Yatti420
Wizard
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2012
- Messages
- 1,437
Hello everybody,
I've seen alot of posts lately regarding the Load Cycle Count in the WD Green / Red hard drives.. I own a pair of green drives and have had issues with the LCC increasing dramatically over the course of days when initially purchased.. I read that there is an "idle timer" for the drive heads. Leaving it at the default 8 seconds causes the drive to move the heads off the platters or something to similar effect causing performance issues and frustration.
I chose to run WDIDLE3.EXE on my drives via USB/DOS to minimize the LCC increase.. I did this after one of my WD20EARS failed when I was using it for media..
The first step involves getting a clean formatted USB and installing FreeDOS image which will allow you to load the USB with various DOS tools to run.. Instructions can be found here on creating the DOS ready USB.. I usually use a small stick and keep it around for running other diagnostics etc in the future..
I then located WDIDLE3 from Western Digital - http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=609&sid=113
I just located another tool called WDSpinUp however I have not run this tool.. I'm not sure if this is controlling spin-up speeds etc..
Once wdidle.exe is copied onto the dos USB you may now put it in the server to boot up.. Configure your bios to boot off this new USB. You should be presented with a DOS prompt.. Execute wdidle3.exe and follow the instructions provided. Readme provided below for reference..
You should now be able to run WDIDLE3 on all green western digital drives.. I chose to disable my timer as the drives sleep according to FreeNAS after 5 minutes (these are no longer media drives etc)
If you are looking for a tool to modify WD RED idle timer please see Western Digital's new tool located here.. http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=619&sid=201&lang=en
I may clean up this how-to with more detailed instructions in the future.. See ya,
I've seen alot of posts lately regarding the Load Cycle Count in the WD Green / Red hard drives.. I own a pair of green drives and have had issues with the LCC increasing dramatically over the course of days when initially purchased.. I read that there is an "idle timer" for the drive heads. Leaving it at the default 8 seconds causes the drive to move the heads off the platters or something to similar effect causing performance issues and frustration.
I chose to run WDIDLE3.EXE on my drives via USB/DOS to minimize the LCC increase.. I did this after one of my WD20EARS failed when I was using it for media..
The first step involves getting a clean formatted USB and installing FreeDOS image which will allow you to load the USB with various DOS tools to run.. Instructions can be found here on creating the DOS ready USB.. I usually use a small stick and keep it around for running other diagnostics etc in the future..
I then located WDIDLE3 from Western Digital - http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=609&sid=113
I just located another tool called WDSpinUp however I have not run this tool.. I'm not sure if this is controlling spin-up speeds etc..
Once wdidle.exe is copied onto the dos USB you may now put it in the server to boot up.. Configure your bios to boot off this new USB. You should be presented with a DOS prompt.. Execute wdidle3.exe and follow the instructions provided. Readme provided below for reference..
WDIDLE3.EXE - WD Readme
//=============================================================================
//
// Copyright 2005-2009 Western Digital Corporation
//
// RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND
// ------------------------
//
// Use, duplication or disclosure by any commercial industry (public
// or private), private individual or by any Government Agency without
// an expressed written consent of release from Western Digital
// Corporation is subject to restriction set forth in paragraph
// (b)(3)(B) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software
// clause in DAR 7-104.9(a).
//
// Manufacturer is:
//
// Western Digital Corporation
// 20511 Lake Forest Dr.
// Lake Forest, CA 92630
// 1-800-275-4932
//=============================================================================
WDIDLE3 Version 1.05 for DOS
DESCRIPTION
- DOS Level utility to setup or report the idle3 value.
FEATURES
- Scan for all drives. Non-WD Drives shall only show the model and serial
numbers.
- Uses a Vendor Specific Command to set or get the idle3 timer.
- Timer can be set from 8 to 25.5 seconds on older drives.
- Timer can be set from 8 to 300 seconds on newer drives.
USAGE
WDIDLE3 [/S[<Timer>]] [/D] [/R] [/?]
where:
/S[<Timer>] Set timer, units in seconds. Default=8.0 (8.0 seconds).
Resolution is 0.1 seconds from 8.0 to 12.7 seconds.
Resolution is 30 seconds from 30 seconds to 300 seconds.
Note, times between 12.8 and 30 seconds will be set to 30 seconds.
/D Disable timer.
/R Report current timer.
/? This help info.
DOS ERRORLEVEL
0 No error
1 Drive problem
254 Internal program error
255 Invalid command line argument
You should now be able to run WDIDLE3 on all green western digital drives.. I chose to disable my timer as the drives sleep according to FreeNAS after 5 minutes (these are no longer media drives etc)
If you are looking for a tool to modify WD RED idle timer please see Western Digital's new tool located here.. http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=619&sid=201&lang=en
I may clean up this how-to with more detailed instructions in the future.. See ya,