Analysis of Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM)

Hard drive manufacturers are trying their best to provide all users with drives that best suit their needs. They offer mainstream ("budget") hard drives, laptop hard drives, desktop drives with optimized performance for enthusiasts, as well as models for the corporate sector. There are also "green" (green) hard drives, which are designed taking into account the lowest possible power consumption. However, not everyone knows that the user can change the characteristics of the hard drive using the acoustic control function, which allows you to modify data access profiles (access patterns) and change the default hard drive mode (fast) to quiet mode. How does all this affect power consumption and performance? To find the answer, we used a Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive.

Fast vs Quiet

All UltraATA/100 and Serial ATA based hard drives have an Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) feature, but you need special software tools to access it and be able to change its settings. Although the AAM function allows you to set some individual values ​​from maximum performance to minimum noise, many software tools only allow you to select one of two modes: "fast" or "quiet". Because hard disk activity tends to increase power consumption, less aggressive data access patterns (access patterns) can result in lower power consumption. The key to reducing the noise level when accessing a hard drive lies in mitigating the acceleration and deceleration of the read/write heads.

Performance First

As far as we know, most hard drives are not pre-configured for quiet operation, and by default they have a "fast" mode. Majority 3.5" hard drives tested by us initially worked in fast mode, or we manually set this mode ourselves. There is no reliable way to determine which mode is currently active other than using analysis programs such as SiSoft Sandra, since determining the difference in performance requires significant workloads and serious tests. Die-hard enthusiasts may try to determine the quiet mode by the noise level, but even this requires knowledge of the nuances.

Be that as it may, the difference between these modes is significant, as you will see from the results of our tests. Therefore, we do not recommend setting silent mode, unless you really need it. silent system. Next, we'll discuss why hard drives have more of an impact on system noise than you might think.

How does acoustic control work?

While all hard drives have supported some form of power management since the very early days of ATA-4 (UltraDMA/33), automatic acoustic management (AAM) was supported with the advent of ATA-6 (UltraATA/100). In the case of power management, a value between 1 and 254 determines the power saving level. Let's take a simple example: if this value stays below 128, then the hard drive will automatically stop the spindle after a certain idle time. Note that this has nothing to do with external power management. operating system, which is more important for day-to-day operations because it takes into account applications and workload.

Acoustic management AAM is programmed with values ​​that define the parameters of the hard drive in very granular ways, allowing you to adjust the noise level, performance, temperature, power consumption and life expectancy. The range of acceptable values ​​is from 128 to 254. However, the real effect of each such setting remains hidden in the hard disk firmware, and most simple utilities available on the Internet allow you to choose either maximum performance or minimum noise level.

Why is noise so problematic?

Although we all hear differently, in general, the frequencies audible to the human ear fall within the range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, with certain frequencies being more sensitive to hearing. Sounds with a frequency of 1 kHz to 3 kHz are characterized by the greatest susceptibility, so noise reduction at these frequencies is more effective than at other frequencies. This is where acoustic control technology comes from.

Most of the sound waves in the range from 1 to 3 kHz consist of noise from two different sources. Firstly, this is the noise of the hard drive, generated by the rotation of its spindle and the friction of the mechanical parts directly inside the hard drive. This noise can only be reduced by modifying the components of the hard drive. But most of all we hear the noise caused by the vibration of the hard drive inside the computer case. This, in turn, consists of vibration from the rotation of the spindle, as well as vibration from the read / write heads, which accelerate and decelerate many times per second.

The fastest way to move the heads is to accelerate them to the middle of the path towards the new track and then decelerate the remainder of the path (so-called two-position search). There are many options for modifying this operation, ranging from the modification of acceleration and deceleration, as well as the required switching power. The addition of Native Command Queuing, which analyzes and reorders all incoming commands to find the most efficient order for read and write requests, helps reduce head movement, which can reduce access time and noise.

Acoustic Control Utilities

There are several utilities on the Internet that allow you to change AAM settings. Hitachi, whose Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive we used for testing, provides its own Feature Tool 2.11. This powerful utility allows you to change cache settings, transfer modes, power consumption and interface settings, but it is based on DOS and works through command line, so the system must be started from a bootable 3.5" floppy or CD image. This image and Feature Tool 2.11 can be downloaded. The above is not limited to Hitachi. We have found similar command-line applications from hard drive manufacturers such as Samsung and Seagate. Other utilities such as Abacus' HDD Acoustic Manager, AAM Tool, Hard Disk Sentinel and others are also handy to use.

We decided to use one of the simplest utilities: WinAAM. Version 2.9 is the most recent and seems to work well with our Hitachi hard drive. This utility can only set the AAM parameters to either "quiet" (value 128) or "loud" (254) equivalent to maximum performance. This is exactly what we needed, because with these two extreme values ​​we were able to test the performance, noise level and power consumption of the hard drive.

Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B

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Many of you should be familiar with the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive, which has been Hitachi's top model for several months now. Compared to its predecessor, the 7K1000 (no "B"), the new hard drive delivers significantly higher bandwidth up to 111MB/s and improved application performance. This hard drive is based on only three platters instead of five, as was the case with the original 7K1000. Hitachi has updated its retail product warranty and now provides a five year factory warranty, the same as the high end mass market Seagate and WD hard drives. Warranty for your Hitachi hard drive can be check on the manufacturer's website .

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We chose the 1TB Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive, although capacities are available, starting at 160GB, with the same great feature set. Most hard drives have 16 MB of cache, and all use the SATA/300 interface with Native Command Queue (NCQ) support. Hitachi also makes models with built-in real-time hardware encryption called Bulk Data Encryption (BDE).

All statements about acoustic control are valid for other models, however, accurate results may not be obtained, since lower-capacity hard drives have one or two platters instead of three. This affects idle noise and seek noise because there are fewer heads moving around.

