Hello,
According to the software HDDlife 2.9 pro (which by the way is an interesting software), the WD SE16 320GB that I have has the AAM capability, and I think all new discs have that now. But I cannot change the "Enable Noise/Performance" option. It is grayed out to Performance.
I checked WD support page and they say "Western Digital does not provide software that will change the Acoustic Management settings on Western Digital hard drives."
Does anybody know of a third party tool that I can enable to change the AMA to silent. I´m getting quite annoyed with the chainsaw noise during seek times. I would rather drop performance in order to make it a "little" more quite.
Thanks
Tool to enable AAM for WD SE16 320GB
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
HDDScan:
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/ ... 2-HDDScan/
- Windows NT based (XP, 2000, etc.)
- single file executable, no installation, no rebooting
- features: SMART monitoring and self tests, read, verify and write scan (benchmarks), ATA features (AAM, APM, spindown)...
Hitachi Feature Tool: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
- PC-DOS boot floppy or boot CD (OS independent, requires rebooting)
- diagnostics (limited to Hitachi drives)
- ATA features: AAM and APM (not spindown) (works on all manufacturer's drives, though APM feature is unique to Hitachi at the moment)
- SATA speed setting for Hitachi drives (other manufacturers use jumpers)
Try HDDScan first and FTOOL if HDDScan cannot change the setting.
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/ ... 2-HDDScan/
- Windows NT based (XP, 2000, etc.)
- single file executable, no installation, no rebooting
- features: SMART monitoring and self tests, read, verify and write scan (benchmarks), ATA features (AAM, APM, spindown)...
Hitachi Feature Tool: http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
- PC-DOS boot floppy or boot CD (OS independent, requires rebooting)
- diagnostics (limited to Hitachi drives)
- ATA features: AAM and APM (not spindown) (works on all manufacturer's drives, though APM feature is unique to Hitachi at the moment)
- SATA speed setting for Hitachi drives (other manufacturers use jumpers)
Try HDDScan first and FTOOL if HDDScan cannot change the setting.
Thanks a million whiic!
Thanks a million!!
Hopefully one of these tools will allow me to benifit from the "silent" benefits that everyone is saying the the WD Caviars Se16 have.
Therefore I would assume that the "churning and grinding" that I hear during seek times is because the AAM is at the highest level, i.e. performance and once I enable the AMM to silent then the seek time will be almost silent.
I will post my results as soon as I get home and try it out. By the way, I´m new to all this, but I must say that once you start this hobby, it´s very addictive. hehehehe and I love it.
Hopefully one of these tools will allow me to benifit from the "silent" benefits that everyone is saying the the WD Caviars Se16 have.
Therefore I would assume that the "churning and grinding" that I hear during seek times is because the AAM is at the highest level, i.e. performance and once I enable the AMM to silent then the seek time will be almost silent.
I will post my results as soon as I get home and try it out. By the way, I´m new to all this, but I must say that once you start this hobby, it´s very addictive. hehehehe and I love it.
I know I've tried this HDDScan before and for the love of me, I could not figure out how to set the AAM parameters using this utility.
So I downloaded HDDScan 2.8 today and guess what.. same problem! The problem is all the FAQs are in some foreign language and I can't figure out what I need to do to set the AAM on my drives using the util.
Only one tool has ever worked for me and that was Hitachi's Feature tool.. but I really want to be able to set it without rebooting my rig. Are my drives not supported? Because I have the exact same drive as the original poster.
So I downloaded HDDScan 2.8 today and guess what.. same problem! The problem is all the FAQs are in some foreign language and I can't figure out what I need to do to set the AAM on my drives using the util.
Only one tool has ever worked for me and that was Hitachi's Feature tool.. but I really want to be able to set it without rebooting my rig. Are my drives not supported? Because I have the exact same drive as the original poster.
If you run HDDScan, you can set the AAM in the "IDE Features" tab. If you do not have this tab, then your HDD is connected to an unsupported controller, so you're out of luck.
I just bought a WD5000KS from BestBuy, and I had to use the Hitachi Feature Tool boot floppy to check the AAM, by default it was set to "Quiet Mode" or AAM = 128, I would imagine yours would be the same.
I just bought a WD5000KS from BestBuy, and I had to use the Hitachi Feature Tool boot floppy to check the AAM, by default it was set to "Quiet Mode" or AAM = 128, I would imagine yours would be the same.
