I do not know what is the cause, but since I’ve installed opensuse 11.2 my hdd temperature always rises up to 50 C, and higher to 53 (when i download something). When at the same time in windows my temperature was max 40-43 (45 when i was scanning it with anivirus), well it can be dust it can be my warm room, but can it be linux or some of its components that make my HDD so hot??? if anyone knows the case please give your ideas. Thank you a lot.
Could be any of the things you mention.
You don’t say laptop or desktop. For a desktop, anything around 50C is a bit warm and I’d start by cleaning the case and thinking about the airflow (cable runs in the fan’s path, maybe another fan to cover the HDs). Laptops run hotter, and laptop HDs are more tolerant of heat and as long as it’s not much, and not always, above 50C I wouldn’t worry too much. There’s little you can do about it with laptops anyway except to keep the vents free of dust. Excessive heat will shorten your HD’s life but you’ll usually get plenty of warning (strange noises, mainly) before anything catastrophic happens as a result of high operating temps.
Do you by chance have a ati video card? the radeon and radeonhd drivers can cause a heating problem
thank you for your replies, my PC is toshiba sattelite with 1.7 Celeron and 120 GB toshiba HDD, and of course some intel x3100 video, nothing spectacular. Yes, I understand that 50C is still an OK, but why it was 40 in windows just a week ago I still do not understand. Maybe its due to some Linux-and-hardware issues or different fan control, its still uncertain.
what does your mark 1 temperature monitor tell you? (fingers)
If your case bottom doesn’t feel that hot then it isn’t. your bios will force a shut down when the designed temperature gets too hot
Since I have a Tosh Tecra myself, with otherwise similar specs, I do know that Toshiba does have some Tosh specific drivers/software for the Windows OS install. Therefore I also have to wonder if it isn’t something specific to Toshiba. Have you looked on their site to see if they offer anything in drivers/software downloads? I haven’t needed to, as my Tosh seems to run just fine w/ opensuse 11.1.
Mine is a dual boot. Is yours? If it is, does the hard drive run cooler TODAY under MS? If not, this could be simply coincidental. It’s like taking your car in to the mechanic, who fixes the steering, but next week you develop a drive train problem. It seems related, but is likely just coincidental. You changed something, in doing so you did a lot of read/write access, maybe the hard drive is old, and just feeling arthritic after all that exercise?
Actually, Google has found out something else. HDDs operating at close to or slightly above 50°C tend to fail much less than those running cooler. Of course, too much heat is not good so going way above it is not a good idea…
about OP’s issue, I suspect it’s a sensory problem… maybe the calibration is a bit off? That’s not uncommon. I had to adjust the Linux sensory stuff for MB sensors quite a few times and HDD sensory is not that different
thank you all for your answers, i’m sorry , but i do not understand whats is “mark 1 temperature”. I check my hardy through #hddtemp /dev/sda and it says, now, 49! C, well maybe i’m overreacting.
Still, thak you again, and if anyone can help with the script i managed to dig. here is the url
Linux: Monitor hard disks temperature with hddtemp
I’ve been a windows user for a long long while, so there some bad habits i have, how do i make this script work? is it enough to make a txt file and put it into /var/spool/cron? (ashamed) or what should i do to get it to work, my ignorance is as high as my hdd temp here:)
The mark 1 temperature gage is the good old finger tips
Thanks Dale, you forced today’s first smile on my face rotfl!
Well most people’s HDs probably get less intensive use than those at Google’s farm, I know mine do! The key issue is continuous use, if your disk runs at a higher temperature most of the time that will probably do less damage than a constant leap between stone cold and overheating…
thank you all for your answers.
Sure, but keep in mind that there are disks which by default operate at such temperatures, even when doing nothing at all. The current temperature of my older Seagate U7 80GB disk, currently doing nothing at all and just spinning around (it’s a backup disk), is 47°C. Also, during hot weather, even when a disk does nothing and just spins, its temperature will increase for obvious reasons
Hot weather, in Belgium??? You should try Australia, where ambient temperatures in my attic study are regularly around 32-35C and life is only bearable with a fan pointed at your face. My HDs suffer too, of course, but I don’t find them failing more often than they did when I still lived in Britain, which is about as “hot” as Belgium. That sort of supports your point, but of course HDs have become much more temp-tolerant over the years. An 80Gb Seagate is a museum piece today… My 1Tb HDs run at only a few degrees above ambient temperature (well, about 10-15 above…). Haven’t actually had an HD fail on me for a while, except in laptops (entirely different, much more challenging scenario).