N J1489) HTS726060M9AT00 (60GB - P/N N3574)

Hitachi Patch

I know it's a shot in the dark, but I was hoping to get a 2.5" Scorpio too, and this recurrence of the clicking issue has really thrown a spanner in the works.

IdontexistM8 · Post by **IdontexistM8** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 10:20 am

Neither the Dell patches worked because the drive was so recently manufactured it's got the latest firmware already. There's nothing to be patched. Therefore, it suggests either WD haven't properly fixed it or the drive was faulty. If it was the latter it would definitely be a coincidence.

Drive went back today..so whatever Hitachi's patch does isn't applicable now.

I probably will give another one a go, simply because I will go straight back to WD if the same happens again.

Before I sent it, I did try changing the AAM setting and I can report if it wasn't for the clunk/click this would be a very quiet drive, seeks so quiet you almost have to put your ear to it to notice them.

The whirr pitch level is considerably lower than drives I've tried in the past. Because of this in a quiet room the level of irritation for a finely tuned SPCR ear is considerably lower.

One other thing I noticed was...when I did try it in an external enclosure it still exhibited the issue.