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We came to the conclusion that latest model The Deskstar 7K1000.B is a very balanced hard drive and is well suited as a system drive. It delivers good application performance, above-average throughput, and reasonable power consumption. As a result, this hard drive gives a good ratio of performance per watt. Other terabyte drives, such as the Samsung Spinpoint F1, provide higher throughput, while the WD Caviar Black is faster in applications. However, none of the hard drives is perfect, and the difference between them is really small.

Let's look at the results of our testing of AAM in "fast" and "quiet" modes.

Acoustic noise measurement

We used this isolated case to measure the noise level of hard drives. Click on the picture to enlarge.

We used one of our own insulated acoustic noise measurement cases to measure the exact noise level of the hard drives. Please note that the measurement of noise level in dB (decibel) depends on parameters such as the distance between the noise source and the sound level meter, and the results can only be compared when they are obtained under the same conditions. In our case, the sound level meter was placed about 25 cm above the center of the hard drive (see picture below).

Noise difference

We used our IOmeter test to check the noise level of the hard drive during its activity, when there is a lot of random movement of the heads. The difference between quiet and fast modes is very noticeable: 43dB versus 49dB in our test environment, a difference that anyone with normal hearing will notice. The IOmeter results were affected by the "quiet" mode: they were noticeably lower; there was also a small difference in the PCMark05 test and a significant difference (perhaps the largest) in the average access time. However, with sequential reading and writing, we did not fix any difference: the AAM mode does not affect anything here.

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Test configuration and data transfer diagram

We repeated the throughput test several times, but did not notice a significant difference in data transfer speed between "fast" and "quiet" modes.

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System hardware
Processors	2x Intel Xeon (Nocona core), 3.6GHz, FSB800, 1MB L2 cache
Platform	Asus NCL-DS (Socket 604), Intel chipset E7520, BIOS 1005
Memory	Corsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.), 2x 512MB, CL3-3-3-10 latency
System hard drive	western digital Caviar WD1200JB, 120 GB, 7200 rpm, 8 MB cache, UltraATA/100
Drive Controllers	Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5) Promise SATA 300TX4 Promise FastTrak TX4310 Driver 2.06.1.310
Network	Broadcom BCM5721 built-in 1Gbps
video card	Embedded ATI RageXL, 8 MB
Tests
Performance Tests	c "t h2benchw 3.6
PCMark05	V1.01
I/O performance	IOMeter 2003.05.10 Fileserver Benchmark Webserver Benchmark Database Benchmark Workstation Benchmark
System software and drivers
OS	Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition Service Pack 1
Platform driver	Intel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphics driver	Windows default graphics driver

The access time is noticeably different in "quiet" and "fast" modes. This is the price you pay for performance or low noise, depending on your preferences.

Reducing the access time in "fast" mode improves I / O performance by up to 20%, but this applies mainly to shallow queues. Depending on the load, long command queues reduce the effect of fast access times.

The data transfer speed of the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive did not change when switching from "fast" mode to "quiet".

The Windows XP Startup test in PCMark05 is heavily dependent on hard drive access time and I/O performance, so "fast" mode certainly provides better application performance.

"Quiet" mode did not harm the performance of the hard drive during sequential operations such as writing large amounts of data.

As already mentioned, the settings of the hard drive significantly affect the noise level. During hard disk activity in "fast" mode, the noise was quite noticeable (using the IOmeter test), but in "quiet" mode, the reduction in noise level was even perceived by ear. For HTPC home theater systems, we definitely recommend switching AAM to "silent" mode.

Switching the modes of the acoustic control function did not affect the temperature of the hard disk in any way.

Idle power consumption was different, with "fast" mode requiring less power. We cannot find an explanation for this, but such a difference is greater than the margin of error.

And again we see that during sequential read operations, the "fast" mode clearly requires a little less energy.

Because the performance of streaming reading hasn't changed,...

The performance-per-watt ratio was better in the "fast" mode, as in this case the hard drive consumes slightly less power. However, this difference is small.

Here we see further evidence of slower head movement in the hard drive's quiet mode. In our workstation scenario, the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B hard drive did fewer IOPS compared to "fast" mode.

The result was quite expected and obvious: a Hitachi hard drive set in "fast" mode requires more power for intensive I / O operations than in "quiet" mode. Our test system showed a difference of 1.1 watts.

As a result of comparing power consumption and relatively little difference in performance, "quiet" mode provided better performance per watt in workstation I/O scenario than "fast" mode!

Conclusion

Upon careful analysis, it turned out that automatic acoustic control (AAM) switching in modern hard drives from "fast" mode to "quiet" and vice versa matters. However, the performance difference is noticeable only in some tests and is insignificant for ordinary users.

The acoustic control function settings can be changed using utilities (freeware or shareware) or command line programs, which can usually be found on the hard drive manufacturer's website. However, in most cases you will need to work with boot disk or a floppy disk, which, in our opinion, is inconvenient. Instead, we used the WinAAM utility, although it only provides two options: "quick" or "silent" mode.

Change in performance

Setting the hard drive to "quiet" mode significantly degrades access time and I/O performance: here the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B functioned like a two-year-old hard drive. The reduction in random head movement performance also impacted application performance, although for most users the cost of noise reduction will be acceptable. By the way, the switching of AAM modes did not affect the data transfer rate at all.

power usage

We expected that the idle power consumption of the hard drive would remain the same, but for some strange reason, the "fast" mode turned out to be slightly better in terms of power consumption if the hard drive was idle or was busy only with sequential operations. During the arbitrary movement of the heads, the situation changed completely. In this case, a "fast" hard drive provides more high performance at the cost of increased power consumption, so a "quiet" hard drive wins in terms of performance per watt. The difference in streaming reading was less.

Is AAM Worth It?

It remains to answer one question: is it worth switching the acoustic control mode to "quiet" in order to reduce the noise level? If you're trying your best to reduce the noise of your computer, then it's certainly worth it. The reduced vibration level of the hard drive significantly affected our noise level measurements, and this will be even more noticeable when the hard drive is installed in a computer case, since the case always transmits vibration, making it audible. Enthusiasts using high-performance hard drives should definitely consider soundproofing or sound-absorbing equipment. If you take care of high-quality soundproofing, then the noise level of the hard drive will noticeably decrease without affecting performance. For casual users with no performance aspirations, we recommend taking the time to acoustically optimize their hard drives by switching AAM to "silent" mode.

