WD3200KS: Can I use Hitachi Feature Tool to adjust AAM?

[mshan]

Does the Western Digital 3200KS have adjustable AAM, and if so, is it safe to use Hitachi Feature Tool to adjust it? Or does Western Digital offer some tool of their own?

[DonQ]

Does the Western Digital 3200KS have adjustable AAM, and if so, is it safe to use Hitachi Feature Tool to adjust it? Or does Western Digital offer some tool of their own?

WD says on their website that they do not offer such a tool.

Question
Is there a way to change Acoustic Management settings on Western Digital hard drives?
Answer
Western Digital does not provide software that will change the Acoustic Management settings on Western Digital hard drives.

If you have an Intel chipset based motherboard listed in Answer ID 1004, you can use a program called the Intel Application Accelerator to change the Acoustic Management settings for our hard drives. This utility can be downloaded and installed from Intel's web site

I used the Hitachi Feature Tool, http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm, off a bootable CD to enable AAM on my WD5000KS and on my HD501LJ. It made a HUGE difference on both drives.

[jhhoffma]

Yes you should be able to adjust AAM on that drive. You may use FTool on a CD or floppy to adjust AAM to 128 (quiet mode).

Another option is using HDDScan, which can run from windows without a floppy or CD. The AAM setting is in the IDE features tab. However, not all controllers are supported.

[JSL]

Hi DonQ,

Is there a reason to use the Hitachi Feature Tool on the Samsung 500 GB HD501LJ drive to adjust AAM instead of the manufacturers own tool HUTIL by Samsung?

I just installed 4 Samsung 500 GB HD501LJ drives into a NAS server (ReadyNAS NV+). On the Samsung site for the 500 GB HD501LJ drives under software Samsung lists HUTIL.
Page for HD501LJ drive:
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDis ... D501LJ.asp

HD501LJ drive software link:
http://www.samsung.com/support/products ... rive%2Esec

Using Samsung's utility HUTIL I was able to Adjust AAM level to: Quiet, Disable, Fast, Middle

[ovatsus]

Hi.
I used the feature tool on my WD4000KD. I saw a huge diference after setting AAM to 128 and testing within the program, but after a reboot, it always go back to 256. I can't change it wih HDDScan either, it does the same things, going back to 256.

Can anyone help me please?
Is there another program which I can use?

[jhhoffma]

There's another post on this forum where a user was having the same problem. I think it came down to the mobo being used. Try a search and see if you can find it.

Maybe search for "AAM 256"?

I don't remember the exact post or whether there was a solution or not, but it's a start.

[rseiler]

It's bizarre to me that WD doesn't offer a tool to change AAM when in their specs they cite varying noise levels based on AAM!

Furthermore, right from the manual for the WD "AA" drives:

The AAM feature allows the host to select the acoustic level
of the hard drive.

When quiet operation is essential, the drive may
be set to operate in the Acoustic Mode to minimize the hard drive’s
sound level.

The Performance Mode results in slightly higher acoustic
levels while optimizing the performance of the drive.
The Set Features command is used to set the AAM level.

And those commands are:

Set Acoustic Mode (80h)*
Set Performance Mode (FEh)*

*Changes are valid through power cycles and hard resets.

What is the performance hit when moving from 254 to 128? My 5000AAKS is quite "seeky" to me, so I'm considering changing it.

The manual puts the dBA difference between Performance Seek Mode and Quiet Seek Mode (for 3-disk models) at 33 vs 29 respectively, so it's significant (2-disk is 29 to 26).

BTW, HDDScan seems to be crippled in Vista, so I'll have to dig out Hitachi's tool.[/quote]

[mg1394]

Hmmm, so do you have a question? Or are you just making a comment?

The HFT works just fine on all WD drives. If you have a very seek-intensive application, of course there will be a performance difference; however, I have yet to see a benchmark that could show such a difference, and a user that could really see the difference. The sound difference, however, is significant.

BTW, ovatsus' problem is common with the HFT when you simply set the new AAM setting but don't ever do the "OK" command to set it into NVRAM on the drive. Easily seen by simply going back to the main menu in HFT and then checking the setting again.

Enjoy your (much quieter) drive. Also, the HFT is on the USBD CD image, so you can have everything (HFT, WD programs, Maxtor AAM program, etc.)

[rseiler]

USBD? You mean UBCD?

I did ask my question, but even though you apparently didn't see it you answered it. So it's not noticeably slower, not even with benchmarks. How odd, but it sounds good. I'll try it tomorrow.

[rseiler]

Now that I've used HFT 2.05 to move to 128 on the 5000AAKS, all I can say is: WOW. What a difference! And as mentioned earlier, if there's a performance difference, good luck finding it. Even HD Tune's chart remained unchanged and reading in the 70's (MB's).

[jhhoffma]

Now that I've used HFT 2.05 to move to 128 on the 5000AAKS, all I can say is: WOW. What a difference! And as mentioned earlier, if there's a performance difference, good luck finding it. Even HD Tune's chart remained unchanged and reading in the 70's (MB's).

You wouldn't/shouldn't notice a difference so much in the transfer rates as there is not much seeking done there. You would notice it in access times (random seek) as I believe that AAM slows down the acceleration/deceleration of the armatures to reduce the vibrations.

[slaman]

Most Asus boards don't support AAM...

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