Sudden motion sensor, and losing random space on hard drive

[nickmccally]

I noticed my hard drive losing about 3 gigs of space in a few hours while I was doing nothing but viewing the internet and had opened photoshop.

I did a fresh install of OSX yesterday with my new hard drive, and a time machine restore.

I'm hoping this doesnt mean the new HDD is bad. I hear no noises at all from it.

Lastly, I no longer hear the pin on the hard drive move when I suddenly pick up the notebook. I've moved the laptop quickly just to test it and I hear nothing. With the old drive, it was very audible and touchy. I am sure I have the Sudden Motion Sensor enabled.

Thanks

New HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148446

 

[Erasmus]

Photoshop is an intensive application, and I wouldn't be surprised if it would happily eat 3 gig of virtual RAM. Hence, your loss of HD space. If you restart, I expect you would get it back.

If it's a new HD, it is unsurprising that it would run more quietly than the old one.

Try the command line prompt in this document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1934

 

[nickmccally]

Well, it does all come back after a reboot however, I never noticed it with the old hdd. The new hdd is louder since its 7200rpm but I just never hear the pin lifting off.

Thanks for your help!

 

[nospeed411]

I just installed a new Hard drive also and have noticed the disappearance of the "park sound", (cloink) form my sudden motion sensor. I specifically spec'd out the same make and model as the computer originally could come equipped with. I purchased a Hitachi Travelstar 72000 rpm 500gb model from OWC. I have read a ton of articles on whether or not the SMS will continue to work as before but have yet to discover a clear cut answer as well. I will say this thing zoooms compared to before. I also ran geekbench and scored 800 points higher than before.

 

[Erasmus]

Here's something you could try:

Play music on your computer (from a file on your new HD) and then pick up your computer, and start continuously shaking it. Or, put it in a backpack and take it for a jog while listening to music using headphones. I can't say for sure, but I don't believe that would be enough to impact the drive head, however as the SMS will be telling the computer it's falling, it should be continuously parking and unparking the drive head, and causing the music to skip.

I once tried walking to Uni with my MBP in my backpack (using InsomniaX) while listening to music. When I started walking quickly, the music began to skip quite badly.

If it doesn't skip, you may have a problem.

 

[nospeed411]

Here's something you could try:

Play music on your computer (from a file on your new HD) and then pick up your computer, and start continuously shaking it. Or, put it in a backpack and take it for a jog while listening to music using headphones. I can't say for sure, but I don't believe that would be enough to impact the drive head, however as the SMS will be telling the computer it's falling, it should be continuously parking and unparking the drive head, and causing the music to skip.

I once tried walking to Uni with my MBP in my backpack (using InsomniaX) while listening to music. When I started walking quickly, the music began to skip quite badly.

If it doesn't skip, you may have a problem.

Wow...you sir are a friggin genius...LOL I just tried that and it does in fact skip. You have actually cured over two hours of OCD for me. I am really mystified by the sudden performance gain in my MBP with this new drive. I was worried when I wasn't' hearing the constant parking of the drive head. I am now beginning to believe that the loud click noise may not be normal and what I was hearing was an issue. There is no other reason to explain why swapping HD's would explain the increased performance in simple web browsing . Especially now since I do not hear the "cloink" noise but it is in fact parking the heads of the drive as proved by your method.

 

[Erasmus]

Glad it worked.

 

[nickmccally]

Here's something you could try:

Play music on your computer (from a file on your new HD) and then pick up your computer, and start continuously shaking it. Or, put it in a backpack and take it for a jog while listening to music using headphones. I can't say for sure, but I don't believe that would be enough to impact the drive head, however as the SMS will be telling the computer it's falling, it should be continuously parking and unparking the drive head, and causing the music to skip.

I once tried walking to Uni with my MBP in my backpack (using InsomniaX) while listening to music. When I started walking quickly, the music began to skip quite badly.

If it doesn't skip, you may have a problem.

Thank you god, one problem solved. This worked!!!

However, it seems delayed when the music stops.. and wasn't as touchy as before.

 

[Erasmus]

However, it seems delayed when the music stops.. and wasn't as touchy as before.

I expect this is because iTunes buffers your music a bit in memory (ie reads ahead a second of music, then rests the HD for that second, and repeats). Therefore, your shaking will cause odd results, like you might have to shake it for a few seconds before iTunes runs out of buffer, and then if you don't shake it hard enough all the time it will re-buffer and play normally for a few seconds.

Otherwise, while you're shaking, your hard disk will be parking and unparking constantly. If you upgraded to a faster HD, iTunes will buffer more in the short time that the drive head is reading, and will therefore only need to pause the music for less time on each shake.