On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 06:37:01AM +0200, Michael van Elst wrote: > > I don't think the BIOS does disk accesses. So the "clunky sounds" are > caused by the drive itself. It's also likely that this is the normal > state of operation, so while it may make irritating sounds, it won't > damage anything. > > E.g. one type of drive does regular head recalibration when idle. That is > suppressed in "performance mode" to guarantee a maximum access time. > This would fit to your "noise stops with apm set to 253" experience.
Actually the "Load Cycle Count" keeps growing once per minute when idle. So it means the head is being parked (not sure recalibration involves that.) It may not damage something outright, but ultimately it is an avoidable mechanical movement that may influence drive life. Mayuresh.