Noise sources

Unless you've built a silent system that uses passively cooled components, it will produce a certain level of noise. hard drives and optical drives built on rotating platters and disks, and the heads need to be constantly positioned, which creates noise due to vibration. CPU and GPU coolers, as well as case fans, make noise due to the rotation and movement of air. Again, vibration is also a significant source of noise as the fans spin rapidly to blow air through hot components.

Noise Definition

The problem with noise is that the human ear perceives the frequencies of the spectrum in different ways, and there are also individual characteristics of perception. Therefore, certain noises that irritate me may not be noticed by your ears at all. Although the perception of noise is subjective, it can be objectively measured in terms of decibels, reflecting the sound level (sound pressure) relative to some reference. A sound pressure level of 0 dB corresponds to silence, and the decibel scale shows the sound pressure at one level or another. The decibel scale is logarithmic, that is, a difference of 10 dB corresponds to a difference of 10 times.

Noise protection

There are two main ways to reduce noise levels. The first is that the noise source can be installed in a soundproof housing, which reduces the noise level due to special materials that reflect and dampen sound waves. The second is that noise sources can be installed in such a way that they do not come into contact with other materials to which the vibration of the source can be transmitted.

The first product in our review is the 3RSystem computer case, which uses a special hard drive mounting system that separates them from the case and prevents increased vibration. The second product is a hard drive accessory from GrowUp Japan.

3RSystem L-1100 T.REX enclosure with HDD spring mount

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The first product we chose for the article is not a specific soundproofing product. Before us is a computer case that has been designed with a focus on the sound isolation of hard drives, as well as overall noise reduction. L-1100 T.REX from the Korean company 3RSystem is an ATX "medium tower" with dimensions of 420 x 200 x 450 mm (height, width, depth).

From the outside, the black case with a shiny front panel looks like any other "medium tower", but inside everything is different. Four 5.25" drive bays, power and reset buttons, as well as four USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port and one audio port are available on the front. Inside the case there is an additional 3.5" bay, a mounting rack for three 3.5" hard drives mechanically separated from the body.

Soundproofing inside

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3RSystem has installed a special sound-absorbing material on all large surfaces inside the T.REX case, which helped to reduce the noise level of the computer as a whole. The top and bottom of the case, front and rear panels are covered with soundproofing. The photo above shows individual soundproofing elements - 3RSystem sent them to us separately for a special demonstration. The same materials are mounted in the housing during assembly at the factory. Both side panels can be removed for installation of accessories or service, and among the remaining holes can be noted back panel I/O, rear 120mm fan, front 120mm fan, and power supply bay.

Soundproofing effectively reduces the noise of the case as a whole, CPU coolers and video cards are much quieter. However, we wanted to test the noise reduction from hard drives in such a case, so let's get to them and move on.

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Click on the picture to enlarge.

3RSystem HDD spring mounting system

The hard drive rack can be removed from the side of the case without the need to remove or modify any other components; the stand just slides out to the side. 3RSystem used special spring hangers to isolate the hard drives from the case. The screws used to mount hard drives are not screwed directly into the chassis rack, but to part of the spring mount. In addition, 3RSystem has added a set of rubber pads that also isolate the hard drives from the rack and spring mounts.

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Mounting hard drives through spring mounts rather than directly into a drive rack eliminates the widespread passive cooling of hard drives that transfer heat to the rack. 3RSystem has added a 120mm fan on the front to keep the hard drives cool and ensure they are well ventilated. We measured the surface temperature of the test hard drive, which turned out to be 10°C higher than the Smart Drive results (see below). Smart Drive equipment reduces noise, but it uses only passive cooling.

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Click on the picture to enlarge.

Smart Drive Neo is a highly effective hard drive noise reduction tool that eliminates noise and vibration. Smart Drive Neo released by a Japanese company called GUP(abbreviation "Grow Up Japan"). Before us is a tool that reduces the noise of a hard drive by physically isolating it with the help of spring fasteners, as well as placing the hard drive in a closed case. GUP calls the rig "HDD silencer". Soundproofing works very well, but at first we began to doubt the temperature characteristics of the installed hard drive. Fortunately, the product did not disappoint us; it combines noise suppression with effective tool cooling thanks to its aluminum top panel.

The top panel should touch the hard drive case to ensure good heat dissipation. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The Smart Drive Neo is only suitable for 3.5" hard drives because the top of the Smart Drive Neo must be touched on the hard drive. When touched, heat dissipation is reliable, which we tested with the WD Raptor WD740 74 GB 10,000 rpm hard drive - one of the hottest 3.5" hard drives.

Inside the Smart Drive Neo, we found power and data SATA connectors, and the hard drive itself is not just screwed to the Smart Drive snap. GUP has developed a special spring mount to reduce vibration noise. As you can see in the photo below, the mounting mechanism is based on four springs holding two metal bridges. The hard disk must be installed on these bridges, after which the springs will dampen the vibration of the drive - it is really almost not felt when using the equipment. The spring mechanism actually serves two purposes, as it not only eliminates most of the vibrations, but also guarantees contact with the tooling panel for better cooling.

Click on the picture to enlarge.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

For tests we used a Western Digital WD740 Raptor hard drive, which, as we mentioned earlier, is one of the hottest 3.5" hard drives. Although this model is already outdated, it still fits our tests quite well: if the 3RSystem case and GUPs can cool the drive well, they can handle almost any other hard drive.

Noise level measurements

We measured the noise level in three different configurations.

1. Acoustic measurements of a WD740 Raptor individual hard drive. We mounted the hard drive on four pieces of Styrofoam so that the vibration would not be transmitted to the test table.

