Running Ubuntu in your laptop ? Have a look at these posts

[din]

This topic is discussed in Ubuntu bug report section, Linux Hero and in Orkut.

Anyway nothing to worry as the solution/details/updates are given by the author himself.

So here it goes

A recent bug report for Ubuntu Linux has confirmed that both the Feisty and Gutsy versions of Ubuntu cause some unnecessary wear and tear on a hard drive.

From same guy

EDIT: This problem seems to be limited to laptop mode. Read This if you want to see how to tell if you're affected.

So let me put this out there in capital letters, because I NEVER wanted any semblance of bad publicity for Ubuntu. UBUNTU DOES NOT OVERWORK YOUR HARD DRIVE UNLESS IT IS IN LAPTOP MODE.

So which articles gives more info and solution ?

1. Bug report details

2. Explanation of Ubuntu Hard Drive Wear and Tear

3.Ubuntu Hard Drive Explosions

And in my case, the grep ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE /etc/default/acpi-support command returned false So I guess nothing to worry.

Solution

Just a single line edit is the solution ! Isn't it pretty easy and simple ?

So let me put this out there in capital letters, because I NEVER wanted any semblance of bad publicity for Ubuntu. UBUNTU DOES NOT OVERWORK YOUR HARD DRIVE UNLESS IT IS IN LAPTOP MODE.

How can you tell if your machine is in laptop mode? Easy.

Type in terminal

sudo grep ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE /etc/default/acpi-support

If the returned value is false (just like in my case), nothing to worry, no need to change even a single line !

If the returned value is true, your machine is in laptop mode and you may wish to alter your power management settings accordingly. I have not tested this, however I imagine you can choose a less aggressive number in the aforementioned script /etc/acpi/power.sh at the line that reads:
<code>$HDPARM -B 1 /dev/$drive 2>/dev/null</code>

When doing so, keep in mind that 255 completely disables power management, and 1 is the most aggressive setting. Find a happy medium that works for your laptop if you’re interested in striking a balance between battery life and hard drive longevity.

 

[praka123]

yeah.its posted here already and the problem was(?) for laptop users.

 

[din]

Opps sorry, I saw the discussion in Orkut, but thought no one here knew. Yes, it is for laptops only.

 

[gary4gar]

sigh...
firstly i thought is was for desktops also.
i thought was my unichrome card is giving me a lot of problems and now comes other bug too

 

[praka123]

@gary:get a nvidia card and give al-vida to these via onboard cr@p

 

[RCuber]

Opps sorry, I saw the discussion in Orkut, but thought no one here knew. Yes, it is for laptops only.

What this is been discussed in Orkut!!! :O .. I thought Orkut was only for flirting ( not me )

EDIT: ok here is some thing from me .. I use a HP laptop but havent installed any Linux on that it has vista preinstalled. I use Sabayon linux DVD and run it live. everything works just fine.. the problem comes when I try to shutdown... err.. it doesnot shutdown at all .. I have to use the restart option and then manually press powerbutton for 5 seconds for turning off the lappy. Each time I do this .. during next vista boot I get a BSOD .. I still cannot say if the problem is from sabayon. This happens every time when I try to shutdown.

 

[din]

LOL

OK, Orkut has a group, I think Kerala Linux Club. Prakash, myself etc are members. The topic was posted by one of my friends there.

 

[kumarmohit]

Damn, I wanted to install 7.10 on my laptop, guess it would be sabayon then

 

[RCuber]

^^^ mohit .. read the links yar... always understand what the problem is and later decide.. posts here are just guidelines/alerts about the problems.. Even the answer is provided on how to avoid this..

 

[din]

@kumarmohit

Anyway nothing to worry as the solution/details/updates are given by the author himself.

And in my case, the grep ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE /etc/default/acpi-support command returned false So I guess nothing to worry.

The fix (if the above command gives "true" as output) is very very simple and explained in the links. So please go ahead, nothing to worry. I love running Ubuntu in my lappy.

 

[praka123]

i remember the article somewhere which states this problem will be there for windows series including vista or a mac also! also other Linux distros too. but will not be noticed or researched by any unlike Linux community which finds such problems.Community rocks!
BTW,thanks for the last link.

 

[infra_red_dude]

Yes, its true all OSs haf this problem. However, the damage depends on the extent to the frequency of read-writes by the OS. Not a problem to worry about. Go ahead and install Ubuntu

 

[praka123]

^actually it is like {bcoz of hdd manufacturers(?) } do u want better battery life with hdd life reduced or good hdd life with low battery time. solution is to fiddle with hdparm values.i hope Linux community will come up with some solution as no bios update or nothing of that sort will be supported by h/w people.

 

[infra_red_dude]

Hey using hdparm the APM settings can be set to any value and this solves all the problems, if any

 

[din]

Exactly

hdparm -B 255 /dev/sda

Done !

OK, To avoid further confusion, I am adding the solution (rip off from source -lol) in the first post.

 

[kumarmohit]

@kumarmohit



The fix (if the above command gives "true" as output) is very very simple and explained in the links. So please go ahead, nothing to worry. I love running Ubuntu in my lappy.

Teh only thing is that I do not want to make the effort, you see

if I can get a ready made solution in Sabayon, why bother!

 

[din]

LOL, ok

I thought you want Ubuntu but worried on this issue.

 

[Cyclone]

Does the same apply for Kubuntu 5.something? I've got a disk of that lying somewhere, i can always install that instead.

 

[praka123]

^what applies the problem occurs only if u enable aggressive power management and that is in laptop mode.default install will not have any problems.

 

[din]

@Cyclone

I regret for posting this thread now !!! LOL

I think people get scared and confused. Nothing so serious about it, and evenif the laptop mode is enabled or power management settings is changed, just a single line command will make it ok

So do not worry at all, go ahead and install Ubuntu.