Rest For The Hard Disk - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 10 SP2 - INSTALLATION AND ADMINISTRATION Installation Manual

For More Information
Additional documentation and help on ACPI:
• http://www.cpqlinux.com/acpi-howto.html
contains DSDT patches)
• http://www.intel.com/technology/iapc/acpi/faq.htm
FAQ @Intel)
• http://acpi.sourceforge.net/
• http://www.poupinou.org/acpi/

28.4 Rest for the Hard Disk

In Linux, the hard disk can be put to sleep entirely if it is not needed or it can be run in
a more economic or quieter mode. On modern laptops, you do not need to switch off
the hard disks manually, because they automatically enter an economic operating mode
whenever they are not needed. However, if you want to maximize power savings, test
some of the following methods. Most of the functions can be controlled with powersaved
and the YaST power management module, which is discussed in further detail in Sec-
tion 28.6, "The YaST Power Management Module" (page 528).
The hdparm application can be used to modify various hard disk settings. The option
-y instantly switches the hard disk to the standby mode. -Y puts it to sleep. hdparm
-S x causes the hard disk to be spun down after a certain period of inactivity. Replace
x as follows: 0 disables this mechanism, causing the hard disk to run continuously.
Values from 1 to 240 are multiplied by 5 seconds. Values from 241 to 251 correspond
to 1 to 11 times 30 minutes.
Internal power saving options of the hard disk can be controlled with the option -B.
Select a value from 0 to 255 for maximum saving to maximum throughput. The result
depends on the hard disk used and is difficult to assess. To make a hard disk quieter,
use the option -M. Select a value from 128 to 254 for quiet to fast.
Often, it is not so easy to put the hard disk to sleep. In Linux, numerous processes write
to the hard disk, waking it up repeatedly. Therefore, it is important to understand how
518 Installation and Administration
(detailed ACPI HOWTO,
(the ACPI4Linux project at Sourceforge)
(DSDT patches by Bruno Ducrot)
(ACPI