2. We installed the WD740 in the middle bay of the hard drive rack of the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and measured the noise from the same distance and at the same angle as in the case of a separate hard drive, but outside the closed L-1100 case. We used both case fans to cool the hard drive, but did not install a power supply.

3. We installed the WD740 hard drive in the Smart Drive Neo and ran the same tests as with the standalone hard drive.

All noise measurements were taken at a distance of 70 cm to the left of the hard drive, regardless of what obstacles were present: the case wall or the HDD equipment.

Temperature measurements

We measured the temperature of the drive, located on the test bench, inside the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and inside the equipment. We first ran the IOmeter database test, which is usually quite efficient on the hard drive. After a period of 45 minutes, we used Everest 4.6 to read the hard drive's SMART temperature sensor.

As mentioned above, the temperature of the WD740 hard drive was measured using SMART functions, which displays the required values ​​in utilities such as Everest 4.6. The hard disk temperature was measured after 45 minutes of heavy hard disk I/O activity. As you can see, the GUP Smart Drive Neo does a better job of cooling the 10,000 RPM WD Raptor hard drive even though it's completely closed.

The noise level in idle mode was measured after a few minutes of inactivity, but the motor spindle continued to rotate. The difference is more noticeable than the numbers indicate, as the remaining noise is noticeably lower after installing the WD740 inside any of the products.

The noise level during the IOMeter database test varied quite a lot. When working on an open test bench, the hard drive gave out up to 55 dB, which is very noticeable. This level of noise was considered annoying by most of our engineers. After being installed in the 3RSystem case, the noise level of the hard drive was reduced to 42 dB, which is very close to the noise level in idle mode! It is quite clear that the spring-loaded mounting mechanism, together with the soundproofing material inside the case, do an excellent job. Experienced users will not even guess that a fast 10,000 rpm hard drive is used inside the system; subjectively, the noise level was as low as that of a laptop hard drive.

However, the GUP Smart Drive Neo did even better, reducing the noise level by up to 40 dB during random hard drive activity. If you install the drive in GUP's HDD Silencer, you will effectively eliminate almost all noise above the idle level. The difference between the 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX case and the GUP Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer is noticeable, but only for those users who don't want to hear the hard drive at all.

Conclusion

Although hard drive noise has not been a major problem in recent years due to notable advancements and optimizations in this area, both products reviewed in this review did an excellent job of reducing hard drive noise at idle and under random load. The 3RSystem L-1100 T.REX enclosure and the GUP Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer reduce the noise level during activity to near the noise level when idle. At the same time, there is no need to puzzle over cooling and temperature, since both products are suitable even for high-speed 10,000 rpm hard drives.

The Korean company 3RSystem offers the L-1100 T.REX case - a high-quality "mid-tower" for ordinary PCs. The case is equipped with soundproof pads on all internal surfaces, and the hard drive rack uses spring mounts. Both solutions provide a noticeable reduction in hard drive noise. Two 120mm case fans ensure that hard drives do not overheat.

However, the Smart Drive Neo HDD Silencer equipment from the Japanese company GUP did an even better job of reducing the noise level and cooling the WD740, which we used for the review. To be honest, we did not expect such a convincing result, since the hard drive is in a closed case, that is, there is no air circulation. However, the spring-loaded metal bridges on which you place the hard drive not only mechanically isolate it from the Smart Drive fixture, but also guarantee strong contact between the drive and the top cover of the fixture, which acts as a heatsink. But on the international market, we were able to find the Smart Drive Neo for an impressive $80, so you really must be a fan of quiet computers.

For regular users who just want to make sure that the computer does not make more noise than it needs to work, it is better to look for computer cases with spring mounts or similar mechanisms that do not allow the vibration of the hard drives to be transmitted to the case. Applying soundproofing material, as is done in the case of the L-1100 T.REX, also does not hurt.

The rig will be of most interest to noise-sensitive users or those who wish to minimize noise in a variety of applications. A silent HTPC might not be fast enough, but with the Smart Drive Neo, you'll get pretty close to complete silence if you build your system in a soundproof enclosure like the L-1100.

Winchester is a storage device that is used in most modern computers and laptops as storage media. However, users prefer to copy valuable data to other media or duplicate it in the cloud in case HDD will fail. One of the first signs of a breakdown is that the hard drive is cracking. What to do if this happened? The following describes the causes of vibrations and how to eliminate them.

What is noise level?

Noise level is a phenomenon that can be described as the sound emitted by a mechanical structure during operation. This vibration includes two components: spindle (aerodynamic) noise and positioning noise. In total, the sound level reproduced by the hard drive should be twenty-six decibels. If the noise of the component is not blocked by the work of coolers and is clearly audible, this is a reason to think whether everything is in order with the device.

How to set the source of cod?

The hard drive does not always crack when it signals its deplorable state. A certain level of noise may well be the operating mode of the device, but if the situation with annoying sound becomes problematic, then it is still worth disassembling the system unit. To get to the insides, it is necessary to unscrew the mounting bolts and remove the housing cover.

During the repair work, you need to take care of your safety. Better be careful with electrical wires. It is not superfluous during disassembly of the computer to completely turn off the device and ground it.

What are the causes of excessive noise?

To determine the nature of the problem, you need to start the processor and listen for sounds. Perhaps the reason for the excessive noise level is not at all that the hard drive is cracking. It all depends on the features of the assembly of the computer and the quality of its components. The source of the reproduced sound can be a powerful video card fan or a cooler that is simply dirty. If this was precisely the trouble, then it is worth cleaning the fan from dust.

The likelihood of unwanted vibrations also depends on the type of enclosure. If the system unit has sufficiently thick walls, it will not let in any extraneous sounds and provide proper comfort, while a thin-walled case, on the contrary, will resonate the emitted noises. But what to do if the hard drive in the computer still cracks, and not other components?

Why does the hard drive make an excessive sound?

