I had the exact same problem with 7.10 Gutsy on a Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop - hard drive clicked every few seconds. The System Monitor I have in the panel confirmed this - with every click, there would be a spike in the graph. I managed to COMPLETELY FIX the problem based on what some people here (and elsewhere) have said, but I figured for the benefit of other Ubuntu newbies I would break down step-by-step what I did:
1) Enable laptop mode. This will ensure that the laptop-mode-tools program will actually be able to run. For some reason, Ubuntu has it automatically disabled. Go to Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal and type in "sudo gedit /etc/default/acpi-support", then your password when prompted. Search for where it says "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE" and set it from "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=false" to "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE=true". Then save it and exit. 2) Get laptop-mode-tools and install it. Now, for some reason I couldn't find this program using the Add/Remove Programs feature, so I went to the main download page at <http://samwel.tk/laptop_mode/packages/debian> . (You have to download the debian package for some reason.) Download the second most recent one (1.34), and open it with the default program. When you open it up, it should alert you that a later package is available and you should download that one instead. Well, install this one anyway - just click "install." Within minutes after the installation, Ubuntu should give you a popup in the panel to let you know that a new version is available, so keep clicking through the windows to install that one. (This is just what worked for me. The most recent version from the web site gave me a warning about how I needed an “earlier” version of the package, so... whatever.) 3) Set laptop-mode-tools to run even when on AC Power, otherwise you'll still have clicking when you're plugged in. Go back to the Terminal and type "sudo gedit /etc/laptop-mode/laptop-mode.conf" and give the password if prompted. In gedit, search for "ON_AC". You should change "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=0" to "ENABLE_LAPTOP_MODE_ON_AC=1" so that laptop-mode-tools will work even when your laptop is on AC power. Save and quit. 4) Turn on laptop-mode-tools. Go back to the Terminal and type "sudo /etc/init.d/laptop-mode start". This should start up laptop-mode. You can check to make sure that laptop-mode is on by typing "sudo /etc/init.d/laptop-mode status". A nonzero value after where it says “/proc/sys/vm/laptop_mode” indicates that it's activated. Now, in my case the "start" command reassured me that laptop-mode was on, but then the "status" command gave me a 0 value. That was because I was on AC power, and I hadn't done step 3. Yours should be a nonzero value. 5) The clicking sound should have stopped by now. (THANK GOD!) Now just set it so that laptop-mode will come on every time you boot. To do this, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions, then click "Add" to add a new startup program. In the "Command" field, put "/etc/init.d/laptop- mode start". For "Name" or "Comment", put whatever you want. This should do it! Enjoy the peace of mind that comes with not having your laptop screech at you every 4 seconds. -- hard disk being accessed every 4 sec. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/17878 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is a direct subscriber. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
