Hi. I installed the new 60GB HDD into my X30 a week ago and noticed that the HDD doesn't seem to turn off when idle after the configured period.

I've set the power manager in XP SP1 to turn off the HDD after 10 minutes of inactivity but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I am judging by the fact that I can still hear the drive humming.

Has anyone else noticed this or is there a patch required?

Try the Hitachi Power Booster (for IBM and Hitachi drives only):

http://www.hitachigst.com/downloads/pbinstall.exe

or APMTunerForW2KTray (an alternative utility that also supports all other brands -- nice and nifty, just don't let yourself be intimidated by the Japanese user interface):

http://delphi6.hp.infoseek.co.jp/w2kide ... TrayV2.zip

In order to get quick results when checking out whether these tools really work in your case, you might want to enable the most aggressive power saving mode first (drag sliders to the outmost left position; the drive should completely turn off very quickly afterwards if there aren't any interfering tasks). In PowerBooster, be sure to have the option to run with full performance on AC power (i.e., without any power saving measures) disabled to see any results when connected to an AC outlet.

Alternatively, you can try to alter the pre-defined APM settings in the drive's firmware by way of the Hitachi "Feature Tool":

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/d ... eatureTool

For further information, consult page 16 in the user's guide:

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/ftool.pdf

Best regards,
Monty

Thanks Monty. I'll check the utility out. The features tools may be a problem as I don't have a floppy drive and the install won't write to my usb stick. I'll see if I can find a way around this.

So, how are things going, Cyberdude? If you weren't able to create a bootable medium with the Hitachi Feature Tool installer yet, did at least the Hitachi PowerBooster work as expected?

Btw, can't you simply make the Hitachi Feature Tool floppy at a Desktop PC, transfer it to a USB stick with floppy emulation and then take it to your X30 and boot it up there?

Best,
Monty