The essence of the problem lies in the very fact that it is the special magnetic components that produce noise during rotation. In a sense, this is a completely normal workflow. But why does the hard drive crack if there were no unusual noises before? It is an uncharacteristic sound that may indicate violations in the operation of the hard drive.

In addition, any device has its own service life. With prolonged use of the part, the hard drive wears out, which is accompanied by a characteristic crack. In this case, it is necessary to copy all the data from the computer as soon as possible and change the broken part. However, there are also less drastic measures.

How to test a hard drive?

One of the first aid broken sectors hard drive is to block them with special programs. If the hard drive is cracking, then, firstly, you can try using two types of complexes:

1. Acronis. The most common of this kind of program, which has a number of necessary functions. Chief among them is the creation backup from damaged media.
2. Victoria. With the help of the program, you can check the hard drive. If problem areas are found during testing, Victoria will remember them and automatically block them.

How to reduce the noise level with the help of programs?

You can try software methods to reduce the noise level of the hard drive. In this case, AAM or HDDscan programs come in handy.

The first program, the essence of which is to control the speed work hard disk will automatically make the necessary settings. It is quite possible that if the hard drive is cracking, then you should just slow down its speed mode, because the faster the magnetic elements rotate, the louder the device works. A noticeable disadvantage of this program is that it may not recognize the storage medium.

The second program - HDDscan - is free from this shortcoming. The principle of operation of HDDscan is absolutely the same as that of AAM, but an additional advantage is the ability to test the hard drive and select SMART parameters.

How to reduce the noise level manually?

Mechanical noise reduction is advisable only for a stationary computer; with laptops, only the software method should be used.

There are quite a few options for manually fixing the problem. Often a hard drive cracks during operation, not only because of its malfunction, but the reason may be that its case is not attached well. You should make sure that all elements of the fastening structure are in the grooves, and the bolts are not untwisted. For additional sealing of the connections between the parts of the hard drive and the computer, insulating gaskets are used, that is, the joints can simply be glued with insulating tape, which will help ensure that the hard drive mounting basket does not have direct contact. This method is quite effective in combating excessive crackling.

Another way to deal with intrusive sound is to change the location of structural elements or the hard drive itself. This can only be done if this movement allows the volume of the hull. The main goal in this case is to achieve the smallest contact between the hard drive and the case. So, you should ensure the most reliable static position of the hard drive.

There are craftsmen who achieve the location of the hard drive even for which strong and thick wires or wires are used. With the help of such improvised materials, it is possible to achieve a complete absence of vibration transmission to metal parts.

The design and technological methods of reducing vibrations include the use of noise-absorbing devices that help to eliminate the consequences, but not the cause of the crackling of the hard drive. In any case, these measures are only temporary. If the problem is really critical, it is better to secure the information and make a complete replacement of the hard drive.

Sometimes every PC user may encounter the problem of extraneous noise during hard disk operation. Winchester is a mechanical structure, inside which are rotating disks. Reading information from a hard disk is carried out using magnetic heads, which, when moving, create some noise. A variety of extraneous sounds depends on the model of the hard drive and on the case system block. If the computer case is made of inexpensive materials, poorly assembled inside, then unpleasant sounds will be emitted throughout the system unit.

The hard drive stores all the information on the computer. Therefore, you need to take measures to save data as soon as you hear noise during the operation of the device. Since this is the first "bell" that it may break soon.

However, sometimes simple working condition may be accompanied by noise. Here you need to figure out why the hard drive is cracking.

1. Replace the hard drive.
2. Modify the acoustic level using the AAM option.
3. Take measures regarding the soundproofing of the case or purchase a better one.
4. Secure the hard drive with soundproof pads.
5. Perform disk defragmentation.

Most likely, it is the second solution to the problem that raises the most questions. Let's consider what it is.

Reducing noise from the hard drive using AAM

Any HDD is characterized by the function of regulating the level of noise it creates through the built-in Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) option. Its task is to reduce the noise of the device by reducing the speed of movement of the heads. But there is one negative factor here: by applying this option, the speed of the hard drive will automatically drop.

Which of these two options (speed or noise) will create more inconvenience, in whose favor to give preference - is up to you. You may not notice a reduction in hard drive speed, but the annoying noise volume will noticeably decrease. If you still decide to fix the noise problem using AAM, then you need to download the WinAAM application. It's available for download, and it's completely free. Owns a Russian-language interface and works without mandatory installation. You can get this program by following the link: http://www.withopf.com/tools/aam/winaam-292.zip.

On the window that appears, click Continue. Correcting security settings is completely useless when getting rid of hard drive noise, so it's best not to touch it.

In the first line you can read that at this point in time the noise level control is not activated. Click on the "Quiet/Standard (128)" option to set the silent AAM level. Its value can range from 0 to 255. It is noted that only extreme levels, that is, “quiet” or “loud”, have influential abilities. Most hard drives do not pay attention to intermediate levels. This is most likely the reason that the WinAAM application allows you to solve the noise problem with a click on one option.

After adjusting the noise level, the application will close. Reopen it, select "Continue", then "Check".

A window will open showing random movement of the read head.

At this moment, you will have the opportunity to hear the process of the hard drive with the updated AAM option. The difference is huge. In order to compare with the previous state of the hard drive, click the "Loud (254)" option. This action will speed up the hard drive and return the previous noise volume.

Mechanical methods to get rid of HDD noise

When the application fails to get rid of the noise, you need to solve the problem manually.

1. First, check the fixing quality of the hard drive. The hard drive must be firmly fixed and securely held on the grooves, all bolts must be sufficiently tightened.
2. Consider which parts of the HDD mechanically touch the computer case. At the joints, it is necessary to install special gaskets with insulation function. You can slightly move the hard drive mounting basket so that the part does not come into contact with the computer case. Such actions can help reduce noise.
3. If it is possible to change the location of the hard drive, do it. It is necessary to strive to ensure that the vibration of the hard drive does not pass to the case.

If this does not reduce the noise, contact technical support.

