Ubuntu May Be Killing Your Laptop's Hard Drive

wwrmn writes "There's a debate going on over at bugs.launchpad.net on whether it's the Ubuntu, BIOS, hard-drive manufacturer, or pick-any-player's fault, but Ubuntu (and perhaps any OS) may be dramatically shortening the life of your laptop's hard drive due to an aggressive power-saving feature / acpi bug / OS configuration. Regardless of where the fault lies or how it's fixed, you might want to take some actions now to try to prevent the damage."

Ubuntu

[Andrewkov]

It seems to be killing Slashdot's hard drives also!

Ubuntu

[Anonymous Coward]

but Ubuntu [...] may be dramatically shortening the life of your laptop's hard drive due to an aggressive power-saving feature

I always thought that Gibbon was just a bit too gutsy!

no problem, really!

[loafula]

I'll just buy another 4 hard drives with the money I saved not buying Vista!

Prevent damage??

[kusanagi374]

Yeah, sure. Whatever it is, it can't be compared to the damage done to Ubuntu's launchpad after it was slashdotted.

Once they control the fire and get the backup server online, maybe I'll be able to RTFA. :(

AHA! :D

[Killjoy_NL]

That's why I use windows. So I don't have to wonder who the culprit is ;)

^_^

Re:Thanks for slashdotting launchpad, guys.

[FudRucker]

here is a good workaround: http://www.debian.org/ [debian.org]

Re:Blame Microsoft.

[EveryNickIsTaken]

Bravo. Now we just need someone to blame this on Bush, and everything is covered.

Re:That's not what I'm worried about

[Hayden Panettiere]

I edited my xorg configuration file, and I'm just a girl! It's so easy that only a complete moron would have a problem with it.

Re:That's not what I'm worried about

[Stringer Bell]

Now let's all forget about this hard drive failure problem with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream!

Re:The Ubuntu

[eln]

It's only been about 10 minutes, but so far my Load_Cycle is sticking at 1 where it started.

You have to pull the knob out to get it to start the other cycles. It won't start the Spin_Cycle until you close the lid, though.

Re:AHA! :D

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

You're a Windows sysadmin

...

Doesn't sound like you're a very good sysadmin.

Gasp!

Re:Ubuntu

[Hal_Porter]

but Ubuntu [...] may be dramatically shortening the life of your laptop's hard drive due to an aggressive power-saving feature

I always thought that Gibbon was just a bit too gutsy!

You should have waited for Apathetic Ape. I hear that doesn't bother at all with power management.

Re:wow, I had Ubuntu kill a laptop hard drive . .

[jpeavey]

strange, Hitachi Harddrive sounds like an ubuntu approved device with it's alliteration and all.

Re:Effects on Dell/Ubuntu OEM?

[internetcommie]

Considering the HD failure rate on Dell laptops, I doubt anybody will notice a difference.

Re:Confused....

[Joebert]

Is that a button only for subscribers or somthing ?
I can't find the Uncheck Crappy Authors option.

Re:AHA! :D

[Jeff Carr]

Oh? Then you've never been caught in the "it's the graphics driver, no it's the motherboard, no it's the OS, no it's the graphics driver," loop

If you're wondering that, it's the power supply...

Re:Ubuntu

[It'sYerMam]

On the other hand it doesn't need it. It's permanently in Sleep mode.

Re:no problem, really!

[osu-neko]

You mean you got a refund from the laptop manufacturer? Otherwise, Microsoft has your money.

That doesn't follow. I didn't buy Vista with my laptop, nor did I get any sort of Vista refund from the manufacturer (Apple), but I'm still pretty sure Microsoft doesn't have my money.

Re:Ubuntu? Slashdot!

[geminidomino]

Doesn't compare to what Video did... the scene at the Radio Star's apartment was BRUTAL.

Re:Effects on Dell/Ubuntu OEM?

[rucs_hack]

My dell laptop lasted for seven years....

Ok, then it almost burned a hole in my carpet when it died, but apart from that it was good.

I also have a Dell OpenMosix cluster made up of by four pc's that are approximately five years old. Not one single problem has occurred with them, ever, I haven't had to reboot them for over a year, and that was just because we moved them to a new server room.

Re:The Ubuntu

[kiddygrinder]

No, i think it's fair to call this an Ubuntu problem, i mean 80% of the stories about linux these days are simply titled "Ubuntu" when they would apply to any distro at all. It's only a natural progression to start calling your computer and all the parts therein an Ubuntu :)

Re:The Ubuntu

[Anonymous Coward]

s/data/porn/

:-)

Re:That's not what I'm worried about

[Anonymous Coward]

Cheerleading, regeneration, and Linux use! You're certainly a woman of many talents.

Re:The Ubuntu

[Rogerborg]

God I hate incompetent comments.

Then you must be a real masochist to keep hanging around here.

Re:Thanks for slashdotting launchpad, guys.

[Obsidian Butterfly]

sudo apt-get new hdd from better manufacturer

package "new hdd from better manufacturer" depends on "more money" but it does not seem to be available.

Re:The Ubuntu

[TheCarp]

Does that mean we caught it spinning dirty?

-Steve