# load/unload cycle count is high on ST2000DM001



## minhtri (Dec 5, 2011)

hello
i bought ST2000DM001
when i copy data from old hdd to ST2000DM001, load/unload cycle count unchanged
but when i let it runs idle, load/unload cycle count rised very fast
one per half of minute

now i need to run a mp3 in it to make sure load/unload cycle unchange or rise slowly

what should i do ?

PS: when the hdd is running, it seems quiet, but when it is idle, when i refresh crystaldiskinfo to check its smart, i hear a "click"


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## IlluminAce (Dec 6, 2011)

Load (unload) cycle count is the number of times the drive spins-up (spins-down). This is a configurable setting for drives with power management features (all modern drives). 

Under Linux, use 


```
hdparm -S<spindown timeout - see the man page> /dev/<device name>
```

Under *BSD, use


```
atacontrol spindown /dev/<device name> <secs before spindown>
```

Under Windows, if I recall there's some setting under Control Panel -> Power something-or-other -> Turn off hard disks, but that probably wouldn't change the actual APM settings... I think you may need to use some other third party application (as usual with MS). HDDScanhttp://hddscan.com/ seems to come recommended by many.

I always have my drives configured never to spin down. In my humble experience, this improves drive longevity, doesn't make much difference at all to power consumption, and obviously eliminates waiting for drive spinups. In laptops it's obviously a different story - power consumption is paramount, and aside from anything else, the less time the platters are in motion, the less opportunity for the read head to plough into the platters when the laptop is jolted/dropped...


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## minhtri (Dec 7, 2011)

well, i am using solution that is 
hdparm -B 255 /dev/hda
to disable APM
but i need to to that everytime i power my pc
because it is automatically re-enable again


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## IlluminAce (Dec 7, 2011)

One solution is to place the commands in one of the rc. scripts - where they are depends on which distro you're running. However, the recommended solution is to use hdparm's configuration file, which is executed at boot, and intended for just this kind of purpose. You'll usually find it at 
	
	



```
/etc/hdparm.conf
```


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