In everyday work, I like to use the browser as a player, anchoring it to the left side of the screen, and leaving VS Code space on the right, thanks to new Windows versions excellent control over window bindings. Unfortunately, even the screen space of a 27-inch monitor is catastrophically small for all "wishlists", so I want to buy a second monitor more and more.
My main browser is Vivaldi and it's good for everything, except that it uses absolutely disgusting, thick scrollbars straight from the past by default. The screen is already small, and then there are scrollbars 15 pixels thick. Fortunately, fixing this problem is easy and you don’t even have to resort to the store. Google extensions Chrome.
You can install modern scrollbars directly from the browser by enabling a special flag in the experimental settings.

To do this, enter in the search bar vivaldi://flags and find through the search "Overlay Scrollbars". After that, we transfer it to the Enabled state. After restarting the browser, you will see a really modern scrollbar that only appears when using scrolling and is hidden the rest of the time.
And I also want to recommend a little-known extension for Chrome browsers from Google itself, which allows you to unpin videos from YouTube and watch it even on the desktop like in a miniplayer or as it happens in MacOS with video.

June 24, 2019

I suddenly had enough free time in my personal life and observing the extremely sad state of industry in Russian Federation, I decided to fulfill my old dream - to master web developer profession in order to be able to work in the future freelance. Having closely come into contact with the topic of web development, I realized that there simply would not be, and the Internet over these ten years (it was then that I was fully trying to self-teach design and layout of sites) has come an incredible way.
Millennials have come up with new trendy names for web developers: front-end and back-end. The front-ender typesets the site from a layout drawn by a professional designer, adds various simple javascript scripts (so you need to know how to program), and possibly screwing the layout into the CMS. The backender is responsible for the site engine and working with databases, and he also turns up his nose and considers himself a real programmer, and not like these "form slaps". If 5 years ago it was possible to learn HTML5 layout and learn CSS in order to be proudly called a layout designer, now these are basic skills that cannot be found in any web studio, because very few people need layout by itself. The stack of technologies necessary for modern website development has grown incredibly and the layout designer is now a bit of a programmer, and the programmer, if necessary, can make layout from the layout and make the interface himself. But in our time it was possible to "cut" the site and make it up on tables ...

Here is a short extract knowledge and tips that I learned in a month of hard home study:

1. now the most popular code editor that covers 90% of the tasks of all front-end developers. atom not popular due to its buggy and slowness, on Sublime Text only old web developers who just got used to this "notepad" over the years of use are sitting.
2. Without the hated Adobe Photoshop when working with layouts, nowhere. This is the de facto industry standard. Yes, there are some very cool alternatives like paid online services like Avocode, Zeppelin or Figma, but they are more focused on rapid development of mobile interfaces rather than website layouts. And although they declare support psd, with more or less complex layouts there will definitely be problems. Not to mention that they misread text layer options and don't show/disable superimposed effects. The guys who created Sketch for Mac OS blew a huge market by not wanting to port their product to the web or to Windows. Where can I get photoshop? Unfortunately, Adobe's pricing policy leaves few options for newbies like me. Although for students they give discounts and long trial periods.
3. The Internet we now have is very vector and hypertext, so the vector graphics format SVG used everywhere. It would be good form to have it on your computer in conjunction with Photoshop open editor Inkscape vector graphics to open and edit such files. Well, or draw a couple of arrows, if nothing beautiful is alien to you.
4. Professional training in online courses is quite expensive: from 12,000 - 20,000 rubles and more, I generally keep quiet about the advanced level of knowledge (for which companies usually pay, and not the programmer himself). You can say that I will download any lectures on torrents (and this is true, they are there), any books and I will study myself. In courses, you pay not for the lectures themselves (instead of them you can read a bunch of articles on the topic for free), but for the work of mentors with you, for working on mistakes and assessing your real knowledge. I do not urge anyone to run and enroll in any courses, but by studying on your own, you will not gain some knowledge. Not to mention the possibility of unknowingly gaining "incorrect knowledge and training in bad practices."
5. The human brain is able to adequately perceive new information for no more than 4 hours, then a sharp drop in efficiency begins.
6. Without practices your knowledge is worth nothing. 80% of your training should be practice, and 20% theory and lectures. This is the most valuable thing in online courses that you can’t download on torrents: there you will be kicked in every possible way, given and checked homework, and indicated where to improve your knowledge.
7. Be prepared for the fact that website development technologies change every 2 years: old browsers die off, new frameworks and layout methods appear. Be ready to learn new things. Oh, but I really remember those times when the pages were made up with tables and just switched to "divas". And now people who make up only "divas" will look askance - now flexboxes are in vogue.
8. There are many free psd templates on the Internet that you can download, make up and make a portfolio of them. And of course, Chrome DevTools (which opens with F12) and a similar developer tool in Firefox are cool things: constantly look at the code of sites that interest you in order to understand how this or that thing is done, or where the coders screwed up (childish mistakes are often found).

   Beginner Developer Page

9. It is extremely difficult for a beginner to find a job on freelance exchanges. As I already said, layout is rarely ordered, and if they are ordered, then these simple orders are intercepted by craftsmen who, of course, will make it very quickly and efficiently. There are exchanges for perfect beginners like Work Zilla, but if you read the reviews, there will be a lot of negative ones. In addition, this exchange takes 15% from the completed order, imposes a limit on the withdrawal of money and requires a subscription payment every month. It also resets your rating over time. In general, there you will literally work for food for inadequate customers who want a full-fledged website for 1000 rubles. Used to be foreign Upwork, but it is now paid, and even there you can’t get through because of the Indians.
10. I learned cool concepts: semantic layout, adaptive layout, flexbox, grids, pixel perfect, cross-browser compatibility. Without real knowledge of these things, they will not even talk to you like a layout designer.
11. You will be surprised, but Internet Explorer is not dead yet. The 11th version of this "wonderful" browser, which the creators of Microsoft themselves buried, is still alive and is included in the concept called "cross-browser compatibility" (and sometimes it is required to ensure that the layout matches and the site works in Chinese mobile browsers and Opera Mini, where half modern technologies web). And IE 11 will definitely break your layout, because it is different from Chromium and Gecko (Firefox) browsers.

    Once you start typing, you will soon want to install a second monitor. It's a work necessity

12. Soft Skills work as before (since Neanderthals). Namely: the ability to communicate with the customer, advertise yourself, look for customers where your many competitors do not think of - all this will help you find a job and receive a stable income. Well, or it will help to ask for money for food near the church with the help of "selling texts" on a cardboard (sad joke).
13. All relevant and high-quality information on HTML and CSS technologies is only in English, so basic English is a must (to be honest, I have not yet met a developer who would not understand English from the word at all - some use online dictionaries at the learning stage, professionals teaching with tutors). This information is often (badly) translated and posted on the Medium blogging platform, and then all sorts of YouTubers steal, which I don’t recommend watching (there are not very many good front-end bloggers among Russian-speaking bloggers). Oh yes, never watch Gosha Dudar's videos - this is such Timur Sidelnikov from the world of programming. Freelancers are very fond of running YouTube channels, as it is a great advertisement for their skills, but whether they teach the right things ... is a big question. For many things that they easily show in their videos, team leads in web studios will scold you.
14. In the provinces, there is very little work for web developers and the niche is occupied by long-running web studios of various calibers (I saw a studio of one person and three people who can pull the design on Wordpress and work with jQuery as much as possible).
15. By the way, if you learn how to "pull design" on Wordpress, ModX, Joomla and other popular CMS, you may not die of hunger, because the demand for such work is very high. The share of sites on Wordpress in the world is constantly falling, but they are still about 40%.
16. The vast majority of web developers (as well as users) are sitting on Windows and do not have cool 4K monitors, so Retina and layout for Safari is a little-needed exotic. But the share of users who access the site with mobile devices, can be more than 60%, so your site must work properly and look good on smartphones and tablets.
17. Time! Some believe that layout can be thoroughly studied in 2 months and spent on studying before half a year basic javascript, automation tools and a popular framework. In any case, it is crazy to think that now you will quickly learn and go to earn money with your knowledge. The amount of material for obtaining the status of "junior web developer" - 2000 hours of lectures and practice.
    
18. Professional programmers love mechanical keyboards, but how loud they are at night (I have cherry mx black)! Take the keyboard cherry mx red to be a little quieter. I don’t know how much you can trust all the top keyboards on the Internet, but most often the Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid is recommended as the first mechanical keyboard. True, this is not a very cool brand among keyboards and the lack digital block annoying (and front-enders need to enter numbers often), but this is a rather old keyboard model and can be found in Russia at a price 4500 rubles. However, for 5000 rubles you can already pick up a normal keyboard on your favorite switches.

The path of the front-end developer is very difficult and thorny, knowledge becomes outdated and needs to be updated almost every year (with the release of new version framework used). But personally, I like this occupation and it would be cool if the knowledge I received was also paid for, allowing me to change my current profession to a new one. The road will be mastered by the walking one.

June 10, 2019

A lot was announced at the ongoing E3 exhibition good games, but the announcement caught my attention Microsoft Flight Simulator. The dead king of civil aviation flight sims is back to kick X plane and Prepar3D. I would very much like to see a triumphant return and there are hopes for this, even after the disastrous Microsoft Flight , which was a beautiful, but completely useless game for fans of simulators. It's scary to imagine, but a full-fledged licensed simulation part of the series (MS FS X - "ten") was released in 2006 - about 13 years ago.

There are no details about the game, but the trailer shows that this is the coolest graphics engine that provides an incredible degree of detail in the simulation of the game world. However, I suspect that, by tradition, most of the world will be flat and procedurally generated, and the United States will have beautifully detailed airports and cities. I really hope that Microsoft understands that without a community of modders, their game has no future, and they open up an API for creating missions, maps and aircraft. Many people now have a business built on this and a well-developed scenario of an airport or a plane for previous version simulators can cost under $100 and are readily bought. If Microsoft wants to make money on this, well, organize the sale of add-ons for the game through your store, take a percentage. It will be better than releasing a "dead" game in which nothing can be changed and selling users endless paid DLCs (the way of some railway simulators).

Screenshot from version 10 with mods

I also hope that the game will have full built-in support. VR. This technology has been asking for a long time in flight simulators, and in MS FS, of course, enthusiasts tried to introduce it, but this did not receive much popularity.
The simulator will be released in 2020.

June 9, 2019

With the release of the penultimate windows updates 10 and Nvidia drivers, I suffered a disgusting iron problem that is simply unrealistic to catch and fix - the monitor briefly turns off for 2-3 seconds when working from the displayport cable. As I later became convinced, the problem was not so much in the curves Windows drivers from the "hot-loved" Nvidia, how much the iron problem of the video card itself, released in 2014, a Chinese cable from Aliespress and a modern monitor from Dell for 35,000 rubles (which is rather insulting).
Starting to google the problem, I realized that there are thousands of such sufferers all over the Internet (google for "nvidia displayport blackscreen problem")! On the Nvidia and Dell forums, people are trying to solve the problem with various shamanistic actions from reinstalling Windows, editing the registry, to disassembling the computer and replacing the power supply. I even updated the bios of my video card to the standard one, having found a bios file for the GPU in the bins of the Internet, which has not been on the manufacturer's website for a long time (maybe he is embarrassed by his products?). The problem goes away for a day or two, and then the screen starts to insidiously turn off again during the game or when working with Chrome browser like mine. Working, constantly waiting for the monitor to turn off, is extremely uncomfortable psychologically (personally, I involuntarily swear and my eyes start to twitch).
I tried almost everything suggested on the Internet: I plugged the cable into another slot - it helps for a while, but the problem came back again and again! In addition, going into the BIOS and seeing how the screen twitches and turns off, I realized that this the problem is exclusively with the video card and the Chinese displayport cable and not the operating system. Thus, for myself, I radically solved this very unpleasant problem with turning off the monitor - refused to use the displayport cable and connected Dell monitor with 2K resolution via HDMI. Yes, the hdmi cable is also 100% Chinese and was bought for 400 rubles at the nearest store (when the displayport cable cost me more), but at least it is simpler and works without failures. I'm not a professional designer who needs a cable that supports specific color spaces, and I'm not a gamer with a 4K 144Hz monitor, but a regular computer user who needs the monitor not to suddenly turn off! And if you still need a displayport cable, then you should probably take care of buying a special expensive vesa-certified cable, but I'm afraid it won't cost 600 rubles.
So far I don’t know for sure who is to blame for the current problem: the manufacturer of the video card, the unknown manufacturer of the displayport cable (in his defense I’ll say that he worked perfectly for six months without any complaints) or me when I cleaned the computer from dust and accidentally touched something. Or maybe no one is particularly to blame, because in 2014 Nvidia supported displayport versions 1.3 and 1.4 for its video cards, without having an officially adopted specification and ended up doing it a little wrong, and when cables and monitors appeared in 2018, which require dp cables of new versions (monitors of high resolution and refresh rates of the screen), they began to rule this by flashing.
Nvidia even released a special utility that tries to patch the BIOS of video cards with this problem. But again, I don’t understand why the problem did not manifest itself in any way before, but has manifested itself recently?
Remembering all the jambs and troubles that video cards brought me Nvidia(three of them just burned out, the last two gave out a blue screen of death in games, scammers with 4 GB of memory, which are actually only 3.5), I'm thinking about switching to the camp AMD. Yes, the video cards of the "red" ones do not always shine with performance, game developers rarely optimize their games for them, some of the cards are pretty hot, but absolutely all the AMD cards I bought from me are still alive and working perfectly.

Honor Band 4 I decided to start with a simple one: giving up flour and running in the morning, and to make running not so boring, I decided to buy a fitness bracelet fashionable this season, since the Chinese industry produces them in incredible quantities and you can find simple models from 800 rubles to 2000 rubles for new models with an excellent screen.

Xiaomi Mi Band 3

At the moment, two devices are bestsellers: fancy Huawei Honor Band 4 with a bright AMOLED screen and a bunch of features, and more budget and simple Xiaomi Mi Band 3 with a simple non-color screen (the new 4th version with a high-quality screen is just on the way). It is also worth paying attention to the products of the Amazfit brand - people praise, but their price is 3000 rubles. Honor Band 4 has more features and types of workouts (ha, it even has Chinese gymnastics), but it also costs more, and besides, you have to pay for the ability to see a beautiful and bright screen with increased battery consumption. However, fitness bracelets consume little energy, so it's okay if you charge your bracelet not once a month, but once every 2 weeks, especially since the Honor Band's charging process is very simple - using a small docking station that connects from below . But charging from Xiaomi is not very convenient: you need to pick it out of the strap.
There are a lot of videos on YouTube comparing the Honor Band 4 and Mi Band 3, but most reviewers come to the conclusion that the Honor Band 4 is naturally better. In the pros of the Xiaomi fitness bracelet, only the price: you can take it for 1800 rubles with delivery from China. I took Honor Band 4 for 2200 rubles from a store that has a warehouse in Russia, so it was delivered to me in just a week by courier. Do not try to take Honor Band 4 from the official Russian store Huawei: they are completely insolent and tear up 4,500 rubles for this popular device. I think that 1000-2000 rubles is the amount that you can pay for a fitness bracelet and this will not hit your wallet too hard.
Made Huawei Honor Band 4 perfectly, there are no complaints about the assembly. I decided to play it safe and pasted on protective glass the film that the Chinese seller sent in the kit (two small strips cost me an additional 100 rubles to the final price). With the inclusion and updating of the device, I figured it out immediately and without any instructions. This is not so difficult if the device has only one button (well, touch screen, of course). For pairing, I used a proprietary application Huawei Health, which detected the bracelet using the included bluetooth and offered to update it, after which it uploaded a new firmware for 20 minutes (it was extremely necessary to do this, because the bracelet worked so-so on the old firmware). During the connection process, the application honestly admitted that it would send data to the PRC servers.
The bracelet is controlled by scrolling through the screens and pressing the screen. To stop or interrupt the workout, you need to press the menu button on the bracelet for 3 seconds. The bracelet can constantly measure the pulse, as well as monitor sleep, but I personally feel uncomfortable sleeping with it, and there are people who do not take it off around the clock and even in the shower, since it is waterproof. Another problem with a bracelet (and a watch, for a person who stopped wearing them) is that you constantly, out of habit, hit all sorts of things with it, doors, tables, and so on.
Naturally, the bracelet is perfectly friendly with your phone and it can send you notifications (rather strong vibration), SMS, messages from programs like Twitter, weather, and so on. In addition, you have the ability to enable unlocking the phone with a bracelet when they are nearby, and the bracelet has the "Where is my phone?" function, after which the phone starts yelling in English in a female voice "I'm here!". Another cool feature is switching music tracks on your phone by turning your wrist with a bracelet. The bracelet itself does not have the ability to track GPS coordinates (this requires devices such as Huawei Band 3 Pro, which are more expensive - prices start at 2800 rubles), but if you run with your phone, the Health app can link your coordinates to the map and save tracks. Personally, I wouldn’t run around with my phone, but for cyclists and tourists, that’s it.
Both Huawei and Xiaomi have lightweight budget versions of their fitness bracelets that you should not take. At a price they are cheaper by 1000 rubles, but unable to measure heart rate. Honor has a version of Honor Band 4 Running Edition, which can only count steps. For me personally (an overweight person), a constant measurement of the pulse is important. And for ordinary runners during training, it is important not to keep the heart rate high in order to avoid muscle pain.
Thus, the prices for fitness bracelets have now fallen to an acceptable psychological level. I hope this purchase motivates someone for daily sports.